Oliver, The Articulated Man

Oliver is an articulated man who is about 20" tall.  He's named after my next-door neighbor's dog, Oliver, who likes to come visit me when I'm working in my garage.

For the record, here on Day 29 Susan has faithfully filled up bag #29 with Stuff. This time it was a lot of beat-up old kitchen stuff. Do we really need 3 sets of measuring cups? The frightening thing is that she's promised me once she finishes her Day 30 with bag #30 she is going to start up with a new set of 30 bags in my garage workshop. Help!!!

30-30

I didn't know what they were. Did you? Answer at the end of this post.

All this is just Stuff. Stuff I have to have, stuff I've bought from people who probably fished it out of their Grandma's trash can. Stuff I have no idea what to do with but have to have just in case ...

So what is 30-30? It's something to do with Stuff. Grit your teeth and consider this:

You have too much stuff. Too many clothes. 

Too many books (Ackkk!!!).

Too many dishes and kitchen things.

 Too many pencils and pens and old towels and just stuff.

So gather up 30 bags, preferably the small sort you get at the grocery store for vegetables, or those T-shirt bags that everyone hates but they are handy.  Mark them with 30 numbers, beginning with your start date number - for example, if you start today, the first bag is #23, the second #24 and so on, following #31 with #1 as you head into February. You need to have 30 bags for the next 30 days.

Put the bags in a prominent place where you can't ignore them. Each day you pick up the appropriately numbered bag and fill it up with Stuff to either give away, donate, or throw away. For example, on our first day we went through all our miscellaneous junk drawers and put in all the old pens and pencils and highlighters that didn't work. Did we really need 11 pencils in the kitchen drawer?  No, and they didn't fill the sack totally up but that's not the idea. What did happen is that we deliberately took care of eliminating some Stuff. The theory behind the small sack size is that it doesn't seem like such a monumental job to do when it's just one small sack, every day, for 30 days.. If you get to gathering up old clothes to donate you'll probably need a bigger sack but that's OK, it's the action that counts.

Today Susan is filling up the sack with cookbooks she really doesn't use anymore. She's thumbing through them to see if there was one stunning recipe she remembered and she'll make a copy of that. Then the sack goes off to Goodwill.

So is any of the Stuff shown on this post going to go into a 30-30 sack? NOT A CHANCE! These are treasures. Shown above is a very special treasure that was gifted to me by a talented, interesting friend, who now has me thinking about my favorite five (later).

Top picture? Old hair curler rods.

Yippee!

Susan speaks: Don is finally back in school. Yessssss! A quiet house to myself, no one wondering when lunch is, no one asking if the mail has come, no one tracking clay dirt into the house, no one drinking all the coffee in the pot.

Nicho above was sold at the Student Art sale.

Books - REAL Books

We are Book people. Above is what we gave each other for Christmas. Books. What else do you need?



This video is terrific! I reduced the size so you can see it here in the blog but if you go directly to YouTube and search for "Joy of Books" you'll be able to view it larger.

As for the Kindle or Nook... is that something you want to take in the bathroom with you?

Bamboo Pot and Cranky Consumer Complaint #2

This piece is about 14" high and the inside has a crackle glaze. I call it "Bamboo" because it sort of looks like that. I'm not sure if I will make anymore like this or even if I can, but the crackle effect on the inside intrigues me. In the picture below it sort of looks like an elephant leg but trust me, it really does look better than that. The gash in the side lets you have a glimpse of the crackle.

Here's the latest blow to the long-gone concept of "Customer Service":
Vendors keep costs down by using FedEx SmartPost and you think your package is safely in the hands of FedEx.  Wrong!

FedEx passes it over to USPS, as in the United States Postal Service.  You know, the one that is out of money and tells you soon a letter will take several days longer to be delivered. This is not a big deal in other countries but here it is has been thrown out as a solution to the budget problems. What you might not realize it that the USPS has been doing that slow-down already.

