STOLEN KALEIDOSCOPES

hi to anyone reading this post... below i am posting photos of 5 of my scopes which were stolen from a parked car in kingston, ontario. if you should see any of these scopes, for example on any online shop or auction, just know that they are contraband and i really would like to have them back.

thanks.
this is elegant annie, a kaleidalady whose scope fits under her skirt.

she stands about 14 inches tall, and the scope is about 5 inches tall.




and this is my geisha, and her scope also fits under her skirt

she stands about 13 inches tall and the scope is just over 5 inches tall









this scope is faux marble and the chamber turns. it is 8 inches long and about 2 inches diameter at the chamber.




this is my egyptian scope, a tumblescope with a scarab

it is 8 inches long, and about 1 3/4 inches in diameter.








and this small, 5 1/2 inch scope has an oil filled chamber with rainbow beads, and is about 1 1/8 inches in diameter.




thank you anyone who can help me discover who stole these kaleidoscopes.

back to clay!!!

it has been a long time since i have posted about clay, the journey is over, i am back home and back to work. i am now preparing to teach a workshop at our annual MPCG 08, (morrisburg polymer clay gathering, 2008). my workshop will feature an experimental approach to playing with clay, creating new forms and shapes using wire, metal mesh, fabric, yarns, and whatever will inspire creativity and stretching one's limits with clay...

here are some photos showing how i have used these elements in a sculpture...


here is the parasol for my lady carolyn --

a double ended knitting needle provided the main shaft and smaller wires embedded in clay allowed me to gather up the parasol and add a little twirl to the spokes.









and here is annie's rifle, two pieces of stiff wire covered partially with clay which was sculpted to form the barrel and grip of the rifle. a small piece of wire embedded in clay forms the trigger handle... there is no trigger because i am basically against guns, but annie wouldn't be annie without her rifle.....









and here is the fan for the geisha.... again wires embedded in clay shaped and formed into her fan.



you can see the whole sculptures to the right at the top of the page, and annie in a post from november 21, 2007.


more ideas for the workshop can be found in a post from january 18, 2008.

TOO MUCH SNOW !!!!!

for my friends in more pleasant climes.... here are a few of the latest conditions to beset those of us who live in the snow buried east of this great country.

here is my woodshed, like a sad face seeing all this new snow. . .
i had to shovel just to get the door open, but the warmth of the resulting
fire made it worthwhile. . .


my trusty little electric snow shovel.... whatever would i do without it. you can see how high the snow banks are, about 4'!!

except i think this load of snow might just be too much for this dear little machine... we have done alright so far, but . . . it seems to be groaning a bit too much.

at least you can see we finally got some sunshine...

looking out the front door toward the carport, that tiny little black loop you see is the top of one of my solar lights.. the light itself is hidden under all that snow along with all my others which are buried along the walkway.







and here i have shoveled enough to take a photo of the front door. there was about a foot of snow up the door, and i still haven't found my little lights! usually this walkway is about 4 feet wide, but you can see it is significantly narrower now. sigh

will spring ever come???

and now to get back to my clay work......

some last photos....

i have been home now for three days, recovering slowly but surely, altho my voice is doing things of it's own creation! however, i wanted to add just these last few photos of an incredible journey.


here i am my first ever visit to the pacific ocean. i decided that no matter how cold it was nor how much worse my cold would get, that i had to stick my toes in that water. well, a little wave turned into a faster larger one and caught me offguard and so both my feet and a bit of trouser also got 'baptized' in the pacific!





here is that little anemone or urchin and

here am i sticking my finger in its mouth... it was rough as it closed about my finger, sort of like sandpaper...

but i tried and now i know what it feels like...







and here is toronto... the airport can be seen in the top center, and it was the end of a journey in a packed airplane, little did i know that i would sit in that airport for three hours... snow had played havoc with airplane schedules... and we were waiting for our crew to ottawa to arrive from fort lauderdale... sigh...


so it was around midnight that i finally arrived in ottawa and bless her, pamela was there to take me home, give me some food, and tuck me into bed... i was feeling quite awful by then, however, i recovered a bit in the morning and drove myself back to godfrey, to find thankfully just enough snow to allow me to barrel into my driveway and get the little car into the carport, me into the house, and to blessed sleep.....

thanks to all who made this such a treat and such a wonderful journey.

HOME AGAIN!!!


well, here i am home again. it is hard to believe that sojourn 08 is now herstory, but sitting here with a hollow head and a voice that squeeks and groans and is sometimes not at all, i know that it is over. most of us who went succumbed to this dreadful bug that has now hit vancouver island with a vengence, i am told.

i don't think i can do an entire catch up of my journey, but i will add some photos here and perhaps in the next few days i can add some more.

i must say, however, that the entire journey was so inspiring-- the people, the scenery, the ambiance were all more than i ever expected. so here is a great big thank you to gera and the van isle polyclay artists guild for having me.


the ubiquitous moss. . . along with all those towering evergreen trees, more variety than i have ever seen, made me understand the wonderful art of emily carr.....











i loved the little tide pools all over the rocks at wickaninnish beach which i visited while in tofino. thanks to tina and bill for being such wonderful tour guides! bill even suggested i put my finger into this little urchin-- or maybe anemone -- and so i did.... and took it out again very quickly, even tho it is not harmful, the closing of those tentacles over my skin was, well, not to my liking.....




the great pacific ocean..... hard to believe that if you took a boat and stayed on the same parallel, you would come to sakhalin island, russia... or maybe a bit of japan's northern islands.






leaving vancouver, ubc, stanley park and north vancouver from bottom to top of my photo.....plus the end of the westjet wing...


as well, a big cheer to linda and the vancouver group for what i am sure will be a wonderful retreat next year. also to linda for her good care of me while i was in the throes of this dreadful cold...