Chinese Alter Fruit

After I posted the miniature porcelain veggies, I ran across a reference to antique Chinese porcelain alter fruit on a decorating blog.

The collection pictured on the desk is from the blog www.cotedetexas.blogspot.com.

This is a whole new ceramic form and tradition to me. Evidently, these small fruit are highly sought after and are very pricey.

On another site is pictured a miniature alter complete with miniature fruit and other food from the Ming period.

I can see their influence in the 1950s - 1960s glass fruit and carved monkey pod wooden fruit that was so popular then. And even in the blown glass fruit forms still being produced today.

Saga of the Safari Chairs, Reprise

You may remember this post from May 20, 2008:

These are our chairs. They come from Pakistan, manufactured in Pershawa around 1970 by a man named M. Hayat. They are made of leather, rosewood and have brass fittings. The chairs totally disassemble and can be transported in canvas bags.

I just received a note from a lady who is repairing one of these and she was asking about the seat lacing.

The seats are one rectangle of black buffalo hide perforated with eyelets at the ends.

The ends are placed over the rounded front and back pieces and curled around to the bottom, then laced with heavy cotton cord. If you didn't get the cord, check with fabric supply stores in the drapery department. Cotton is the only cord that will work for these chairs, anything else is either too stretchy or too stiff. Take the seat with you to check if it will thread right--the cotton should be well twisted.

The first part of the cording is threaded through the first front eyelet and knotted to secure the end. The cords run from front to back through the alternating eyelets just as if you were threading one shoelace into a shoe. They don't cross over; it's just a straight run in a zig-zag.

There should be a little slack on the lacing so that there will not be too much strain on the eyelet holes.

Depending on how long the rope is, when you have laced all the eyelet holes, the end looped over and under across the back lacings and tied off. It's always better to have a little slack or extra rope at the end, just in case you need it.

I once got a chair that had the seat put on the wrong way--the leather looped over the square side supports. The eyelets couldn't take it and some of them ripped.

Good luck with the repair and keep me posted!

Cheers, Jeanette

Veggie Porcelain

Just playing around with left over pieces of clay, I made these little pill/needles cases that can double as Christmas tree ornaments.

It's fun to try new ideas like this.

Each piece is about 2 inches long: A bunch of celery, carrots and beets and a single asparagus spear.

They are hand molded, hollowed out and a tiny cork is glued in to make a stopper.

They are glazed with a clear glaze and an application or layers of liquid stain thinned with water to make the finish look like watercolor.

I worked from light to dark, layering color over the last after it dried. I couldn't get a vivid red for the beets, so I used fingernail polish just as you would use a lacquer--after all, that's really what it is.

Maybe I should think of making fruit and vegetable whistles?

Look What we Found in the Walls

It is detailed instructions about what to do in a gas attack in 1943. I suppose it needed to be posted during construction of the house.

Clicking and enlarging the jpeg will make it readable.

Also, there is a reference to a 'sealed room' that people were to retreat to and seal themselves into in the event of a gas attack.

And noted at the bottom, evidently you could buy war bombardment insurance.

Three antique thumb tacks held it in place. I remember seeing this style in the drawer of my Dad's desk when I was very young. They were a simple disk with a triangular punch-out that had been bent at a 45 degree angle to make the point of the thumbtack. An elegant design.

Look what we found. A beautiful ceiling!

If I haven't mentioned it before, we're doing two, count 'em, two kitchen renovations. One in WA and one in AZ.

The Washington one was planned; the Arizona one, not.

The Washington kitchen was charming, but old, decrepit and worn out.

The Arizona one was a whole-house disaster caused by a broken reverse osmosis water system that flooded the house. All the walls had to have the drywall removed, the framework treated for mold and the carpets ripped up. Built-in cabinets de-laminated and had to be removed. Thankfully, we have a very good insurance company that is replacing and repairing all the damage, but we are of necessity doing kitchens in stereo.

Anyway,

We're down to the studs in Washington. And when the ceiling got ripped out this Friday, look what we found!

A Great set of rafters. Unfortunately, we won't be able to raise the ceiling to the apex of the roof--support beams will have to be added and it will flatten the top somewhat, but hey, anything's better than it was before.

We also found a pristine wood floor under the top layers of parquet flooring and linoleum.

Inspiration

I ran across this on the web the other day.

It really hit my eye.

At first glance, I thought, "Round picture frame."

