the last two weeks

It's a rainy Sunday afternoon and I've been sipping multiple cups of Bija Deep Cleanse tea (my caffeine buster).  Feeling more contemplative than motivated ... looking back on a productive and very social week following our near perfect trip to St. Augustine of the week before. 

Turns out we didn't take any pictures on our trip ... we chose to flow through our days and not try to document them.  There was the 6am decision to take a 2 1/2 hour detour to avoid driving into the teeth of a tropical storm.  Turned out to be only 1 1/2 hours and well worth it - only a short stretch of heavy rain and wind.

There were breakfasts at the beach followed by long beach walks. 

We had an inspiring afternoon at a wonderful used book store, Anastasia Books.  Chatting at length with the owner, Sandra Parks, a 7th generation St. Augustine local and wife of the late Stetson Kennedy.  Stetson was a contemporary and good friend of Woody Guthrie, marched with Martin Luther King, infiltrated the KKK and lord knows what else. Dave, the librarian, Civil Rights history guy,  Woody Guthrie fan and generally well read spouse, was about to bust when Sandra offered a guided tour of Stetson's archive.  We loaded into her car and tooled over to her house for an amazing look into the world of this extraordinary man.  Dave pretty much floated through the rest of the day!

We dined with good friends, Joe Mark (my older brother Gene's best friend) that I've known since I was 13 and his sweet wife of almost 40 years, Patty.  Spaghetti and good wine watching the sun set over the salt marsh, mullet jumping, great blue herons and wood storks flying overhead, egrets coming home to roost in trees across the marsh.  Joe and Gene pretty much saved my life when I was a horribly depressed teenager.  They would take turns on weekends and make the drive from Gainesville to Tallahassee to take me to galleries and concerts, giving me something to relate to and celebrate.  That Tuesday evening I finally, fully choked up and borderline sobbing, got to thank Joe for his role as guardian angel.  That by itself made the trip worthwhile.

We swam in the cool, salty ocean, walked for miles, drove around and through ocean hammocks and ate wonderful meals.  Another great meal was with our PT friend, Deedra, now living in St. Pete Beach.  We felt very honored that she made the 3 1/2 hour drive up to St. Augustine.  Deedra snapped this shot of me getting ready to dive into my first raw foods experience at Present Moment Cafe.  It was amazing! 

   
After a glorious trip, we got home on Saturday and it was time to get back to work on one more wholesale order ...

I was pleased the gallery requested a discontinued piece, my ladder bracelet ... I do love this piece!

If you happen to be in Yosemite Valley, head over to the Ansel Adams Gallery and see the new work. 

This past week was particularly social - 3 dates with friends ... hours spent chatting and catching up, tea drinking and yummy lunches, studio strolls and gemstone identification.  Probably a record for me.  Unfortunately, I have a hard time socializing and getting anything else done, so I just rolled with it and enjoyed the downtime.

Now I'm gazing around my studio.  Small things make me smile ... one of my milk crates filled with silk and linen and favorite books.

 
I'm trying to just drop in on this new book and not get totally lost ...

Oh, but the week ahead ... I'm very much looking forward to the week ahead.  Nothing on my calendar.  My sketches and research materials for expanding my Talismans lay ready and waiting.

Before hunkering back down for a while, I wanted to share one more thing.  I've been wanting to write down my own credo or manifesto or operation manual.  There's a slew of them out there and I've been thinking it would be helpful as I move forward through what continues to feel like a time of major transformation.  Yesterday a few things came to me.  In no particular order, here's what seems important right now.

Give freely

Stand proudly in the authentic ME

Create with abandon

Honor my past ... it is what made me who I am today

Celebrate the awareness of repeating life patterns.  That awareness is a gift and holds the opportunity to finally heal and move on.

Okay, so that's what I've got for now.

with boundless gratitude and heartfelt blessings ...

l i g a - kvk

a mindful step

In between setting up computers and working on orders, I've been planning the further adventures of my Talismans and Reliquaries.  It's always interesting to me the timing of how things unfold.  I thought for sure I'd have the whole concept and design and supporting details for my Talismans all nailed down long before now.  But everything moves at the appropriate pace and I'm very much okay with that.

Last week I made a couple of non-specific Reliquaries ... non-specific in that I want to use these as samples.  The idea all along has been to design a series of forms and surface images/symbols - I think I've got 5 different shapes and the imagery is still being developed.  A person will select a shape and symbols and their own intention or prayer that I'll write on onionskin paper and fire within the piece.  I'll still be doing finished pieces, but these custom pieces are a vital piece of the concept.

