OH MY GOSH!!!

I started the process of working on Puppy. OH MY LANDS! This is some of what was inside. My naive self thought that I could simply open his tummy, where the seam was clearly coming apart. Snip, snip...what?

There was very little "stuffing" to speak of. What I discovered was a lot of...? Dust, rocks, nut shells...? His nose area had a big piece of stuffing, loosely stitched in and his tail had some...a paw I think. That was about it. The rest was this 'natural'? material of some sort.

Such a fine dust, I was sneezing!

This big piece was his nose. Now he's all squished and his eyes even look different. One eye is no longer stitched well.

Almost all of the "stuffing" is out, except a few rock/nut pieces stuck to inside seams.

I finally got to the "shaker" in one of his paws.  It sounds like the clay shakers I made when taking pottery back in 2000. This made me smile, as pottery has popped up all over the place for me lately. I made these by wrapping tiny balls and bits of clay in paper...wrapped them all in more paper, forming a ball and formed the clay around that. After poking a few pin holes in the clay ball (to keep it from exploding in the kiln), it was fired. During the firing, all of the paper burned off and I was left with clay bits in the clay ball, which make a great sound when shook. Each one of them makes a different sound, depending on the size and shape of the clay bits inside. They're pretty cool.

I tried to see what this shaker could have inside, but all I could see was a reddish material that looks quite like the dust inside of Puppy. Dust falls out when I shake it, giving some credence to my thoughts.

My clay shakers are sitting in a handmade basket, a gift from a dear friend, made by her father. Her father, a basket maker for a lifetime. He lives in a very small town in Mexico and to make his baskets, he first goes to the river to collect the raw materials - striping the reeds into long thin strands. Then he can weave. He has made these baskets...forever...and sold them to help support his family. He is very old now and no longer creates his signature baskets, but this one - gifted to me many years ago - he made as an elder, maybe older than I am now. An elder and still doing the physical work to make beauty. I treasure this basket. Now it holds a new memory too.

I took a break to do some research.

The paper towel began to look like a Rorschach Test.

I kinda see the profile of a grinning, evil looking mouse in this bottom pic. HINT: The bit of stuffing is the 'face' and there are no real back legs to speak of.

So, now, while pausing...I'm considering what steps to take next. I'm wondering if the vacuum suction would just rip him apart? How do I get that last bits and dust out? Thank goodness I didn't wash him first - this dust would be mud! Is it possible to get the age and odors out of him (he still smells so strong of cedar). How to ready him for a new generation? Is that possible? How and with what do I re-stuff him? Can I wash him? Will it do even more damage?

What is left of Puppy's stuffing. Amazing. Kind of creepy. Sad.

Then came the harder questions...

Can Puppy be saved? Should Puppy be saved? How and for Who?

If Puppy can not be saved...what ever shall I do with him? How do I honor how much little baby girl me loved him?

In thinking about all of this and feeling rather sad that I even began this assault on beloved little Puppy...I took out Lamby and decided that she is most likely filled with the same or similar materials. She has no obvious seams to open with ease. She elderly, but in tact. I think I'll leave her be. But, then what shall I do with her?

Oh what to do now?

May you take a chance

May you honor your memories

May you find ways to be okay with both

xo

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2024 

Pottery as Gifts or Stuff

Along with my recent theme of letting go of

s-t-u-f-f,

I've decided to come to a decision about these two pieces.

I made these free-form bowls with melted glass and marbles

back in the early 2000's when I was taking pottery classes

through the adult education department.

Blue Glass

Musty Glass surface

Crack goes around the outside

I made many of these bowls.

One I will not let go of.  It belongs to J. and is a favorite.

A second larger one is here too, another one I really like,
beautiful glass and a one day (when I finally do it) driftwood handle.

↔

Beautiful outside

Musty, dusty cracked glass

Unclear glass

One was gifted to someone a year or so back.

It was a favorite too.

I gave one to my daughter and one to a friend I used to know, as a graduation gift.

I had an absolute ball making them, especially looking for glass bits 

to melt during the second firing.

But, I won't be making them again.  

That class resource is no longer available.

Pottery was a bit too much for my elbows, even back then.

So then there are these two. 

Two I was never real happy with.

Didn't like the way they came out.

Marbles Melted

The thing with CLOTH is that if you don't like it...

seams can be removed

pieces can be cut

other cloth can be added

(and so on, as Jude has taught us)

But with fired clay, it is set.

Done.

Cracks don't go away!

Blue Glass

⇄

Gift for a friend

 I loved making these out of the sample package, all earth colors 

- clear glaze only - beautiful glass inside -

I used to make "diversity hands" out of this sample package too.

They hung from ribbons and have all been gifted.

Melted beach glass

⇄

This one above, this one that was gifted, I love.
But, what to do with these two I do not love?

Here are my thoughts/choices:

→ Throw them away.  Bye-Bye!

→ Keep them 

(I keep thinking of Wabi-Sabi ideas...love the ugly like that cactus J. saved)

→ Gift them to someone who does not think they are defective or ugly (as I do)

→ Or????

Honestly, I keep going back to just tossing them.

Not everything one makes is grand.

That's okay.

We don't have to keep it all.

 May all of your decisions be fairly easy.

May all of your gifts be appreciated.

xo

Photos by NAE ©2018 

FYI

Accidental self-portrait © 2001

In case you haven't noticed...I've added a couple things to  

pomegranate trail recently.

At the bottom of the left side-bar: "Monthly Finds" 

alerts readers to interesting 

places I've discovered on the web.

At the top of the right side-bar: I've posted a favorite quote,

 one that seems

pertinent at the moment.

Both of these new items are intended as a changing view of what I'm thinking and/or discovering in the current moment.

Both of these new categories will stay here as long as I find interesting items to post 

and as long as I'm interested in keeping up with making the changes.

At the top: I've also added a new page titled: "The Traveling Quilt".  

You are invited to take a peek!

I'd also like to say thank you to all of my regular blog readers!  

Your visits and comments have made the last 8 months a lot of fun!

I've enjoyed getting to know all of you and 

look forward to our friendships continuing.

Photos by NAE @pomegranatetrail ©2012