It is not that, but my mind went spinning into design mode and I saw this wonderful charger with a plain center and a highly decorated curved rim.

It is a form I've done before experimentally, a large plate with a curved down rim. But I have not made one with the plain center and ornate rim.

I'm clipping this as a springboard to tack up on the wall of the studio. A reminder of the next project, perhaps.

Now the full story--

It's an antique silver Japanese incense jar. The first photo was an overhead shot showing the bottom and rim of the piece.

Not a bad form either.

On the whole, Japanese silver is underrated and under priced. Only recently has it come into it's own as valuable pieces.

Same goes for Mexican silver. The quality is high in silver content in both productions, but until the value of silver began to go up, the work had little attention except for affectionados.

Virtuosity

An artist who paints, makes sculpture, weaves and makes jewelry is confusing to the world of commerce. Even though there are people who do all these things. It almost seems you must have a certain amount of fame before 'permission' to do multi-level work.

Let's face it. Artists are a unique breed. We see things differently. We have a different attitude toward work and our own interpretation of it.

Look at the work of Bennet Bean. Instantly identifiable. Once his work hit the main stream and the gallery world, everybody wants to have one of his sculptured and painted ceramic pieces. Debate raged about how to classify it. Is it sculpture? Is it painting? Is it 'really' pottery? (Who cares?-----me.) It's art. It's beautiful. That's enough for me.

But that's not the end of the story. Did you know he designs Tibetan rugs too? And jewelry? And knives? And he paints? I'm in awe of this man.

Take a look at bennettbean.com.

I have seen some of his knives and they are a thing of absolute and breath-taking beauty.

Renovation Revolution

Coffee and Dog Food are now available in the guest bathroom,

dinner will be served in the Living Room,

and the laundry room is the new multi-purpose room.

The kitchen renovation has begun!

P.S. Wonder if you can make a ceramic gong? I've made a bell before; it could work.

So Simple

How beautiful.

Featured artist at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Portland OR, Jason Russell's work is the essence of distilled form married with beautifully simple design.

His is the kind of work that makes you think, "Wow, I wish I had thought of that."

Definitely reminds me of Danish ceramics.

More on

http://www.designsponge.com/2011/08/jason-russell-ceramics.

and

http://www.jasonrussellceramics.com/gallery.html#

Flying Dreams

According to one source:

"Flying dreams fall under a category of dreams known as lucid dreams. Lucid dreams occur when you become aware that you are dreaming. Many dreamers describe the ability to fly in their dreams as an exhilarating, joyful, and liberating experience.

If you are flying with ease and are enjoying the scene and landscape below, then it suggests that you are on top of a situation. You have risen above something. It may also mean that you have gained a new and different perspective on things. Flying dreams and the ability to control your flight is representative of your own personal sense of power."

Well

That's encouraging.

Last night in my dreams, I was in a space-age airport. I watched a conversation between a uniformed pilot and a stewardess and decided to collect my luggage, which was wicker, and get my car so I could drive to a ferry and head home. My luggage disintegrated before I could pick it up. (So now, I have no baggage??)

I was in a hurry so I decided to fly. I levitated as soon as I left the terminal and floated near the treetops toward a security gate of hurricane fencing. People were pointing to me, but I didn't care, I was making really good time. All of a sudden, a reporter began running on the ground trying to ask me questions.

"How are you doing that?" he asked.

"I make a counter force against gravity; it's very simple." I said. "But I have to concentrate to maintain it."

"Who are you and have you been doing this long?" he asked.

"I won't tell you my name. I've been doing this since I was a child." I answered.

Meanwhile the gate guard begins running around in circles like a bug, worried I will cross the gate without identification. I know I have the right pass, but ignore him anyway and proceed to float across the area where the gate is.

"Will you tell the secret of how you can do this?" the reporter asks.

"Yes, I'm going to do a college seminar soon on how this works." I said.

I woke up feeling absolutely wonderful, exhilarated and well-rested.

The reference article ends with:

In reality, we cannot really fly, of course. Thus, such dreams can be representative of things that are beyond your physical limitations. In your mind, you can be anybody and do anything. Another way of interpreting flying dreams is that these dreams symbolize your strong mind and will. You feel undefeatable and that nobody can tell you what you cannot do and accomplish. Such dreams are sure to leave you with a great sense of freedom.

I guess my mind is saying, "Everything is going to be okay."

I'll go with that.