Collaborations

Family is such a great thing. The big debate of nature vs. nurture when it comes to artistic endeavours rages on. A little over a week ago, my grandmother was in hospice, and we were all sure it was a matter of hours before she would pass. Today, she is out of hospice, staying at my biological mom's for a few days to regain her strength, and tomorrow, she will go hom with some in-home care at night.

She is an amazing artist. She does clay sculpture. Recently, we have collaborated on a few pieces. The piece pictured here is a hollow form I turned with a chunk missing. What may have been a piece of firewood, turned out to be a really nice collaboration. I found the branch and quail in her pile of "extras." After seeing it, she decided she would start working on more of them so I would have a big supply to use whenever I wanted.

Saying goodbye to a friend

Most turnings don't carry a deep emotional attachment. You find a great piece of wood, turn it into something useful and/or artistic, sell it or give it away as a gift, and move on. Every once in awhile, a piece comes along that carries a deeper emotional attachment for one reason or another. Maybe it is where the wood comes from. Maybe it is what you did with the piece, or maybe it is collaborative effort with someone else.

That happened to me yesterday. Some time ago, I saw a demo by Molly Winton. She does a lot of burning as embellishment on her pieces. At first, I didn't think I would really like her work, but it grew on me, and she really inspired me with my own ideas during her demo.

One of the pieces that came fromthat inspiration was the flame hollow form. Yesterday at my show, it sold. Don't get me wrong, selling is a good thing, and if I really wanted to keep it, I could have kept it out of the show. I'm glad it sold and someone will really enjoy it, I just hated to see it go...sort of....does that make sense?