Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Windows


Harmony, California, population 24, was worth the stop we made several years ago. The first window is in the post office and the second photo is of the Harmony Pottery Shop. Several potters sell their ceramic work there and the shop is one of the few remaining businesses left in the town. I like how the inside pots are visable and the outside scenery is reflected in the window at the same time.


The town of Harmony is south of Cambria where one of my blogging buddies Patricia Griffin's ceramic studio is located. There is a new state park nearby called Harmony Headlands which contains the native Indian thistle, Circium brevistylum. I wonder if Patricia has this thistle illustrated on her new indigenous and endangered series of pottery? I'll bet she does; I need to take a trip to the coast to see her new work after we close on our house end of this week.


One of the reasons I take photos of windows in old buildings is because the buildings are often torn down or remodeled and the windows are destroyed. As progress often goes the third and fourth windows have gone the way of remodeling and are no longer in Harmony. I entered the third photo in the Sierra Foothill Artists show two years ago and received honorable mention for that photograph which I have mounted on canvas.


Perhaps you recall this next ceramic window I made in the Spring with white stoneware and black mountain clay. This window is the first of a series of windows I have plans to make and I already have hundreds of drawings and sketches for them. My intention is to show windows from two different perspectives, with the viewer looking in the window and the viewer looking out the window. For me windows are a look into the past, the present, and the future. Windows can be mysterious and thought provoking and seem to have the power of drawing out the imagination of a viewer.

Do you ever have an almost uncontrollable desire to make things in clay? I do. It's almost as if I am somehow driven to make certain pieces. That's how I feel about the windows I want to make. I can hardly contain myself and posting these photos of windows has brought that feeling to the forefront again. It's almost as if the windows are in my arms straining to get out. I can't wait to get moved so I can start on all the clay projects I have thought of over the last few months, especially this one.


I was inspired to do this post on windows after reading a post by a new blogging friend Barbara's blog, The Inquisitive Magpie. Stop on over there and see why I was reminded of these last two photos I took years ago, both of which are also inspiration for ceramic windows I want to make.


Enough about windows for now; as you can see I could go on and on with my ideas. One more day and we'll be in our RV full time, so stay tuned for more adventures with the soon-to-be traveling potter.

17 comments:

  1. Great photos! I also love photos of old doors. Door (and windows) used to have so much more character than new ones...

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  2. Hi Miri, thanks, yes doors are wonderful too. I think you are right more character, we need more of that these days don't we?

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  3. Great post. I have a friend who makes clear glass mosaics using windows (with the glass still in them) and clear adhesives/silicones, then hangs the windows to still let the light in but they are colorful with the transparent mosaic design.

    Do you know where you are moving to? What is your ETA for "landing?" I miss seeing your work :o)

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  4. as usually your post are so inspiring and you are a person of such depth.
    I am surprised all the time by you.
    I can't wait to sit down and talk with you.
    M

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  5. Windows and doors very cool and mysterious....Good Luck in your travels!

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  6. Hi Cindy, thanks, those windows your friend makes sound wonderful. I haven't even had time to think where we are going. Once we get in our motorhome I'll have more time to think about it, but it has to be a state with inexpensive houses and property taxes and one with some jobs both of us can get. I plan on doing a post - by the skin of our teeth - real soon, not sure how much I want to publish on that topic, but it will be after closing. I do plan on going somewhere where I can rent a little studio space if I can't find a permanent place right away so hopefully that will work out.

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  7. Hi Meredith, thanks, I was having a hard time putting into words how I felt about the windows, but I plan on doing some journaling once we get in the motorhome and hopefully I can organize my thoughts better then. Gary is ready to quit his job now - the stories I could tell about that, but he may need a reference, so I don't want to bite off my own nose which I have a tendency to do. Ha!
    I can't wait to talk with you either.

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  8. Hi Mary, thanks, yes doors too, and windows, hopefully I'll be seeing a lot of them and hopefully a few windows and doors will open up for both of us, now that we are closing a few behind us.

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  9. Bon Voyage Linda and Gary! You'll be just about on your way by now. Happy times, safe travel, and joy be with you on your way!

    Peter, Laura, and Ginger xxx

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  10. Hi Peter, thanks so much, we are both wishing we had another home to go directly to and then could travel, so we may look right away to accomplish that. We still have much too much to do and here I sit on the computer procrastinating. Gary, Linda, Betty, Binky & Butter xxxooo

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  11. Love the windows Linda. I especially like the 3rd one, that weathered building, the reflections, etc. Very pretty. The one in Bodie with the dressform, I think I took a photo of that same one. Makes me wonder where my box of old print photos is so I can go digging. Thanks for mentioning my window photos and my blog. Bon Voyage to you and Gary and the cats, enjoy the scenery. Keep in touch, when you pass through my part of the country, we can plan a meet up.

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  12. Hi Barbara, I am at the library right now and homeless - well not quite, we have rented a local RV space to take care of business and get situated before we leave. Talk to you soon.

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  13. safe travels, Linda. Hope to see you around here soon! I miss reading your daily blogs.

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  14. Hi Linda,
    I just got around to adding you to my blog list. So sorry it has taken me this long! I love the photo's of the window.
    Take care,
    jen

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  15. Hi Amy, thanks, I will still be posting, just not daily.

    Hi Jen, thanks, glad you are enjoying my blog, I enjoy yours too.

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  16. Wow, kinda threw me for a second. Thought you and Gary were on the road already and in my neighborhood! Then I saw that the photos were from another time.

    I'm sad to think that we have been so close in proximity and not connected. Well, I guess we HAVE connected via the blog.

    Your window idea is yet another in a long string of concepts and projects that amaze me. I am inspired by your posts, full of creative energy.

    When you're in the central coast area, PLEASE give me a holler. The welcome mat is out!

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  17. Hi Patricia, We are hoping to get out to the coast before we leave, but now have magic bus and trailer repairs, so we'll have to see I can't wait to see your work in person. Thanks so much for your encouragement.

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