Angels wear long white robes
August 29, 2009
The girl with angel wings cried, silent, fat tears that slipped down her cheeks and splashed on her pretty pink dress. She trudged just past me, plopped down on a bench and sighed.
I’d stopped by the library this evening to quickly drop off some books, but the light had gone all golden-hot and slanting against the fountain in the courtyard. So I slid my returns into the book drop and sat by the fountain to watch the sun set. I’d been there about ten minutes when my forlorn angel appeared, closely followed by her parents.
Off to see the wizard
August 29, 2009
Quick note–Saw my cousins Robyn and Jeff off yesterday; they’re heading back to war-torn places to seek out terrorists and other nasties. Usually when my friends head to a new job, the biggest danger is losing the job, not life and limb, which may have something to do with why I keep singing “Go Ye Heroes” (Gilbert & Sullivan, go look up the lyrics). It’s slightly unsettling.
The Sandman gets nasty…
August 26, 2009
Just gotta share (and thanks to Jerilyn Marler for sharing the link on Facebook)…
BoingBoing is definitely on my top 100 favorite sites list; it’s kind of a hangout for nerds, or anyone who worships at the feet of Rube Goldberg. BoingBoing posted a video of a rock-the-baby-to-sleep system involving a CD, Linux script and a piece of string.
Presto! Change-o!
August 25, 2009
Wanna see what I’m dazzling the neighbors with? Watch:
[Read more]
Skutt pulls the thorn (kiln update)
August 24, 2009
It makes sense, but I’m having trouble believing it: My kiln failed because I left the garage door open.
As you might have read, Skooby-my-Skutt bathtub kiln died right at the start of an important pate de verre firing last Saturday. Since I’d bought him a brand new controller not four months ago, I was pretty unhappy about it, and left a flurry of HELP messages with Skutt.
The kiln in my side
August 23, 2009
OK, that should be “thorn,” but “kiln” feels more appropriate. It’s apparently time for my annual summer kiln failure and Skooby-the-Skutt has obliged.
Loaded seven molds brimming with glass–six small relief sculptures and a block of color/texture samples for a client, all of them with different (and carefully calibrated) face coat mixes for testing–into my Skutt GM1414 with its almost-brand-new controller. I programmed a combo schedule (for soda-lime AND Gaffer lead crystal, which adds about 12 hours to the schedule but actually dovetails pretty well), and went into Castuary.*
Blueberries’ end
August 22, 2009
Well, that’s the last of the blueberries.
Last Wednesday night I stripped all but the last few dozen berries off the bushes in back; I left those for the birds. It was kinda sad, even though I got two months of delicious, fresh-for-the-pickin’ blueberries and shouldn’t really complain. [Read more]
Guzzler’s Gin in a glass
August 19, 2009
Bombay Sapphire’s opened up voting for the 2009 edition of its designer glass competition. If you vote for your favorite, you have a chance to win a copy of their new book detailing the history of the competition and its winners, which ought to be an interesting read.
Of course, I’d rather win the glass, but one can’t have everything, can one? 
Studio peek (slideshow)
August 17, 2009
Got a LOT accomplished last week, thanks to a Laurel & Hardy moment which canceled a bunch of appointments and left me housebound. Took advantage of it and finished a bunch of mastermolds, fired a kilnload of color samples, all kindsa stuff. –happy sigh– I just love checking a bunch of stuff off my list, even if I have to do it sitting on a heating pad…
Still hunting for that elusive perfect investment mix, the one that holds detail beautifully, lasts through the entire firing and then lifts off a VERY clean casting in a single piece so I have almost no coldworking to do. Have achieved it twice now…and both times were (naturally) the times I was too busy to actually document what I was mixing up. Drat.
Time for some serious testing.
The answer is… (part II of that gripping story I mentioned)
August 16, 2009
Ready for the answer? What is this?
It’s wax. More specifically, it’s victory brown wax that’s been steamed out of a plaster/silica mold. This particular mass was about two feet across and maybe a foot high.
Kinda makes me think of stalagmites–you know, the goofy accretions that form in caves. Opposite of stalactites (which I learned to distinguish at a tender age because I was fascinated with my Mom’s explanation: “StalacTITEs are tight against the ceiling, but stalagMITES might get up there some day”).
Get it?
Anyway, I prepped my steamer for another mold cleanout, and decided to first get rid of the wax already in my steam system (a modified wallpaper steamer, barbecue grill and two big galvanized washtubs–never say I can’t improvise). Picked up the tub, headed for the trashcan, and the whole wax blob came out in one piece.
It looked kinda interesting, so I set it on my sculpting stand in the driveway, grabbed the camera and got the shots you see here. Then I noticed that I’d attracted an audience: My neighbor Steve and his little daughter and son, out for a walk. He waved absentmindedly but was clearly fascinated by the wax.
I made some desultory comment about the weather and they approached, never taking their eyes off the wax. “Rick [my next-door neighbor] told us you were a sculptor and we’ve all been wondering what you do in here. Is this your work?”he asked.
“Uhm, in a manner of speaking. It’s really…”
“Wow,” he interrupted, mesmerized by wax. He tilted his head sideways to get a better look. “So…do they call this abstract art? It’s really…interesting. I mean, I like it, but I don’t know that I understand it.”
“I think it looks like dog poopie, Daddy,” said his son, judiciously. “Brandon!” his dad warned, but Brandon’s five and has very definite opinions, apparently, on art.
I couldn’t help it–I howled with laughter. And in between chuckles, I explained what the stuff really was. I had a couple of real sculptures handy, so I showed them and explained the process.
“Whew,” said Steve, “I was trying to find a nice way to tell you not to quit your dayjob. I kind of agreed with Brandon but I didn’t want to say it. This other stuff, though, this is nice. You could quit your dayjob over this,” and Brandon nodded solemnly.
So right now I’m feeling some artistic validation. But it’s also gotten me to thinking: Next time I’m rejected by a jury, I’ll clean out the wax tub, stick it on a stand and send it in.
I’ll call it “Dog Poopie #9.”