Odds & Ends

To the left is one of my flower holders -- the bowl part holds the water, the upright tubes hold a small assortment of cut flowers, and openings in the bottoms of the tubes allow the water to fill the tubes and keep the flowers fresh. Pictured with the flower holder are two small saggar-fired pots.




To the right are some of my miniature Pegasus series pots.



Below is an Anagama-kiln fired pot in a more classical style -- dressed up for the holidays.
 

And The Winner Is . . .

Anne here, with a note of thanks to Lee:

Left: Halide K. Smith, a Sarasota composer and artist, won the door prize--a Pegasus series burnished pot donated by Lee--at the Florida State Association, NLAPW, 2009 biennial conference. [Photo by Helene LeBrun, Gainesville branch artist -- thank you for sharing this, Helene!]

The National League of American Pen Women has provided professional women writers, artists, and composers with a national network and support system since 1897. Today, the group has branches in most states and counts many talented women among its members.

Our Florida State Association was very grateful to Lee for donating this piece. As our treasurer noted in her official, but very graciously written, receipt: "Trust me when I tell you that your pottery piece, given out as a door prize at one of our evening meals, was given to a Pen Woman, while an entire room of members sat in pure envy."

I'll second that.

About the Pegasus Series

Pegasus, ‘spring,’ the winged horse of Greek mythology, stamped his hoof -- and up welled the springs of the Muses’ Mount Helicon. Some early Greek poets portray Pegasus carrying the thunderbolts of Zeus, reflecting another root word source: ‘lightning.’

From these stories and etymologies, comes our use of the word ‘pegasus’ today to speak of artistic inspiration.

For me, that means knowing that the Source of all creation places His creative springs within us that well up and overflow . . . and that He occasionally zaps us with a bolt of lightning, as well.

As I learned about raku firing -- the modern, Westernized version, that is -- I began experimenting with applying horsehair to burnished pots, bisque fired and then reheated to about 1100 degrees. I started scrounging for other items that would leave enough of a carbon trace design, and found that feathers worked well.

Horsehair, feathers -- Pegasus!

These three pots in my Pegasus series earned second place in the Student division of the Dunedin Fine Art Center's 2008 Summa and Magma: Student and Member Exhibition.

For a piece commissioned for a fly-fisherman friend, I used turkey feathers from my fly-tying days. But mostly I scan the ground for random feathers, fallen from some flying creature passing overhead.

Why shouldn't they be from an equine creature as easily as from an avian one?