Here's the front and back of two sample Amphoras and one Heart ...

What hit me a couple of nights ago is the potential emotional challenges this project presents.  Remember, I'm pretty close to being a hermit.  Between our work and Dave's school, we have no social life, which is really okay with us.  I have a very few close friends, avoid crowds and big events.  I guess that's a pretty common blogging profile. 

But the responsibility of what I'm taking on started to register after reading a couple of intensely moving blogs and some comments from followers.  I live an incredibly blessed albeit incredibly sheltered existence.  We are not suffering financially, we are extremely healthy, we live simply with virtually no drama.  What I'm realizing as I move forward with this project ... my intention is that I will be engaging with people from many walks of life, with varying circumstances, that I am stepping straight out of my very secure comfort zone.

Such a blessed awareness now, to step ever more mindfully forward, to engage and embrace the unfolding.

l i g a - kvk

further designing adventures

In between a bit of deck sanding ... I ended up sort of wimping out - I'm just not as acclimated to the heat as Dave is ... and weekend chores, I got some work done in the studio.  I think I'm finished with the Angel Wing pendant. 

I decided to nix the gemstones and beads, but still wanted to do multiple strands of something.  Hillary suggested multiple chains like I used in the Repetition Sapphires necklace.  I agreed and felt like some of it needed to be silver but still liked the look and idea of the linen - I don't know, angels and raw linen just seem to go together.  I decided to go in that direction with a twist - literally.  Here are the components I decided to use ...

I've got two different sizes of sterling links and two different sizes of linen cord.  I did kind of a random threading of the linen through the links so it is more securely integrated.  I added a 9" double strand of the smaller link chain with the same linen treatment at the base of the 36" larger link chain.  I waxed a lighter weight linen to wrap and secure the three chains together.  I used the same waxed linen to secure the linen cord at the clasp.  I'm really liking the mix.  See what you think ......

I'm going to continue working with this component and think it will be an excellent addition to the KVK Luxe collection.  But for now, the finished piece which I'm planning to list on Etsy in the next day or so ....

I've also been continuing to work on the Talisman Elements series and have finally decided on a big big component.  I've been trying to come up with a blessing that would be sort of all encompassing, that would work on any of the necklaces and, by jove, I think I've finally got it ... Love, Infinite Grace, Abundance.  Written on silk with a mustard seed tucked inside, the intention is to, "have faith and know that you are always surrounded by love, infinite grace and abundance."  I can use the initials LIGA as well.  This came to me yesterday.  I've googled the word combination and the initials and haven't found any conflicting sources or weird associations.  So, I've already put my new blessing into action.  Here's four new necklaces from the Medallions collection awaiting the final touch ...

  

The ribbon is vintage French silk that Nina gave me years ago.  I've dyed it a dark mossy brown; the blessing is written with a sharpie, the mustard seed is tucked inside, then the ribbon blessing is wrapped around the chain and secured with a wrap of waxed copper silk thread.   I do love waxing the threads, probably because the block of beeswax I use is an antique - it belonged to my grandfather from his days as a shoe repairman.  One of the things I love about this ribbon is one side dyes lighter than the other, so even though it's hidden within, the blessing shows up nicely.  The finished wraps ...

I'll be listing these on Etsy as well along with individual medallions and Talilsman Elements.  The idea is that as we grow and evolve, as our needs and inspirations change, our Talismans can change with us.  Also, I'll be making more of the little pinch bowls to use as a home for the Elements.  

Hmmmmm, looks like I've got a lot to do.  And of course a girl needs a cool beverage to refresh her on these screaming hot days.  My new favorite concoction for the summer - Hibiscus Ginger tea with mint and lime - oh my ....... so very yummy.  I started with two kinds of herbal tea - there's my favorite color combination again - ruby and ochre.

Add a few drops of stevia to sweeten it up.  Smush some fresh mint and squeeze some lime in the bottom of a glass, add gobs of ice et voila, a sugar and caffeine free glass of summer dee-light.

DEE-licious!!!

Well, like I was saying - this girl's got lots to do ...

So for now - LIGA ... love, infinite grace and abundance - kvk

no cigar but lots of potential

I've got a bunch of new additions to the Talisman Elements series, but first I thought it'd be fun to share the evolution of a one-off design ...

It started here - a fragment of an angel wing shell from St Augustine.  I made an impression of it in polymer clay and then used a big piece of my sterling silver metal clay to make the pendant.  I tried to make it fairly thin to test the strength of the sterling - I'm happy to report, it's very strong.  I love that the pendant hangs kind of off kilter.  Plus it's very ... well all I can think of is that it's very wabi-sabi.

