Amulet for Peace

Let's make a bullet into something beautiful and take away its destructive ability. When I was at ArtUnraveled I took Melissa Manley's Amulet for Peace class and my effort (almost finished) is shown above.  This is what Melissa's piece looked like:

An old friend, Jeanie Thorn, wound up sitting next to me in class. I always like going back to ArtUnraveled and connecting with other artists and crafters and just relaxing and making stuff.

Susan speaks: He has waaaaay too much fun. Sometimes I watch him interact with other people and I wonder "Who IS this person?"

Big and Important and Naked

One of us is big. One of us is naked. One of us is important. Your choice.

I love going to Washington DC and seeing Ron Mueck's Big Man at the Guggenheim.

Late edit:  Oops. It's at the Hirshhorn Museum. One of us is confused. Your choice.

My New Tattoo

Yep, that's my bald head.  The blog has been ignored lately because we've been in Phoenix at ArtUnraveled and had waaaaay too much fun. One night there was a big gathering to celebrate the 10th anniversary of ArtUnraveled and Crafty Chica gave people free tattoos.

Ok, it's only temporary. Why on my head? It need to be a place where there is little or no hair and that eliminated my chest and I wasn't going to drop my pants for a whale tail tattoo.



Living at Woodchuck means a lot of us don't have much hair and a lot of other people have white hair. At ArtUnraveled your hair (and this is her real hair)  is just an extension of your artistic ability.

Little Dude Checking In

This little Dude went to live in Toronto, Canada, via the Queen of England, formerly known as Martha, who sent me this picture of him asking "Huh???" Isn't she stunning!?! (The Queen, not the Dude.)

To think that she owns one of my Dudes! Actually, she might have stuffed a second one in that handbag.

Losing my studio space and not taking a class this summer has lead to a dry spell for Dudes. The few that are left are getting lonely but the school kilns won't start up for about another month. So in the meantime I'm continuing to work on maps.



Planned Chaos

This ceramic piece went to a new home during our estate sale. The metal pieces in the center were just dropped in, sort of like a steampunk bride's bouquet.  The shaping of the ceramic piece was inspired by a great sculptor named Ruth Duckworth.  The glazing didn't come out the way I wanted so Susan told me to throw some paint on it.

Back then I hadn't learned a lot about ceramics and how it was supposed to be done so I did what she suggested.  As I learned more about ceramics and took more classes I stopped doing that because ceramic pieces were "supposed" to be glazed.  I'm now in the process of trying to un-learn what is "supposed" to be done and am planning on going back to more pieces where I do just what I want to do to make it look the way I like - old and worn and covered with patina and stories to tell.

Speaking of stories to tell... Here at Woodchuck Manor we are all "of a certain age". That means we are all O-L-D. Bet  you thought old people in retirement centers sat around in rocking chairs just staring off into space, didn't you? Wrong! We have 24 apartments on the 4th floor and we know how to party. It's BYOB (bring your own booze) and BYOC (bring your own chair) and we meet in the lobby by our elevator about twice a month.  I'd tell you who all these people are but I think some might be in the Witness Protection Program so we'll move on past that.  At the very end of the video a very shady character is insisting on knowing what is in the blue bottle and for your information, it was white wine.

The Pulse of Mixed Media

Lost Childhood: Galveston, 1900

In 1900 a horrible hurricane tore across Galveston Island, Texas. On the west side of Galveston, at 69th Street on the seawall, was St. Mary's Orphanage, established by Catholic Sisters of Charity. The two dormitories were home to 93 children and 10 nuns.

As the winds increased and the water began to surge over the seawall, the nuns gathered the children around and led them up to the second floor of the girls' dormitory. They all heard the crash of the boys' dormitory as it collapsed and was carried away by the flood waters.

Each nun took clothesline rope and used it to tie between six to eight of the youngest children to themselves, hoping to protect them. Three of the oldest boys climbed onto the roof of the orphanage.

The death and destruction in Galveston was unbelievable. More than 8,000 died and their bodies were littered throughout the city. All 10 nuns and 90 children died in the storm. The sisters were buried wherever they were found, each with the children still tied to them.

Today, where St. Mary's orphanage once stood, there is a Walmart.

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I made this piece in 2010 and Seth Apter chose to include it in his book, The Pulse of Mixed Media. Seth is an extremely talented artist and I appreciate greatly his generosity in letting me share my art with you.