Context ~

Posted on December 30, 2013 by nancywalker

When something is taken out of its context it can sometimes have a better chance of being seen. looked at, re-seen. It’s raw and unimpeded by what we have come to know when we know the big picture. Context gives the part of a whole piece meaning. Once we know and understand it, we cannot not see that smaller part as it stands alone. To look at just a piece of the whole can inspire a re-framing. It’s interesting to observe how we build narrative of our experience.

I can wonder a lot about what this is, I can muse on different perspectives ~ I have questions. Is this a close up or am I looking at something far away, who did this, how did this happen, what am I seeing? And on and on and delightfully on… It gets me wondering and isn’t that the great thing?

I’m going to post several images for you to see and mind-play with. At the bottom of the page I have posted a gallery of where I found each image. See what happens to your stories when you see them in context.

~ It’s just a game ~ Now here they are in context

the questions are more enlivening and engaging ~ don’t you think?

Caught in the Act!

Posted on December 23, 2013 by nancywalker

I went down stairs to my studio to close it up for the night when I spotted a little scurrying movement in my periphery vision, I couldn’t be sure so I stopped and waited and listened …. Sure enough! There they were, 1, 2. 3 … Four of them!

and one of them looking especially guilty ~

look at them! they could care less that I am there watching them

well, they are kind of cute ….

but Really! …. Mice are Mice!

so naughty

Gathering Bowl

Posted on December 16, 2013 by nancywalker

I am compelled to make what I call Gathering Bowls. They are simple white porcelain bowls that have a flurry of conversation and connection between all sorts of different animals. They are all Talking and Listening on the Edge. That’s it isn’t it … Talking discussing, debating, and Listening which is probably more important than talking (but someone does have to be talking to be able to listen) and on the Edge because as we can all feel in our bones, we are on the edge.
I always start with the owl. Owl grounds the conversation to come.

This one is thinking, listening.

and now there is the beginning of a discussion. A between.

The Finished bowl is ready for the kiln. I had many more figures to place on the rim but these 5 little owls whispered “enough now, all we really need is a window”

Listen closely, can you almost hear what they are saying?

Shadows ~ a light that is not

Posted on December 9, 2013 by nancywalker

Sometimes shadow adds a whole new dimension to a piece it is cast from. A shadow creates a passing moment, dependent on a particular angle of light and the surface that catches that light or lack of light. It defines a solid in new, albeit fleeting, terms. And, there needs to be a witness to that moment.

It’s odd that the formation of a shadow, which is totally illusive, can cause so much delight, it’s practically theatrical! It’s real but it’s a distortion of real. Evening light is like going to the circus and you are the tall man. Mid day you are standing in your own dark puddle of yourself. Be observant and you can tell time by it. Shadows enchant, they are in-the-moment light shows. Blink and they are changed then … gone, you just cannot hold on to them. They are there then they are not. Maybe that is what is so compelling about them.

The bird-like image looming over the boat is one of those taped black paper cut out birds that caution real birds from flying into the window. It is about 15′ away from the boat.
The boat with all the figures that is casting that shadow is a porcelain clay boat from the series called Life Boats.

I was enchanted …. And then it was gone.

Road Cracks and Marks

Posted on December 2, 2013 by nancywalker

I read in one of my favorite books “Beginners Guide to Constructing the Universe” that the way something cracks reveal its age. Square cracks are younger than triangle cracks which makes sense because when you crack a square, you get a triangle, road roughly speaking. It’s interesting that cracks follow all these lines. So on this note, here are some gorgeous cracks ~ I am intrigued by their strong graphic natural design. I see animals and birds in some of them.

this one looks like a comet streaming across the sky

It’s almost like it is it’s own language.. Probably saying ” I’m getting old” ……

Modeling

Posted on December 2, 2013 by nancywalker

I have mentioned this before but I don’t like posing for and modeling the things I knit on Ravelry or modeling the shawl pins I’ve been making. Maybe I am camera shy …..I have recently made a new line of coloured pins and …. ya … here we go again. I have to show them in play.

Last time dear Matilda came to my rescue and I will hire her again, but I thought there should be a new look.

Years ago I was made a series of female clay vases. They could hold flowers that looked like colourful ideas and creativity coming out of their heads, I saw them as putting forth new ideas, not as containers for a flower arrangement, and that is a big difference.

Well, they I suddenly saw them again as I was dreading going before the camera. Yes! They could model for me! They would be delighted! So with a little playing around with photoshop/photoshopping… not only did they model for me, they could go anywhere, I could play with the backgrounds.

So without further adieu … my new working partners.

Standing by the sea on a Northern Gulf Island.

Mermaid Pin ~ Imagine

in my neighbourhood when we were in a thick fog for a week. It was quiet and mysterious, the fog horns called out for days on end.

Trusting Owl Pin

This is on the coast of Massachusetts

Sheep Pin

and it’s Snowing!

Owl ~ knit wise

Nancy Walker Studio

Ideas in Clay

Monthly Archives: December 2013