Friday, January 06, 2006
Magic Fingers
Her fingers, the color of weathered mahogany, gripped the old-fashioned razor blade firmly and sliced its target haltingly, in a series of little sawing motions. A small wheel of putty, 1/2 inch thick with a diameter of 1/2 inch, slumped away from the six-inch roll.
She picked up the sawed-off piece immediately and began working it between her fingers. "We only have a few minutes," she said, matter-of-fact, as if nothing about that phrase were causing the swift sequence of efficient motions she now employed.
Her eyes, now bridged with spectacles for the first time in her 49+ years (she appeared to be 15 years younger), focused on the two colors in the putty, now melding into a single shade. "You can feel the heat as the chemical reaction starts. Here, touch," she said. "It has already started the hardening process, but we have a few more minutes to create your piece."
Next, having worked the formerly two-tone putty into a single color, she began shaping the stiffening sludge into an elongated worm-looking thing. A fat worm. "Keep working it, working it, until it approaches the final shape you want," she said. "It's almost there now."
"It" resembled a small canine tooth at this point, something one might find in the mouth of a baby sabre-toothed tiger. She even slightly bent and gave a point to the tip, adding to the similarity.
Now she concentrated on attaching a clasp pin to what would become the "back" side. "You just have to press the clasp in until the putty grips it well," she said. "place the top of the clasp near the very top of the piece, on the opposite end of that little pointy tip."
Next she worked a shish-kebob skewer into the top of the piece, working it around until a hole appeared. "Make your hole wide enough and deep enough to hold a few drops of water," she said. "Then you're set. From here everything you add is for art's sake. And offer up your art to Lillian for good luck. It works."
After it hardened, it was totally waterproof, inside and out, and could now be classified a "poesy" : an old-fashioned name for a two-inch long bud vase a lady might pin to her lapel with a small, fresh flower in it . It would stay fresh all day because it held water.
Beautiful, elegant, useful. And so was the posey.### ¶ Friday, January 06, 2006
She picked up the sawed-off piece immediately and began working it between her fingers. "We only have a few minutes," she said, matter-of-fact, as if nothing about that phrase were causing the swift sequence of efficient motions she now employed.
Her eyes, now bridged with spectacles for the first time in her 49+ years (she appeared to be 15 years younger), focused on the two colors in the putty, now melding into a single shade. "You can feel the heat as the chemical reaction starts. Here, touch," she said. "It has already started the hardening process, but we have a few more minutes to create your piece."
Next, having worked the formerly two-tone putty into a single color, she began shaping the stiffening sludge into an elongated worm-looking thing. A fat worm. "Keep working it, working it, until it approaches the final shape you want," she said. "It's almost there now."
"It" resembled a small canine tooth at this point, something one might find in the mouth of a baby sabre-toothed tiger. She even slightly bent and gave a point to the tip, adding to the similarity.
Now she concentrated on attaching a clasp pin to what would become the "back" side. "You just have to press the clasp in until the putty grips it well," she said. "place the top of the clasp near the very top of the piece, on the opposite end of that little pointy tip."
Next she worked a shish-kebob skewer into the top of the piece, working it around until a hole appeared. "Make your hole wide enough and deep enough to hold a few drops of water," she said. "Then you're set. From here everything you add is for art's sake. And offer up your art to Lillian for good luck. It works."
After it hardened, it was totally waterproof, inside and out, and could now be classified a "poesy" : an old-fashioned name for a two-inch long bud vase a lady might pin to her lapel with a small, fresh flower in it . It would stay fresh all day because it held water.
Beautiful, elegant, useful. And so was the posey.### ¶ Friday, January 06, 2006
