A Yard-full of Skeins

A Yard-full of Skeins
Originally uploaded by la_v_i_k_a

I met Sabrina Famellos-Schmidt several weeks ago, after making a presentation during a local Pecha Kucha evening sponsored by Arc Hop.

My pendant necklaces are based on spindle whorls and Sabrina spins!

She was kind enough to invite me to her home when she and two friends, Sue and Diane, were dyeing finished skeins. It was amazing to walk into the backyard and see this feast...even more amazing to walk into the garage and view the work that had already been dryed and re-skeined, ready for sale! Eye-popping and jaw-dropping all at the same time.

Large Porcelain Buttons

Large Porcelain Buttons
Originally uploaded by la_v_i_k_a

First batch out of new (new to me) porcelain kiln. The kiln interior is 6"x6" and came with no furniture (shelves).

I made my own out of high fire sculpture clay (lots of grog/resistant to shock and warping). They survived nicely and that saved me quite a bit of money. Plus, they are thinner than commercial shelves, so...I can fit more in the kiln!

These buttons are approximately 1-1/4" diameter. All but the bottom button are approximately 1/8" thickness. The bottom button is more suitable as a toggle, or for use on heavy material; it is approximately 1/4" thickness.

The left and top button were pressed in molds made of cast-off machinery parts.

Flowered Bottle

Flowered Bottle
Originally uploaded by la_v_i_k_a

Flowered Bottle

Spontaneous and unplanned; I think it made itself.

Handmade porcelain tile and kiln polished glass cabochons laid out for setting on glass bottle with inset circle. Look for lively green grouting on this mosaic later!

Blues Portal in Progress

Another Portal
Originally uploaded by la_v_i_k_a

I make these mosaic works using my own handmade porcelain tiles, glass shards that have been remelted in the kiln, dish fragments and repurposed microwave turntables.

I usually decide what my border will be, set it, and the design takes off from there. I don't have a plan. However, I'm influenced--I love Central Asian tile work patterns and colors.

I like creating them in microwave turntable plates because it allows the light to shine through the glass tiles, plus, I like knowing the old turntables haven't become trash but something valuable again. I also fire the majority of my tiles only once, to conserve energy.

These are lovely for display, or as insets for a tiled wall, portal, or table.

This one is in process, partially set and still ungrouted.

15" Diameter

San Francisco from Berkeley, Panorama

San Francisco from Berkeley, Panorama
Originally uploaded by la_v_i_k_a

I took this from a seventh floor window, on Thanksgiving Day. Well, not just this one...I took many as I stood there watching the clouds move and light change, as the sun sank lower. It was an amazing spectacle...hard to describe, only for the eyes and not words.

Keeping the Power in Few Hands

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/opinion/13kristof.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

I'm going to come back to work on this piece, believe me. What's got me provoked is the idea that the nation's education problem can be fixed by investing resources (excellent teachers, money), in our lowest schools.

I agree that this would be the remedy.

However, I don't think we can get there from here. There needs to be an intermediary step, and that step needs to be a recognition of why we are invested in poor education in the first place. We can say we want it to improve, but our actions, as evaluated by our persistant results, reflect a much stronger will to keep it low. Somewhere, there's an incentive to maintain poor education, otherwise, we'd have continued the upward march.

In counseling, when you meet someone who knows what "the answer" is, yet doesn't pursue it as a solution to their dilemma, you start asking what function "the wrong answer" has in their personal system---what are the incentives, and most times the very real needs, being realized through a less than adequate, and often destructive, course of action? This makes me ask what the hidden incentive is in maintaining poor results in the area of education.

The conclusion I come to is that if you educate everyone rather poorly, the only people who can make up the difference, through tutoring, parental involvement, and enrichment activities --are those who already have means. Everyone else is stuck with what the public schools offer, nothing more.

This guarantees that those in power stay in power, and that those who do not have the means but are nevertheless able to vault into power, will be very few and probably not well-equipped enough to compete over the long haul. Poor education is about guaranteeing the place of the haves, and making sure the have-nots do not get a voice.

Take a look at the places where poor education rules and then take a look at the history of power in those places. I think you'll find an enduring history of high disparity between haves and have nots and maybe some history of conquest, as well--an enduring gap between the wealthy/powerful and the poor/not powerful that is almost impervious to narrowing, without the contribution of a quality education.

Crossing paths with yourself

Sometime within the last year I lamented to a friend that my interests were so disparate that there was probably no chance I'd ever have an occupation that would integrate them and, by extension, really satisfy me. Two of the most disparate interests have been art and technology. Yes, I know it's easy to assume, "Oh that's easy: graphic arts!" But, graphic arts doesn't grab me, even though I do a lot of it. What grabs me is ceramic. And, I was marching right along with computer app's, programming and database fun (yes, I mean fun...I thought programming was a riot).

Last year, my "real job" disappeared with the state budge crisis and it did not come back this year. By summer, I came to the conclusion I might be better off looking in other directions. I've been freelancing since. And, three weeks ago, someone called and offered me work in the art department at the local community college. This ended up being a half time job, as a tech, in ceramic. But the big surprise? They had a huge brand new gas shuttle kiln with microprocessor controls for temperature and oxygen. And, nobody knew how to run it.

I programmed it and we fired it successfully this last Thursday and Friday. This morning, we unloaded a treasure trove of student work.

I couldn't have found this job if I'd have tried. I'm not sure when they would have found someone who understood the kiln.

That's the art of getting there.

Now, where are the central asian history, and the languages, going to appear? ;P