Summer Colors

I'm working again with heads (about 4" high) but this time I'm focusing on color. Right now I'm liking purple, chartreuse, cinnamon and black.  We'll see how far I can go with those colors. This head needs a little more work, maybe just a clear matte glaze but then again I might just accidentally screw him up. Oh well.

Our friend, Maria, has a knack for growing anything, regardless of the weather. She brought us the okra and yellow cherry/pear tomatoes. I cooked them with some onion, and red cherry tomatos and then tossed them with chili butter and capellini. And bacon. Of course.

Bottoms Up

I was digging around in the back of some shelves and found this mug I made a long time ago, back when I was just starting in ceramics and thought making mugs was a cool thing to do. The shape isn't bad and the blue glaze is interesting. However, gripping a handle that looks like an alligator's tail is not exactly what I want to do with my morning cup of coffee. Not to mention the fact that the glaze job is pretty pathetic on the inside. And I had to ego-trip my intitial on the bottom, prompting Susan to say it would be my job to wash it anytime I used it. It has become a give-away to my green-thumb friend, Maria, who will plant something little in it.

We did get a blast of rain last week but it wasn't enough to keep us from having our drought alert and burn-bans extended through all of July. That means no more raku firings for me unless we get a heavy-duty load of rain and the burn-ban is lifted. I don't know what this bush is, but every summer it comes back to our front courtyard-- it seems to like the heat.

How Hot Is It?

It's hot. I don't obsessively check the thermometer anymore but I can tell you yesterday was Day 16 in a row of days where we've gone over 100 degrees. For the record, today is the first day of Summer. It's gonna be fun...

How hot is it?

I now know that a seat belt makes a pretty good branding iron.

How hot is it?

I can drive with only 2 fingers on the steering wheel.

How hot is it?
The best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.
(always my best move)
How hot is it?
I'm doing minimal yard work at dawn and I start sweating before the sun actually comes up.
See photo above for my suffering plants that I have been watering, but we are also in drought conditions so I can only water twice a week.
How hot is it?
My biggest fear while riding my bike is "What if I fall and get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death?"
How hot is it?
I now know that asphalt has a liquid state.

Little Guy Gone

 This little guy, about 7" tall, was sold at the Student Art Sale ($20) and I really liked him. I think I need to make more like him.

These small cups, about 2" high each, sold for $3 each. I was experimenting with getting a crackle glaze and was pretty successful. I wasn't as pleased with the black accents but I'm going to work on that in the future.  I still like making small cups as my "test tiles."

Our friend, Maria, can grow anything. Not only are these roses beautiful, they had an incredible strong rose aroma that you never find in the ones in the store.This summer we will be the lucky recipients of okra, beans, tomatoes and loads of different kinds of herbs.

Lucinda Hutson's Garden

Today I ran an errand and took a back street I'd never been on before. I saw a woman working in her front yard garden and was so impressed by the garden and her house that I stopped.  Her garden was fantastic and so was her house, so I took some pictures. She was very friendly and chatted with me about her garden and even gave me some plants for my yard.

When I got home I started to tell this to Susan and said "Her name is Lucinda...."
Susan: "Wait. I bet I know who she is, she's Lucinda Hutson and she's a famous cookbook author."

How in the hell does Susan know all this stuff? The day my wife stops amazing me with the bits of surprising or unusual or obscure or miniscule or arcane information she has retained will be the day I stop breathing.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from her yard and colorful house.  I hope you'll check out her website for lots more information, and not just because she wrote a Tequila cookbook.

To make this art related, here is a picture of some pieces that are going to be fired soon.  The largest is about 5" tall, most are about 2-3" tall.  Three different kinds of clay and 5 different glazes.  We'll see.....

Fire Ants

A little-known fact about me: I am a certified Elementary Education teacher.  Part of knowing how to teach kids involves knowing what they will eat. Or won't eat. Here's a recipe I can make that they will eat:

Make some celery chunks.

Push peanut butter into the groove.

Put raisins on top of the peanut butter.

---->  Ants on a Log

But, Ants on a Log are what sissies up north have. Down here in Texas we do it differently:

Make some celery chunks.
Push peanut butter into the groove.
Put red hots on top of the peanut butter.

-----> Fire Ants on a Log

The ants that live in the Northeast (and maybe the Northwest) are wimps.  Fire Ants are voracious and if you've ever absently-mindedly stood still too long near one of their mounds you will learn a painful lesson. They are not Red Ants, they are Fire Ants, because their bite burns like hell.

The Fire Ants are larger-than-life sculptures at our Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, a part of a special exhibit of the Texas Sculptor Society.  The statue to the left in the top picture is life-size so that should give you an idea of the size of these sculptures.  If Fire Ants were actually this large I'd use a bazooka on them. And no one would live in Texas.

Getting near their mound isn't the only way to be attacked.  If you've just stood still too long on the sidewalk, they'll find you. They have an organized attack plan in which they swarm up your leg and wait until they have a full regiment in action, then they all start biting at once.  Mean little suckers.

Pink Stuff

Earlier this month Seth had us all doing Buried Treasure and my entry referenced the fact that pink and girly stuff just didn't fit into my Scheme of Things. I got Comments and emails where everyone told me it was OK to not "do pink", in fact a lot of women told me they didn't "do pink" at all.

Confession time:

Sometimes I do pink.

Specifically, I have pink African Violets.

Susan won't even touch them and rolls her eyes everytime I start watering or trimming them. Then she'll say, "Please, please, don't tell anyone I know that you keep African Violets. Those are Granny plants!"

I have one pink, one purple, and one white plant. I've actually had five but I've given two away in the last year. They love me! I have abandoned them for over 28 days while on vacation and (much to Susan's dismay) they were still alive when I got home. They have survived my over and under watering, my attempt to feed them compost (that made lots of gnats!) and erratic air conditioning and heat. I may have to give them names.

