Project Network 2011

     Many moons ago, I applied for a residency in Denmark.  For the most part, this blog was created so that i may chronicle the adventures and work before, during and after the trip.  I leave for Scandinavia at the end of the month.  It is both exciting, and scarey at the same time.  This will be my second time in Europe, my first being back in June when I visited Italy for 2 weeks with family.  This time, it's a solo act, and I'll be there to work.  I can't begin to say how excited I am to finally be able to play in the mud again!  It's been at least 5 months since I've made anything out of clay, and I've been itching to get back into it. 
   
     To the heart of the matter, I am going to be spending a little over a month in Skaelsor, Denmark working at a place on the coast called Guldagergaard.  There, I will be participating in Project Network, a group project where there will be other ceramic artists from around the world.  We will all have our individual projects, but be working toward an exhibition at the end of our stay.

    I consider myself to be very lucky to be able to keep working toward my career, even in the current state of our economy.  A lot of art students don't fare so well after they graduate from undergrad.  My adventures since graduation have been little in number, but insane in quality.  I stayed behind for a semester to keep working at my old school.  I graduated a potter, and kept making pots.  After that, I moved to Lafayette, IN, where I attended Purdue to study ceramics in a one year post-bac program.  I spent a lot of my time researching glazes, terra sigilattas, and most importantly, making sculpture (most of which was entirely horrid.  Got to start somewhere...).  I applied to Guldagergaard toward the end of my first semester, and was entirely surprised when I received my acceptance email (It goes to show what a good letter of reference can do for you).  I wasn't the most enthusiastic person about my sculptural work at the time.  Most of my breakthroughs and successes really came during my second semester.  I don't consider any work actual failure.  Each piece has features that work, and you can learn from it.  the whole thing may bomb when viewed as a whole, but hey, that's process.  Getting frustrated and working through it is all part of the game.

     So here I am, a little over 2 weeks until I take off for adventure, armed with sketch pads, a plethora of tools and my trusty ipod.  I have never been so excited in my whole life.  This is going to be my own adventure-- an experience I have never really had on this scale before.  Hopefully, someone will get something out of my blogging about it.  Cheers