Soul in the clay

Hello everyone. I had a productive weekend. I started one sculpture about 10 days ago, and finally finished it this morning. It is different from my other work. That excites me. When something unexpected comes out of clay, it takes me to another world.

 Here is the face that I made about ten days ago.

Friday, I started extending it.

I coiled it. 

By Saturday morning, it became like this. It was a bit like an insect. 

I made wings, tails and face pattern. It became an owl last night.

'I am flying.'

Side view

Top view

 I cleaned it a bit, and made a mount for it this morning.

Bottom view

Details

So here is my latest owl! I kept making owls recently. I keep thinking about Mochaccino, our late owl finch. I think that' the reason, but I am not sure. Nothing is sure. I am very happy with this one and I can't wait to see how it will be finished.

After the owl was finished, I sandpapered all bisque-fired sculpture. It was a very dusty and unexciting job. But I kept an eye on the Olympics; this made the job more tolerable. My favourite events are snowboard, figure skate, ski jump and speed skate. It was strange that while I watched high adrenaline sports, my adrenaline goes high, too, in front of the TV. It is the modern equivalent of watching gladiators or hunting, I guess. There are four hours time difference between Sochi and UK, so I might adjust my working time. I could see my favourite events. One of the good parts of working from home alone.

The story of Mochaccino, our miracle finch

Hello everyone. Mochaccino has recovered remarkably. Thank you so much for your thoughts on him. He became blind in his left eye. We think he either had a heart attack or another stroke when he went into a bath.

5th, May 2003 

Friday night, I couldn't sleep with worry. What else could I do but pray? When I finally fell into sleep it was after midnight. Then I woke up just before three. I felt slight thirst, then realised that it is not my thirst. It is his thirst. I went down to get a cotton bud, soaked it in water, and wet his beak. He licked it. I repeated three times. As I did, I was overwhelmed by emotion. First thing I gave him after he hatched about 10 years ago, was water soaked in a cotton bud. After I went back to bed, I wept, then sobbed and went downstairs. When Mike came down I cried out loud on his chest. I had cried one hour. I had lots of flash backs.

Hungry! 6th May 2003

It is unusual of me to get overwhelmed by such strong emotion. When his inexperienced parents abandoned the nest, there were three eggs. Only one was close to hatching. I put the tiny egg in an incubator designed for chicken eggs. Next day I cut egg shell with a knife, and helped him out of the egg. I think it was about 12 hours too early, but I thought then the chick would die otherwise.

His aunt on Mike's head

I fed him every 45 minutes through the nights. After several nights, I starting nodding off during day. Feeding finch chicks is the most difficult task I have ever done. They are too tiny to feed with anything else but a cocktail stick for a couple of days. This was 10 years ago.

30th May 2003, With his friend (left)

His family and friends passed away one by one. He was the youngest, but also has lived longest. The finch book I have said their life span is between 4 and 6 years. He is 10 years and 4 months old.

30th May 2003

When each animal family gets old, I make sure that they are comfortable till the end. I feel it is like a hospice. I want them to feel warm and comfortable until the end. I can't bear them to feel cold, wet, lonely and miserable. When Mochaccino finally chirped late Saturday afternoon, we felt a great relief. I chirp back at him. We call each other to know that we are not alone.

31st May 2003

Now he lives in a box. Mike got a propagator heat pad for him yesterday, so that he could sleep on it over night. The sound he makes when he moves in the box lightens our hearts. He is a miracle bird. He has survived twice, and has lived longest among all owl finches. We are really lucky to have been with him.

31st May 2003 on Mike's hand

11th June 2003. Learning to feed by himself

Family and friends

Take care of yourself and your animal family as it is suddenly getting colder. I hope everyone is warm and comfy.

This post is written with my warmest thoughts for my dear friend whom I have not met yet.




    

Another amazing day

Hello everyone. It has been another amazing day for me. Yesterday a wonderful customer in Australia reviewed my shop. He said,

This amazing artwork is on our wall now - taking pride of place. It's cheeky, funny, witty and has so many people commenting on it, when they come into our house. Thanks for all your inspiration and hard work. May people rush to buy your artworks ...

Needless to say, I was most delighted. But I didn't quite realize that it would come true. This afternoon, I had a message from the Sidney Cooper gallery that a little rabbit and a large chameleon were sold. How nice! Then within one hour, another message came. The large rabbit and the small chameleon were also sold. Now there was only one rabbit left; they wanted me to bring more work to them! How wonderful! I soon thought of the customer's review. Wow, it became true! I took several works to the gallery after they closed. Now the glass cabinet is full again. Some works have never been for sale. One is the Minotaur which you see in my banner. I love his face and colours. The glazes look mysterious and beautiful. He looks great in the cabinet. Also the third chameleon is in the cabinet. I have promised ladies on twitter that if current chameleons are sold, I will make more, so I will start on them next week. I started working on a commissioned mask. That is going well, too. 

