Bon Apetit

I tried to work out Christopher Robin in my head and I failed. Damn!
This statue is based on a dream Penny told me about yesterday. I've sold about fifteen skeletons and Day of the Dead is coming up so maybe I should stick with them for awhile(or until I get bored)
I finished reading "Oryx and Crake" by Margaret Atwood yesterday. It presents a disturbingly creepy vision of the future. I really liked it.
Back to work

Edward Bear

I'm considering making a Christopher Robin statue.Disney owns the rights but they never use this long haired Christopher Robin. I remember reading the obituaries in '96 and commenting that Christopher Robin had died. This upset Molly, who didn't know that he'd been alive to begin with.
Winnie the Pooh was my introduction to great literature. I was seven. I loved the books and the E.H. Shepard illustrations so much that I've never seen any of the Disney cartoons.
This is a photo of Christopher Robin Milne and these are his stuffed animals that the stories were based on. The animals are in the New York Library.
I just ordered Milne's autobiography from Amazon.com. I read that he wasn't crazy about being a character in a book.

OMG! Fairy is Loose

I'm working on a green fairy, the symbol for absinthe. I sold one last year. I also tasted absinthe this year. The stuff I had tasted a lot like ouzo, heavy on the anise.Licorice flavor is not on my favorites list.
I've been unable to take a decent picture of my chihuahua statue and I'm not sure if I like it any more.
Here's a pet peeve-using the word loose instead of lose. I saw it twice this week. Once in a column and once in an ad(loose the weight!)Ick

Unreal Dogs

It's a doggy week. Jim played in a small town called Faribault MN twice on Saturday so I had time to kill. There was a large antique store right downtown. It was packed with great stuff that I would never buy. Well, except for this jar with a Scottie on top. Couldn't resist. Someone asked me if I ever make Chihuahuas.I never have so I'm giving it a try.

Pet Peeve

Well I had a failure on my last statue so I'm trying again. So far, so good.It's called "Pet Peeve". Molly thought the first one looked like a Wallace and Gromit dog. Heaven forbid!
Saw" District 9" and the ending was enough to make a girl cry.
Saw "Julie&Julia". Meryl Streep is a goddess.

Late Summer

I'm working on Holly Golightly. I'm not sure if I'll keep her. Lately things that should be easy are hard. Go figure.
When I need a break I go out back and see what my bird feeder has attracted. This is a not very good picture of a chipmunk in my feeder. There's no way I can get anywhere close to them. Their movements remind me of a strobe light. Cutest things,ever.
Last week a hawk collided with my kitchen window. I don't know if he was going for his reflection or my plastic flamingos. He recovered fast. Maybe he was embarrassed.I wouldn't think of animals getting embarrassed except, years ago, I had an Airedale and he thought a life sized ceramic dog in the vet's waiting room was real until he touched his nose. His embarrassment was obvious. I felt bad about laughing at him but the memory still makes me smile.

Audrey and Flowers

Today we went to a local farmer's market. Have to take advantage of tomatoes in season. I bought these flowers because they are just beautiful and we are having a party tomorrow. I have a bit of partyphobia. Should have them more often to get over it. The band will come over and practice and eat. A lot of my favorite people will b e here.
I suppose I won't sculpt until Monday. I want to make Holly Golightly as a calavera. I've been putting it off because you can see that the scarf on her hat is sheer and hangs to her shoulder. It would be too fragile to sculpt. No fabric is sheer enough to fill the job. I'll just have to skip that part(artistic license!)I always get too particular, anyway. A lot of sculpting in clay has to conform to rules,like,is this just too damn fragile? One of my pieces had a part break off in the mail. I was mortified. I add more packing now and try to make them not so vulnerable to breakage.
One of my very,very favorite people got married this week, Tontie. I love her and wish her all the best.

Glamour Girl

I'm working on a little beauty contestant. What a strange pastime for mothers and daughters! It seems that the only ones who think it's normal are the participants.They are like a cross between dog shows and playing with Barbies. Weirder than the competitions are the portraits taken of the girls that are in vogue. Every trace of humanity is airbrushed out, leaving a picture that looks more like a doll-a creepy corpselike doll. Look them up. You'll see some of them if you google toddlers and tiaras under images. I'll fill the statue's torso full of texture and sparkly things. You can't have too much glitz on their costumes.
I'm sending Owen & Mzee off today. One of my favorites. I looked them up and Owen got too big and they went their separate ways.

August 9th

Molly's feeling better today.
Whoops! She's gone.
I'm thinking about"Night of the Lepus".

Red Phone

Molly had surgery on Tuesday so I've been busy being her nurse. She must have recovered nicely because she disappeared last night.
I'm making a red telephone. They symbolize hotlines and Batman. They are like rotary phones without a dial. Making something symmetrical in clay is a challenge. It won't be perfectly symmetrical because that way lies madness.
Jamie, you are sweet.

Hamlet & Harvey

I'm working on a Hamlet calavera. Heck, I could just go through plays and movies and make skeletons of them.
Spielberg is remaking "Harvey". I absolutely hate that idea. I don't think Spielberg knows how to be funny. Everyone in the original movie cast was perfect. Maybe next they'll remake Casablanca.

Severus & the Robots

Cassidy moved more stuff out today. I just couldn't bear to part with these robots so he left them here. Robots in toy stores today are too musclebound for my taste. I've lugged these through three states. I'll hang on to them awhile longer.He insisted on taking a bust of an alien from the basement that I had made for one of his cds. It's unfired stoneware. You know, dried mud. I don't like it any more but I guess it's out of my way.
I made a Snape statue. He looks more like a doll than a statue to me. We'll see.