School starts in a little over a week, and I'm packing to move. Time for a major purge. I'm getting rid of all my "bad karma" art projects - things that I either never liked, didn't finish, or that broke somewhere along the way.

Getting rid of them is a huge relief, actually. Frees up my energy to make new things rather than worry about what to do with all the old things.

I made this bronze mask a few years ago in foundry class at another school. I can't even say why I don't like it, but I don't. I never even photographed it until a few minutes ago. However, I think it will make a nice garden ornament for my friend Jacque. It will be interesting to see how its patina changes from being out in the weather.

Foundry students had to pay for their bronze, and I was sorely tempted to give this back to be melted and used in a better project rather than pay the $26 or whatever it was. But I didn't. The bronze process is so labor-intensive that I couldn't bear to throw away all that work.

But I learned a valuable lesson from this experience - to not be limited by my perceptions of what the teacher means when handing out an assignment. This professor said to make a mask, so I made my idea of some kind of vaguely Indonesian or African-looking mask. I could have done so much more had I not been limited by that idea.

Live and learn.