Editorial - Paper Clay
I am honored to be a part of this diverse, lush, often exotic, and beautifully designed publication. I love that it offers an array of personal narratives, interviews, articles of educational and historical significance, poems and, yes, even a play called The Hawthorn Vase: A Chinese Fantasy, by Charles F. Binns, in the December 1998 issue.
In selecting articles centered around the theme of fiber and clay, commonly known as paper clay, I included a personal narrative, interviews of artists who were innovators in the medium, educational articles that introduce new technical applications, and links for readers’ further exploration. Beyond the printed page, on the Studio Potter website, you’ll find more on paper clay in the form of video storytelling. I hope this issue of SP will encourage you to experiment with this material. My wish for all of you is best expressed by this poem by the Irish poet John O’Donohue that I keep on the wall of my studio:
Beannacht (Blessing)
On the day when
The weight deadens
On your shoulders
And you stumble,
May the clay dance
To balance you.
And when your eyes
Freeze behind
The grey window
And the ghost of loss
Gets into you,
May a flock of colours,
Indigo, red, green
And azure blue,
Come to awaken in you
A meadow of delight.
When the canvas frays
In the currach of thought
And a stain of ocean
Blackens beneath you,
May there come across the waters
A path of yellow moonlight
To bring you safely home.
May the nourishment of the earth be yours,
May the clarity of light be yours,
May the fluency of the ocean be yours,
May the protection of the ancestors be yours.
And so may a slow
Wind work these words
Of love around you,
An invisible cloak
To mind your life.