Today I share some of my other works with you. I have two rabbit sculptures. White rabbits are symbolic animals in Japan. You would see them everywhere on almost everything in Japan. These two are, however, a bit different. Topaz, our nervous dog, is very scared of fireworks and thunders. Once either starts, she shakes like a leaf. She become restless, and has tried to hide inside the laundry machine. She is too big for that! Even after it stops, she pricks her ears up, and listens. Nothing. But she still listens. She is waiting for next bang.That was the idea came from.

Waiting for Next bang I

  

Waiting for next bang II

  

Together on a shelf

Then some of you remember this cat. Another cat was broken on the way to assessment, so he is a sole survivor. I assembled in four layers. The brown sections are reduction fired stoneware grey clay.  

Close-up of Equilibrium - cat 

This is how they are set up.

The cat is in the middle. 

Last, let me share this incredible story with you. Late this afternoon, Mochaccino, our very old owl finch drowned. He is my office mascot. I turned back from the chair and saw a soaked and motionless Mochaccino in the water. His head was half under the water. I don't know how long he was in his water dish, but about one hour before, I saw him preening. He had a stroke some months ago. He lost the power of flight then. After that his one side of the body became paralysed. At the arrival of autumn, he became weaker. We thought he would not make Christmas. He is about 100 years old if he were a human. 

I wrapped him in soft Kleenex, and warmed him up in the hand, and used a hair dryer gently to dry him a bit. Then I prepared a hot water bottle, and placed a towel and him on top of it on our bed. He showed slight movement. I kept him warm, and changed the water bottle before it gets cold. After five hours, when I went to check the water bottle, he shot out from the towel from fear, I think. I was shocked and overjoyed at the same time. I shouted that he came back to life to Mike and the world via twitter. It's a miracle.

He is still very weak. He is now sleeping on the warm bottle in a polystyrene box, which has very good insulation. I will swap the water bottle with a heat pad when I go to sleep. May Mochaccino survive tonight.     

Nightmare and bargains

Mochachino, our youngest owl finch, on Mike's head

I had bad sleep two nights continuously. Last night I also had a nightmare, in which Mochachino, out last surviving owl finch whom I helped hatching by cracking his egg after his parents abandoned the egg, became ill in my hand. I was so upset. When I woke up I had to go to check on him. He was ok, but I found him on the cage bottom. Older birds often do that because they become weaker.

Late Couscous and late Coco, our first babies on my head.

Thanet Earth

Mike's trip to Sainsbury's at the weekend brought some good buys. First Tomatoes. They are from local Thanet Earth, and surprisingly they are sweet. Really sweet. We haven't had bought tomatoes this sweet during this winter. £2.50 for 2 was a bargain.

Lettuce bag

This is the bag for lettuce. I like it! It is a strong, simple and good design. 

Our chicken casserole, Rachel and Enzos' bread

 He also got a bargain for a pack of chicken thighs and drumsticks, three of each for £2.00! I cooked casserole with those. They are really tender and lovely. Mike bought a chunk of artisan Italian bread from Rachel at the University at lunch time.

This wine was so delicious. very fruity with a green note. Majestic wine

I recommend this wine. It is fruity taste with a green note, but not too light. We got a couple of them from Majestic Wine. It went very well with the casserole, but also fine as aperitif.

The day after

It was my first exhibition, so today was my first 'the day after' exhibition. I had to go back to a day job. Because of change of clocks, a bit of effort was needed to start in the morning. After work, I wrapped and packed purchased items to be delivered or collected. I typed thank you letters.

Adult plumage. On my husband's hand.

Sadly last night I found one of two surviving owl finch died. He was hatched here in February 2003, and after his mother gave up her clutch, his father and I fed them for a while. Then his father gave up on them. I fed them until they fledged. His name was Coco, and his brother was Cous-cous. They were oOur first owl finch chicks hatched in our house.

I did a funeral today and buried him under a young apple tree. To cerebrate his eight years and eight months of life, long for owl finches, I put some photographs uploaded here. They have given us lots of joy, and I loved them with my soul, just as any mothers did.
   

Using my husband's nose as a perch!

 

Chicks have darker tones.