In this world of social media, especially the pottery community on Instagram, the hashtag MugShotMonday is often portrayed by a hand holding a mug with an out-of-focus background. I however find structure in the idea of revisiting mugs each week. Mugs have been a touchstone in my work, an important small object of use that holds not only a hot beverage but also expression. Mondays I photograph a cup or perhaps a week’s drawings of the cups I have used. Drawing especially during the pandemic feels like tilling the earth. The sketches and photographs are part of being an art farmer. At its best the hash tag provides a structure, a reminder to share and dig into my archives. By looking more deeply I don’t always reach for the handy cup but perhaps the stubborn, heavy one or the precarious one that forces me to pay closer attention to my hot drink.
A Lonely Cup of Coffee
Far preferable to a sociable cup
which tastes more
of talk
the lonely cup
redolent
rich
ripe
round
blesses
the quiet mouth
–Naomi Shihab Nye, in Voices in the Air: Poems for Listeners, Greenwillow Books, 2018
2 replies on “#7 decembrance 2020”
And we have used the same two cups daily for 40 years. There is something to that too.
For the very first time since going to the island, we’ve not visited the Chincoteague house. Today’s words—the whispered sighing of the sea—give meaning to what we’ve missed. . . that and the beam of the Assateague light cutting through night clouds.