I wonder what it would be like to be part of a royal family? From the paparazzi press I’ve seen about the royal family in Great Britain over the years I don’t think it would actually be that much fun…

Star Search

I grew up watching Star Trek on television. It was on one of the 6 channels available at our house (2,4,5,7,9,36). What a change from the massive number of choices on television today!

Back then it was exciting to travel along each week with Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise on their mission ‘to boldly go where no man has gone before. To seek out new life and new civilizations.’ They certainly found a variety of life forms out there in the universe! It must have been a fun job to think up those various creatures and cultures and the problems the crew encountered and overcame each week.

It’s interesting how similar some of their gadgets were to ones that have become part of our daily lives. The ‘communicator’ has a lot in common with the cell phone in my purse. We don’t quite have the mobile scanner that Dr. McCoy always used but I bet it’s coming soon with advances in AI.

The search to understand the sky goes back as far as recorded history with early astronomical records dating back to the Babylonians around 1000 BC. 

Astronomy was used by early cultures for timekeeping, navigation, spiritual and religious practices, and agricultural planning. Ancient astronomers observed and charted the skies in an effort to learn about the workings of the universe. I wonder if they too wondered if anyone else was out there?

This week I finished my new sculpture that gives a nod to the astronomer in each of us who has looked up to the stars in wonder. If we could ride along on the Starship Enterprise, what adventures would we have?

This sculpture combines a Folk Art style wood cabin, a ceramic rabbit I sculpted and a vintage egg beater. I collected the cabin a while back. It had a broken roof and the window paint was faded so it needed a little TLC. It wasn’t until I stumbled across the egg beater that I knew someone would be sitting on that roof searching the cosmos.

The egg beater looks like a sci fi device that could be used for sending out some kind of signaling waves into the atmosphere. At first, I wasn’t sure who the animal holding it should be. In the end I decided on a rabbit because I liked the idea of the ears flopping back to carry on the gesture of looking heavenwards.

Back here on earth I’m still searching for the perfect name for this sculpture. Some that come to mind are:

Star Search

The Astronomer

Skywatcher

Searching the Universe

Star Link

Signal Check

Making Contact

I’d love to know your ideas for what I should call it. Share your suggestions here

Beam me up Scotty!

Wise as an Owl

Often the pieces that come out of the kiln serve as the muse for my weekly story, inspiring me to share what I was thinking about when I created them, or perhaps they trigger something in my thoughts or memories that I share. This week it was my new friend, “Sugar,” who emerged from the kiln to serve as my muse.

I wonder what it would be like to be part of a royal family? From the paparazzi press I’ve seen about the royal family in Great Britain over the years I don’t think it would actually be that much fun…

At The Pot Shop I get visitors from all over the world and sometimes they find pieces they want to take home with them. We have the discussion about shipping, which I’m happy to do, but I always recommend that people take their piece home with them in their carry-on luggage

The most tactile of my animal sculptures has to be the puffer fish. It seems there is an almost irresistible force that makes people reach out and touch their spiney surface. It’s like we know that the spines will be sharp and poke us but then we want to make sure so we reach out and touch them to actually feel the poke.

This holiday season I ended up with an extra bag of fancy marshmallows shaped like snowflakes.

One of the wonderful things about having collectors who gather my pieces over time is that we get to become friends.