Day 19 of the Golden Coffee Cup: M. C. Escher

Today we get a big artistic high five from the wonderful M. C. Escher.


Hand with Reflecting Sphere * M. C. Escher, 1935 * Lithograph, 31.8 × 21.3 cm

The 'flat shape' irritates me - I feel as if I were shouting to my figures, 'You are too fictitious for me; you just lie there static and frozen together; do something, come out of there and show me what you are capable of!' So I make them come out of the plane. - M.C. Escher

If your work is irritating you and you're shouting at it, there is an easy RX. Your work lacks drama. It lack peaks and lows. It lacks dimensionality. Let your work speak to you. Let your characters speak to you. My characters tell me stuff all the time. I've learned to love the irritation -- being uncomfortable and unsettled. These feelings lead me to my greatest discoveries every time. They indicate a break-through is coming.

So Golden Coffee Cuppers, look at your work. Have you created a flat shape, a work that is static and frozen? If you have, stretch and reach. What are you capable of?

And another quote from Maurits Cornelis: Here’s a deep truth a lot of success is about the magic of tenacity and perseverance. Work every day and don’t worry if it’s not always your best. If you are working consistently that is the better than the best.

Keep working! Snap! Snap! Snap!

One more Golden Coffee Cupper, Katherine Grace Bond. Katherine is a author, poet and teacher. I've read her YA book that is currently making the rounds, and I will say this about it: I stayed up all night reading - riveting stuff. I love books that make me give up sleep. So three cheers for Katherine! Hurrah! Huzzah! Hooray! I hope she is flying toward her goal.

One last thing... on the 30th of this month there is going to be a real life party, Golden Coffee Cuppers. Holly Cupala has a plan:

"Another idea that has captured my imagination and fueled the fire of my goal-reaching is an upcoming party to celebrate the Golden Coffee Cup, NANOWRIMO, and any other writing or illustration goals made and/or accomplished during the month of November, kind of like kidlit drink night except more like NANO-Cup-O-Cake-A-Drink-Lit Night on November 30th. "

So if you want to come together with some wonderful creative folks, mark the date. More info is coming soon.