Tile Table -- in work -- simple shapes

Has taken a while to get this out of the kiln...and a piece missing now..so another delay!  But, proceeding.   Concept sketch below. About 24" x 48" in tile..a bit more when I make the wooden sides.

Moon

Looked more yellow and clear than how it is captured here with iPad.  Info on when to look said Sunday at 3:23, and this was close.  But the full moon tomorrow is also said to be biggest/closest since 1948....ha...see the difference?!  In real eye life it was more yellow and brilliant...but never mind the date, looking at the moon is special every day, and likely not enough sunset or moon watching going on overall.

Chalk designs -- guest artist

 As a neighbor so nicely said -- nothing improves a road more than chalk drawings from a kid.
Guest artist.  Hopscotch cognizant..yippee!

Construction Process -- Playing with Idea

 Friend gave me a seed of project -- paint collaboratively.  Turn out the canvases were foam core board.  So, I thought of 3D construction rather than "painting." Drew in notability...since not much of a sketcher, and eye used to screen images, played in Notability.

Then mapped it out dimension-wise, and converted those to back of board.
Primed the board, to find when it dried that the primer cause warping because had only done one side...pull with pull back.  My structure has little openings here and there because of this (well, some b/c of this, some b/c my cuts not always exact). The collaboration part is my commission for David's painting on side of building.   :)

Anyhow...this was a lark for an hour or so, but reminded me of the process of making. I was constructing this inside the shop part of his garage...tools, peg boards, etc. Reminded me so much of childhood views. First off -- of all those years of watching my father construct art in his studio -- so much of it created in his heart and mind first, and via his hands "free form ," but also the measuring part...there were parts that needed to be put together with exactness. All that subtle viewing of a kid...seeing it being made.   Then, all those years watching Susan's Dad work in his shop or on something by the lake. Then, watching David do process on physical projects -- working together on benches, watching him tackle some home project.

I thought how lucky I had been to be exposed to all this -- watching people make something with their hands and minds. I've know how lucky I have been to have these people in my life, but I begin to think of what may not be as prevalent today -- beyond having the fortune of having a father as an artist, those other parts of my watching -- the repair or creation of utilitarian things rather than the buying of things.  As we know, so much seems nowadays easier to re-buy than fix. May the view of making by hands be available to all those who would benefit.  Tech/computer creation and re-buying works for many and does of course teach a different kind of building, but doing it yourself works the mind and hands in different ways.

Boooooo

To be braided...with ensemble below to render as scary doll.

Hand Made Stencil used on Ceramics

Took a paper cut design and applied to clay -- then put under glaze over the design element.  Fired. 

Ceramic Crown

Not yet fired or bejeweled...but in the works.  It is not butter....it's clay! Oh, that should not become the official title...as I am morphing two memories into one....it was Imperial margarine, not Parkay...so my rhyme fun short circuited.

My inspiration came from celebration of King Charles IV 700th birthday -- a few exhibits, and "king" touches around recent travels.  They seem to really like him there..he worked to create systems of in the lands he ruled to foster peace, supported the arts, brought new ideas, etc.  He was the decendent  of two Saints, so that seemed to give him a "leg up" too in terms of fondness.    One exhibit had a coat he wore, with descriptive saying that the then Pope or some "authoritative" figure of his reign said that is was too tight and unseemly for a King to wear.  Charles IV had had an "outside" culture exposure life prior to assuming the reign -- and he thought the coat just fine.  The cultural impact of clothing....I suppose there are many many books on that.  I wonder how it would be if we all wore crowns? Hard to take a hike with I suppose..and of course, Sneetch story line to ensue.