Alisa og Claus Clausen on sun 11 feb 01
When strangers/customers in my gallery notice my brush painting on the =
wall,
and I have been helping them as a gallery worker, just being my casual =
public
self, they react (if I tell them I am the painter) typically with "YOU =
painted
THAT?!"...I have grown to take it as a compliment, but the surprise =
still
takes me off guard and is a little unsettling, making me wonder what the =
hell
kind of split personality I must have lurking...
The above paragraph from Elizabeth rings very true for me.
I was completely set back when another ceramist whom I respect,
asked me who painted the drawings/paintings hanging behind my desk in my =
shop.?
When I said, me, she said,=20
"Well, they are by far the best work in the shop"
I was thinking that was the the most backhanded compliment I have ever =
received to date. I was "bummed" for a few days, and certainly my pots =
came under even more severe scrutiny by myself than they usually do. =
Which is pretty cruel on an average day.
But then what is the difference if she realates to my drawing voice =
better than my pots voice? It is all expression of who I am and all =
still positive.
Personlly, I think I have the gift of the gab, which is substantially =
curtailed by my new adopted language over the past 5 years (some my find =
that fortunate). But at the same time it frustrating to be have one's =
identity so coralled by language. So, I understand why my drawings =
speak better than my Danish mouth, but I am not completely sure why they =
absolutely have a freer hand than my pots. Do not know. Maybe because =
I am "trained" to make "correct" pots and can see immediately where they =
fail, but I am not a trained painter (short of some misery in College) =
so I override my painting faults with a freeness that really comes from =
the soul and therefore cannot be "incorrect". Do not know.
Best regards,
Alisa in Denmark
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