Dusk in Autumn

Dusk in Autumn

Sara Teasdale
1884 –1933

The moon is like a scimitar,
A little silver scimitar,
A-drifting down the sky.
And near beside it is a star,
A timid twinkling golden star,
That watches likes an eye.

And thro’ the nursery window-pane
The witches have a fire again,
Just like the ones we make,—
And now I know they’re having tea,
I wish they’d give a cup to me,
With witches’ currant cake.

Spooks...

There's nothing like the last second push before a show to bring out your best! In this case, my annual Artist Open House this Sunday brought out these darlings! (I love them so...)

Whatever doesn't sell on Sunday will be available in the ShellHawk's Creations Etsy store next week. But I hope they all find homes! 

Halloween Song

An absolutely delightful Halloween tune with a stunning and charming animation to go along with it!

Click on the pic for the full experience. 

Stingy Jack

Stingy Jack. Too evil for Heaven, and Hell refused him entry, casting him into the darkness with only an ember from the fires of Hell to light his way...

Remember: never blow out a jack-o'-lantern!

 

To the Dead in the Graveyard

                 

To The Dead in the Graveyard Underneath My Window
By Adelaide Crapsey

Written in A Moment of Exasperation

How can you lie so still? All day I watch

And never a blade of all the green sod moves

To show where restlessly you toss and turn,

And fling a desperate arm or draw up knees

Stiffened and aching from their long disuse;

I watch all night and not one ghost comes forth

To take its freedom of the midnight hour.

Oh, have you no rebellion in your bones?

The very worms must scorn you where you lie,

A pallid mouldering acquiescent folk,

Meek habitants of unresented graves.

Why are you there in your straight row on row

Where I must ever see you from my bed

That in your mere dumb presence iterate

The text so weary in my ears: "Lie still

And rest; be patient and lie still and rest."

I'll not be patient! I will not lie still!

There is a brown road runs between the pines,

And further on the purple woodlands lie,

And still beyond blue mountains lift and loom;

And I would walk the road and I would be

Deep in the wooded shade and I would reach

The windy mountain tops that touch the clouds.

My eyes may follow but my feet are held.

Recumbent as you others must I too

Submit? Be mimic of your movelessness

With pillow and counterpane for stone and sod?

And if the many sayings of the wise

Teach of submission I will not submit

But with a spirit all unreconciled

Flash an unquenched defiance to the stars.

Better it is to walk, to run, to dance,

Better it is to laugh and leap and sing,

To know the open skies of dawn and night,

To move untrammeled down the flaming noon,

And I will clamour it through weary days

Keeping the edge of deprivation sharp,

Nor with the pliant speaking on my lips

Of resignation, sister to defeat.

I'll not be patient. I will not lie still.

And in ironic quietude who is

The despot of our days and lord of dust

Needs but, scarce heeding, wait to drop

Grim casual comment on rebellion's end;

"Yes, yes . . Wilful and petulant but now

As dead and quiet as the others are."

And this each body and ghost of you hath heard

That in your graves do therefore lie so still.

David S. Pumpkins Returns...

It wouldn't be Halloween without him.

Click on the pic for David and crew.

 

Haunted

I dare you all to go into
The Haunted House on Howlin’ Hill,
Where squiggly things with yellow eyes
Peek past the wormy window sill.
We’ll creep into the moonlit yard,
Where weeds reach out like fingers,
And through the rotted old front door
A-squeekin’ on its hinges,
Down the dark and whisperin’ hall,
Past the musty study,
Up the windin’ staircase—
Don’t step on the step that’s bloody—
Through the secret panel
To the bedroom where we’ll slide in
To the ragged cobweb dusty bed
Ten people must have died in.
And the bats will screech,
And the thunder will crash
Like a horrible dream,
And we’ll sing with the zombies
And dance with the dead,
And howl at the ghost
With the axe in his head,
And—come to think of it what do you say
We go get some ice cream instead?

 - Shel Silverstein

There's Still Time!

ShellHawk's Creations Etsy store is open and you can still get your handmade Halloween fix in time for the big night! Click on any of these pics to be taken to the listing.

Recent reviews:

"Once I got the item which is beautiful btw. I noticed that I had gotten some sister pumpkins years ago that seemed a bit similar. Sure enough they are related. Signed ShellHawks Creations. Thanks so much for continuing your art. So I can continue to collect. Your stuff is beautiful." - Will

"Love this necklace it’s so well made. The colors of the beads and the crow/raven pendant its orange background. It’s perfect to wear all year around, not just for Halloween. I’m the raven/crow in Native American astrology. So I feel so connected to this . Lots of lil Halloween gifts were closed too very well packaged with lots of love and care. Thank you so much." - dkmk2004

"This piece is delightfully spooky and so well crafted by such a gifted potter!! Lickity-split shipping and packaged with care to assure a safe journey—so very pleased!!!" -gundersnaps2

"ShellHawk is the best ever and everyone should buy stuff from her." - Rachel

I particularly like that last review... ;)

Artist Open House Today!

