‘Convertible Car Kiln’ was part of a Car Kiln series that Patti Warashina began in the late 1960s to challenge the idea that cars and kilns were part of a “man’s world.” A car kiln is literally a brick oven with shelves that rests on wheels, and Warashina puns on this idea by presenting an image of a car with a dual meaning. As a woman artist, sculpting both a car and a kiln, she demonstrates that neither of these objects is beyond a woman’s understanding or mastery.

*****

I don’t particularly like doing “museum galleries,” and especially back-to-back, but Washington is blessed with a large number of museums, almost all of which have free entry and superb collections (plus they’re the best indoor activity in winter!). We haven’t been to the Renwick for years; it was closed for an extensive renovation (to the point that we barely recognized it), and now it’s open again. It’s always been one of my favorite museums here with its showcasing of American craft, and I’d have to say now it’s even better than before.


Best to view in "Original" because other versions resized by Pbase are decidedly unsharp.

‘Dedicated to Art,’ posted earlier: