Thursday 22 August 2013

Porphyry-red letter day


Yesterday was a good day - firstly I finally managed to get the 4 seasons panels finished and delivered, having decided to put down the paint-brushes and declare that enough is enough. I think I have been - sporadically - going on and on about these things on this blog for about a year now, so I feel as though you have been with me on my journey. Please accept my gratitude and apologies.

As with everything that people like me do in the workshop, we can always find something else to do on it before they are taken away from us, kicking and screaming. I have been known to stop the lorry that is taking away a large carving so that I can whittle at tiny bit away that has caught my eye in a different light, and sometimes the driver gets fed up with waiting, so I run behind the truck with a mallet and chisel until giving up and watching it disappear over the horizon.

The thing about this particular project is that it had nothing to do with stone at all - unless you count the fact that the panels simulate porphyry marble in plaster. It didn't have much to do with sculpture either, unless - again - you count the fact that the figures almost simulate shallow relief, applied marble, complete with shadows.

Anyway, I am pleased to have been able to save them from whatever fate awaited them as they languished as dirty fragments on an unprotected palette in a dark basement - they are true one-offs and quite rare, Georgian artefacts. Now I can get on with the rest of the stuff which has been piling up.

The other thing is that Green-Eyes received a phone call yesterday telling her that she had - after all - been accepted for a place in the university of her choice, against all expectations. The head of department called her personally, and put an end to the week-long angst, heartache and anger that had been tormenting her as she began to make different plans about her future, and the call also put an end to our worries about what she was going to do as an early second choice, which we hoped would not be a bit of a downward spiral. I kept telling her that it is impossible to 'waste time', but that's easy for me to say, having wasted so much of my own.


The other event yesterday was the arrival of H.I.'s new shoes. She has always had a close affinity to palm trees - if you visit her website, you will know what I mean. She sat there in the morning as I unwrapped package after package to get to them like a Russian doll, and her eyes took on the aspect of - here we go again - Gollum, from Lord of the Rings.


And finally, I found this in a charity shop on the way home. Other than that it is a Chinese bronze thing, I knew nothing about it, but - thanks to the internet - I now know that it is a wine-warmer known as a 'chueh'. If I make a fortune on it, I will have to go back and give the charity some more money...

29 comments:

  1. Such a lot of good news: finishing these beautiful panels, Green Eyes getting the University shw wants, H.I. the shoes (one can never have enough shoes!), and you finding such a useful wine-warmer (especially as the days get a little bit more chilly, a hint of autumn in the air). Enjoy it all!

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  2. Is your bronze old?

    If not you could do as my old friend 'Peter the Con' used to do. He would buy brand new Chinese bronzes at The China Shop by Marble Arch, and pee on them (outdoors) every night after returning from the pub. I can assure you that he made good money, but he never returned to The China Shop to pay more.

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    1. No, but it's not young either - around the turn of the 19th C.

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  3. All in all a very upbeat post Tom - nice to read one on your blog!!!

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    1. He's not THAT miserable pat
      He only pissed off later in the day x

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    2. I am going to ignore the both of you for the same reason.

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  4. You've made quite the case for being the jack of all trades. I've enjoyed travels with the panels. And, good job and good wishes to your granddaughter; a big life step.

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  6. Tom - please would you email me about the Chinese bronze if you're interested in selling. mcgemmell@elegancemaison.com.

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    1. It's disappeared from ebay. Have you sold it already? Feel free to email me with pics if still looking for a buyer.

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    2. It hasn't disappeared from my screen.

      Type 130972517078 into eBay, and you will find it.

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  7. Kooks like you may already have a buyer for the wine warmer. The panels are fabulous - thank goodness for you and your skills. Sorry I haven't heard about them for as long as your other followers as I'd like to have seen their progress. I would be lying if I said I had the time to trawl back through your previous posts.....packing to do, wedding present to wrap (own print in very reasonable Ikea frame - cheapskate) and endless lists and instructions to write for house-sitter. Great university news too!

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    1. Even I don't have the time (or inclination) to trawl back through them either, Em. Cheapskate...

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  8. Done a fantastic job of those panels, Tom. Well done to your green eyed girl as well - wishing her all the best when she goes to uni. My grandaughter's off to York at the end of September - a big step in their lives.

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    1. Yes indeed, Moll. Thanks for your wishes, and the same to yours.

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  9. Ye gods. I've been coming here a year? How time flies.
    The panels look good. Very good. x

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  10. It ( the wine cooler) looks like a sex toy

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    1. I saw an x-ray of a 70 year-old man who had a dinner fork rammed up his knob recently. I just might be able to get a darning needle up there, but I just know I would regret it.

      I would pay money to see you use that thing as a sex toy... actually, no I wouldn't.

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  11. Does green eyes have the long brown hair in the wedding video? (I watched it twice...I really liked it.)

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    1. Sorry, Green-Eyes. I don't like it when people call me the wrong name...like Sue.

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    2. I hate it when people call me the wrong name too - like, for instance, 'Stephen'.

      Green-Eyes is the one I can be seen kissing (on the top of her head) a few times in the video.

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  12. The panels look lovely. Oh, to find a pair of shoes one loves and loves to wear is a joy.

    I hope Green-Eyes's uni experience is wonderful.

    Oh, and i like the chueh, but shipping would cost an arm and a leg.

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    1. I have quoted around £8.50 to the rest of the world, I believe. That's only a fingernail.

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  13. All this good news at once is hard to take in; a knighthood for yourself will surely follow the success of those fine panels, giving H.I. an occasion worthy of the shoes. Well done, Green-Eyes!

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    Replies
    1. Two knighthoods in one year would be too much to hope for.

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