Something Different

Something a bit different for me . . . think I’ll make a whole family of them.

Ox of the Day – beautiful pottery fired in oxidation

Altered Vessel with Collared Rim by Mary Fox. Mary used orange terra sigillata and crawl glazes on this super piece which was multi fired in oxidation. You can see more of her work at www.maryfoxpottery.ca.

Last Teapot of the Year

A new teapot by me.

Helen Frankenthaler (1928-2011)

Helen Frankenthaler died yesterday at 83 years old. During her lifetime, she did what few others could – she made it as a serious painter in the boy’s club that was the art world of mid-century America. She used lots of unprimed canvas. Put it on the floor. Mixed oil paint and turp in a bucket. Poured it on the canvas. If it still needed work, she found a housepainter’s brush – the bigger the better. Here are a few of her many paintings.

Backwards 1961

Parisian Garden 1965

Sesame 1970

Flirt 1995

 

New Work

A new coil built pitcher by me

Ox of the Day – Beautiful Pottery Fired in Oxidation

This great porcelain jar by Shadow May of Chatanooga, Tennessee is 12 inches tall and was fired to cone 6 in oxidation.

Faceted Jar by Shadow May

Being Helpful

Practice has been described by a Tibetan teacher as the wearing out of an old pair of shoes. Wearing the soles thin. Wearing through ego and delusion. You may approach Zen thinking that you are going to become enlightened, become a great teacher and have fantastic powers that people will respect. Doing the practice, you come to realize that you don’t give a damn whether people respect you or not. You really don’t want to be a great teacher. What you want is to be helpful. To be of assistance – a benevolent entity.
- Kobutsu, Buddhist priest and worker with death row inmates, in an interview with Heron Dance Magazine

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Inspiration

“My inspiration comes from the understanding that everything actually matters.”

~ Helene Ruiz

Masks II by Helene Ruiz, 2006

You are Already Naked . . .

Steve Jobs

 

 

Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

~ Steve Jobs, Stanford commencement address, 2005

Ox of the Day – beautiful pottery fired in oxidation

This jar by Ryan Greenheck of Philadelphia is high-fire porcelain fired in an electric kiln. Absolutely gorgeous.