Day 4359: Timber Creations, Olympics at 57.

"Volatile": watercolor, pastels.

  

Want music?

    

Click : Herb Alpert, This Guy’s in Love with You.

 

  

 

 

2GN2S

Found Timber into Bold, Voluminous Vessels

From maple burl, cherry, and ash, Oliver Chalk’s voluminous vessels highlight natural textures while emphasizing alluring patterns and geometry. The Kent-based artist (previously) finds chunks of timber in the countryside around his home, homing in on pieces of trees that have partly decayed, been cut by arborists, or were felled by storms.

Simultaneously delicate and sturdy, each piece highlights both its material and the artist’s meticulous technique. Striations, facets, pits, and ridges define Chalk’s spherical forms, framing elegant openings. And so-called flaws, like holes or knots, emerge as focal points in the hand-chiseled, lathe-turned vessels, providing unique character.

In 2023, Chalk received a scholarship from the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust to support research and production of bronze sculptures based on his wooden pieces. Translating the porous, malleable material into solid bronze, the artist focused on the characteristics of the surface through the patination process. He buried five of the six cast pieces for periods of 100, 150, or 200 days, allowing natural compounds to work away at the metal and produce distinctive markings.

  Explore Chalk’s work on his website and Instagram.

The incredible story of Zhiying Zeng.

She makes her Olympic debut at the age of 58. Zeng, now representing Chile, was a part of the Chinese table tennis team but retired in her 20s. She moved to Chile to coach schoolchildren and did not play any competitive table tennis for nearly 20 years. 38 years after giving up on her Olympic dream, Zeng qualified for Paris 2024.

Her dad, 92 now, got to watch Zeng at the Olympics too

  

 

A 1+ minute video, 9 year old jazz prodigy  here

 

 

 

  

 

Just because ...

  

Dusky Thrush

 

 

Friday's Smiles ...