Marilynne's World

Linda Mau is a well-known clay artist in the San Francisco Bay area.  She has made some marvelously creative things.  You can see more of her very professional work at http://lmau.com .  Linda  is also my sister-in-law.  Her clay art is simply stunning.

When Linda, allows me to own something she has created, I know it’s bound to be very special.  Here are a selection of small treasures she’s given me.  Most of them are useful as well.  There’s nothing big here because it had to travel home in a suitcase or come through the mail.

The strawberry bowl is designed to show off the berries as well as hold them.  It’s one of my favorites.

The lady usually sits among my flowers

The photo doesn’t show her beautiful color well.  She’s a lovely medium brown and looks so pretty in my garden.  Linda gave her to my mother, and when we were closing my mother’s home, I took the lady home with me.

A paper bowl, two hearts, and a butterfly of a dish

I never dreamed so much could be made of paper.  This little bowl has bits of flowers and such made into the paper.  It once had a handle of twigs.  The gray heart honors Scott and Tina’s wedding day. The white heart is a pin, beautiful in its simplicity.   The turquoise blue dish is another favorite.  It is so light and delicate you think you’ll break it if you touch it, but it’s strong.

This tray was destined for the garbage can. It's a failed experiment, but I love it.

On this tray are two silver bells from my mother-in-law’s collection, a trinket from my daughter Lisa, and a broken bit of honeycomb.  They rest on a fancy napkin given me by another daughter.  Linda planned to throw the tray  away because the experiment didn’t work.  The clay edges were crumbling off the wire on the edges.  I loved it with its imperfections and begged to be allowed to rescue it from the trash.

The blue tea box keeps my tea bags fresh. A square for used bags is ready next to it.

The last time I visited, Linda gave me a lovely tea caddy.  It’s exactly the right shape and size for the tea bags.

Find out more about Linda’s art and where you can see it at http://lmau.com .  Here are more references to her work

• http://ceramicartsdaily.org/methods-techniques/paper-clay-and-steel-combining-three-disparate-materials-to-create-strong-yet-lightweight-ceramic-sculpture/?floater=99
• http://www.ovcag.org/_shows/_past_2006/2006-29-APR/arles_gallery/index.html (Scroll to her name)
• http://www.pvarts.org/sculptureis09/artwork?page=2&order=field_artist_value&sort=asc

Marilynne

Dot shows me the way

During the hot summery days of August our daughters gave us a party for our 50th wedding anniversary.  It was a glorious time.  Our daughters were all home at the same time along with an assortment of grandchildren.  I didn’t want to miss a minute of it.  At the big party I danced and danced (square dancing is our choice) and tried to talk just a little with everyone.  It was a wonderful evening.  I didn’t want to miss a minute of it – or did I say that already.

So many of our family came a long way for the party.  Anne and Bob even came from Pennsylvania just for the party.  I had a house full of company and I loved it.  I didn’t want to miss even a minute of it.

So, the day after the big party, we had a family party, and our families were all here at the house.  I knew I wouldn’t be able to cook with so much going on so we chose our favorite foods and brought them in from our favorite restaurants.  The kitchen counters were full of good things to eat.

So I did have time to visit with everyone.  The smallest and cutest member of our families is a tiny girl nicknamed Dot.  She’s a tiny little dot of a thing, but full of fun too.

By the time I sat down to talk with our guests I was so very tired, but, you know,  I didn’t want to miss a minute of it.  So I sat and tried hard to make intelligent conversation.  I wasn’t fooling anyone about how tired I was.

Then little Dot held her hand up to me and led me up the stairs, across the veranda and into the kitchen.  I wonder now if she had plans to put me to bed.   She’s a smart little girl.  Once in the kitchen, she just looked around a bit, then led me outside again.

Someone took a photo of Dot leading me up the stairs.  I look so big and so bent over and she looks so tiny and in command.  I didn’t know about the photo until Dot’s mama put it up on Facebook.  I was struck by Dot’s tiny/tall person leading my big lumpy person.  She seems so in control for someone so small.

So I painted it in watercolor.  It is what it is – a good memory from our big party.

Marilynne