So I've got the pendant, next I started gathering potential elements.  I've got gemstone nuggets - rutilated quartz, then the amber and citrine from Andrew, a few ochre trade beads, my stash of Basha beads, unbleached linen to make into cord, hand cut and dyed silk ribbon, silk thread, oh and some big honkin bronze pearls.

I worked on the layout and how many strands of linen cord and tried different stones with different hole sizes - I wasn't in the mood to drill any stones or pearls - and pondered closures and lengths and ended up here ... 

close, but no cigar ...

It's just not quite there.  Don't get me wrong, there are elements I like, but overall, it's just not done.

For instance, I do like the closure, I like it off center and the loose ends with the linen wraps - it reminds me of Zoe Keating's hair!  BTW, been listening to her CD's non-stop - so so so very excellent.

And I like the trade bead and rutilated quartz nugget together on the linen cord ...

But the jumbo citrine nugget doesn't hang quite right and overpowers the pendant and the rest of the piece.  I do like the little stack of copper and silver spacers.

I'm also not sure about the linen cord.  I've been thinking about grouping linen cord into something for days ... just not sure this is the best application.  So, this piece is still very much a work in progress.  I'm going to take it all apart and start over.  I'll keep you posted with my progress.

But I also wanted to show you my latest additions to the Talisman Elements series.  The overall concept is finally starting to come together.  I got all inspired to do some carving in polymer clay, which lead to the idea for the Medallions.  I've got a chalice, a crown, a compass, a portal and a spiral.  I also made a couple of unicorn-looking horns.  Then there's the reproduction of the little eastern European vintage cross I bought from Cool Vintage on Etsy - really love everything in that shop! 

Also, I've really hesitated about the use of text, but decided to dig out the rubber stamp sheets I had made way back in my ArtFest days of early 2003.  So some of the medallions have ready made messages stamped into the back and some have individually stamped words.  

I am pretty excited about all my new Medallions.  

Oh, there was one more piece from my sterling silver firing - Eros ... another stamp from my long-ago rubber stamp making days. Pretty sure  he's destined for another one-off piece, but that remains to be seen.

So that's where I am right now.  I'm probably not going to get anything else done in my studio this holiday weekend.  Dave and I have this idea we're going to re-stain the deck, which means taking everything off the deck - like those bloody huge, fully soaked flower pots of mine and all the other not so heavy stuff, a bit of sanding and then painting.  WOO HOO - Boy howdy do we know how to party!

I guess that's it for now.  I hope everyone has a wonderful, fun and ever so safe holiday weekend.

blessings - kvk

biscuits and sourdough

Well, I'm caught up with my to-do list.  This is not to say I have nothing to do - lord mercy, far from that.  But the main thing that's on my plate and that I've been dying to get back to work on, is the expansion of my Talismans.

But here lies my conundrum and challenge ...
This body of work, Talismans for Fellow Travellers (TFFT), is going to be transformative for me and my business.  It must be developed over time, mindfully, from a heightened awareness, details evolving not thrown together.  Thing is, this is not how I've ever worked.  I'm kind of a design on the fly girl - which is one of the reasons I love metal clay so much ... it allows me to conceive a design and create it while still firmly in the grips of what could be a fleeting inspiration.  Sometimes ideas flow so fast I can't get them down in my sketchbook.  More often than not, I go straight to my worktable and let the ideas flow straight from my imagination through my hands and into the metal clay.

Where I am right now reminds me of something from an Abraham session I attended years ago, something to the effect of, when you've got ideas forming or a project in development, stay with it and follow it to it's full potential, don't release it to the world until it's really ready to go - like baking biscuits ... as excited as you may be to dive into those warm, crusty little delights and slather them with butter and honey, don't take them out of the oven until they're really done or you will be seriously disappointed, "you'll cook your biscuits into a squat."  You know I love visuals and this is a great one.

The biscuit analogy has gotten me to slow down my TFFT plans.  I'm thinking this project is more like the process of making good sourdough bread - it takes time for the starter to develop followed by the careful blending of all the ingredients/elements as they come together into a delicious, richly flavored final product ... and whatever you do, don't take it out of the oven until it's fully done.

For the last few days I've been going to Colette Baron-Reid's website and 'pulling' a card from her on-line oracle deck ... they're really good!  This is what I got this morning ...

