Yesterday was also a bad tech day at school. A switch (which was explained to me as a really expensive hardware part) failed, taking half the art lab computers, and our network printer, with it. Nothing will work until (and if) it is replaced. Then the special ink-tank system for the printer we got last spring began playing the "ink tank rejection" game, so I have to call the manufacturer today. Finally, the SmartBoard in my room (the projection surface in my room) pooped out. I went from having a hi-tech classroom to teaching with an easel pad at the front of the room again, as I did twenty years ago, in a few days. Good thing I learned how to teach that way! The kids actually liked the novelty. I found it massively frustrating, but like RA pain, "and this too shall pass." I am hesitant to go near any digital technology today. Might get out the clay instead. It is a day for clay!
Clay, fabric, and thread do not have glitches like this. They are malleable materials that respond to our control with certainty. Sure, there are surprises here and there, but the challenge of making the materials meet the mind's image is placed on our hands and hearts. Not on a circuit board made on an assembly line in another country. Which reminds me that I shouldn't touch my sewing machines today, either...sign. Let's hope this day is better!!
I stitched for a long time last night, bringing the four small pieces I've been working on further along to a good conclusion. These are labor intensive little suckers! I like them a lot, though, and the surfaces are becoming more layered with every step I add. I can't wait to have them finished...promised AnnMarie another show of small works at Create, so it better be soon!
What will you make today?