Report by Robert Kokenyesi, Ceramic Artist, Beachfront Pottery, Godfrey, IL 62035, USA.

The Published News Article

We all know that we can’t avoid sleeping.  We feel tired, cranky, or worse, if we are sleep deprived.  Other mammals have a similar need to sleep.  But how do you go to sleep when you are in water, and you need to breathe.  Ocean going mammals have several ways to go to sleep. Some whales and dolphins can turn off one half of their brain, and maintain slow swimming and breathing while that half of their brain sleeps.

Some whales completely stop moving, and fall sound asleep.  This sleeping style was observed in humpback whales who sleep head down, and sometime horizontally called “logging”.  Sperm whales sleep tail down.

 

‘Tail-Standing’ Sperm Whales Snooze in Stunning Photo

Sleeping dogs lie, but sleeping whales … “stand” on their tails? That was the scene recently glimpsed by a diver in the Caribbean, at least, when the photographer encountered a group of sperm whales napping together, all of them suspended tails-down in the water.

 

In this article the divers followed a pod of sperm whales near the  Caribbean island of Dominica, so they were right on site when the pod dozed off.

The Beachfront Pottery Ceramic Art Pieces

 

 

 

These three platters are from the series of “Ocean Critters”.  All were about humpback whales, and sold fast before 2014.  The platters were 11 inches long and 6 inches wide.

 

These platters are from the “Under the Waves” series.  The curved and raised “handle” represents the water surface.  The ceramic pearls at the perimeter represent the Maya symbol for water.  These platters are also about humpback whales.

 

 

 

Here is a tile picturing a humpback whale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here is a sculpture titled Ancient Whale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Inspiration for Future Ceramic Art Pieces

As you see from the examples in the previous section, the whales have already served as a great deal of inspiration for many of my ceramic pieces.   The inspiration is sticking around, and many future pieces will come from it.  Below is one experimental approach showing a whale as a mosaic of many features and capabilities.

I hope you can make out the whale shape in the middle of the platter.  The mosaic glazing, and the mosaic glazing of the background gives the animal shape a moving quality.

The concept, and the glazing mosaic pattern needs to be sharpened up, but it’s not a bad beginning.