So whether it's biscuits or sourdough, it seems best to take a lot of deep breaths, slow down and proceed with clear intention, fully engaged and awake, not planning every detail so I remain open for the arrival of the miracles that are sure to come.

I found out about Colette through a bit of synchronicity that's leading to more and more little bits.  I'm reading her new book, The Map, which has me so enthralled I can barely get to sleep at night.  I'm thinking I may have to stop reading it before bed 'cause I just get so excited about the coming chapters.  I have a very strong feeling that her work is going to be hugely influential in developing my Talismans and so I just ordered both sets of oracle cards and another book about the power of oracles called Messages From Spirit.

Basically, I'm just following my gaze and my intuition and enjoying the ride.
And regarding enjoying the ride ... I'm heading over to Nashville on Wednesday for a couple of days to help my brother do some space clearing.  More time to ponder and let my 'TFFT starter' develop.

A much more inspiring stewing than the annoying blogger stew from the last few days.

ta ta for now......
blessings - kvk

p.s.  not being able to let well enough alone, I went back to Colette's site and pulled another card - okay, I'll behave now ...

Jackie O's pearls + new jewels

I'm always on the lookout or listening for bits and pieces and clues for ideas and inspiration.  Include in that keeping my radar tuned for potential nice things I can do for someone else.  Nice things, little things, things that are easy and joyful for me, but could have great meaning for another.  Making jewelry is a small thing for me.  It's what I do, it's what I thrive on.  In the last couple of weeks, in between working on wholesale orders, I've had the opportunity to do some custom pieces.  A rare thing for me as I am usually quite hesitant to take on special requests.  All I can say is, I must be loosening up in my middle age.

The most recent one just went out in the mail.  It wasn't a special order, but one of my radar picks.  A recent conversation with my older sister gleaned the tidbit that she is obsessed with Jackie O's three strand pearl necklace.  Of course I remember seeing the necklace and there's been lots of 'first lady pearls' in the news thanks to Michelle O's stunning assortment of contemporary interpretations, bringing the pearl necklace to a whole new audience ... I especially love the Tom Binns pieces.  But my sister said the Jackie O version.  And I thought, "hey, I can do that!  The gem show's coming up and I'll do a bit of research and see what I pull off."

So yesterday I headed to Franklin for the gem show with my miniscule shopping list, perused and shopped for a couple of hours, found the exact pearls I was hoping for and headed home.  I had already made the 'bling' piece for the three strand closure.  Jackie's was emerald and gold, mine is pmc, white topaz and sapphires - close, sort of.  Since I got home early, I set to work right away and, well, see what you think.  Here's the clasp ...

And the full necklace.  The shortest strand is 17", graduating to 19" ...

There's something enormously satisfying about knotting perfectly graduated strands of pearls.  This is in the mail today ... I'm hoping a nice little surprise for my sister.  Unless she reads this, which I'm thinking is not likely, I don't know, we'll see.

Then there was the Talisman style necklace for a friend ...

I don't normally do text in pieces - there's just so much out there, it's hard to do anything different.  But a friend had asked if I might be able to do something with her word choices plus a couple other elements and I figured I'd give it a shot.  The other unusual thing here - the text nuggets are sterling silver pmc.  Yep!  My first batch of mixed and fired pmc3 mixed with pmc Pro.  My letter stamps were kind of big so I wanted to use the sterling for the additional shrinkage.  There will be more sterling silver goodies to come - hopefully later this month.

And then I got to make a special order version of one of my favorite new pieces.  This one is for the woman who cuts my hair, I guess that would be hair stylist, but the stylie part only lasts until I wash it.  I'm not known for fancy hairstyles or fancy product usage.  Anyway, she's buying this for a birthday present to herself.  

And lastly, this wasn't a special order, but it's a piece you may recognize.  I made this component a while back - channel set tunduru sapphires in a bar of pmc.  I originally planned to attach it to leather, then changed my mind, then decided to list the component on Etsy, it got several 'hearts' but didn't sell.  Then one day my eye caught a zip-loc bag full of bits of chain - a tiny rolo link that I've had for years.  I've always loved this chain and seeing it in a pile I finally figured out what to do with that little sapphire bar.  I'll be re-listing the finished piece on Etsy first of the week. 

Silver prices have been all over the place in the last couple of weeks and took a nose-dive in the last few days.  Normally I price things based on replacement costs, but because I've had this chain for a while and there's a lot of it in this piece, I'm going to price it at the old chain price.  Yeah, I'm softening up. 

And new jewels! 

