Six Degrees of...

No it's not about Kevin Bacon this time.

What happened here at my public reception on Wednesday could be called 'Six Degrees of Matt Nolen'….

Looking through my portfolio on a table in the Tin Shop studio, a visitor spotted Matt's work in a reprint of the Ceramics Monthly article about the show that I had helped to curate at the South Shore Art Center in Cohasset, MA.: 'Fragments and Elements: Art as Architectural Ornamentation'.

It turns out that this visitor from the Breckenridge area, had spent some time in NYC working for my former studio-mate, Matt Nolen! (At the time that Iris was there, I had recently left the Flatiron Clay Studio, and was doing my studio work in Hingham, MA, while doing all of my teaching in NYC.)

Matt's work was included in the Cohasset exhibition and also when the show travelled to the gallery at the Boston Architectural Center. His piece was one of those featured in the Ceramics monthly article. Of course, she recognized it. This led to several moments of singing Matt's praises. And laughing that perhaps in the ceramics world, there actually could be a game called 'Six Degrees of Matt Nolen'. Indeed, there would be many players…

And I am reminded that in spite of what seems to be an extreme contrast of the hustle-and-bustle of my New York City life compared to the idyllic nature of my time here as artist-in-residence, there is an 'interconnectedness'.