the dirt

This year Nate and I decided to try having backyard chickens, mainly because we wanted organic, pastured, nutritionally dense beautiful eggs from these happy birds. If you’re not up on your politically correct foodie speak, ‘pastured’ means chickens that run around in the grass eating bugs, slugs and plants as a major part of their diet. This makes for healthier, tastier eggs and is a big step up from cage-free. It’s been a great experience raising cute fluffy chicks into egg laying hens.

We coop them up at night for safety and during the day they roam the fenced garden area, which they clearly love. But, there is also a down side to not being in a cage all the time, in a word: predators. Where we live there are a lot of them, from foxes to mountain lions, our chickens really are vulnerable to it all not to mention our own dog who is infatuated with them. Over the past year, we’ve lost 2 birds to a predator, probably a bobcat. Since then, we’ve caged the birds for most of the day and only let them out when we’re around- which is kinda sad for the birds and also defeats the purpose of having pastured chickens.

It seems like a silly dilemma, obviously we should keep our birds safe from harm, but at what cost? The concept of caging is an idea I’ve been exploring for years through my nest series and a dilemma that we all feel. We want to be safe in our homes with locks and alarms but at the same time we’ve trapped ourselves in our own cages. And freedom is a beautiful and exciting venture, but we are left vulnerable to the elements. My work tries to explore the balance of this concept while I try to put it to practice in my own life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When I start out with new pieces, I feel like I have to get to know them for a while before I figure out what I’m doing with them. These pieces are pinched flanges with wide bases and range in size have a feeling of fungus growth or mushroom gills which is probably inspired by my hikes through the redwood forests this time of year when the mushrooms are flourishing. The pieces are very reminiscent of my Lichen Series too but I’m not exactly sure yet how similar they will end up. I really like the look of how they layer when stacked next to each other, it reminds me of a mountainous landscape with each ridge line creating a new horizon.  I’m designing them to be wall mounted for an indoor installation, but I’m also thinking about where I might arrange them for an in the field installation as well. Stay tuned and we’ll see where this creative journey goes…

 

Feeling grateful, recharged and inspired.
I got to spend the weekend backpacking in Big Sur, laughing with my friend and playing with my dog, does it get any better?
Now, back to the studio…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

photos: Amanda Luu

For a while, images of the Tower of London covered in red poppies swarmed the internet and social media, the installation was impressive from any standpoint. Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red installation created by artists Paul Cummins and Tom Piper, included 888,246 ceramic poppies pouring out of a window in the Tower of London and progressively filled the Tower’s famous moat, each poppy represented a British military fatality during the war. You can see images and learn more about this installation here…

When the installation was taken down, all of the poppy flowers were sold and the money raised was divided among charities. One of my amazing clay students was able to buy a few of the poppies before they were all sold and I was so lucky to receive one from her as a gift! How cool is that??

The packaging and documentation that came along with the flower was impressive as well. I just love this installation and I’m so excited to have a little bit of it at my studio now!