The Towel and the Bucket

Can you tell what this is? Looped around the wrought iron window grill is a pink bath towel. Below it is a white plastic bucket of water. The Spanish Village ladies' room is right beyond it where you see the blue sign.

Every morning when I make a trip down to the ladies' room, I see a towel and bucket of water. The bucket is always the same, but the towel changes each day. After noticing it for several weeks, I decided to start photographing it each day. I thought I might have a nice series of photos with towel variations. Humm, I wonder if one of the local galleries might be interested. Or maybe I could find a place in my own studio. But anyway, when I went back this morning there was no towel or bucket.

Actually, I have a pretty good idea that the two represent a workstation for the children's summer clay class which takes place directly to the left, on the other side of the little patio. Spanish Village has a number of small sub-patios off the main one. This is one of them. My table is located in another one.

Usually by the time I walk over to this side of the patio, the class has ended and the teacher has disappeared, so I never have a chance to ask her or observe anyone actually using the towel. But maybe tomorrow I can go over earlier and find out exactly what's behind the towel.

I spent the day outside, finishing up a carnelian necklace that I started yesterday and then making a bracelet to match it. If I make one bracelet a day, or even a bracelet and a necklace, I'll be in good shape. My sister has offere to take some of my pieces to Los Angeles to sell them. That would be nice, but I'll need to make more pieces. In the meantime, I'm replacing most of the jewelry I sold over the weekend.

After working on the jewelry, I spent time de-greasing my etching plates with chalk and ammonia. Then I took them back to my studio and used the grill to apply the ball ground, which is what Graphic Ink and Chemical calls the opaque hard ground that I apply to the plates. I kept the heat of the grill at 225 degrees. Previously I had turned it up to 300 degrees. And this time I applied it thicker than the first time, but not so thick it will flake. I now have one of the four plates with the drawing transferred to it, and I'm ready to start working on it tomorrow.

In the meantime, this evening after I left the studio, I got myself some gloves to use when I put the plates in the ferric chloride and then when I clean them with the mineral spirits. I hate using gloves, but the last time I went to the manicurist, she spent an hour and a half repairing my nails which were fine but very stained. This time I made her a bracelet to appease her, but I'll try the gloves. She suggested them to me. She said my hands reminded her of her son's who likes to play in the dirt.