let them eat cake...

With all of the craziness lurking out there these days, sometimes we have to turn to more simple rituals and things that bring joy, pleasure and a sense of accomplishment, albeit small. 
Baking. Cakes, pies, cookies- all relevant this time of year.

The smells, morsels-bring a sense of right to often what seems to be so wrong these days.

I have been creating a lot of cake stands for folks lately-all fun and quirky ways to display your finished product. and just plain joyful really.

rustic pumpkin sour cream pie baked by my daughter. yum.

me and joseph cornell...

backyard of 1546 tenth ave san francisco

37-08 Utopian Parkway, Queens, NY 

I have always admired Joseph Cornell's work and the monastic way he approached his collecting and his construction of intricate boxes full of magic and oddly paired objects. A big influence since seeing his work when I was quite young at a Soho gallery in the 1970's-when Soho really was full of galleries.
Lately, I have been feeling a little Cornellesque. The studio has been busy and I am hunkering down not coming up for air too much and not leaving my small urban compound here. I haven't had much time to roam about and find inspiration- so have been depending on my own crazy collection of objects and finds that litter my studio and my home. The ephemera, the detritus-words I like that so aptly describe the corners of the world collectors inhabit.

I take note of the extremely noisy squirrels and blackbirds overhead and take an every other day break to head out to Ocean Beach where I might find a new stone, piece of graffiti or faded paint color that reminds me of a new glaze combo to try. But I do not stray far right now. No exotic trips and journeys. I am hunkered down- working on my orders and exploring new themes and ideas for design. My Utopian Parkway.  Joseph Cornell derived most of his ideas from his immediate surroundings in Queens, yet they were powerful and worldly.. large, not small, not provincial.
I have always meditated on my surroundings and mused over the collections of objects I find- the crazy one armed figurines, torn out images from old magazines, my massive collection of cottonwood branches from New Mexico and always more to uncover in the boxes and trays. And of course, Kiki..

As I work away here, I too feel as though I am traveling by scanning what is around me and dive into more clay and make more plates..