>I spent New Year’s Day in the studio. What better way to anticipate a great year of making art than to work in the studio?

I never forget what a luxury it is to have separate studio space. Some of my work is done in a home studio, but it’s not the same as having a studio in a separate location. Mine is especially nice because it’s in Ilene and Scott’s backyard — where there seems to be an endless supply of beer in the fridge, coffee in the pot and friendship all around — not necessarily in that order.

So I spent the day throwing pots. Sometimes I get surprised looks: you’re a potter too? I’m a firm believer that an artist should have more than one medium, but I do not claim to be a clay artist. Sure, I can throw a passable pot. You can drink from my cups, serve from my bowls and even pour tea from my teapots (OK — those ARE hard to do!) But I throw more to stretch my ideas beyond the flat two- dimensions I normally work in. Since I do this for a living, I don’t want my work to get stale or my art to become drudgery. It still has to mean something! And it has to evolve.

Besides, I love playing in the dirt!

It was after one of my recent throwing sessions I thought about some images I made last summer — those I had rejected. After looking at them from a perspective of a different medium, Hidden emerged. It’s the first new work for 2008. This image is all about perspective. The rocks loom larger than expected. Are those boulders or pebbles in the foreground? Where did that mountainous rock come from? Where is the sun that the sky could be lit from such an angle? Or is the rock just a stepping stone?

Hidden projects my primary resolution for the new year: to challenge the expected perspective and look from different angles.