Mom’s Handbuilt Sauerkraut Crock

Well my Mom needed a birthday gift for my dad and as his birthday loomed she had no idea what to get him.

Anything feminine like a romantic getaway would of made him the laughing stock at work – did I mention he is a redneck heavy duty mechanic from northern BC? For instance  he would never admit during work hours  that he likes hawaiin pizza or correction should I say  ‘girlie pizza’  but orders ‘MEATLOVERS’ instead —satisfying the over abundant male testosterone that he works with everyday. Mom on the other hand is a hopeless romantic. When it comes to his birthday she thinks of dinner parties with discussions of art, wine, the scent of fresh flowers filling the air– I digress. Well he is also a health fanatic and has been spending hours watching ‘ How to make sauerkraut’ on youtube of late.
Fantastic !!
Besides the fact that after watching about 26 video’s on the subject – I think we have it pretty much figured out… So we decided to make him a handbuilt sauerkraut crock. Because sauerkraut apparently is an almost perfect food, it’s raw, it harmonizes the digestive system with much needed probiotics –I have been informed.

In Progress start of relief

The pot is in progress with the relief started and is 12″ high and approximately 9 1/2″ wide. Still need to make the lid. I think I better get him a card too and yeah maybe add a  jackhammer.

Grapevine relief

And just for your added viewing pleasure here is his favourite sauerkraut youtube video: How to make homestead sauerkraut in Alaska….

Garth's Sauerkraut Pot- P.S Dad loves it

Sacred Geometry -Artist reference information

I have been learning sacred geometry lately – I believe as artists it is important to develop all areas of artistry. Geometry, numbers, lines, negative, positive space plus dimension and form are our creative vices. This is not all of what art is because there exists an unpredictability in art by the addition of thought, creativity and emotion. I recommend reading several books  (The Secret Code by Priya Hemenway) on sacred geometry and doing some exercises to learn the methods and apply them to some of your artworks. As a mathematical equation it is  square root of 5 plus 1 divided by 2 = 1.618…
How to create a golden rectangle

 The most important aspect of  ‘the golden mean’ ‘divine proportion’ or sacred geometry is Proportion. Once you begin to train your mind to this concept you will also realize how much there is to learn and accept that you will always be the student and never the master. Here is a great youtube video that decribes the human form and proportion in relation to the divine code titled ‘ golden ration in the human body’ and I encourage you to spend some time, sketch and absorb the valuable information imparted here: 

Image originally found here: http://www.marcus-frings.de/text-nnj.htm

and on this website blog -beautiful proportion:

http://beautifulproportion.blogspot.com/2009/08/beautiful-proportions-golden-ratio-also.html

I am documenting a shortened version here for my own reference —
From the illustration, we can see several occurrences of the golden ratio found in the human body

Sole to navel (1) : Sole to crown (Phi)
Sole to knee : Sole to navel
Navel to shoulder : Navel to crown
Knees to calf muscle : Knees to sole
Navel to mid-thigh : Navel to knees
Navel to sternum or mid-chest : Navel to base of throat
Throat base to temple or brow bone : Throat base to crown
End of calf muscle down to ankle : Calf muscle to sole
Mid-thigh to start of kneecap : Mid-thigh to end of kneecap
Navel to crotch : Navel to mid-thigh
Navel to sternum base : Navel to sternum or mid-chest
Throat base to earlobe : Throat base to top of ear or brow bone
Brow bone to hairline : Brow bone to crown
Nose to chin : Nose to base of throat

Golden proportions in the human body referenced from beautiful proportions blog:

Here is an excellent documentary on Barnstone studios – A great opinion on Art and the master apprentice system.

part one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0tjNQFha2g
part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKhG7Krfgrk&feature=related
part3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKewsz3Tr7A&feature=related  “we live in a visually illiterate world”
part4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIoHMd_TvqI&feature=related
part5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeqszH_L-Ts&NR=1
part6: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeA_6IlljgM&NR=1
part7:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8HrCOcE5lI&NR=1

Art Tile

I have been working on art tile relief sculpture. Now that my sketchbook has been sent and all of my other pending projects have been either completed or back benched I can now put my energy into my relief tile. I completed a fairy clay sketch – which is faster than drawing it out.  I will be posting some of my techniques over the next couple of months.  Here is a ‘rough clay sketch’ of a fairy. From here I will let the clay dry and will bisque fire it and once it is fired I can (if needed) add more detail by carving and sanding. Once I am happy with the results I will  stain and clear glaze the piece to bring out the relief and high fire to cone either 4 or 6. My clay is a porcelain with grog and will come out a very nice ivory color when fired.

The fairy tile is currently in progress and here are several other tiles where the sculpting work is completed.

Poetry book

Page 48 Floras Daughter

Here is the book titled ‘Island Mists’ Anthology of Verse

Published by the Poetry Institute of Canada

My poem ‘Flora’s Daughter’ is on page 48.

This poem was written for my daughter Bettina and is titled after a cameo  done by Benedetto Pistrucci and an oil painting of my daughter exhibited at the Victoria Art Gallery ‘ Art in Bloom’ exhibition.

Floras Daughter page 48