Pollution Cocktail by Mary P. Williams
Instead of a cold refreshing glass of ….. ? ….. let me pour you a warm glass of pollution cocktail. It consists of a discarded plastic bucket filled with a vile, chemical-smelling mixture of old, burned items. The cocktail is garnished with a spear of Aloe and a chunk of coal and is wrapped in sugarcane leaves and moldy palm fronds. All these items were found on one square yard of earth by the side of a road.
Posted in My Sculptures | Tagged found materials, Natural materials, Pollution Cocktail, Sculpture | Leave a Comment »
Self Portrait by Mary P. Williams
This is a ceramic sculpture of my head, inside and out. The brain is stuffed and embroidered pieces of dyed silk.
Self Portrait by Mary P. Williams
The symbols china-painted on the head reflect our current culture and the human achievements of language, math and the “outside” represented by space, time, and stars.
Self Portrait by Mary P. Williams
Posted in My Sculptures | Tagged Ceramic Sculptures, China Painting, Self Portrait, Silk Embroidery | Leave a Comment »
Heidi Beemer has announced that she will be taking a one way trip to Mars sometime between 2023-2035. An amazing stance! She will be conducting scientific research there. She and thousands of other people are competing for the honor of going on a space ship, the Mars One, which is being sponsored by a Dutch Non-profit organization. It will be a one way trip of 7 months to reach Mars. The applicants will be training for 10 years … and then OFF TO MARS !
She will be able to get there … but not able to return to earth.
Hat’s Off to Heidi!
Posted in Mars, My Paintings | Tagged Mars One, Mars. Heidi Beemer | Leave a Comment »
A NEW rite of Spring! … at least new to me. The Sweet Pea Maze in Flinn Springs, California is a fragrant, heady, colorful event which all the locals attend. There was lovely live music, a sunny breeze-laden day, and sweet peas of every color climbing the fences laid out in a maze … walk the maze if you dare! You may be overwhelmed by the odor … or by the color … or by the wonder in the eyes of the children as they sniff and wander thru deep purple, vibrant pink, and pure white sweet peas.
It all began at 9 am and at 11 am you are allowed to pay $3.00, handed a pair of scissors, and told to re-enter the maze and cut sweet pea bouquets if you wish. By 11:30 every flower was cut and held in the hand of the lucky attendee … so many happy faces!!
Hurray for this sweet occasion!
Love, Mary and D.L.
Posted in Botanicals, Gardens, Sweet Pea Maze | Tagged CA, Flinn Springs, Sweet Pea Maze | Leave a Comment »
Good morning!
Lestat’s on Park
Wandered down to our local Lestat’s On The Park cafe and what did I find?
Magritte table at Lestat’s
A table with a spoof of Rene Magritte’s painting! …
Mural across from Lestat’s
and across the street a truly horrible mural …
so I thought back to the book I just finished titled “WHAT GOOD ARE THE ARTS?”by John Carey which offers ” a delightfully skeptical look at the claims made on behalf of art.” Per The New York Post: “This book is brilliant, funny, and insightful” … Oh ?? maybe brilliant and a bit funny. It was published in 2006 and examines the place of art and “high’ culture in our lives.
Glad I read it … would I recommend it ? … somewhat tedious but a thorough examination of the value of art ……..
Ciao from San Diego…
Mary and D.L.
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A cold, sunny day at the Japanese Tea Garden, in Balboa Park, San Diego. Beginning our stroll thru the garden we saw a building with an art exhibit titled “Cataclysmic Oddities”.
Cataclysmic Oddities, by Michael Noble
The artist, Michael Noble, had arranged all his failed — I am guessing they were failed — pottery in a jumble at the foot of some unusual pieces.
Massive, heavy pieces showing light glimmering thru the walls in random, unexpected places.
A different take on the function of clay… reminds me of the Wallace Stevens quote “We live in the chaos of the old sun.”
Japanese Tea Garden, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA
Then the carefully raked sand around the rocks … an attempt to exert control over chaos.
Koi, Japanese Tea Garden, Balboa Park, San Diego
The indolent waving fins of the Koi reflecting our inability to stop-even for a moment.
A lovely day … some photos of the objects surrounding us at the Tea Garden.
Posted in Pottery, San Diego | Tagged Balboa Park, Cataclysmic Oddities, Japanese Tea Garden, Pottery by Michael Noble, San Diego | 1 Comment »
and for the New Year .. .2013 … May I present the Secretary Bird …
Secretary Bird at the San Diego Zoo
or in the arabic the “saqr-et-tair” meaning “the hunter bird”. Funny how the jumbling of the arabic wound up ‘secretary’ …
Secretary Bird at the San Diego Zoo
This majestic bird is 3 feet tall and hunts on foot … eating small mammals and snakes. He is from Africa. His ancestor was Dagget’s Eagle. 6 feet tall and now extinct. Known as a long-legged eagle he is actually a hawk. So that is New Years Eve at the San Diego Zoo!!
Secretary Bird at the San Diego Zoo
May 2013 come in like a Lion and multiply to a pride of Lions for us all …
Cheers to us all and a happy glass lifted in celebration! Mary and D.L.
Posted in Birding | Tagged New Year, San Diego Zoo, Secretary Bird | Leave a Comment »
“Can You Hear Me?” is a painting about the background noise which surrounds us.
“Can You Hear Me?” by Mary P. Williams
I chose to represent this noise with a roaring sea … between traffic noise, TV noise, and the many sirens, horns, shouts, and low buzzing produced by a city I wonder if it is even possible to communicate on a one-to-one basis. Can you hear me??
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Pomegranates, Persimmons and Roses
Paula’s garden down in the south of California contains a wealth of plants … all kinds and all colors. The garden is terraced and the trees are tall. She planted every plant herself over a period of thirty years. They tumble over each other and under one plant is … another! Avocado trees, tangerine trees tomatoes, sage, … takes your breath away to look in any direction … desert plants, mingled with roses.
Agave Next to Grapevine
A happy heart is the result when you walk around the garden.
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Mary P Williams 
Impressions of the 21st Century – July 20th thru August 1st
July 12, 2013 by Mary P Williams
Impressions of the 21st Century at the SayaFineArtsGallery, 11N. Sierra St #103, Reno, Nevada. Find us on The Riverwalk!
Impressions of the 21st Century at the SayaFineArtsGallery
Impressions of the 21st Century is my reflection on the explosions going on around the world … one after another … it seems to be the century of outrage, frustrations, and random violence.
Explosion – Impressions of the 21st Century
I have also included in the exhibit some glazed, fired, tiles depicting the animals of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
ChicKaree on Ceramic Tile
These are all small, local, animals. We move from macro (the world of explosions) —— to the micro (fauna in our meadow).
Posted in Ceramic Tile, Gallery Show, Paintings, Sculpture | Tagged Chickaree, Commentary on 21st Century, Found Object Sculpture, Gallery Show, SayaFineArtsGallery, Sierra Nevada Natural History | Leave a Comment »