Oh my giddy aunt!

Hehehe, have you heard that expression before? I haven't heard it in a long time, but it's one I used to say when I was a kid. I bet Jafabrit remembers it! It's an expression of disbelief, along the same lines as "Oh my God" or "Goodness me" or (and this is the one my sister uses) "Oh my days". Well, today I had an "Oh my giddy aunt" moment! But before we get on to that, I'd just like to say "Linda, I finally posted your tiles!".

Yes, I have been extremely lazy just lately, but I finally dragged myself out, collected my clay, and posted Linda's tiles to her. I also bought myself some new clay tools, which I couldn't afford but I'm convinced I really need them for Fred the head, as he has become known.

Well, my efforts were richly rewarded! When I got home I found two big sacks of wood for my fire on the door step, from my brother Anthony. Thank you Anthony! AND.... when I got indoors a huge parcel waiting for me!! I had no idea what it was, as I wasn't expecting anything. It was sort of big, but flat.... and inside was this beautifully expressive painting from Philippa!! Oh my giddy aunt!!


Notice the texture around the ear? This pieces is called "Hearing Hallucinations", and I think the fear and confusion this causes the sufferer is wonderfully expressed in the face and eyes. Thank you so much Philippa! That has completely made my day, my week, and my month! Whooppeey!

With it came a card with "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" written on the front. Hmm, what a question! What would I attempt to do? The possibilities are limitless. If I knew I could not fail I would sculpt so many things... lions, elephants, horses, and definitely old bones! Yes, it's true. I watch archaeology programs and they find the most amazing human remains, and I sit and think to myself "I'd love to sculpt that". Or what about those amazing people who can tell what a face would look like based on the structure of the skull? It would be amazing to be able to do that. But not as amazing as sculpting mummified remains. Yeah, I know, I need to get out more.

Thank you so much for the painting and the card, Philippa. I'm hoping that the card's message will inspire me to try harder and to think positively about my creative projects.

This kind of brings me on to Fred the head. I continued with the shaping of the head and the face, but everything was going pear shaped. Well, not literally shaped like a pear, just wrong. Just... so wrong. So I filled him in (which is another strange expression for beating someone up!) No, I didn't beat him up, I just filled him in. Like this:


I think/hope the head shape is much better now though?


So I will continue with this piece this weekend, and hopefully the new tools that I bought will turn my sculpting skills into something amazing!

Coming soon: The "doomed" jug and other fired pieces! Plus recent exhibitions I've been to, including Philippa's!