Strategy

Is having some sort of strategy a good thing? I'm not so sure about that! Seems to me that the word implies games and winning. And if it is applied to a life....what a sorry state. Of course, it's nice to feel the winner sometimes, but if life is a game then there must also be losers.

While making this mask, I was definitely thinking of the corporate world (in which I worked for a few years a very long time ago). I consider myself quite fortunate to have escaped! So, does that make me the winner????

Palindrome

I've always enjoyed word games and palindromes. That is what led me to this piece: the challenge of creating a visual palindrome! Actually, this was one of the easier challenges I've given myself and the mask dictated in which direction it wanted to go. The harlequin element had to be included - perhaps to suggest the folly of such an idea, but more likely to emphasize the mirror image. It's hard to say why my subconscious moves one way or the other.

Most of my work begins with this type of challenge. It is then given over to a myriad of subconscious ramblings until my hands finally connect with my brain. Whew.....

Waiting in the Wings

I recently found this idiomatic definition of the title: If someone is waiting in the wings, they are in the background, but nearby, ready to act on short notice. I feel, sometimes, like that is how I spend a lot of my life - ever waiting and ever ready.....but for what!? I wanted this mask to show a little of the apprehention and anxiety that this condition can create.

I hope someday to come out from behind the wings and use them to better purpose.....

Metamorphosis

I've done a number of masks that focus on the idea of metaphysical change. This leads me back to opposites time and time again. And when thinking of opposites, I can't help but feel that it is a circular sort of logic at work in my mind. Thus, colors merge and cause and effect become united.

This is an older piece (from 2002) ... a good one to think about as Winter morphs into Spring and brown turns to green. I sign out today with a quote from Goethe:
"Human life runs its course in the metamorphosis between receiving and giving."

Life is But a Dream

Isn't it? If I were to have a "theme song", this would be it. This simple childhood song plays on a continuous loop in the back of my mind. Occasionally, I'm confused about whether life is the dream or the dream is life. Either way, it's a fine journey!

I purposely left the boat empty of passengers.....there's room for you to get on board if you like.

And so, it's Friday....not much to say about that.

What Goes Around.....

...comes around. This is a concept that usually puts me a bit on edge. I mean, really - haven't most of us done things we're not proud of? It is those "things" that inspired this mask. I spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to get an idea across using the face as a medium. Of course, some of these portrayals are more successful than others and this mask is, perhaps, a little on the obscure side. Without the title, the viewer might just be clueless!



I like the idea of a wind driven existence, but must keep in mind that the wind could change direction at any moment.

A Glazed Look

This is one of my most unusual pieces. What makes it so is that it was fired in the big noborigama (four chambered, climbing, wood-fired kiln) at the Ceramics Institute in Shigaraki, Japan. This kiln is only fired twice a year by a ceramics group from Kyoto. It was an honor to work with the group through the entire process of making, bisque, three day firing and unloading. A ceramics friend from Denmark and I had a midnite to 6am shift stoking the fire (along with the Japanese fire master). It was an experience I will never forget - and I don't think they will either!

When the mask emerged from the kiln, I felt it was finished. That could be the most unusual aspect of the piece since I normally do three or four more firings to build up layers of color and glaze. This is one mask I will never voluntarily part with!