When inanimate objects speak
by Brian Barker
There is a tradition of communicating with objects that have no seeming ability to SPEAK back to us.
I tend to take exception with the theory that those objects don’t speak to us. The beauty of nature; the exhilarating feeling when we see an art object that rings our bell so hard that it has to be part of our lif
e; that rock that brings you back to it just to look and feel what is does for you; the mountain or river that becomes part of your soul………
Image by Stone Peng
So where is Mr. Barker going with this newsletter? For those brave enough read on.
Some time ago Cyndi made a dinnerware series that were stunning, but were not representative of anything she had seen.
At one point a customer came in and bought each and every piece. He is a geologist and her pottery were almost exactly the colors and hues of Colorado Agate. In fact, there wasn’t a complete set so he commissioned Cyndi to create additional plates, bowls, and mugs.
So now when his family sits down to eat they are being spoken to by these simple pots…….BUT WAIT THERE IS MUCH MORE.
During our last First Friday soiree a dear friend was in and an extraordinary thing happened. There was one extra mug in Colorado Agate series.
We have Wally-ware mugs that are made by Tom Edwards, Colorado potter, that have sayings on them like “ This is the best coffee ever”. Kind of novelty pieces but very cool.
So during the event, which has many people moving around and all types of conversations going on, this same friend said to his wife (please forgive the paraphrase…I am getting old). “I have the perfect coffee cup for the VERY BEST cup of coffee I will ever have.” She thought he was referring to one of the novelty mugs. But when he told me the same thing, I knew that was ABSOLUTELY not the case but didn’t know which mug it was.
It was the last of the Colorado agate mugs. If you have ever doubted that an inanimate object doesn’t speak to you and own your soul, think again. This wasn’t a question of ….”yeah, I like it” …….it was this mug makes part of his daily ritual richer. It begins his day with a smile in his soul. He told his wife that he wasn’t leaving the gallery without it.
This mug was going home and the next morning our friend’s coffee was going to be prepared with care and love. It was going to be enjoyed in this unique handmade mug that just by serendipity happened to be the last one in the gallery.
