Hope is, 23"t x 15"w x 12" deep slab- and hand-built ceramic sculpture by Tammy Vitale

She may or may not be finished – I wanted a face on her – and may yet have one, but not for this weekend’s show.

Poetry fans may recognize the title as taken from Emily Dickinson’s poem that starts:

Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune without the words,

And never stops at all,…..

The wire cage for the nest went right in with no problem.  I sprayed the nest, which is mostly grass, with polyurethane and glued the little shell to it and then glued the whole  thing to the wire cage.  Found the twine and decided it looked better than the metal I had in mind.  Mounted it on  a 2 x 6, covered that with shards – need to grout them yet – and there you have it, for now.  They say art reflects life, and so for me this reflects where I am:  full of hope, knowing that each of us carries "home" with us, and so it really isn’t so far when we lose our way.  The broken bowl in the back is for offerings – and to remind me that offerings are always there, sometimes we just have to shift our point of view, or look around us a bit.  Reminds me to not get fixated on one thing.  That when I feel alone or not taken care of, it’s because I’m not paying attention to the abundance around me.

I had a great phone call yesterday from Inner Equinox, a small (but now expanding) shop on Solomons Island where I have a few items.  They have rearranged and expanded their space and have a full wall for my art.  How exciting!  and I don’t have much right now, so I asked them to wait until this weekend is over and I will have more.  Their price point is actually around the Ugly Fish and Wylde Women but, as co-owner Michelle noted, it is Solomons and so they’d love to have a torso as a focal point for the wall.  Works for me!  I thought not until ArtOMatic is over, and then remembered I have a mermaid torso in my office space.  It is not hard to forget what I have as my office is currently in fruit basket upset.  Ascender emails and call is a "growth spurt."  This is what a growth spurt looks like (the room read left to right like the pictures but I don’t think all the pictures will fit in a line, so use your imagination):

On the floor in the right picture is the double panel (each 24" x 36") painting, Balance, which isn’t finished yet.  I wasn’t expecting its arrival yesterday, but here it is and I went with the energy.  I’ve never done a two-canvas picture before, so it’s an experiment.  The more I look at it, the better I like it.  The figures aren’t finished – just sketched in, but it’s not like they’re going to be  realistic anyways.  I just haven’t figured out exactly what they want for finishing yet.  Here it is as a whole.  I know they’re both going to have hair, but that isn’t sketched in yet.

I also got an email from a couple interested in the mask, Contemplation, handing at ArtOMatic, that just sold last week (but I haven’t gotten the promised check, so emailed and was told yes, sorry, now it’s in the mail).  They are happy to wait and see if it doesn’t sell.  ArtOMatic has been GREAT this year!  Of course, I shouldn’t be surprised because that was and is and has been my intention.  Now, about the torsos…..

I also finished a couple of Wylde Women (hair) and made a Shadow Wymyn, and glued together another totem which needs to be stained and then I have some shards (raku) for the front and amethyst and a stone I got in Asheville.

And here’s the totem I was working on yesterday but couldn’t show you because the glue was drying.  It’s called Three Women Dancing, and is fun because I was cutting out an abstract totem and then the women sort of emerged on their own.  I LOVE it when that happens!  Their heads are attached with wire glued to the back of the figure and the head piece.  So they kind of float.  Which is new and something I’ll have to do more of since I really like the way it turned out.

And there you have it.  A full day of art that made me very happy.  And it’s good because I realize I’ve been thinking all week that I can finish up stuff on Friday for the weekend show and just realized that I have to load the show in Friday morning.  Which means Thursday afternoon and evening for finishing up.  Not planned but at least I realized it before Friday morning.  This is a great thing.

thought for the day:  May all that I do today contribute to the healing of the world, and may my heart be open enough to allow the world to contribute to my healing.  Christina Baldwin, The Seven Whispers:  A Spiritual Practice for Times Like These