June 28 – July 2
Every week I create a round-up of my favorite reads and listens over the last 7 days. Some links go directly to articles and books, others go to my post with notes.
This week was pretty slow in terms of recreational reading, as I ended up overloaded with work ahead of vacation. I also started a 8-week ceramics course at Kirklands Arts Center, as well as signed up for a landscape painting class with Justin Donaldson, one of my favorite painters!
The Song of Achilles
- Book: The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller →
- Article: Mythic Passions by Daniel Mendelsohn | NY Times →
Millers imaginative telling of the relationship between Patroclus and Achilles was certainly an interesting and enjoyable read. Set from the perspective of Patroclus, it fills in details of their meeting, their time and love together during the Trojan war, and even the period post-death (from a strange ghost-like viewpoint). Stripped away, it is a young adult romance novel, so I don’t hold it to high literary expectations. The characters feel flat and one dimensional, and, as Mendelsohn describes, seems to be confused with finding tone and pace. Yet, despite being ‘fast food fiction’ it was still a fun, quick read that was a much welcomed distraction during a week of commuting.
Relationships & Communication
- Book: Five Minute Relationship Repair by Campbell and Grey →[Notes→]
- Book: Communication Miracles for Couples: Easy and Effective Tools to Create More Love and Less Conflict by Jonathan Robinson→[Notes→]
Whenever my partner and I have communication mishaps, I like to dig around and do some refresher reading on communication and conflict resolution techniques. My all time favorite book still stands to be Couple Skills by McKay, which I would rank in my top 10 most personally significant reads. Many of the tools I learned there appear again and again in other reads. Being reminded of reactive behaviors, communication traps, and emotional triggers helps me show up more fully and compassionately in my partnership. While neither of these books are stand outs, they were very quick reads with some good worksheets and tools.
Pottery Deep Dive
- Basic Pottery Making: All the Skills and Tools You Need to Get Started By Mark Fitzgerald and Jason Minick→
- Practical Pottery: 40 Pottery Projects for Creating and Selling Mugs, Cups, Plates, Bowls, and More by Schmidt→
- Pottery Book for Beginners: A Potter’s Guide to Sculpting 20 Beautiful Handbuilding Ceramic Projects Plus Pottery Tools, Tips and Techniques to Get You Started By Garth Mullins→
- Fragile Beauty by Anita Sheih→
As I jumped into my intro to wheel throwing class this week, I was on a huge ceramic content-consumption kick. I watched tons of youtube videos, instagram posts, articles, and books as I oriented myself to a new art medium. There is something really addictive about watching people create 3D works of art–whether miniature models, sculptures, jewelry, or pottery. Over the last year I’ve picked up miniature sculpture work with polymer clay, creating fantastical gardens.
However, the skillsets involved in ceramics is vastly larger. With tons of different clays, tools, glazes, and processes to pick from and learn, it is so easy to see how this becomes a lifelong practice of iteration. My architectural senses are prickling. I’ve already told my partner that a pottery wheel and mini kiln might be on my wish list now–as well as the need for at-home studio space! (Ah the dream).
I also have a ever growing list of ceramics projects, inspired by artists by Courtney Mattison and Stephanie Kilgast, stewing around my brain. Of course the usual practical pottery items like dishes and cups, but also the more creative and decorative including sculptural landscapes and textures that invoke nature–forest, desert, sea, sky.