"Mon Voyage"  Homecoming / The Odyssey  _

Ceramics, worked like an intaglio etching

inside

outside

High fired clay, incised, burnished, and glazed with iron oxide.
13" diameter x 3" high (33 x 7.5 cm) Clay body by Toby Howell

One of a series of 3 bowels on Homecoming / The Odyssey

The beautiful body was wheel-made by Toby Howell in her signature style at her Clay Studio at Xchanges, Victoria.

Two others were donated and sold for the charity "Super Bowls", Empress Hotel, Victoria.

Inside the Bowl

The central figure is Odysseus.
His shape was derived from Matthias Grunewald's glowing Christ figure in the Isenheim Altarpiece (c 1510)

The Salt shaker referes to the salty seas, and to Posidon,(in a kind of pun), The Earthshaker, Odysseus's main enemy.

The Spiral, reflected in the body markings of the bowl, is the whirlpool Charybdis.
This refers to Odysseus's having to navigate his ship's way between two terrors: Skylla, the 6 headed monster and the loss of 6 men, or the black whirlpool of Charybidis and loss of all his men and his ship.
This is "being between a rock and a hard place".

The Arrow is the fire-hardened spear with which Odysseus blinded the Cylops, and also the idea of making direction.

The phrase "Moi, J'ai eu mon voyage", translates as "Me, I've had my trip", or "Now I've seen everything", an appropriate colloquialism.

Outside the Bowl
The words Wind and Water are inscribed in the 4 cardinal directions.