Profile Pics: 5 + 6

Clay Vessels

Or, I need to find a summer studio, you know?

Sleep-Talker: Wet Clay

Merlin in the Tree:  sculpture mix, still wet.

I'll probably change the name of the mask by the time I finish forming, firing, and glazing the piece.  I often do.  And, sometimes, I don't really know the piece's name, the art's essence, until I've taken it from the studio and sat with it for a while, or placed it in a tidepool or the shorebreak.  Often, the piece is a vessel for moods and conceits that are forming and evolving along with the work itself.

That's a talking mask, for sure, but then I'm a bit of a talker too.

SEA-DOGGEREL II

Here's an old poem of mine from the early-90's, from graduate school days. I happened upon this ditty the other day and I still like it, so I'm sharing. Can you figure out how I was feeling about that dissertation, can you? I hope you like it.

SEA-DOGGEREL II

I load the cargo in the vessel

But there's a hole in the hold.

A shanghaied stevedore

With a sheepskin pedigree

Caught walking the plank

Towards a higher degree:

I load the cargo in the vessel

But there's a hole in the hold.

Hear the tenor in the vehicle:

Out of time--out of tune--

A Bluebeard raising Cain

Between the moon and a harpoon.

There's a ruse to refusal

And a goad to bestow;

I load the cargo in the vessel

But there's a hole in the hold.

Do you get the sinking feeling

That waiting won't control?

You load the cargo in the vessel

But there's a hole in the hold.

Why won't words

Why won't words

Why won't words

Do as they are told?

--Matt Duckworth

P.S. Sometimes, I can hear Elvis Costello singing these lyrics.