Tuesday, May 09, 2006


On Sunday I brought Daisy to an art studio here in San Francisco. They have an array of pre-made unfinished pottery pieces and a large selection of paints and brushes. The idea is that you spend some time (and money) painting the pieces and then they'll fire it and glaze it for you. Daisy loves it there. This was probably her third visit, but it was my first.


Daisy carefully perused the shelves of white pottery looking for the perfect canvas.

"Daddy, what are you going to paint?"
"Oh, I think I'll just watch you. I'm not much of a painter."
"Are you sure? Look at all these cute things!"

I looked around. I saw plates, bowls, mugs, platters, kitties, puppies, bunnies, skulls....

"Skulls? That seems out of place, " I said to myself. "Hey, I SPECIALIZE in out of place! Maybe I'll paint me a skull!"

They had a sample finished skull on the shelf. It was painted black with flames licking the cheek bones. I snorted in derision. How cliche! Besides, good flames are way hard to paint. My Art Fu is weak. I quickly ran down my mental checklist of things I was actually capable of painting:
  • Smiley faces
  • Rainbows
  • Flowers
  • Squiggles
Perfect! I would make the cheeriest skull ever! I would take their out-of-place skull and I would make it even more inappropriate. I would christen it "A Skull Out Of Water".

I worked carefully for the next hour, choosing the happiest paint colors and decorating my skull carefully. I pushed the envelope of my abilities by adding a heart, a lady bug, and a pretty blue spiral. I also gave "A Skull Out Of Water" a nice smile and some googly eyes. I like him. He's the nicest skull ever.

Daisy also painted a bunch of stuff.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

looks like dia de los muertos has changed.

Anonymous said...

and why is there a handicapped symbol next tot the word verification? is that a geek thingy?

Mike said...

Nrd2, yeah, Hank pointed out the same thing. Apparently an entire country has been making my joke for years. And, that handiCAPABLE symbol plays a little sound, allowing people with differently abled vision to play the word verification game.

The Pensive Turtle said...

Perhaps most frightening is your careful application of Skull's lipstick. Mm Hm.

Mike said...

Skully is pretty, no? Actually, those are just his lips. I wanted to show his great smile.

David said...

Is that your toilet? Wouldn't a table have been a more convenient place to take a picture of the skull?

(Leave it to me to fixate on something other than the topic.)

Leesa said...

Ok, I want one now. Such talent!
I can say I knew you when :)

Mike said...

David, yes, that is my toilet! I tried to disguise it by putting a rug on the lid, but I guess it didn't work. The bathroom is just a good place for me to take pictures in the house when I'm working with my flashless camera phone. The light is good there.

Leesa, if I ever have a contest in the blog, I'll consider giving this away as the prize.

Unknown said...

I have a more complete understanding of the Rosa Parks art fiasco.

TheTart said...

My first impression was Apple Mac Skull.
Second impression, toilet, LOL.
Third impression, what did Daisy's piece look like?
Then, just a thought ... where's his cuppa?

Smooch,
The Tart
; )

Mike said...

jr, it's true. I think she gets her drawing skills from me.

Jocelyn, Daisy's pieces were fine. She's not one much for careful detail, so mostly they were colorful. If they were mockable, you know they'd be featured in this post.

zelda1 said...

I'm very impressed and if I had an alter for the dead in my family, your skull would be my coveted piece. REading about your day with Daisy reminds me of the days my children and I painted our Tree ornaments. They were very young and most of their work was horrible but we took them, had them fired, and they have hung on our tree every year since. I especially liked my son's green Santa and his yellow baby jesus. He was four. He also, when he was a teen, did a pottery piece that he named sista cup. Gotta see it to believe it. I must commend you on your obvious interest in keeping your daughter well rounded and it seems as you not only take her but you participate. You won't regret it.

Mike said...

Zelda1, Poor baby Jesus had jaundice!

zelda1 said...

WEll he did turn water into wine and he was swimming around in all that amniotic fluid and maybe he just got a little sick of the saline and decided hey, give me a little merriment, I meant, my god the baby was in the tummy of a virgin, how much fun could she have been.

Mike said...

Zelda1, I'm not theologist, but I'd say that your take on Jesus is non traditional.