Friday, July 20, 2012

AND THE MORAL OF THAT IS.......

Don't try to post when you are half asleep.  I decided I would get ahead of the game last night and write this post before going to bed.  Bad idea!  I managed to erase stuff, move things around; you name it.  I finally gave up and went to bed.

A year and a half ago I felt like I was never going to have a creative idea in my life.  This was something new for me, so I decided on a new approach.  I was looking at the fish below, which I made as a prototype for a class of developmentally delayed adults I used to teach.  I have been making whistles off and on over the last twenty years.  It's always been an enjoyable process for me.

SO! I decided to do a whistle a week for a year.  Size could be variable.  I could make one or a bunch, as I wished.  The idea was not necessarily to finish the year but to get me making stuff again.  

Ideas ended up occurring in series.  One week would provide the impetus for the following week. The series below was done over five weeks.  Making a whistle for me becomes a meditative process, freeing my mind to new ideas.


I made three of these bigger fish, five to nine inches long.  This was when I discovered that the bigger the whistle the more careful I had to be about making the actual whistle.


My version of a Seahorse.  I'm still not happy with these little guys.  They're about six inches tall.  I think they need to sit among some seaweed to get a better curve to his tail.


 I call these little critters  Thimble Fish.  I make them from a small wad of clay that starts out the size and shape of a thimble.


A not very good picture of a Puffer Fish.  They are so silly looking that I am quite fond of them.  I think I'll use a thick slip to make spines on the next ones.


Starfish.  I looked at so many pictures of so many varieties of starfish that I was almost overwhelmed.



And finally,  Morning Glories!  I planted these from purchased seedlings about two weeks ago.  Cut worms ate my original plants so I planted these in pots.  These particular plants are on a ladder leaning against the end of the shed.  I'm thrilled that they are doing so well.  Summer isn't summer to me if there are no heavenly blue morning glories.


The temp has dropped and it's raining;  it looks like it will continue for most of the day.  We aren't in drought conditions yet here in Southern New England, but rain is always welcome.  Rain is so much better for plants than watering, and it adds to the pool and pond.

BTW I did not finish the year of whistles, but it sure got me working again.  It also shares responsibility for my starting this blog.

This post can also be found at Mud Colony.  Go take a look; there are interesting people there!

Enjoy the week end.

Thanks for stopping by...........*s*

10 comments:

  1. sometimes we need to challenge ourselves to get the push needed to move forward.

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  2. What a fun way to get your creativity flowing. I love the puffer fish.

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  3. oh you are a smart cat! Great way to get going. I am most fond of the fish.
    And on those cut worms. I place 3 toothpicks beside the plant as soon as it is up.

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  4. That is a great way to get your mind going. Just making myself get to work on anything helps jumpstart my ideas for new imagery.

    We used to have morning glory vines growing wild in the wooded lot next door to us. They are almost weeds here but so pretty.

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  5. The whistles are great. As a newby to clay it's good to see that it's not all about throwing and slab building. Just making stuff for the shear joy of creativity is equally important. Thanks for that reminder. I really enjoy your blog.

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  6. The puffer fish is my favorite! Creating a challenge for yourself to work in a theme is a really great idea - I may steal it. :)

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  7. love your starfish and had to smile when I saw you were planting morning glory! it is most definitely a weed here in Sydney Australia :^) and not easy to get rid of either!

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  8. great fish and love the sea horse. I had morning glories at my last home and they started taking over everywhere, not enough cold to knock them down I guess.

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  9. Hi Michelle...I call it a kick in the a##!

    Hi Lori....Thanks, sometimes a project is what is needed.

    Hi Meredith...Thanks, great idea to foil cutworms.

    Hi Barbara...Whatever gets you going,

    Hi Peggy...I always say you have to love the process to enjoy the making.

    Hi Julia....Thanks, I think the Pufferfish are comical....take the idea and run with it.

    Hi Anna....Thanks. We have wild morning glories here, knotweed, and they are miserable things to get rid of.

    Hi Linda...Thanks....the Heavenly Blues are definitely annuals. Last year they bloomed out, the winter was so warm. The vines seemed to die on their own.

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  10. What a cute seahorse! How is it with the pig *smile*?

    Hugs
    Elna

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