This is the only instagram picture I managed to snap before I realized it was probably costing me $20 a minute to be online on my phone, so this will do for the year! It's one of the many sculptures that Barbara has made that are displayed around the house, but this one is my favorite. I can't help but wonder what kind of a party this is, and what they could be celebrating? I think I could stare at it for hours.
Today when I came down for breakfast we received an exciting phone call! Julius, Barbara's 2 year old grandson was coming to spend the day with us. Hurrah! Honestly I was super excited to have a kid in the house, and he turned out to be one of the happiest kids I have ever met! Of course he was suspicious of me at first, but eventually he warmed to me, after making some silly faces and getting out my clown nose to play with. The nice thing about interacting with a 2 year old is that I don't have to say much, and as it turns out all the German I know is exactly the amount that he can understand! It's fate. We laughed, we played, we passed around the nose and laughed at ourselves in the mirror.
Julius spent the day in the backyard riding around on his scoot bike while Barbara and I worked on some sculpture. her latest project is inspired by the dried out pods that poppy seeds come from, which she finds a lot of in the garden. She has made many about the size of an orange, but now she is attempting a massive one, about the size of a watermelon. My first project was one of her orange-sized pod designs, which she walked me through by making her own example piece alongside my own. When she teaches, she thinks its very important to never touch the other person's work, which I found to be great! It was fun to be working with my hands, and I was quite satisfied with my result, which I will post once it's finished. I am eager to start my next project but I felt instantly braindead when she asked what I'd like to do next.
Throwing pots really appeals to me, because I love making things that can be useful out of something that is essentially useless. But her wheel is tucked away in a corner, her focus now is much more hands on, organic, with less of an emphasis on symmetry. Art for art's sake. If I had simply a lump of clay in front of me, and my hands as my tools, what would I make?
Also, I never realized how heavy clay pieces can get. My arm was getting tired from holding a hollow ball the size of an orange! Whatever it is I make, inspiration is tucked away in every room of this house. Barbara and I have a great banter and I hope I'll get to spend a lot more time learning this art form from her, even when I'm not staying in this house anymore.
Went on a beautiful hike in the afternoon in the backyard forest of my home. Their house is right at the base of a beautiful hill about the size of Mount Tabor. On top there is a war memorial commemorating the soldiers from the first two world wars. And not far from there was a little farm that had a restaurant where we stopped for coffee and cake before heading back down. When we got back Julius had finished his nap and we all went back outside to enjoy last couple hours of light. I finally got some juggling practice in, (whoohoo go me!), still trying to get used to my heavier rubber juggling balls, and I got Bernhard and Barbara to give it a shot! Yay for spreading the bug at every age! Julius was entranced, but only for about 5 seconds, as any 2-year-old would be. I hear I'll be seeing him again tomorrow, maybe he can teach me some new German words?
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Word of the Day:
Der Fahrrad: Bicycle!
(Fahr: drive, rad: wheel).
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