Vigan City, Illocos Norde

5/07

My favorite spot in Vigan was the pottery factory. I loved the sweet smell of wet clay, soil and grass on that rainy day. The room was low-ceilinged and windowless. A blonde-tailed pony grazed behind the house beside a tall mound of red and brown broken bowls and handles. I sat beside the man whose hands moved up the walls of the clay pot until they were tall and running vertical with narrow rivets.

I miss that feeling of acting intuitively without saying a word and see your ideas transform into art. And even when it is finished, it feels like something that can't possibly have come out of you. Is that detachment, release or grace? I'm not sure.

Being there made me realize I need to start painting and sketching again. I keep wanting to try my hand at mixed media art. Now is the time to do it....I walk by the hardware store all the time with ideas. Feeling the tactile urge to fiddle with wire, paper, plastic and paint. It's time to act. My friend, Valerie is shaking her head right now at me, I'm sure of it.