Sculpture and Stone Tiles

Seems like folks come in two flavors.

Those who want to park as close to their destination as possible, and those who can't wait to get out of the car and walk. I'm a park and walker because I hate driving. I never know what I'll find once I'm walking. For me, driving requires too much of "Don't look at that or that or that!" for obvious safety reasons.

This small entry way stopped me in my tracks. Ugly building, tiny space with this lovely timeless stone tile entry way. The neutral palette of black / white enlivened by the tan, the tight geometry of rectangles and squares danced because of the irregular hand cut tile. It was like part of a Klee or Klimt drawing and got more lovely the longer I looked at it.

When was it installed? Doesn't matter, it could have been in Pompeii or a brand new Pearl condominium. Timeless simplicity is very hard to achieve. Hats off to the craftsman who did it.

Sculpture and Giant German Puppets

I don't speak or read German, do you?

Without needing translation, what comes through is pure delight when the toys are three times the size of the people. With the shift in scale it's Gulliver's Travels auf Deutsch.

Watch a whole series of videos of these giant puppets on their YouTube site.

Sculpture and Drawing - All children are artists.

"All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he (or she!) grows up." Pablo Picasso

It's so hard to mix children and work.
Both demand your full attention.

I was juggling an illustration deadline and caring for the tiny one. I got her settled in my office, laid out crayons and paper, told- pleaded with her that I could not pay attention to her. as I had an illustration that HAD to be finished. We both worked quietly for half an hour. Then she showed me her drawings.

She had drawn my relief sculpture "Oasis" translating three dimensions into two. Four years old she saw and drew everything important about the work. It gave me goose bumps.

That's my sketch of the relief sculpture ,"Oasis", the bronze sculpture, and her drawing.

Sculpture and little a art

Last night, for homework, the little one read from Dr. Seuss's ABC book. "Big A, little a. What begins with A?"

Art begins with A. There's BIG ART and little art.

Big art is where you sign your name.

Little art is mostly anonymous, where you simply take pleasure in the craft of doing a job well. The concrete removed from the driveway is becoming benches, stairs and rubble behind the retaining wall. I'm using the gravel underlayment of the driveway behind the retaining wall to have clear soil for the new fruit trees.

While digging I remembered my grandfather telling me that when they butchered hogs on the farm, that "we'd use everything but the squeal!" They wasted nothing.

It shocked me at the time because it is such a vivid expression. But it's come to be my definition of little a art. Use whatever material you're working with for maximum efficiency and least wasted material. To make work that lasts. Art with a little a.

Sculpture and Architecture

Sculpture has always been " a handmaid to architecture".
All those marble Greek figures were parts of buildings.

In Portland, Maine, I found these ceramic corbels on the Catherine McAuley Catholic High School. I can identify Shakespeare and Dante. The two women over another entrance? Not a clue. Well a clue, as one is wearing a wimple, perhaps the founder of a the Sisters of Mercy order of nuns? The other woman, Beatrice to balance Dante? Or Shakespear's "Dark Lady"?

It's funny how the sculptor turned the scroll on the men into a mono-bosom on the women.

Beautifully done work on an building from the 1870's.

Sculpture and Jello

Jello is a fascinating material, um "food" when you are 6 years old. All the more fascinating when it isn't on the menu at home. When the little one visits, I help her make a batch and throw it away immediately when she leaves. I may have found another use for it though.

Jello sculpture.

A friend told me about a "JELLO GARDEN" party. They filled up the tub with different colors and shapes of jello, got naked and jumped into the tub. Naughty fun for adults but a perfect for kids. Only I'm gonna do it outside and hose them off when we're done.

More on Spider Silk and Weaving

Photos from the American Museum of Natural History's Flickr site.

If you've been following the story of the hottest textile on the planet, you're jonesing for photos of the weaving process. Here are some photos on Flickr and a link to the American Museum of Natural History's webpage for the Golden Orb Spider Textile. It is so unique it really should have a name.

I can't get over how beautiful the silk is intrinsically. As spun thread or woven textile, it really is golden.