Tortoise in the Ferns

The other day I was thinking about the tortoise which lived at our previous home in Florida. I miss seeing them. I wonder what a tortoise dreams? Perhaps about a lush forest of ferns. Even though tortoise are land creatures, this one appears to be swimming in a sea of green, my tortoise in the ferns. Below is a photo of two gopher tortoise doing their mating dance at our home in Florida.

I don't have a window in my basement studio space at this home. The door has a window but it's at the other end of the studio. I miss having a window to look out of and dream. When the weather warms up (if it ever does) I might work out of doors some of the time. For me that's the ideal studio space, one with a window right in front of the work area. What's your ideal work space, your ideal dreaming space? Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

First Spring Tortoise and Whippoorwill

Last night I heard the first whippoorwill of the season. I'm fascinated by the penetrating and repetitive song emanating from such a small and unassuming bird in the night. According to the ways of Southern farmers when you first hear the song of the whippoorwill it's time to plant peas. Meanwhile I've been busy preparing for visits of relatives from New Hampshire and Finland. Other duties have also called me away from my clay work and blogging. (Image for the whippoorwill was borrowed from the net).

This afternoon I saw the first Spring tortoise meandering around in the yard. See him there in the right of the photograph. I've taken the photo through the screen. He is about 10 inches long or so. I knew it was a male because he cruised by the female den and bobbed his head hoping she'd come above ground and join him. What a memory he has after his Winter's nap; he remembered mating with the female late last summer. Little did he know the den of the female gopher tortoise has been blocked off much of this Winter. We're hoping she's harboring baby tortoise underground.

We had a light rain during the day yesterday and this evening we have flung the windows open enjoying the balmy weather. I hope you're having a relaxing time welcoming in the seasonal changes Spring is bringing. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Bald Eagle and a Bisque

A bisque is cooling down right now. In the kiln are strip stacked pieces, some with slip and stains and some not. The large bowl is also strip stacked. I am anxious to see how these wider strip stacked pieces fire. Hope they stay together. Please keep your fingers crossed for me for this load.

The other day on the way to the store we spotted a bald eagle on top of a telephone pole. I wish I had a better telephoto lens on my camera. These are striking birds to see in person.

Gary and I were also surprised to see a ring-tailed cat on a separate trip. I tried to get a photo and at one point I was hopeful because the critter stopped and stood on his hind legs looking at us in curiosity. But when I got out of the car to take a photo, the little guy quickly ran into the woods. Now we're looking in the same area each time we return hoping to get a photo. When I came home I read ring-tailed cats are not native to this part of the United States. I reported the sighting to the Fish and Game and they're hoping I can get a photo. They said Florida is home to more exotic animals than any other state. Some are escaped pets and some smuggled or illegal imports.

Yesterday was the first sunny day we've had in a week and the female gopher tortoise was briefly out of her den. It's been completely overcast every other day this past week which is unusual for here in Florida. The weather has been dry and mild and yesterday we could smell citrus trees blooming in the air. Have a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Contrasting Slip

I ran out of white clay so I decided to try what I had in mind with speckled tan clay. I wanted to make a tower using a contrasting color of slip to join the strips together, so for this tower the clay is tan and the slip is Navajo red.

After I constructed the piece I took a tooth brush and brushed the still wet slip which had oozed out of the seams around and around the piece horizontally. After the slip dries I'll rig up a mini piece of sand paper attached to a flat object to carefully sand back some of the red clay slip, sanding in the same direction as the strips (horizontal). We'll see if the seams hold and the slip adheres.

For some reason I'm drawn to circles right now and the top portion of this tower evolved on it's own. This piece makes me think of peering into the eyes of the soul. It's about 15 inches tall by 3 inches wide.

I snapped a shot of the female gopher tortoise going into her burrow. Every day this week we've had at least an inch of rain. Most of my vegetables have bitten the dust so I weeded my block bins today. Interspersed with the veges I have herbs planted, like rosemary, lavender, and thyme among others. The herbs are all doing fine. This post is part of the Mud Colony what's happening in the studio; click on over to see what others are up to. Thanks for reading and for all your encouragement.

Layers of Earth with a Spring

We finally got more rain here. This year we've only had sporadic rain storms unlike the previous two summers. We seem to be going into a more rainy pattern now, I hope it continues for the remainder of the summer. Here's another layers of earth tower about ten inches tall and two inches wide. This one has a central turquoise form as if water were bubbling up from the earth like a spring and flowing down. Or perhaps rain is falling on the earth and replenishing the water table.

I brushed turquoise underglaze as far down as I could on the interior. Not an easy feat with the strip of clay in the center and over the top. I always seem to do those type of things with my clay making. But I seem to go with the flow so to speak and work around the predicaments I find myself in. I know these colors are somewhat traditional Southwestern, but I don't necessarily mean them to be categorized in that way. Perhaps if I used a blue rather than a turquoise, but I do like turquoise. When I look around Florida these same colors occur here in the earth, the sky, and the waters. These are also colors I see at the ocean or the beach.

Today I saw two gopher tortoise in the front yard. I saw the female go into her burrow and then saw this other tortoise go into the same burrow. From what I've read this is an unusual occurrence. I'm so lucky to see these tortoise on a daily basis. The tortoise set the tone for the day in so many ways. Most of the tortoise are about 12 x 10 inches. I haven't actually measured them because I observe them only from a distance so I don't disturb their foraging. Thanks for reading and for all  your comments.