Recently I’ve been making a clay sculpture for a friend. I use special self-hardening clay sourced from the US – it’s a clay and epoxy mix, which dries hard in 24 hours, and you can then drill it, carve it, and paint it. The friend wanted a Madonna for the little enclosure in her gate (Italians tend to build in spaces for sculpture, and she has a space there that’s 12” high). This piece still needs to be finished, but it’s getting there.
A couple of years ago, though, I made two sculptures. One is called ‘Birdie’ and is a free-form sculpture, made from wood, grasses glue, and seeds (autumn is a great time for seeds as they fly everywhere). I finished by giving him a necklace of red berries. The other piece was made from the same epoxy clay as the Madonna – this time, a St Francis (plus wolf and pig, the animals he was particularly associated with).
I am now wondering about two more pieces: one lovely knotted root which could be a wing or a horn, and another partially burnt piece that might lends itself to a flying figure. There are times when I don’t feel like painting or working in Photoshop, so I may well post a whole raft of sculptures, once they’re finished.
Disconnection in Time & Space
The disconnection in time is easy – I haven’t recorded any thoughts for a long time, mainly because I’ve been working on my latest – and last – deck, the Oracle of the Future. I’ve already explained a couple of times why it’s my last deck, but the easiest explanation...
Dark, Violent Forces
Dark, Violent Forces Things have been darkening since 2016, or at least that's how I see it. That was when Boris Johnson managed to get the British to vote for Brexit, by lying his head off. Then in January 2017, Donald Trump was voted in as President of the...
Pip decks
Thoughts on pip decks I have never used a pip tarot deck. I'm certainly not alone in this - many people prefer pictorial minors. But somehow, the Old Gods Tarot - which I'm creating at the moment - wanted to be a pip deck. Perhaps that's projection (I certainly...
The SACRED MARRIAGE
I had a dream a couple of nights ago mainly about a set of twins. Not surprising, perhaps, as I am reading a book at present featuring twins (The Alchymist by Michael Scott, which, by the way, I can thoroughly recommend). I don't remember much about the dream apart...
Thoughts on Paradox, Ambiguity and Uncertainty
Humanity has never enjoyed uncertainties, and although we say we like mystery, we don’t, really. We do not deal easily with ambiguity. Things are either black or white (though we can manage grey - as a colour), up or down, dark or light. However, with the...
Working_Backwards
Thoughts on Working Backwards For the last few weeks I've been producing images and copy for my website, which has been created for me by my IT wizard. It's just as well that I finally shouted to him for help, because I can't think logically enough to create a website...