Tiny, Imperfect Polymer Clay...Somethings, Plus Design vs. Happenstance

[mallorys_camera]

I’m not even gonna dignify these things with a genus name since they look absolutely nothing like what I had in my mind’s eye.

I suppose they could pass as hibiscus if hibiscus flowers had fleshy stems and tripart alternating with quadripart leaves.

These are the last tiny, imperfect polymer clay flowers I will create for a while.

In keeping with the Prime Directive—You must use everything you create!—they will be going into that first retablo (which will probably be a mess, but hey! Learning curve, blah, blah, blah), but I will probably stash them in a flower cart at the very back of the retablo where no one will look at them.

It did occur to me as I was staring at them mournfully (just prior to popping them into the oven for baking) that maybe I was limiting myself by sticking with real flora. That maybe I should give myself permission to make imaginary flowers!

But I like representational art. I’d prefer my fantasy elements to be introduced through design rather than happenstance.

Though, true: a highly stylized traditional art form like Peruvian retablos will never be representational art.

Still.

I got quite excited thinking about those imaginary flowers and all the other imaginary things I’m gonna try to put outside my head!

In addition to the political retablos I’m planning on making when I get a little good—the homeless tent encampment under I-80; the flight of the migrants across the Sonoma desert complete with snakes, scorpions, and ICE agents—maybe I could do a Cordwainer Smith retablo. He is my favorite science fiction writer. For many, many reasons.

I’d also like to do Station Eleven and The City & the City retablos—although that last would be very difficult: How do you translate China Mieville’s conceit—people who are legally forbidden to see what is there to see?—into a visual representation?

Also, I think I am gonna go with ¼-inch wood for the first retablo box.

It’s flimsier.

But easier to work with, I suspect.

###

Not much other news to report.

I did not speak to a single other human soul yesterday. (Fond though I am of L, her conversational repertoire is limited to food, counter stain removal techniques, the adventures of her Arizona cousins once they stashed their spouses in assisted living, and her hatred of Donald Trump. These are not topics that inspire me to dialogue.)

It was a bright, sunshiney, blue-sky day, but when I stepped out of my car at the tromping trailhead, the wind was high, and it was cold.

Fuck this, I thought.

And drove home.

Also—

This is something Neighbor Ed first brought to my attention:

“So, you know, a weird thing happened after I got my first vaccination,” he said.

“And that was…?”

“Well. The bursitis in my shoulder cleared up. Like immediately. I’d been dealing with the pain for a couple of weeks. But within 20 minutes of that shot—the pain was gone.”

Huh.

Then The Daily Mail printed a story about how a bunch of different people were experiencing symptom remediation after their first shots.

I know, I know. The Daily Mail! Not a peer-reviewed science journal! 😊

Still. The Daily Mail does not make shit up. It’s a news aggregator.

I searched and searched for the original source of this story.

But in vain.

However…

I’ve had one lesion from the autoimmune disease that’s been on my leg for four years.

And when I was showering last night, I noticed—it’s half-way disappeared.

It's been six days since my first shot.

Very strange.

Comments

[asakiyume]

Okay, see, I didn't think of hibiscus--I thought you were doing blown tulips, and I thought they were brilliant as that, and I thought they were great practice for your eventual goal of rather terrifying scenes.

If the vaccine miracle-cures things, then wow--think of the conflicts that will arise as the pharma companies attempt to cash in afterward. By the way, here is something that might make you laugh.

[mallorys_camera]

Too hilarious! 😊

"Did Thackeray already write it?"

[halfmoon_mollie1]

I love your tulips/hibiscus/whatever. I just like them, I don't care what they look like.

[mallorys_camera]

Awwwww. Thanks! 😊