Here's proof, shown in our package tracking (below):

1. The order was placed Wednesday, Dec 14.
2. The package shipped FedEx out of Ohio Friday, Dec16.
3. The package arrived in Houston, TX,  about 6 p.m., Sunday, Dec 18.
4. The package left Houston FedEX about 10 p.m., Sunday, Dec 18, to go to the USPS.
5. The package left Houston via USPS for Austin about 9 p.m., Monday, Dec 19.
6. The package arrived in Austin about 9 a.m., Thursday, Dec. 22.
7. The package arrived at my location, directly across the street from the US Post Office, about two hours later.

Here's the interesting part:
FedEx: Time = 60+ hours, distance = 1100+ miles
USPS: Time = 60+ hours, distance = 165 miles

Slow delivery from the USPS? Get used to it.
Think FedEx is better?
Only if you are getting "pure" FedEx, not FedEx SmartPost.
 

Start Your Year Off With Eye Candy

When we were in Washington DC at Thanksgiving we made sure to set aside time to go to the Torpedo Factory. There we were lucky enough to find time to visit with an old friend, Susan Finsen (above). She had moved to a different (better!) space in the Factory and was sharing with a new (to us) artist, Laura Edwards (below). The two women use very different color palettes but their works seem to enhance each other. We had a distinctly enjoyable visit to their space and are in awe of the work they create.  Check out their websites and you'll see what I mean.

Laura really was praying in this picture, she was saying "Please, please let these pictures be hung straight."

Happy New Year!

Let's all make a New Year's toast to consistency!

 And to the infinite wisdom of Snoopy.

Dug Up and Consumer Complaint of the Day

I like these little pots (about 4" high) because they look like they were dug up from an ancient pit. Contrary to what usually happens with my glazing, this was exactly what I hope to accomplish. Sometimes the Kiln Goddess smiles on me.

I tried to sell them at the Student Art Sale but no one was interested in stuff that looked "old".  Including me, I'm sure. One of the nice things about growing old is how invisible you become to most people, which means I don't have to shave everyday.

But growing old does turn you into a Cranky Consumer. Younger people seem to be oblivious to (or have never experienced) the notion of "Customer Service", as in "I want to help you efficiently so you'll appreciate my company/product".

From my Consumer Complaint Department, Consumer Complaint #1
(#1 for now, but there are still more hours left in the day for challengers):

You receive your new credit card to replace the expired one.
You call the number on the card to activate the card.
"Thank you for calling to activate your new card. Please hold while we process your activation."
Then you are forced to listen to 2 minutes (yes, t-w-o) of a disgustingly cheery spiel about some other crud they want to sell you before they finally say "Your card is now activated." Click.
You and I both know they could have activated that card immediately, because that's the way it used to be. Back when I was younger. And less cranky.

Star of Wonder, Star of Night

I had a scrap of clay left over, crunched it up and tossed in in a box. Later on I put some pieces for raku glazing and firing in the box. When I was glazing the "good" pieces I noticed this piece (about 3" high) and since I had some extra glaze, I just slapped it on it. When I did the raku firing I tossed this piece in, just to do something with it.

Sometimes, art happens when you aren't looking for it.

Have a Happy Holiday season.

Map Nichos

These nichos are starting to incorporate some markings that I am beginning to consider as "Map Markings." Susan has always been intrigued by maps and now I'm starting to see the attraction.

The color difference (aside from the photo background) is due to the various types of oxide stains I put on after the bisque firing. The stain is applied all over the entire piece and then wiped back off with a damp rag - a very messy procedure - leaving the resulting stain in the markings and texture of the clay.

Nichos and Bones

These two nichos were sold at my Austin Community College Student Art sale.  I wanted to be sure people noticed the nichos had niches that you could put things in so I included some "bones" pieces. 

Cy Twombly

Cy Twombly said he was "very happy to have the boat motif" in his work, not only for its autobiographical relevance (as a child, he spent his summers with his parents by the sea in Gloucester, Massachusetts) but also because he like the "reference to crossing over" associated with it. In this sculpture (shown at the MOMA), a boat is conjured through a hull-like slab of wood mounted with plaster atop a boxy wooden form.

