This is a biography of my studio table. My resume has all the facts of my art career, art schools attended, shows and collections, jobs and boards. But the really telling bits of my life are on my studio table. The objects of my heart. Found there are one small teapot 3" across, one teapot that looks like a gourd, one slightly larger with goosebump skin, and one more long than tall with an aerodynamic lid. All are black and brought home from Kyoto. The raised textures are like rows of mountains racing downhill. I paint them a lot, or draw them 8 feet tall. A pink seashell with six horn-shaped arms brought home from Spain. Two tubes of Permalba White which I learned to use at MICA. There are three tall vases that have appeared in my work through the years. One is shiny black and has the figure of a pear-shaped woman. We always thought it brought luck on any theatre set that I designed. One vase belonged to Asako's mother, long dead now, sentimental. I met her in Tokyo and we spoke Japanese over tea. Asako left it with me when she moved home. There are also three tiny ceramic vessels, blue on white with heron, crab and fish, bought in a small shop along Higashioji-dori. There is a soft sculpture of an owl given to me by my beloved British mother-in-law, now also gone. On the corner of the table rests my African bracelet and a horse whistle made by a friend. Three shoe boxes, one Nike orange, hold copious drawing materials mostly charcoal. There is a bag of red Fireballs, an addiction left over from my theatre time. A scattering of clean paint brushes. And my lunch.
