The Bad Check Scam

I have my Eleven-Eyed Pot and several other pieces for sale on Craigslist  I received an email asking if it was still available, and when I responded, I received this message:

Thanks for the prompt response to my mail. I will be buying from you
so please kindly withdraw the advert from C.LIST. Please be informed
that i will be paying with a certified check from my Bank it will be
delivered to you via United Parcel Service (UPS), so I'll need you to
provide me with the following information to facilitate the
mailing of the check...

Name to be on the payment...........
Home address...........
City..............
State...........
Zip Code..............
Cell phone #................

I will make arrangements for the pick up as soon as you have your
money I am completely satisfied with the advert and the payment will
be delivered within 24hours.** I use a hearing impaired phone # and
will receive your calls via email **..I'm sorry for the late
respond to your email ...N.B UPS does not deliver to a P.O box addresses.Thanks

 A little research indicates that this is a common scam.
 From the Craigslist scam page:

2. distant person offers a genuine-looking (but fake) cashier's check

• you receive an email (examples below) offering to buy your item, or rent your apartment, sight unseen.
• cashier's check is offered for your sale item, as a deposit for an apartment, or for your services.
• value of cashier's check often far exceeds your item - scammer offers to "trust" you, and asks you to wire the balance via money transfer service
• banks will often cash these fake checks AND THEN HOLD YOU RESPONSIBLE WHEN THE CHECK FAILS TO CLEAR, including criminal prosecution in some cases!
• scam often involves a 3rd party (shipping agent, business associate owing buyer money, etc)

 I sent a polite response explaining that I can't accept cashier's checks but that I would still be happy to sell the pot through my Etsy site, but I find it painfully disappointing that this is my first and only response.  I'm also mildly flattered that this fucktard thinks my artwork is worth stealing.

Anomalocaris 2

This anomalocaris has a slightly different shape, with shorter, more uniform lobes on the side of its body and with the mouthparts in a different configuration. 

 

Again with the mouth and mouthparts...

Anomalocaris 1

This is the first a new series of anomalocarids.

Showing the mouth and mouthparts:

Robot Eye Chamsas

These are small chamsas with eyes that are similar to the eyes on the Benderpot.

Due to some kiln anomaly, the glazes came out rough and bubbly.

Six Small Chamsas

This is another series of small chamsas.  I think I like the design with the longer middle finger even though it could be interpreted as giving an obscene gesture rather than serving as an amulet to protect against evil.

Anomalocaris Scrap Objects

The new anomalocaris sculptures I've been working on have fin-like lobes along the sides of their bodies.  The scraps from where I had cut out the lobes were too interesting to discard.

Five Cat Column

This is a leaning column of five monstrous cat heads.  I was thinking of calling it the 5cat Column, to be pronounced "Scat Column."

Still Speaking of Chairs

The next chair in the series:

Unfired Asmodeus

Asmodeus is the most powerful of the Devils in the Dungeons & Dragons universe.  This is an interpretation of an illustration from the First Edition AD&D Monster Manual.

A week later, I just suddenly realized that this is not Asmodeus, arch-fiend, the Overlord of all the dukes of Hell and most handsome of all devils.  It's the second most powerful devil, Baalzebul.  I knew the compound eyes didn't feel right for Asmodeus!

Speaking of Chairs

If have a friend who works for a museum in Tucson called La Pilita.  The museum is holding an auction to raise funds and for some reason the theme is chairs.  Most of the donations are real chairs painted by local artisans.  My friend asked me to donate this clay interpretation of Chairy from Pee-Wee's Playhouse.  Here are the two photos she posted to Facebook.

My only complaint is that the piece is described as "Chairy Chair," which makes my skin crawl.  Chairy needs no appelation.

I started a new series of clay chairs.  This is the first one.

Mog's Dream Scene Objects

This is a clay interpretation of an illustration from Mog the Forgetful Cat by Judith Kerr.  It involves Mog the cat dreaming about flying while sleeping on and destroying someone's hat.

Here's the text:

She could fly everywhere.
She could fly faster than the birds,
even quite big birds...
Suddenly she woke up.

 Mog with wings:

The unlucky birds:

The complete scene:

The illustration from the book:

New Series of Anomalocarii

So my favorite anomalocaris sculpture from several years ago was broken in the pottery studio gallery and the studio accepts no responsibility for broken work.  Rather than taking my toys and going home, I'm making a new series of anomalocarises, or as we say in Latin, anomalocarii. ("Wait a minute, that's not Latin.")

Finished Anomalocaris I and Anomalocaris 2 Sculptures
Anomalocaris Sculpture for sale at Aberrant Ceramics Etsy Shop

Anomalocaris 1

Anomalocaris 2

Anomalocaris 2 with an old, green anomalocaris.

I have decided that, except for flat, sturdy objects like chamsas that are unlikely to be broken when handled, I can't keep my finished work at the studio anymore.  So I actually am taking most of my toys and going home.  I apologize if I gave the impression I was being mature about this.

Brain Coral Object

This is made from a mold of a piece of brain coral found in my parents' basement.

Ellors Madak in Carbonite

This is a mold of an Ellors Madak figure that didn't come out that well.  I'm only posting it because I wanted the opportunity to entitle a post "Ellors Madak in Carbonite."  Ellors Madak is one of the green-skinned Duros seen kibitzing in the Cantina scene in A New Hope.

This is a mold of some random spaceman found in my parents' basement.

A mold of an action figure of unknown origin from the $0.25 bin at R Galaxy.

Fertility God Objects

These are objects made from a mold of a souvenir statue from Hawaii.

 

 

The statue has a label on the bottom describing it as a "God of Fertility" from Hawaii.  It might be a the Hawaiian fertility God Lono or it might be an invention of the tourist trade.

Unfired Phallic Robot Pot

This is another commission (that is, gift commission).  It's a tall coil pot in the shape of the head of Bender Bending Rodríguez.  The shape of the dome is a little more phallic than the model Bender head and the antenna is even more so.