Every time we go to Houston to visit museums we include the Menil's Cy Twombly Gallery on our list. It is a small building on a quiet street, just a few large rooms containing his magical paintings. The word "magical" is Susan's and she swears that although it might look like scribbling, it is impossible to scribble like that, even if you are 5 years old. Unless you are Cy Twombly.

I'm not that big a fan of his stuff but I did find the boat to be interesting and am thinking of ... boats.... clay..... drippy glaze.... boats.....  We'll see.

Time Warner: Pitcher This

Susan is bouncing off the walls so I picked these pictures all by myself for this blog entry. This is a raku pitcher I made, about 14" high. I liked making it but don't think I'll make any more of them soon because I've got another concept idea in mind. Stay tuned.

Why is Susan bouncing off the walls? Three words: Time Warner Cable.

1) Our online printed bill comes with 4 pages.
Page 1 is the summary of the costs and Page 3 gives the current service pricing.
Any good reason why Page 1 says the billed Standard Cable TV cost is $67.99 but the Listing of Service Prices page says $65.99 would be the cost?  They have no idea but they will "research the issue".

2) Five years ago they started using my Social Security number as a password for account information.
She insisted they stop using that and let her designate a specific password. That worked fine until today when they told her they had no record of any password whatsoever and she'd have to give up my birthdate for account access.

3) She had the nerve to ask what she had to do IF she decided to cancel the cable TV service and just keep the internet service.
There will be a $39.99 charge to do that.
What if she canceled both the TV and the internet service (all the services we have with them), thereby closing out the account?
There will be a $39.99 charge to do that.
Oops.

4) About 5 minutes after she hung up, the phone rang with an automated survey about her "experience" with Time Warner.
She had to answer the various questions by pressing 1 for "Absolutely No" and a number up to 10 for " I Love You" (or something like that).
When they asked a question like "Would you recommend our service?" she would press 1.
Everytime she pressed 1 for a reply, the automated survey would then say "You pressed 1. This means Absolutely No. Are you sure this is correct? Press 1 if yes ...."

The Crab Nicho

Above is the finished Crab Nicho.

But this is the crab nicho before it was fired, you saw it back in September. Once the piece was raku fired it had some nice crackle marks on it but the crab shell just didn't look right. A little paint magic took care of that and it all seemed right.  This nicho went to one of my favorite Kiln Goddesses, Julie.

My blog has been sparse lately because my Blog Wrangler has a bad cold. She's promised she'll get back to work soon. Besides, we've run out of kleenex.

We've Been Busy

The image above is Superwoman, 1973, by Kiki Kogelnik, shown at the National Museum of Women in the Arts. My own personal Superwoman, aka BlogWrangler, is Susan and she's been ignoring the blog lately because:
 a) we went to Washington DC (via Fort Worth and Dallas) for Thanksgiving, and
 b) she was getting me ready for my Austin Community College Student Art Sale tomorrow.

What did we see? Special shows of work by these artists:
Richard Diebenkorn, Jean-Paul Gaultier (ok, not exactly an artist, but very creative), Degas (does he even need a first name?), Andy Warhol and Mel Bochner.

Miles driven (to Dallas and back): 400+
Flights taken (from Dallas to Washington DC and back): 2
Hotels stayed in: 2
Nights at hotels: 7
Number of times we had to ask for a properly maintained room:
1, in Dallas
Number of times Susan chewed up and spit out a Manager because the cleaning service goofed up badly:
1, in Alexandria.
Number of free nights we got because of that: 1
Number of museums visited: 10
Number of art galleries visited: 1 - but it was the Torpedo Factory which has over 80 open studios and galleries.
Number of Belgian Brownies bought and consumed: 4

Once all the dust settles and our suitcases are unpacked and laundry done, the pictures will be sorted out and blogging done.
And....and....and.... I'm keeping up with my email!
All by myself.
Sort of.

A Fiber Friend

Susan has little drawers full of fancy strings and ribbons. She calls them "fibers". Whatever. When I needed to wrap the little ceramic packages she suggested I look in the various drawers. Then she hovered over me, telling me which ones I could use and which ones were "...I'm planning to do something with those...". We all know not to ask details about PIMMs.

