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3rd rotation to Jana
Mr. Jett Setter
The Jana John Chapter
Sunday, June 19, 2005:
Steve and Sherry drove over from Nicholasville to deliver Mr. Jett Setter. He is a trip! I'm going to have to do some thinking about what I can add to him. Steve gave him copper hair, some spiral innards that remind me of a moonshine still and his face imprinted on a CD. But the added "plumbing" is absolutely inspired. You can certainly tell he's male now! This should be fun.
Tuesday, July 5:
Coming back from a long holiday weekend makes for a load of work at my "regular" job. I've been swamped all day, and I probably won't get any work done on Mr. Jett until this weekend. But I've been thinking about him a lot.
While I was home for the July 4th holiday, I talked about the doll
project to all my family and friends, and they all had ideas of their own.
You know, every time I talk to somebody about this project, they get really
excited about it and declare how much fun that would be. And they all have
suggestions -- some better than others ...
I hope to really get started this weekend.
Saturday, July 9:
Mr. Jett needs some hands - more than anything, he needs some hands. I've been thinking about what kind of hands for some time now. I decided to make one of his hands out of clay and the other out of something else. I want him to have one organic hand and one robotic hand. I thought about giving him a ray gun since he's very futuristic and Space-Age looking. But I decided I didn't want him to represent a DEstructive future; I wanted him to represent a CONstructive future. So I'll make one hand a tool of some sort - something that can build and repair.
For the clay hand, I rolled coils of clay for each finger and attached them all together onto a small flat piece of clay (the hand part). I left it to dry in the studio. It will take a few days to get good and dry. In the meantime, I will think about the other hand.
Friday, July 15:
I've decided to make Jett's techno hand out of a multi-screwdriver tool that I acquired somewhere along the way and have been keeping safe in a drawer, apparently just for this purpose (who knew?). I took the tool and the copper cap from Jett's wrist to my neighborhood hardware store. I wanted to discuss with my hardware man how to best attach the tool to the cap so that it would rotate. My hardware man was not there, and I tried to discuss the project with two high school boys. They obviously thought I was nuts. Anyway, I came away with a few metal parts to tinker with. And one of the hardware boys suggested an easier way to attach the tool than I had in my head. So it wasn't a wasted trip.
I drilled a hole in the copper cap, stuck one of the four screwdrivers through the hole and glued it in place. It remains to be seen whether it will work or not. And I still have to figure out how to attach the cap back on the wrist (it's not long enough to fit over the wrist anymore).
Monday, July 18:
I fired Jett's clay hand Sunday night, and it survived. I painted a geometric pattern on his wrist with liquid wax. Later I will apply some glaze and then high-fire the hand.
The weekend was wild - didn't get much doll or pottery work done. Our house was broken into and some valuable baseball cards were stolen, along with my purse and the camera that I've been using to document the doll adventure. Luckily, my husband and I and our cats are safe - and so is Jett.
I had cut out some disks of clay that I will decorate and use to cover the plastic hub of the screwdriver device I'm using as his tool hand. I have pressed geometric shapes around the edges of the disks, and in the center I have pressed the runic letters for J and S, his initials. I made three sets of disks in different sizes and shapes. When I see how they turn out, I'll choose a set for his hand.
At some point over the past few days, I listened to the songs on the CD that Joyce has included with Jett's diary.
I can see how the songs relate to her doll project.
The lyrics talk about how children come through us but don't belong to us.
They belong to a future that we can't be part of.
The a cappella women's group makes beautiful music.
I might have thought that heavy-metal rock would have been more suited to a copper-pipe doll, but that's just me.
Thursday, July 21:
I high-fired Jett's clay hand, and it turned out beautifully. I glued it on the copper cap at the end of his wrist.
Sunday, July 24:
I glazed the disks for Jett's tool hand and put them in the kiln to high-fire.
Monday, July 25:
I took the clay disks out of the kiln and glued one on each side of Jett's tool hand. Looks pretty cool. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to attach the hand to the wrist.
Wednesday, July 26:
I attached Jett's tool hand to his wrist with a length of copper pipe and a little copper sleeve. I think I may have to glue the pipe pieces together because the hand is pretty heavy, and it might slide right off.
Thursday, July 27:
I bought a new camera (to replace the stolen one) and photographed Jett. I don't have many interim photos because I didn't have a camera. I will probably tinker with how the hands are attached for a bit longer and then pack him up and send him to Jeanette on Monday. It's been a real treat to share some time with Jett Setter. It's my fervent hope that someone will give him some broader feet.
The poor boy keeps toppling over!
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