Ewe Hoo....Sneak Peek

My mother has a friend who collects sheep. Well, not actual sheep but pictures of sheep, statues of sheep..you get my meaning. Anyway, my mother wants to give her friend a tile with sheep as the subject matter but with a pun at its heart. The theme was to be "lamb on the lam" which conjured up a lot of ideas. Meredith, Mark and I kicked around a few ideas: a lamb wearing sunglasses, a lamb standing on top of another lamb, a pair of sheep acting as decoys while a lamb runs away in the distance.

Originally, I was going to draw a picture to give to Meredith and she was going to make the tile. When I started working on the drawing, though, I was having too much fun and so Meredith suggested that I make the tile. Well, I ended up making 20 sheep tiles on the first go around so I think I'll stick with sheep for a while and go back to the girffes later. Here is a sneak peek at the sheep tiles in progress.

Tiles

Here are some of the latest giraffe tiles.

The Safari House

Every time we come back to the Safari House there is another new "critter" of some description. This time it is a taxidermied squirrel who is living in the knothole of the tree trunk which makes up the stair rail in the entry. He is buddied up with some new African birds who are perched just down the tree trunk and next to the monkey cage.

Under the Oaks

Last Saturday we participated in a pottery show and sale in Wake Forest. The weather was perfect, the people were nice and there was free music....what more could you ask for? The giraffe tiles had their second outing and were well received and we sold quite a bit of jewelry, too.

I'm ready for another show!

Of course the chandelier at the Safari House Involves Monkeys!

We're back at the Safari House again to try to finish our projects before December. While we were away, our friend, Greg, sculpted a pair of monkeys holding lanterns. They are hanging above the alligator dining room table. Greg did a masterful job as I think you'll see in these pictures.

Down on the farm

I spent most of last week holding down the fort at Meredith and Mark's while they very kindly took our mother up to see our brother. It was a very peaceful week and I was happy to get out of the rat race for a while and look at trees and fields instead of concrete and telephone poles.

Here's the view from the studio door, with a field of newly mown hay. On the other side of the same door there is a tomato garden. The tomatoes have just about petered out but the stalks make a perfect home for this lovely big spider. I have always called these "writing spiders" but their proper name is Argiope Aurantia. Whatever her name, she is a fine specimen. She caught herself some lunch while I was there.

It was a very quiet week, so I got a lot of tiles glazed and Meredith fired them yesterday. I'm eager to see how they came out. Pictures to come soon.

Back at the Safari House again

Once again, we have a new project at the Safari House. We're staining and varnishing the foot rests for the Alligator table and the bar. The one for the table is completed and installed and we're waiting for Stan to carve the other one.

Back at the Safari House

As the title says, we're back at the Safari House. This time around we are working on the kitchen counter top. We're making it look like an African stream bed, complete with fish, marshes, rocks and sand. This has been a really fun project. My only regret is that I couldn't figure out a way to work a giraffe into it. Some of these pictures give you a "fish eye view" of the project and some give a long view. The platform at the end of the counter top is a pull out platform that is going to hold a hand crafted fish bowl that my sister, Meredith, and I are going to make. I'll post more pictures when the project is complete.

31 More Giraffes

I'm posting the last giraffe today because I'm going down to the farm tomorrow to help Meredith carve tiles for the Safari House backsplash. I wanted to think up something that marked the end of the project, as I did with the final February giraffe taking a bow. I googled "giraffe waving goodbye" and, lo and behold, a photograph with the caption "giraffe waving goodbye" came up. I made a drawing based on that image.....seemed too good to pass up. I hope no one takes offense at the giraffe's backside. He's just waving goodbye.

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Next to last.

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Number 29 is smiling because we're celebrating Tony's birthday today. He's not getting any pie, either.

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This is TGIF 28.

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Twenty seven down and four to go.

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Here's 26.

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Giraffe 25.

31 More Giraffes and a baby girl

She has arrived! Anna gave birth on Friday morning, verrrry early, to a baby girl. Her name is Mara Jade and she is absolutely gorgeous. Everyone's healthy, everyone's happy, all's right with the world.

Here's a picture of a giraffe.

31 More Giraffes

Meredith and Mark are in Norfolk awaiting the appearance of the new bambina, so I am going down to the farm for a few days while Tony holds down the fort here. I hope to be able to work on some more giraffe tiles while I'm there. I'm posting the weekend's giraffes today so I won't have to worry about it over the weekend. Here are 21, 22 and 23.

31 More Giraffes and a new baby

My niece, Anna, and her husband, Baptiste, are expecting their first baby any day now. I thought the occasion called for a giraffe picture celebrating love of family, so this is it.

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This is giraffe 19.

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This is eighteen.

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And number 17 has arrived.

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Halfway there!

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And number 15.