Huichol
local flavor:
Feliz Navidad
Many Parts volverá después de vacaciones.
Diffendaffer.com Re-born
It’s been a long time in the works, and it is with much relief, frankly, that I introduce to you the latest iteration of Diffendaffer.com. This website has been here since 2000, and it was just over a year ago that I introduced my blog, Many Parts. Today you will find a site that has been radically redesigned. The switch from black to white is an obvious one, but there are many more changes under the hood that are going to make this website a much more dynamic and user friendly process.
I promised a more connected site, and today deliver you Many Parts with facebook Connect. You can continue to comment on my website using your Many Parts
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Behind the Scenes
There hasn’t been much activity on this blog in quite some time, due to life getting busy and all. At the moment I’m at work behind the scenes rebuilding the site, which has never worked quite the way I want it to. I’ll spare you the technical details except to say that it is happening from the bottom up, starting with my computer and ending with a soon to be debuted new site. So if you come here for pretty pictures or self absorbed artistic drivel or maybe you just like beads, stay tuned for a higher level of connectivity.
On the flip side, my studio is still in the middle of being insulated. Finally I’ll have someplace warm in the winter, and cooler in the summer. I can handle the cold with layers only until my fingers start to stiffen up. So life is looking up in that regard. Likewise I won’t have to worry about the vast differences in clay consistency that happen when you work in a room that can range from the low 40’s into the 100’s. Not melting myself has it’s benefits too.
Chief on that list of benefits of course will returning to my creative work in the studio. Rest assured that when I do you will see the latest here first. And its all gonna be faster and better and more fun.
Favorite Quote
It’s tacked above my computer here:
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back– Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it now.”
Often attributed to Goethe, it is actually an amalgam of poorly translated Faust and the words of Scottish mountaineer W.H. Murray.
Tangents, Other Passions, and Balance
Spending time on the computer can be so all engrossing and so often a frustrating waste of time that I often find myself avoiding it just so I can have a life. That’s the nature of my attention. I love to become engrossed in the moment with worthwhile pursuits. I thrive on problem solving–facing challenges and throwing myself at them full force. I love the feeling of accomplishment after a job well done and get a thrill out of biting off huge chunks of work at a time. In order to achieve that focus I try and tune out all distractions and direct my full will on the job at hand.
So what I’m saying is that if I periodically drop out of sight, fear not. Something is brewing behind the scenes. Right now it’s electricity. Literally. I’ve been spending much of the past couple weeks wiring my studio. I’m part way through insulation, and then will come drywall. I’m aching to get back in and create, and have been spending as much time as possible working toward that end.
While I get a thrill testing my capacity to tackle new tasks, it is somewhat of a ride swinging on the pendulum of my passions. You artists know what I mean. My appreciation of extreme focus comes partly from the relief it provides from the straining pull of diverse personal interests. I always want to do everything. Inevitably I let a few of those things in. Besides working really hard on the hilltop (renovating the studio, clearing brush, new grey water, etc.), I have been reveling in the natural beauty of California, melting in the glorious summer weather, warming to the joy of new found community and friends, loving family, and gardening.
It’s a pain in the neck to garden here as there’s not much but rocks and leaves to start with. The garden beds are raised and have soil that was built over years. Despite amending the beds and thouroughly turning them every year, I was dissapointed with the slow start the veggies made this spring. I began feeding them liquid organic ferts and and now the eggplants look like they might eat me. Determined to build better soil I have been raking leaves and shredding paper to bulk up the compost of daily veggie scraps we create. Raccoons might still eat the melon rinds but I’m determined to stay ahead of them. I shredded my Kaiser health care catalog and composted it. It was all I got from my recent bout of employer funded health insurance. It will feed my plants and they’ll feed me. It’s probably healthier than their insurance.
Polymer Clay Beads: The Book
