Verse & Vision: Whiskey Light

"Night time is really the best time to work. 
All the ideas are there to be yours because everyone else is asleep."  

~Catherine O'Hara

This is the fourth and final post about the pieces I created for the Verse & Vision show on now through June 25th, a collaboration between Wisconsin poets and the Gallery Q artists. You can read about the others here, here and also here.

I do my best work at night.

I often call this my "9 to midnight" job. And although I would love for it to be a full time gig, it is really more of a hobby gone wild. While my most fervent wish is to have daylight hours to create, I am certain that even if I had them, I would be doing most of my best work at night.

So when I read the poem by Josh Wussow called "Whiskey Light" I had this immediate image of the moon in my head. The sort of moon that hangs low in the sky like a big orange ball of light. The kind that is so close you can touch it, so real you can taste its creamy coolness.

I love the way the full moon paints the world with a touch of titanium white and a softer blue gray of the shadows. The trees look taller in moonlight with their limbs stretched out reaching over hills and valleys to touch each other like so many people holding hands.

But it was the last line of this poem that grabbed me and wouldn't let go. I knew that there had to be a lunar reference in this piece, but that last line begged to be incorporated as well. Full of double edged meaning, yet brimming with possibilities.

I thank Josh Wussow for penning these lines and for allowing me the honor of sharing them with you.

Whiskey Light

by Josh Wussow

The restless moon

has drawn me

into the calling dusk

My dull

whiskey light

a haze, etched in amber

hovers thick and

full

bodied

over yellowed streetlamps

and empty roads

I taste its essence

cool

in the quiet air

dash of dreams

pinch of sin

the tacit scent

of things

best done

by night

{Whiskey Light}

I am very proud of this piece. But it almost didn't happen.

This being the very first Verse & Vision collaboration, we had only from early February until mid-April to complete our art. That wouldn't be too terrible of a timeline if I didn't have traveling basketball, dance recitals, a trip to D.C. and the launch of my new 'simple truths' pendants happening at the same time. Not to mention all the dancer necklaces I did during those few weeks. 

I completed the first three and got them to the photographer for the book layout well before the deadline of April 20th. I just didn't have time to complete what I wanted to do for this one. 

I had sketched a design that looks nothing like this. With the mention of the 'haze, etched in amber' I had grandiose plans to etch a copper moon, add a bezel and then add some resin tinted amber to that focal. And that never happened. 

I was in the Gallery to pick up my pieces the first week in May to be sure that they were tagged and ready for the Gallery to hang them, when one of the committee members came to me in a panic: the poet would be there to read his poem that night and if I didn't make the art, there would be nothing to show for it. Would I still make the piece? Could I do it in time? That was Wednesday. All the pieces had to be logged in by Friday. 

I had committed to doing this piece but I had failed to make it a priority so that just about shattered me. Wearily, I said yes, I would do this. 

I went home that night and sketched a new design, one that wouldn't be etched and bezeled but that would show that I could completely fabricate a piece from start to finish.

I started with circles cut out of copper. I hammered texture and added some round bubbles to make the disks represent the phases of the moon. From just a sliver of the moon to full, you can see them all if you look closely.

But flat just wouldn't do, I wanted it to have a sculptural sense, and also movement. I had been studying the works of Calder and spirals are very prominent in his work, which was influenced by primitive artifacts. The construction of Calder's works are so kinetic. I wanted to attain a freedom of movement in my design. So I started with spirals of copper wire connecting each link through a riveted hole. Why not just leave the holes punched raw? That small rivet in each hole is a detail that puts a polished touch on the piece.

I crafted the swirl clasp to connect to a similarly embellished copper washer. I wanted no pre-fab parts to this design.

The central focal is a crescent moon with the last line of the poem 'things best done by night' and a solitary rough faceted carnelian drop in the perfect shade of whiskey. That stone is the only thing I didn't craft by hand.

Someone at the opening was interested in the piece and questioned why it was priced so high. It was then that I explained that I cut, filed, textured, stamped, riveted, dapped, coiled, hammered, patinaed, tumbled, polished and sealed every single piece on this necklace. From concept to completion, I did it all. I think she walked away with an appreciation for what I did that went beyond admiring it. And I also said that even if this wasn't the one for her, I could certainly apply those skills to something custom just for her.

I worked on this two straight nights working from 9pm to 2am. At 1am on the second day I almost thought to ask for an extension until Saturday so that I would have the extra day to finish, but then I decided that I was so close and I just kept going. I was beyond exhausted when I finished. But the important thing is that I completed it to hand in to the committee by noon on Friday.

They were stunned at what I created. But truthfully, so was I.

I guess it is true that I do my best work at night.

So, now it is your turn...

When do you do your best work? Are you more capable in the morning? Does your creativity ebb and flow throughout the day? Or are you a night owl like me?

Have you ever completely hand fabricated something? Do you bake from scratch... plant from seeds... or grow amazing kids? How does it feel to be the creator, the originator, the guiding force?

Do tell!

Enjoy the day!