Fifteen Seconds of Fame and Flame

Wish Collector
sold

Imagine my surprise when I opened the San Francisco Chronicle to the travel section and found a photo of this piece.  It is also online at SFGate.  Check it out here


detail
old piece (Fire Eater)  that I never finished and don't know if I ever will
My kiln was having technical difficulties for a while.  Along with my wireless and the laptop. They decided to shut down along with the Federal government. To add fuel to the fire but not the kiln, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit-train) went on strike causing a bigger and longer traffic nightmare for the entire Bay Area.  We couldn't get out of this area even if we put the Jeep in 4-wheel and climbed our way out.  Or leave at 4:00 am.  Which we did.

walking by one of the smaller Sequoias
We were planning to visit Redwoods National Park. Remaining positive we decided to go visit Calaveras Big Trees State Park instead.  The dogwood was in the last throes of autumnal hues.
 
What's left of a dogwood flower---beautiful to the end
This morning the strike was settled and the trains are running.  My glitchy kiln finally reached temperature and my laptop has a new power supply.  The wireless is still iffy, but the corner cafe has free wi-fi and great croissants.  During the weekend we went up to the P.S. House (passive solar.)  I raked our required fire truck turnaround which is big, gravelly and ugly.  Not anymore.

 
leaf litter made up of tiny Coast Redwood leaves

“The autumn leaves blew over the moonlit pavement in such a way as to make the girl who was moving there seem fixed to a sliding walk, letting the motion of the wind and the leaves carry her forward."
from Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451.


Comments

  1. Oh, there were so many troubles! Glad to know that they have sorted themselves out (Enjoy croissants! ) The photo on the papers is so cool! : ) Sequoias look beautiful! I like fire eater's face. : )

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    1. Fire Eater was saved from the trash bin because of that face. She gets moved around and dusted off every once in a while.
      The croissant was good, too. Now I have no excuses and need to get back to work!

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  2. Charlene - congrats on the newspaper photo -- oooh - fame! 'Wish Collector' is one of my favorites so I'm not surprised she made it into the press. Love your photos of fall in the redwoods - look at that dogwood blossom - still beautiful in old age . . .
    I can't imagine the chaos surrounding BART not running. I have mixed feelings on the necessity of our government running - in it's current configuration -

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  3. I thought I commented this morning - that comment must have evaporated!
    I am not surprised 'Wish Collector' got press coverage - she's so fabulous. Congrats. I can't imagine the chaos BART not running must cause in the bay area. YIKES - but it looks like you were able to escape - and find paradise. That dogwood bloom is still gorgeous in old age. And your leaf mandala is very cool.

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    1. The fog was rolling in as I was raking so I couldn't get a photo of the road. To the left there is more. Maybe for the holidays I will rake up.....redwood leaf snowflakes....;)

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  4. I love Sequoias! Although Germany is not the typical country for these giant trees, we have thousands of them located all over Germany! The biggest of the German seqoias have a max. height of 50 - 55 meters (164 - 180 feet) and a max. age of approx 150 years.
    Uwe.

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    1. Thank you for your comment, Uwe. I am glad to hear of your redwoods!
      I can never get enough of seeing redwoods. The Ancient Giants, both on the coast and in the Sierras are such a magnificent sight and very humbling.

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  5. In the Chronicle pic, it looks as though Wish Collector is beckoning to the reader. Very cool.

    Fire eater just might become part of a bigger, "integrated" artwork one day, you never know. She's biding her time :)

    The dogwood has a pretty flower pod, I didn't know that.
    Redwoods are such magnificent trees. I'd love to see these giant sentinels in person.
    Love the leaf litter rakings, Charlene - almost like a labyrinth to meditate upon.

    You can blame old trickster Mercury for the computer/transportation/kiln troubles - he's in retrograde again.
    Hang in there for the next couple of weeks :)

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    1. Ohh that mischievous Mercury....just wants a little attention, I guess. There is no explanation as to why my kiln wouldn't get to temp. The electronic controller was reset twice and all the elements burned brightly. Finally I got Herr R. (Computer Scientist /Software Engineer Extraordinaire) to come out and stare at it. That apparently worked ;-)

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  6. Sorry for this very late comment! I once tried to comment but I couldn't because of the online trouble? Congratulations!! I read the article and found the lovely lady you created!! She is really wonderful!
    I also read your latest post. I liked the quote very much. Thank you, Charlene!!

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  7. It is never too late to hear from sapphire! Thank you! I was feeling a little lonely this morning and to find this comment from you brighten my day....

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