Like I was saying, I didn't really need much of anything, but I'm always on the lookout for new and intriguing jewels.  Lately I've been obsessed with hammered gemstone nuggets - really rough, chiseled looking facets.  They're pretty hard to find, but they are out there.  Some on Etsy, a few on some gemstone sites.  I saw very little of this sort of thing yesterday, but did find a few strands to play around with.

I love the warmth of this quartz.  So much of it looked plastic and glaring and garish.  This strand was perfect.

I had to get two strands of this green amethyst - looks like green ice don't you think?

A bit of a splurge, but this gemstone is so so so hard to resist ... this not quite so chiseled moss aquamarine.  A bit more refined, but still rough enough for my plans.

And this was my big splurge, golden rutilated quartz ... $50 for a really short strand, 5 bucks a nugget - oof!  Thing is, I saw it first thing in the morning and kept thinking about it the whole time I was there, so I knew I better succumb or regret it later.  It's just so raw and I know it's going to look amazing with some big chunky something to be designed sometime soon.

All in all, a good trip and a good couple of days and, come to think of it, a good couple of weeks.  

I can't wait to see where these new jewels inspire me to go next.  That's the whole point, discovery and exploration and innovation and the delicious unknown.

Onward.

Blessings - kvk

reliquaries of hopes, dreams and intentions

That's kind of a mouthful, but that's what they are ... the newest addition to my Talismans For Fellow Travellers collection.  I can't remember now when I started thinking about the concept, it's all kind of a blur - but here goes ..........

Hollow forms in pmc - be it an amphora, lentil, rectangle, cube, cylinder - enscribed with symbols or text or glyphs.  Ahhhh, but within the form lies the magic.  Written with graphite on onionskin paper ... a prayer, a name, a hope, a dream or an intention is rolled up and inserted in a cavity in the cork clay core.  The cork clay core is fully enclosed, sealing the prayer, the intention, the hopes and dreams.  When fired, the cores burn up, embedding the essence of the well intended fragment within the metal clay.

The idea for my reliquaries came from one of my favorite programs of all time - the National Geographic special, the Living Treasures of Japan.  One of the Living Treasures is a maker of enormous and exquisite bronze temple bells.  Surrounding the enormous cauldron, parishioners, priests and patrons drop prayers written on copper foil and thin pieces of paper into the molten bronze, forever a part of the finished work.

I've got four prototypes that I'm listing on Etsy ...

The Forgiveness Reliquary, has OM on one side and the Adinkra symbol for "by God's Grace' on the reverse.

The message that went inside, "I forgive myself and am released from all regrets."

 This amphora, representing the body and life force,  is a Reliquary of Hope - a stamp representing the spine and chakras on one side, the spiral of life on the reverse.  

The message inside, "That which you are seeking is within you."

... and this one is another Reliquary of Intention for Transformation.  Three words are stamped into the sides, "Portal, Gate, Transformation".  See and acknowledge the Portal, walk through the Gate, experience the Transformation.  The message inside, "Leap and the net will appear."

And the last of the prototypes is another Reliquary of Intention - the spiral of life on one side, OM on the reverse.  The message inside, "honor your vision, follow your bliss."

When I nail down the shapes I want to use, I'll be doing custom made Reliquaries.  The most important aspect will be the personalized messages and intentions.  I'm still mulling over the logistics for this part ... the easiest approach would be to email me the message and I write it on the paper.  A slower version would be the client writes their intention on lightweight xerox paper and mails it to me.  An even slower version would be I mail onionskin and then it gets inscribed and mailed back.

I like the aesthetics of the graphite on onionskin paper, but am wondering if clients may want to have their messages be private and known only to them.  Any opinions or feedback are welcome.

Well, it's getting too late for me to be on the computer and expect to fall asleep any time soon.  So I bid you goodnight and sweet dreams.

celestial blessings - kvk   

audacious

 ... that's the word that came to me during this morning's mediation and my word for the day.  So I'm rolling it over in my mind, looking up the definition, seeing how it feels.

au-da-cious / [aw-dey-shuhs] / adjective

1.extremely bold or daring; recklessly brave; fearless

2.extremely original; without restriction to prior ideas; highly inventive

3.recklessly bold in defiance of convention, propriety, law, or the like; insolent; brazen

4.lively; unrestrained

I'm rather liking #2 and #4.  Audacious, maybe it should be my word for awhile, maybe I should make it my mantra.  