PIMMs? Projects in My Mind.

Every year we go together to the International Quilt Festival in Houston, where there are about 600 vendors selling all sorts of good stuff.  I look at the metal doodads and jewelry findings, she looks at fabric and fibers. This year I got to meet a special friend of her, Connie James, The Fiber Goddess and Diva Cord Maker.  Connie and Susan laugh every year about Susan's addiction to buying more fibers but never using them because "If you use them you won't have them to fondle and admire!"

Connie and I bonded immediately because I know about serving in the military in bad times and Connie has a son in Afghanistan. And because I liked her fibers. I promised her I'd make more packages to wrap up with her fibers. Do you visualize Julie Andrews and hear the sound of music in the background, "...brown paper packages tied up with string..."?

Yes, I also looked at a lot of quilts.  We both agreed we were underwhelmed at most we saw but one by Joyce Seagram had great colors and design. You only see a detail portion in the photo because they set the quilts up with big hunks of plastic tape in front of them so no one will touch them and this makes your photos look weird so we just don't take full photos there anymore.

Happy Thanksgiving

Somewhere, there is a turkey gobbler missing his head.

Somewhere there are raku clay bodies that were supposed to fit these heads but didn't. Someday I'll figure the clay shrinkage deal out.

Hope you all have a good Thanksgiving this year.

Matakhan, Afghanistan, photo by Scott Olson

A Big Angry Bird

We both play Angry Birds on our iPhones. I'm struggling at level 3 but Susan is stuck in level 9. She says she's that far ahead because she spends a lot of time playing while she is waiting in lines, on hold and waiting for me.  We would both be a lot farther ahead but someone told us she never moves forward until she gets all 3 stars so we have been intimidated into perfection on Angry Birds. Could our lives be more superficial?

It has rained in Texas - not enough to ease the drought for the farmers and not enough to lift our burn bans but just enough to let us do raku firing in ceramics class.  This is Big Angry Bird. His head lifts off and he is a container of sorts. He stands about 10" high. I wanted to get a defined dark shape (which is the smoke effect) on his front and his back and I feel I was very successful at that. Raku firing is a lot of smoke and crackling of your glaze. The best part about raku firing is that you put it in the raku kiln and you have a finished piece a few hours later, as opposed to a 10-24 hour firing cycle and 6-10 hour cool-down time.

The worst part about raku is that you don't have much control. That's why Big Angry Bird has a dark off-center belly button and a long vertical clay crack right down his side. Damn!

Blippa

Say hello to Blippa, another one of my Little Dudes.

Enough about my art. When we were in New York City we were hit with that huge snowstorm. This shot is inside the Metropolitan Museum, looking up in the atrium where the Robert Lehman collection is.

Another favorite is the Museum of Artsand Design. It used to be the American Craft Museum but ... let's just leave it at this: I craft art.

This piece, Intrinsecus, by Jennifer Trask, was fascinating and even more so when I finally took the time to read the documentation. Maybe you can read some of it if you click on the photo below. Got to start collecting more bones!

A beautiful basket by Lillian Elliott, displayed in front of a window looking out over Columbus Circle.

It wasn't all art. We walked to Bryant Park, watched a performance by synchronized skaters doing a dance thing at the ice rink, watched protestors at nearby bank, browsed at Kinokuyina, a Japanese bookstore (the art supplies are in the basement) and people-watched from the generous collection of chairs in the park while having a coffee break. The obligatory cup of coffee was purchased at Le Pain Quotidien where Susan spotted their Belgian Brownie and insisted on it. The clerk asked, "Just one?" and we said yes, we'd share. She asked, "Are you sure?" Yes, it was a really large brownie.

And oh boy, was it ever good and I'm not even that much of a chocolate fan. While she was eating the first one Susan was moaning so much ("Oh, yum. Good! Sooo good!") I looked around to be sure no one thought I was misbehaving. Fifteen minutes later we were back inside, asking for two more to take back to our hotel for our late night snack. The clerk just laughed at us and gave them to us as a freebie. Thanks, Chris, you helped confirm our belief that some of the friendliest people around are New Yorkers!