Saturday, March 26, 2011

Look into the sun

I think the first song that I truly realized was my favorite song was "Jack and Diane" by John Cougar Mellancamp (because he was JCM back then). Now, I was about 8 years old at the time — 6 years after it came out in 1982. I think I had to ask my Mom what 'Bobbie Brooks' were.

Anyway, by the time I was 11 Pink Floyd was my favorite band. I distinctly remember being on the playground when Lisa & Jessica announced that they had tickets to the New Kids on the Block concert and me realizing that I had to act excited for them. My parents had the good fortune of never having had to take me to a concert. Pink Floyd toured at some point in the early nineties, and believe me - as an adolescent I tried very hard to win the free tickets from the radio station - because I had no money to buy them and my parents sure as hell weren't getting them for me. Usually, when attempting to win tickets I'd just get the busy signal - since the only rock stations were long distance... but there's still something exciting about being caller number 11 when you're 14.

Needless to say, many years later as an adult I shelled out a lot of money to sit in the nosebleed seats to see Roger Waters in concert. And I knew every frigging song.

Anyway, when I was a teenager was when music transitioned from being on cassette tape to CDs. Remember when CDs were the new thing? Yeah, way back when. So, a lot of the first CDs I bought were by this little band you may have heard of: Jethro Tull.

As a teenager who wasn't being 100% contemporary with music, I listened to a lot of classic rock, so I was familiar with the Tull, as it were. And it was around this time that WRIF would occasionally do something over the weekend where they would play the entire catalog of a band in alphabetical order (I remember them doing Rush, Pink Floyd, and Jethro Tull; I'm sure there were others, but those were in my top 10 favorites). So, as someone who wasn't actually alive when all their albums came out - I got to hear their songs...

Anyway, I also bought a lot of Tull CDs because they were an economical $7.99 (at the time I was standing in Best Buy). When you're young and you have no job or allowance and you need to stretch that $20.00 from Grandma - that's like 2 Tull albums or 1 Oasis album plus maybe $6 + change. So, yeah, I own the majority of the Tull catalog.

Why am I rambling on about some old rock band that you may or may not care about? Because when I went on my paper bowl making extravaganza a few weeks ago I pulled out some early Tull on cd and listened to the albums all the way through. Ah, album rock. Particularly "This Was," "Benefit," and "Stand Up."

I've made a lot of artwork while listening to Jethro Tull actually, particularly their early stuff - because those albums just flow and I know every song. Anyway, there's a song on "Benefit" called "Look Into the Sun," and looking at the suns I tend to paint on my bowls reminds me of the song. Plus, I easily have it stuck in my head from listening to it while making the bowls. Oh, circular logic.

Anyway, the sun has always been there in my artwork.
So, these are some shots of some of the new menagerie of bowls in progress...

inside of a small bowl


the inside of a large bowl


another large bowl


I still have to paint trees on them, which is, perhaps, the most tedious part. Trees require the smallest brushes and the most runny paint, and the surface of the inside of the bowls is lumpy... and well, sometimes there are good branches, and sometimes there are accidents, and sometimes nature just takes its course.

To see finished bowls, look here.

"So when you look into the sun
and see the words you could have sung:
It's not too late, only begun.
Look into the sun."
Ian Anderson

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Pretty cool!

Out on the prairie said...

Tull put on a real good show. The last time I saw him was outdoors in CO at Red Rocks. I saw him 3 times.Pink Floyd was always a experience of theatrics also.I still enjoy their tunes. I have a reggae version of Dark Side called Dub Side of the Moon that is fun.

Bob Bushell said...

Really nice bowl, and the music; you like some of it that I do.

Hilary said...

Creativity begets more creativity. Your work and its inspiration is proof of that.

I saw Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon at an outdoor venue in Montreal back in '73. It was an amazing show complete with a rather large airplane zooming over our heads, which crashed into the stage and exploded. Unforgettable.

Jo said...

Wanna know something cool? As soon as I saw your avatar in my comments, I recognized your work from Etsy.

I really like your blog. It's interesting to read the minds of like artists. I am a watercolor artist before I am a designer.
Anyway, I have to say that there is something special about listening to an entire album. It's lost in our society. People hardly even buy an artist's full cd anymore. But I do because sometimes the songs I end up liking the most are the ones that never get played on radio.

Catherine said...

I think Mother Nature could take a lesson from your beautiful colors Sarah! She's been sticky to the white a little too much here ~ she needs to crack open some of those spring colors and get at it!!! :)

Music is always inspirational isn't it! It gets the creative juices going to be sure.

Awesome work friend!
xo Catherine

Jasmin said...

wow these are so pretty already :) x

Dave said...

I guess most people like to do things with music in the background. And we all have our favourite musicians and songs. Mine were the days of real rock 'n Roll - Elvis, Beatles, etc. - Dave

Sueann said...

Love the bowls!! The colors are so vibrant. I have to say I have never heard of Tull!! I will have to find some of his work and give him a listen.
Would you believe I come from the age of Eight Track Players??!! Ha! And a time when no tapes of any kind were available. Only vinyl...I had me the coolest 45 collection around!!
Sigh!!
Hugs
SueAnn

Happy Little Trees Studio said...

Great post! Love the bowls!