I've been fascinated with the stories of the goddess Tara lately...she's in myths from many cultures..she's either born from the earth or sea, falls from the sky or springs from the compassionate tears of a male deity...regardless of how she arrives she is always given the chance to be reborn as a male..... but she chooses to remain a female as long as there is suffering on the earth (she'll be around awhile). I've decided to make 12 different renditions of her and then take pictures and make them into a calendar.....so....I started with the Cheyenne Tara. She fell from the sky as a star and the places her body touched the earth made food for the Cheyenne people grow. Those who ate the food from her body became more enlightened (remind you of anyone?). I googled "food of the Cheyene" and, other than fish and buffalo, the only thing that kept coming up was corn...so... her braids end in corn...her hands have holes (?) for me to add star charms after she is raku fired...I think the next Tara I make will be the Polynesian one...she was born from the sea....
I also made some more small icon boxes. In an effort to make something that is less expensive than a saint or goddess I keep experimenting with the icon boxes. I made two today that are different than the others, less time consuming, hopefully easier to glaze and still appealing...a goddess and a nativity. The nativity will have a star charm hanging from the top and the goddess will have a place for three charms...so, she's sort of generic until I add the charms. I really prefer knowing who someone is as I make them but I think this is a good marketing option....
