Monarch of Willendorf!

Name That Blob Results Are In:
The response to my call for help in naming "The Orange Blob" was astounding! A huge thank you to all who put thought and energy into helping me name this crazy piece. I wish the English language encouraged multiple names for things... but in lieu of that, I took two really terrific suggestions and merged them into one... and the Orange Blob is now Monarch of Willendorf! Monarch for the Monarch Butterfly...

And Willendorf for the Venus of Willendorf...
Both of these creatures are near and dear to my heart. Monarch butterflies take one of the longest migrations for insects - 2500 miles! Very heroic, and an inspiration in a world where adaptation and persistence is vital. The Venus of Willendorf is a small sculpture estimated to have been made between 24,000 – 22,000 BCE! To me, this sculpture represents the strength and persistence of the true feminine, and reinforces my belief that the need to create art is in our genes. So, a special "Thank you!" to Holly King for suggesting "Monarch Cocoon Fantasy" (Holly, I've been meaning to email you for weeks - sorry!), and "DyLinn" for the name "Willendorf Nudibranch"! (And again, thanks to all of you who came up with such wonderful ideas! You folks are great!!)

Another New BioBrooch:
Below is a photo of one of my new BioBrooches... right now I'm calling it Fossil. The piece is rather long... about 5" or 6" (haven't got it here in front of me). But I think it will be OK for wearing with the right piece of apparel.


News From The Home Front:
I don't usually bore folks with chatter about personal stuff, but I just have to crow... er, caw... about the new cabin my partner Tom is working on. This is a pic of Tom and his young friend Jake, pouring concrete for the foundation. If you look closely, you will see pink piping looped across the rebar. That is part of the solar water radiant heat system that Tom has set up. There will be a solar water heat exchange thingy (technical name) that sends solar heated water through those pink (who picked that color?!) tubes under the concrete floor.

Why is Tom building a new cabin, you ask? Well, it's based on the theory that "if you build it, they will come". Who will come, you ask? One (or two) folks who want to be assistants to an aging and health challenged couple who insist on living a Homesteader's life in the woods of Maine. (If you know of anyone interested in assisting us 10-15 hours a week in exchange for living in the new cabin, please do email me. My address is on the upper right corner of this page.)

Steam Punk Octopus!
Below is a detailed of an image my son found on Defiant Art... I couldn't resist sharing it, considering how popular steam punk is with polymer clayers of late. And... well... it's an octopus. So. Yeah.


From the Wierd Science Desk:
Three suns?! This is, so they say, an optical illusion... but I can't help wondering if the person who took this photo might have been teleported to some strange world in another galaxy... hmmmm. (My apologies to whomever took this photo... I'm afraid I lost the link, so I can't give you the credit you deserve for.... er... traveling so far to take this photo.)


Thought for the Day:
If what I heard is true, the Latin breakdown of the word "amateur" is "one who loves what they do". So what does that do to the word "professional"?