I spent the day learning how to make drums, stretching goat skin over a cut gourd. I don’t particularly want to make gourd drums, but I’m interested in the possibilities offered by making large drums from metal objects like oil drums and cooking pots. My kids and I had a great time.
Back at the studio I added some detail to the stones, which are getting quite colourful, then stacked the ravens up ready for installation in a week or so. (The studio is bumping with music by Michael Franti, who I’m really enjoying.) It’s nice to have the space tidy and open, it makes everything feel lighter somehow. It also gives us more room for yoga in the early morning, which is increasingly important to me.Â
A little more work on the hand and I’m done for now with Amelia! Justice and Temperance are crying out for attention, and I need to gesso the two tall canvases that Teddy gave me. While I was at her house picking them up, Teddy said, “Wait, I have something for you”, and handed me her husband Joe’s studio jacket that he always wore. (He passed away a few months ago.) It was so moving to be given this gift. I liked Joe – he was a real gentleman, so to wear his jacket will always remind me of him.