Spring Has Sprung

If you live in the Northeast (New York City and Washington DC) the pictures above probably look familiar -- they represent what blooms for you in the spring. In Texas we have the usual wildflower explosion of bluebonnets and Indian Paintbrush along the highways, thanks to Lady Bird Johnson.

Here in Austin at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center we tour their gardens to spot the kinds of plants that will be more permanent if we plant them in our yard. Our yard is mostly rocky soil, there is a lot of shade, and we don't water. That means everything has to be a survivor of "tough love".

We waved goodbye to Spring this week as we ran our air-conditioner for the first time this year. In Texas we have 4 seasons - Winter lasts for 3 months, Spring lasts for 2 weeks, Fall lasts for 2 weeks, and Summer goes on FOREVER.

PodMen From My Turtle Pond

These PodMen should look familiar to you, you've seen them before. But now you get a chance to see the pods at the Turtle Pond where I collect them once they fall on the ground. You can actually buy pods like these at Michaels but I refuse to pay money for something I can pick up off the ground. I'm currently working on another PodMan.

My Turtle Pond

On Sundays my bike ride often takes me to the Turtle Pond on the University campus. It's sort of hidden away behind the Main Building and next to an old greenhouse. This is where I visit my turtle friends (they are shy and not too good at shooting the bull so we get along fine) and collect dried-up plant pods. At 8 o'clock on a Sunday morning I usually have the Pond to myself, especially when there was a football game the night before.

It's been a very long, hot summer this year and we're still considered to be in an "exceptional drought" condition, even though we finally got rain last week. The video below is definitely music to our ears and sounds much like the $39 white noise sound machine Susan bought.

Even the cactus plants are happy to have had some rain.

Washington DC - A Sad Reflection

We were getting our pictures read for our next few posts, pictures taken in Washington, DC, when we heard sad news. Once again. People shot because someone had a gun, an opinion, hatred, and no conscience.

We'd never seen ruffled tulips before. From the number of tourists taking pictures of these flowers (in April) I would guess we weren't the only ones. They were planted in flower beds right outside the Smithsonian Castle.

On Wednesday the tourists saw police, felt a lurch of fear, heard sirens and never even saw the beautiful gardens of the Smithsonian.

Singing Tonsils

My sister-in-law, Linda, took this picture of a Trumpet Vine. She likes to call it "The Singing Tonsils Vine". Spring has sprung all over Texas and, thanks to Lady Bird Johnson, we have beautiful wildflowers along all our highways.

Falling Leaves

I know you people up North will find this hard to believe but here in Texas we get to rake leaves TWICE every year. This picture was taken yesterday, not last fall when the other trees dropped their leaves. Our live oak trees like to drop their leaves in the spring which means Susan grits her teeth for at least a week straight while everyone and their brother uses those damned piercing-whine power blowers to move their leaves around. She hates the noise they make and is quite, quite, very quite ... cranky while it is going on all over the neighborhood. We use an old fashioned springy rake: Screech, screech, screech as we rake leaves.

The picture above was taken with Susan's new camera. We are sort of at a dead-lock on that new blogging book she gave me. I've offered to learn all about how to use her new camera in exchange for her doing all the photo work (Photoshop Elements 2.0) and blogging for me. I'm just pretending The Book hasn't been sitting there on the table, untouched. She's just pretending I'm going to start getting on the computer once in a while. And she's starting to talk about a new version of Elements. In the meantime, she fiddled with the color on the picture.

The Soldiers

I was visiting with my friend Jim at the Amtrak station and Susan wandered off down the railroad tracks where she spotted these pieces. They just looked so human-like with their big eyes that she had to have them. When we took this picture Peppy was with them but he's been moved to a different area now because The Soldiers thought he was not Reg (probably the earrings and not having pants on).

That's a firebush plant blooming in the background. This picture is from last weekend, and, believe it or not, the drought has ended and we now have RAIN!!! The farmers and ranchers are crossing their fingers it keeps up a little longer as we need a lot to make up for being in the category "Extreme Drought Conditions".

Call Me Mr. Green Jeans

My Panda plant needed some attention. The tall picture is after I cut leaves off for transplant, the close-up is one I transplanted this summer. Transplant? Propagate? Clone? Multiply? Breed? Whatever.

The pots are raku clay with a raku firing technique to give them that metallic glow. Raku is a tricky process involving fireproof gloves and tongs and and coordination and serendipity to produce distinctive results. I like the effects I got but I don't plan on doing any more raku in the future, as right now I'm more interested in the shapes and the sculptural part of working with clay.

Mr. Green Jeans? Here's a hint: Captain Kangaroo. Unfortunately, most of you are probably too young to have seen him.

So You Think You've Got Enough Stuff?

One of my instructors has been Sharon Smith (work shown above). Sharon is the person who gave me the Carrion plant, not because it was a sly stinky plant, but because she knew it would be weirdly beautiful when it bloomed.

Maybe you think you have enough Stuff to make art with but I can promise you that Sharon has more. Lots more. And she's makes her Stuff her art environment. On her website click first on the option "Studio", which she has subtitled "The Real Smithsonian", and you'll get an idea of the real impact of her house and yard.

Yes, I've been in her house. No, it isn't as amazing as the pictures make it seem -- it's even more amazing and wilder and crazier and brain-exploding creative than you can ever imagine.

What Was It? The Rest of the Story

Revisiting my strange plant. The first picture below was taken October 9, the second on October 12. It finally bloomed on October 14. Just for the record, the flower smells like rotten meat and attracted a lot of flies. Anybody know what this is?