The Charles Wright Project: Lonesomeville: Creative Inspiration

This might be the next painting on my roster.

Lonesomeville? No, I'm not talking about a sad country song. Lonesomeville is where I've been throwing my pottery the last several months. An old farm house, built in the late 1800s, sits nestled away on an acre of land in South East Portland. The good people that live there are always in motion, beautifying their surroundings and bringing the house back to life little by little. While I've been working there the past few days, I've witnessed them cast & glaze pottery for the business, while insulating and dry walling 2 rooms that had been down to the studs on the second floor. Cooking dinner, painting, scraping up linoleum... Their gardens are simply amazing (see sample flower above) , and someone is always cutting the lawn, or harvesting vegetables, planting, cutting... always moving. I'm fortunate enough to get to play in their studio space and I can't really articulate what a pleasure it is. Throwing open the double carriage house doors and emerging myself in clay, it's the most peaceful thing.

Part of the mission of this blog is to share inspiration- talk about the things that make us want to create. My creative mind has definitely been the more forward thinking side of my brain lately. It's a strange switch, and I'm still trying to adjust from a scheduling perspective (I'm very similar to my friends at Lonseomeville, I don't really stop moving either), but I'm really enjoying it! Carrying a sketchbook for our last project was a good catalyst. I sketch a lot more and jot down notes and ideas. I can pinpoint moments and connect them to something I'm working on and planning to work on. I'm giving more time to the process, instead of just pushing for the finished product.

While I was putting my plates out to dry, in the sunny garden bed

I had one of those inspirational moments.

The shadows that the flora cast on the plates were stunning! I've really been trying to think more about the decorative part of the pottery and this is a great solution. Using plates and platters as a vehicle for painting has long been one of my favorite creative expressions. Maybe it's my need for functionality and efficiency in all that I do? Anyhow, I ran back to the studio and grabbed a plate that had already been bisque fired and came back to the garden with paint brush and new test glaze in hand. Here's how they looked before being fired: