The Double Dingle Jingle Plunger - For those with aural fixations: isbn 0-968818-30-7

Is there a plumber in the house ? Way back in the days of my great grandfather M. Duchamp put a toilet in a museum and called it art. Citing this precedent, I figured that I could possibly put a plunger, in the national library and call it a book...so I did. At the turn of the century, I published an actual toilet plunger, complete with jingle bells, an ISBN, and a piece of potty poetry bound to the handle with an elastic band. If you click on ‘The Double Dingle Jingle Plunger’ you can see the actual catalogue information at Library and archives Canada.

Behold, and witness the miracle of creation. Cast in solid bronze, complete with copper clapper; this is the 10th anniversary edition of, ‘The Double Dingle Jingle Plunger’. Not wanting to have my acheivement eclipsed by the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, I'm releasing this a year early. A perfectly pitched potty plunger for your perusal and quiet enjoyment.



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Copper Clapper Casting : Jesse Sarber
Photo Credit: Lara Hill


* newspaper article Edmonton Journal
Photograph by
Kirsten Reite

What is the difference ?

Between Craft and Art ? I know, and this is it. A craftsman works in one tradition, achieving perfection through skill and artifice. An artist works with whatever is available and does the best he can. I'm not a craftsman, although my work may be well crafted. I see equal value in form and content, and believe a work must have at least enough of each, to achieve the basic objective. To satisfy this premise, “a good work of art needs only to simultaneously stimulate and relax the mind” - Charles Murray Chaplin. And so, I present this piece, an organic exploration, carved by my hand using diamonds and water, in mushroom green adventurine quartz. This work represents the mythological synthesis of sexuality, an hermaphrodite*. Like some strange creature living beneath the sea, neither animal nor vegetable, but something like both. This work provides gentle humour and fascination to some who pick it up, while perplexing, and disturbing those inhibited or weak of mind. This sculpture was collected by my excellent friend Melanie Carlson, who uses it as litmus test, to gauge compatibility of humour.
*It seems the term “hermaphrodite”, when applied to people, is both inaccurate and offensive. For persons who live in the physiological spectrum between genders, the correct term is “intersex”. Although these persons would probably prefer to be called by their actual names.

photo credit: Peter Lattimer
-Copy Cats are Dirty Rats

Flying Bird... Saying Goodbye is Hard

In mythology, the Soul, or Atman is represented by a bird. And so I made this ring design, a bird in flight, in rose gold. I've posted it today, to honour the memory of Fenwick Lansdowne.

Fenwick Lansdowne was my colleague, a fellow rca, sadly now he is gone. Fenwick spent his childhood in a Japanese prison camp, he contracted polio, and lost the use of one side of his body. Fenwick raised a family and painted birds perfectly. Fenwick began painting birds while very young, and he finished at almost seventy-one. A life well lived indeed !

photo credit: Peter Lattimer
-Copy Cats are Dirty Rats