22" x 8" x 14" low fire clay work before firing the sculpture is assembled in 3 parts Inspired by the actress Margaret Dumont as Mrs.Claypool and Groucho Marx as Mr. Otis Driftwood in the old 1947 movie " A Night at the Opera". Sitting in their balcony seats at the opera, Otis(Groucho) is pestering Mrs. Claypool, a rich widow. I borrowed the Marx Brothers for my muse, as they are my favorite comedians. Their spirit and zany antics were captured for generations in their classic old black and white films.	"A Night at the Opera: Groucho and Mrs. Claypool at your Service" slip cast, cone 6 This scuplture is actually utilitarian. It was contructed as a serving piece inspired by a wonderful ceramics course I took. The class had to think about an artist we admired and be inspired by technique or subject matter. Jean Cappadonna-Nichols was the artist I chose for her wonderful imagery and sense of humor. She and I corresponded and shared the creating experience. She generously coached me on construction problems with large scale sculptural work and experiences she has had with low fire glazes. She is a wiz at fixing anything that can and does go wrong in the firing stages in our ceramic kilns. Jean and other teachers I have learned from, and my studio mates, constantly remind me of the sharing supportive community found in the Ceramic Arts.
Notice her elegant long gloves, tiara, and opera glasses.	It is hard to see here, but on close examination you can see paintings of various scenes from the movie. Chico Marx is painted onto the back of Mrs. Claypool's evening gown, playing the piano with his comical one finger method. Butterflies are escaping from inside the piano and flying all over the gown and around the 2 figures alighting on the serving platter, inside the top hat, etc.

"Marx Brothers Druthers" 15" x 12" x 10 1/2" Cone 6 porcelain,with underglaze and glaze fired to cone 5 This is a sort of bandaid contruction piece. Strips of clay were pressed into the plaster mold of the various images on the "Night at the Opera" billboard poster piece. These strips were worked around both inside and out forming a double walled vessel.	"Marx Brothers Druthers" View 2
detail of double wall construction	"A Night at the Opera" 16" x 17" x 2" While visiting Indiana University one of their wonderful museums had an original printed billboard poster, created to advertise this Marx Brothers movie. Borrowing the text and type set up from the origianl design, and adding some extra words, the flat images of the characters were recreated in bas relief. The entire image was cast in plaster for press molding or slip casting all or parts of the images.