I have enormous admiration for people and work that I consider audacious, what I perceive to be the underlying confidence and strength.  There's that Geothe quote ...   "Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." ... that I should staple to my forehead.  It's so much easier to be tentative, cautious, safe.  Suffice it to say, I do not consider myself audacious ... not yet.  For years I've said what I want to be when I grow up is eccentric.  Now I'm thinking that being audaciously eccentric would be even more better ... or is that redundant?  I don't know, whatever it is, it's not plain, it's not safe, it's not the status quo.

I've always been one to ease into the cold water,  tiptoe out to the end of the diving board and peek over.  Daily, I'm pushing myself towards the precipice for I know deep down ('cause I've experienced it many times), that when I leap the net will indeed appear ... it always has and it always will.  This is my grail quest but it's not a fairy tale or a purely abstract concept.  It's quite real ... I can almost touch it, very nearly taste it.  It's that itchy skin thing again.  My skin's been feeling very small lately.  Surely it's the force of nature, spring growth and rebirth, renewal and upward momentum.

The bud bursts forth in an explosion of audacious color and texture.  Actually, that should be about me ... my new work burst forth in an explosion of audacious color and texture.  Oohh, I rather like that as well.

As for new work, I've just bisque fired some prototypes of the vessels that will accompany the Talismans For Fellow Travelers Elements series.  The texture is very much there, color will come as a wash of mason stains (I haven't taken the time to mix up clay and stain for the inlays).  These little cylinders were built with clay thrown on the concrete slab in my yard - I think these stained will be lovely.  The front cylinder is about 2" across and 1 1/4" deep.  Not sure what I'll be lashing through the holes, maybe a leather cover, maybe decorative doodahs, maybe ... oh I'll just have to see what hits me.

  

And the full assortment of test pieces.  I just can't resist little pinch pot bowls - the largest is about 3" across.  They're quite thin and very light.  Next will be taller and more slender cylinders that will have stoppers - to hold the finished Talismans.

But it's time to get back to the wholesale orders and put experimentation aside for a couple of days.  This will be me, the audacious and delightfully eccentric artist going back to work. 

blessings - kvk

p.s.  blogger is doing something annoying with my spacing.  I did not write one huge paragraph - it wasn't me, really, it's the bloody program.
Ah well, not the end of the world, just accept my apologies for the block o'text.  I'll try to fix it later.

p.p.s.  so I centered the text ... maybe that's not so hard on the eyes ... sheesh

new bag of tricks + spring!

I would say I've got a couple of tricks up my sleeve, but today I don't have any ... sleeves!  Sweet relief - zorries and no sleeves and linen, all the windows open and puttering in the front flower bed.  I know I'm probably pressing my luck and it's probably way too early to be doing this, but I couldn't help myself.
Yesterdays project - 15 bucks at the nursery and a couple of hours later ...

 

Notice my shadow?  Yep, that's from this thing called the sun that's very warm and very bright.

And then I cleared out the insulating layer of leaves in the front beds and discovered the bee balm has been very busy.  This little corner is going to be amazing and me and the hummingbirds will be in heaven.

It's such a relief when the flowering quince starts to bloom and, when leaving the windows open at night I can hear the spring peepers.  Do you love peepers?  I love peepers.  How could anyone not love peepers?

Ah, yes, but that aforementioned bag of tricks ... what might that be, what would be hiding up my sleeve if I was wearing sleeves?

Well, the plan is, I'll be combining these bags ...

with this lovely and ginormous slab of concrete in my yard ...

... throwing small slabs of white earthenware on the concrete to make small vessels and shallow pots then inlay colored clay designs accented with metal clay slip - no glaze.  The intention for this work - vessels to hold components from the forthcoming Talismans For Fellow Travelers - Elements.  I have been thinking about the concept of building your own talismans for months and I'm very much in the middle of figuring it all out, but it feels like the missing pieces are finally falling into place.  So, I'll be keeping you posted as the concept progresses.

But right this very second, I am so excited to get my hands into this fresh bag of earthenware clay ... pinch pots and slab pots ... did you know you could 'throw' slabs of clay ... probably one of my favorite things to do with clay.  This is where the slab of concrete comes in.  Way back when, in the amazing little pottery studio at Whatcom Community College on Bellingham Bay, Washington - we'd 'throw' slabs on the concrete floors.  It's very meditative and enormously satisfying and the slabs have a beautiful organic quality - so much better than chucking them onto the big ol' boring slab roller.  And, yep, it was Elephant Ceramics that got me all inspired and I can't wait to see what happens.

Okay, must play with clay now.
with much gratitude and great joy ...
blessings - kvk