A Magic Umbrella

I've made several clay sculptures and when some folks see them, they ask, "What is it?" I tell them it's a sculpture, or, the name of the sculpture, or, it's whatever you want it to be, or, it is, what it is. Sometimes they don't seem satisfied with my explanations.


I was fooling around with clay yesterday and made a small bowl on a hump mold. I intended to texture the sides with my new found mini extruder. I thought I'd use each one of the die to see what the clay textures would look like. The first die I used was this one with spaghetti strings. I liked the texture so much I decided to cover the whole bowl with it. Then I thought it needed a handle.


When I looked at the bowl it looked like an umbrella to me so I shaped the handle like an umbrella handle. Of course the handle is on top and that's not where it would normally be. Sometimes my imagination runs away with itself. I was thinking this is a magic umbrella, one where someone else holds the umbrella for you and your hair doesn't get sopping wet. Even though the hair is on the outside of this umbrella, it won't get wet, that's part of the magic.


I looked at the magic umbrella today and thought I'd make a little round tray to hold it. After all it's a magic umbrella and it deserves a nice tray to sit on. When someone asks me what it is I can say it's a magic umbrella; if they look at me quizzically I can say it's a cheese tray. But you and I will know it's really a magic umbrella.

I plan to make more pieces with this texture since I really like it. Comments, suggestions, and questions are welcome.