A new LifeBoat in the Making ~
Spring
1
Tag Archives: sculpture
I keep making Octopuses, I just can’t help it.
I go to make an elephant and the trunk makes me think
I would like to be making an Octopus right now. Then the poor elephant has heard my thoughts … well, is my thoughts, and the trunk comes out a bit too long and octopus-like.
well … they are kind of similar ..
this one came out of the kiln with an arm pointing to it’s eye like a gangster would do.
“I’m watching You!”
Of course getting the “eye” might not be to me, it could be to
some shenanigans going on in the heat of the kiln.
“I’m watching You!”
like in the Mermaid and the Octopus moment. When I made them, their hands were a breath away from touching, then as they dried, Octopus kept raising her arm higher, and who knows where those arms went while in the kiln, but this is how they finished.
Coming down for another touch , moving away or somewhere in between?
I’ll never know
this is what I love about all this, its unpredictably.
What do you do?
What do you do when you find yourself living on a rare jewel of a giving yet struggling planet out in the Universe and you realize that we are all together … alone?
you build Life Boats.
You pack your essential supplies
Connection – Communication – Compassion 
and then you
Create
Celebrate and
Circle around Listening and Learning
~ as Playfully as you can ~
Elephant bonding
I was photographing these two elephants for my sister. She was to choose one or the other for a gift to her dear friend who loves elephants and finds herself in need of a little heart-lifting elephant power right now. 
Will she choose the big one or the little one?
I turn them around and around so she can better see.
they pose themselves just right … choose me! choose me!
I can see they are getting a little distracted by flower garden
(they don’t get out much before they find a new home)
by the end of this photo session I can see that these two have totally bonded and there is no way I am going to separate them. I have decided they will go together … and if I don’t put down my camera right now, they will just simply wonder off by themselves
as we all know elephants will do
Slowly Drying
I have left this new Life Boat at my studio to dry at a snails pace for a few weeks. A large porcelain piece like this tend to encourage tiny cracks here and there so I put Time in charge to be on the look out for any signs of danger.
There are lots of backing and forthing going on here, I don’t know even the half of it ~
Elephants on the move
The Elephants are traveling, single file, right into a soft cushioned box bound for SaltSpring Island BC
after much wandering, they will be happy to be found and taken to a loving home.
They all know they will be admired
There is magic to be discovered with these beings
~ light and shadows, candlelight and flowers ~
Talking Clay Show
I have a little show at Circle Craft down on Granville Island in Vancouver this month
here is a little peak
a real softie under that tough exterior
Fortune Bowl
Image
Imaginaries
I’ve been busy in my clay studio making Imaginaries. They are little fine porcelain creatures that come right out from my imagination straight into being
Some are always ready to catch a ball or
ready to run and greet you at the door after your long day
Some are peaceful
(that little guy in the background is one of those always ready to chase a bird or is he just watching some one climbing a tree?)
They are little Connectors.
Each one has a story to tell. I quietly listen and search as they take shape and form through my fingers and understandings. They don’t leave my hands until I feel a connection with them, until I have found their story. This interaction assures the possibility of someone else making a connection and hearing a story too, of their own making.
That’s the plan anyway.
It might even be a small story like this one ~
“and … I’m just wondering if you you might perchance have a yummy delicious little sweet for me in your pocket? I do so love persimmons.”
See what I mean? They are always chatting me up.
Happy Spring
It is Spring
Spring is Here
It is the hour of the Garden Goddess
and to all those back East who cannot see Spring coming, we in the West say
it will arrive before you know it
Bits & Bites
Every had a scattered week? Well that was me this week, lots going on. And it is wet here in Vancouver. We don’t have to shovel but the endless grey takes it’s own toll.
Maybe some one just HAD it with their kids playing inside for days on end … I hate to think
… this was by the trash bin in the alley
as I mentioned, it’s been raining ….. lots
spotted by Bettina Matzkuhn on her bike ride home
but work I must, I am going to make some more of these guys, They will focus me
a little knitting project
I do have a knitting blog and I am blogging about this little project over there but there is
so much colour, challenge and fun, it has earned a place here in my nws blog ~
it is about folk art, sculpture, colour, construction, materials, creating
Here she is ~ The Lidiya knitted dress
(designed by knitting artist Kaffe Fassett)
and this is the 100 row pattern. Yes, you read it right, One Hundred Row Pattern!
Needless to say there was much sorting out, planning, strategizing and practicing.
It felt like I was preparing for a long … long … journey, which I was.
~ a Scenic Journey ~
Finally I just had to dig in and start even though I didn’t feel ready
I was pretty intimidated, ok, Scared! (you saw that pattern!)
Once I jumped in, I was Totally sucked into the Lidiya Dress Vortex
It is Screamingly engaging!
I am always knitting with 2 colours, and every 5 rows, 3 colours ~
that’s bit tricky but it has a rhythm to it
Every stitch speaks, I mean …
SINGS!
(I will be blogging this entire scenic route through color land here)
https://knit2purl2repeat.wordpress.com/
A Journey
~ and into the New Year we go ~
The Girls
~ what can I say ~
a little moment
It all happened so fast
The sun was in the right place, it was the right season, it was a clear morning
and an open curtain, it was the right placement of the bowl …
and I was lucky enough to witness this little light show
~ the end ~
Art for English Bay
If you walk along the south eastern shore by English Bay before you get to Kit’s Beach your will see the under belly of this poshy neighbourhood. This is where some of the most expensive state of the art houses are … the Lu Lu Lemons live here…
There is a lot of Graffiti on these old cement retaining walls and when the tide is high you can’t even walk along the shore. It’s not a pleasant place, it’s rocky and unswimable but the view is off the charts.
I love all this crap right under the noses of these fancy homes, it’s a powerful juxtaposition.
But
Some really nice things are happening down here …
the neighourhood is changing
there is a graffiti war going on
Someone is making some beautiful Art, I mean, Graffiti down here
(I won’t venture to guess …)
But This … This ~ is Unbelievable! It is quite Spectacular!
The entire length of this property has been made into this huge steel sculpture that only a few people and birds will ever see
The owners can’t even see this
Every sheet of steel is a different shape and every angle is unique. It will always be changing colours as the light plays with it all day long. The moon will add to it’s tones too. It Sings!
It is supported by tons of cement poured around rebar. It is here to stay. It is here to witness the wildest storms
It will be colouring itself in rust for ages.
It’s tumbling and rolling in it’s massive stillness
~ It dances to this view ~
I’m out for a walk
I think I’ll go out for walk…
I’ll leave a note ….
“I’m walking down the hill to the water then on to visit the ducks at Jericho, then after a coffee, I’ll head back up the hill to home.”
I saw a few pieces of wood and just had to make this reindeer horse ~
my signature
the bigger picture
… and the sun is going down
I see others were inspired to make beach creations
Oh My! is that real??? It DID make me pause for a moment and picked it up with a stick … it was plastic! Lots of plastic on the beach but this was unusual!
moving along ….
maybe I had squirming on my mind
but these are just water marks in the sand
Willows, so colourful!
looks like ‘Zoe and Wave’ made a driftwood boat on New Years Day
lastly, a loop
Time to head back up the hill to my warm home
crescent moon and a plane flying west ….
Nancy Walker Studio 