This here baby is already in his new home, scaring the spooks away from his new owner's front door!

Yesterday... Well... It was a long day, and I was on my feet for almost all of it.

 It's my yearly "deep-clean-before-people-come-tomorrow" day, and that took a couple of hours. I do wash the patio down from time to time to keep the clay dust to a minimum, after sweeping up the larger chunks while wearing a KN-97 mask (inhaling clay dust can lead to silicosis, which, um, no thank you), but a deep cleaning requires moving the furniture and the lion's share of my ceramics equipment off the patio area and the trash cans from their nook. 

Dead wasps? Washed away. Cobwebs? Gone. Literal, garden-variety dirt? Swept up and dumped back into the garden beds. I even take the pressure nozzle and knock the dead leaves off of our old wisteria vine so there aren't many to deal with the next day.

So today is setup and I have to get rolling. Keep an eye out for my shop to reopen in the next day or two so you can grab a Halloween thing for yourself!

Next up in my making cycle: Krampuslauf!

Dark Harvest is Here!

Today's the day! Dark Harvest has dropped as video on demand and is available to rent or purchase on Amazon!

"In a small Midwestern town, a deadly annual ritual unfolds when the mythical nightmare, Sawtooth Jack, rises from the cornfields and challenges the town’s teenage boys in a bloody battle of survival."

If you missed my previous announcement, Dark Harvest was originally a creepy Halloween book written by Norman Partridge.

"Halloween, 1963. They call him the October Boy, or Ol' Hacksaw Face, or Sawtooth Jack. Whatever the name, everybody in this small Midwestern town knows who he is. How he rises from the cornfields every Halloween, a butcher knife in his hand, and makes his way toward town, where gangs of teenage boys eagerly await their chance to confront the legendary nightmare. Both the hunter and the hunted, the October Boy is the prize in an annual rite of life and death.

Pete McCormick knows that killing the October Boy is his one chance to escape a dead-end future in this one-horse town. He's willing to risk everything, including his life, to be a winner for once. But before the night is over, Pete will look into the saw-toothed face of horror - and discover the terrifying true secret of the October Boy..."

I am crossing my fingers that the film does the book justice! It's one of my favorite Hallowe'en reads and I've been hoping for a while it would be brought to the screen. And while straight to video can be a concern, the horror classic Trick 'r Treat was released directly onto video, and it was glorious!

I'm having a watch party with friends tomorrow night. Honestly, shrimp tacos, beer, good friends, and the possibility of a good horror movie!

New Spooks...

 

AWOL!

Good grief, it's been busy! But here's a new Pumpkin Person in progress until I can get back with y'all!

Click on the pic for the video!

Stranger Things, WITH DRONES!!!

This makes me irrationally happy!

Click on the pic for something special! 

Another One in the Books!

The patio, around 8:00 PM, after moving buckets and tools and washing, oh, my!

The Third Annual Artist Open House is now DONE! There was so much to get done beforehand. I was out of town the weekend before, and of course, there's my job and general life stuff. It all makes those 24 hours jam-packed, and getting ready for an open house a little more stressful, this year.

Of course, prepping for it involves cleaning, organizing, moving around all the tools and various minutiae I use to make stuff, and washing down the patio area. I wear a mask to sweep up because of the clay dust floating around, but the rest has to be washed down with water, which I hate to do in drought-ridden So. Cal. But needs must, as they say!

Yes, being a potter is all glamor.

Since this open house is a showcase for all my creations, pottery and jewelry and whatnot, it takes a while to put everything in the point of sale (putting on the bar codes, pricing, pics, etc.), and then physically getting the tables set up, the linens put on, shelving and unpacking everything, setting it out in the shelves and on the tables.

It takes time. Walking 300 flyers around for days before the event takes a bunch of time. Designing said flyers takes time. Designing the email announcement, too. I'm not complaining, by the way! It's just part of the deal, and I really enjoy the end result, which is people coming over and enjoying my creepy cute creations!

A little bit at a time, though, things come together! Bin by bin, things get unpacked and arranged.

And then, the start time comes and people walk through the gate and start piling your creations on your checkout table and start asking if you take commissions...

And people start asking about skeleton wind chimes and this and that. And you know you're going to stick with making ceramics.

Because even though people keep telling you, you can't make a living at it (they're mostly right), you get to the point where you understand in your bones that just because something can't be "acceptably" monetized, that doesn't make it worthless, valueless.

The smiles, the happiness. That makes it worth more than money, always.

I feel sorry for people who can't see that.