Welcome to MissouriBendStudio!

This is an online journal of my artistic investigations and a way to communicate about my work, ideas, quandries and queries! I welcome comments and conversation and do hope you enjoy these musings. My artwork is available in my shop MissouriBendStudio on Etsy.com or on my website.

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Friday, August 19, 2011

Bringing Home Brush Creek

Greetings everyone!  We're back from our residency at Brush Creek....refreshed and revitalized...what a great experience! As I said somewhere to someone, I was able to relax and feel like myself again...only more so.  The gift of time and space in such a beautiful setting was the perfect recipe for rediscovering who I am as an artist.  As all of you followers know, I have been hard at work in the studio over the last year and a half since I started my Etsy shop, but I've also been on a fast-moving treadmill and although I only make pieces that are one-of-a-kind, I was clearly in production mode. At Brush Creek, I slowed down to a pace that allowed me to see things differently and opened the path for a new kind of work to emerge.  I don't have any images yet, but will shortly. Mostly, I just wanted to share a few more pictures and to let you know that there are some shifts in my thinking and in the way I'm going to go about my life, so that I will feel more balanced.

I will continue to make work for MissouriBendStudio, but I'm going to spend more studio time on other bodies of work that will be featured on my website, robertspizzuto.com  I want to focus more on what I think of as my "other" work, which comes from a deeper place and has more to teach me about living a mindful life. I've come to realize that for me, art making is a spiritual practice and making work for the "marketplace" has a way of short circuiting the exploration that is necessary.  I don't want anyone to think I don't love the work I make for my shop, which will continue, although at a less frantic pace.  There will surely be crossover, but the work on my website will be more involved and slower in coming.
I'll keep you posted here about all the work in the studio and let you know where to find it.

View from the studios at Brush Creek

One of the ways to break with my old mode of operating is not to even touch the computer until after lunch.  As most of you probably know, once you get on the computer, it's nearly impossible to get off.  One thing leads to another and especially if you are involved in Etsy, there are countless ways to spend time online....not a bad thing necessarily, it just has a tendency to eat the daylight hours.  It worked today....I didn't even open the lid of this laptop until 1:00....and guess what, it felt great!!  I feel balanced and more centered....a sure sign that I'm operating in line with my heart and my values.

The back/side of the studio building (contains 4 artist's studios)
with a view to the residences and the schoolhouse, which is 
a restored 19th century school house/home that serves
as a composer's studio and a charming community event
gathering spot.

A section of Brush Creek

Another little view of Brush Creek

I got a lot done at the residency, including some finished pieces and a number of others still to be completed.  I was totally fascinated by the rocks....the rock is everywhere and it speaks quietly of deep time and slow change.  Despite how it seems, our place as humans in the universe is small...we are just individual links in the evolution of life, newcomers really....and yet, each of our lives is so vital and oh so fleeting.  These are the things I'm exploring in the new work....through the rocks that will outlive us all.

See you next week....enjoy the weekend!







14 comments:

  1. Thank you for posting this! I am so excited to hear about the change in your work coming. And the rocks! I love rocks and I brought one back this week from the black hills. Hope to see more of your pictures soon!

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  2. Nicole...thank you!! Maybe you can see them in person!! I have some finished to photograph and others are "almost" there. Hope you had a great trip to the Black Hills....did you only bring back one rock? Look forward to seeing you soon!

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  3. Wow that was a good retreat for you! Looking forward to what's coming.
    I also love rocks and have had collections from the rivers, hills, ocean, etc. Most have ended up along the garden paths.

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  4. Welcome back Patti. You have said so much of what i am thinking especially about art being a spiritual practice. It will be great to see the art you are doing now after your time away.

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  5. Carole....I'm really fascinated by the rocks too, no matter where they come from. Great to hear from you!

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  6. Robyn, do stay tuned. I sometimes think there aren't enough words in our language to describe things....there is "art" and then there is "Art"....with lots of things also called art in between. Lots to contemplate!

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  7. What a great entry Patti.
    It has given me pause, for I,too, have taken on some poor work (play) practises myself, the computer being one of them, but also the insidious self-definition as (etsy) shop owner that implies producing just to fill the space.
    I will 'take a page out of your book' and try to return to a more honest 'art practice'.

    You remain an inspiration Patti.

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  8. Lorraine, honored to be any source of inspiration....we're all trying to come to terms with what it means to be an artist and a human being and hopefully have those two pursuits follow the same course! We all help each other learn and grow....easy to get off track, that's for sure! Cheers!

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  9. I've felt much better too, since I decided to "neglect" my etsy shop. My work takes me a long time so maybe it's not a good fit for etsy. Thanks for sharing your thoughts--I understand completely what you mean by art as a spiritual practice and I'm looking forward to seeing some of your "other" work!

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  10. Hi Collage Whirl....glad you understand. I hope people don't get the idea that I'm thinking of the Etsy work as lesser, because it's not the "long time in coming" work that I make when I allow myself. Here's to you in your search for the balance needed to maintain your various creative lives! Thanks for commenting!

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  11. Hi Patti- what a fabulous break, it sounds and feels very nurturing and renewing. Sometimes we need to sit quietly and peacefully to remember and rediscover the reasons we got started in this game in the first place (kind of) and it sounds like you have made some wonderful re-connectiosn to your heart and to your core. Enjoy the next steps...

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  12. Fiona....yes, it was fabulous and as you say, some wonderful reconnections to my heart and my core came about...feeling much more balanced and alive!

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  13. Patti, I couldn't be happier that your time at the residency came when it did and had such good and what look to be longlasting results! I like these changes you are undertaking, it's what needed to happen at this point to keep your work on its true path. All the best!

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  14. TT/Gabriella....thanks so much. The very fact that I feel so balanced tells me I'm on the right path....hoping the same is true for you!

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I'm happy to hear from you...comments and questions are welcome!