Thanksgiving Inspiration

Finally I had the courage or confidence to assemble these pieces. I've added semi precious stones, fossils, or sea creatures (ones of natural demise) to accent a group of pieces I handmade months ago. This slender multi colored vase is adorned with sea urchin spines I collected in my travels. Although the vase appears black, it's more of a bronze with some dark tones of blue, red, and brown in the glaze. I should have taken a close up photo to show you.


I might have posted a couple of these before but I never attached the stones permanently because I was afraid I'd ruin them. I've attached a piece of British Columbia jade to mimic the curve of this tall narrow box and complement the color of the handle.


This small pinch bowl is accented with two pieces of jasper. Perhaps you recall I got the semi precious stones from Dan the Rock Man in New Mexico. I plan to get back to using a few more of these stones from time to time. When I make a piece, I take out a stone and lay it on my work space. I think about what clay shape or form might enhance the stone. It's meditative to contemplate the different colors and shapes of these stones imagining all the work it must have taken Dan to collect, cut, and polish them.


This small lidded box is adorned with a quartz crystal handle. The quartz crystal has some pink and lavender hues which I really like. The quartz crystal reminds me of the rocks I used to collect from old hydraulic mining pits in California. Veins of gold were found among the quartz rocks during the gold rush days and the quartz rocks were discarded. I collected the discarded quartz rocks and used them to build rock walls when I lived in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

Today I'm thankful to have lived a full life able to travel to many places and meet so many inspirational people, both in person and on blogs. I usually describe nature as the inspiration for my art, but as I observe people living in harmony with nature this seems to have a special meaning to me now. People with strong yet gentle characters, the creative spirits of folks in today's world, are the ones who inspire me with their words, their actions, and their art. I hope you have a relaxing and peaceful Thanksgiving. Thanks to all of you for reading and commenting on my blog and thanks for all your support.