Spencer's Spot

Joshua and Vanessa's baseball game

2008-04-21T20:53:00.000-07:00

They didn't really have a game but I got to go to batting practice while I was home. Josh has always been a natural hitter and his catching ability has greatly improved. Vanessa got hit in the cheek by a wild pitch last week and was gun shy about batting. I talked her into getting into the batter's box and I knelt behind her to keep her from backing up. She stayed right in there and swung away.

Joshua the chef

2008-04-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

Joshua is working on his Wolf requirements in cub scouts. One of the requirements is to help plan, prepare, and cook an outdoor meal. He helped to grill this salmon. We also enjoyed rice, green beans, and a salad. Joshua helped plan, shop, prepare, and eat. I'm so proud of him!

Vanessa gone crazy or just turning 7?

2008-04-20T21:16:00.000-07:00

I'm home from Ft. Sill on a four day pass. I leave this week for Kuwait. Vanessa and I were having some fun with my new camera and I couldn't help sharing this very funny picture of her. She was making faces as fast as I could capture them. She may look crazy but she is active, toothless and definately turning seven next month. I sure have missed everyone. I can't seem access blogs from the government servers so the best way to keep in touch with me for the next 10 months will be my army email address: jonathan.ennis1@us.army.mil. I'd love to hear from you.

Hope

2008-01-21T09:27:00.000-08:00

Gun Truck

Offhand
Nightshift
Overwatch

Sunset #1
Battle Buddies
Sentry

Hope

The images of war are a dark place for me. They are full of fear, the unknown, a rocket attack, or perhaps mortar fire. Yet; always in the background is hope. A hope as beautiful as the Iraqi sunset, a vibrant colorful future painted across the horizon as far as I can imagine. A future filled with hope. I hope for a safe return. I hope for peace. I hope for a future filled with family. I hope to watch Joshua and Vanessa grow. I hope to play baseball with my boy and to hug my girl. I hope for more time. My hope swells with love to Nancy, my wife. That hope contrasted against the despair of war is as beautiful as the Iraqi sunset punctuating the darkness of day and night.
I hope for home. Home: a long way off, settling on a distant horizon. Home: providing the light of hope in all her colorful splendor across the desert of eight months.

Spencer Ennis
October 5, 2005
Ar Ramadi, Iraq

Hope is a curious thing. My fear has been displaced by hope. Fear remains an enemy lurking in the unknown but the light of hope has turned to faith and my faith sustains me.

November 15, 2005

I wrote this to accompany a series of color pencil drawings I created or maybe I created the drawings to accompany my writing. It's hard to say which came first since they were both created about the same time and place. The creation of both were generated from feelings of loneliness, fear, and hope. These drawing are posted above. They were inspired by photographs I took while serving with the Utah National Guard in western Iraq. The photographs of sunsets in Iraq did not capture the color in the sky. The color in my drawings are more what I saw. I was especially facinated by the dramatic effect of dark silhouettes against colorful sunsets.

Scorpio bolo

2007-09-07T21:11:00.000-07:00

Scorpio

Sterling, knitted silver chain, wood, opal

Fishing Rings

2007-09-07T20:59:00.000-07:00

Fishing Rings

14 kt gold

Earrings

2007-09-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

Earring #1
14 kt gold and elk ivory

Earring #2
14 kt Gold filled wire and freshwater pearls

Earring #3
14 kt Gold filled wire and onyx

Earring #4
14 kt Gold filled wire and freshwater pearls

Earring #5
Sterling and onyx

Pendants

2007-09-07T11:17:00.001-07:00

Popcorn Pendant
Knitted silver wire, brass, popcorn, glass

Pendant
Rutilated Quartz, Sterling

Pendant
Rutilated Quartz, Carnelian, Sterling

Key to the City
Sterling/Knitted silver chain

Flower Pendant
Sterling and Jade

Chain necklaces

2007-08-26T11:11:00.001-07:00

Necklace and Earrings
Sterling and freshwatter pearls

Necklace
Sterling

Eve Pendant

2007-08-25T21:20:00.000-07:00

I have this grand idea to tell bible stories in jewelry. So far I haven't got past Eve and that snake. I suppose it's a start.

Collars

2007-08-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

I was working on a sterling silver chainmail vest with 1/8 inch links and developed these collars in the process. Both collars have small clasps and are made to wear.

Square Collar.
Sterling and freshwater pearls.

Star Collar
Sterling Silver

Leatherwork Patterns

2007-08-24T16:11:00.000-07:00

While I was teaching at Brighton High School last year I found an old leather working book. I decided to use the patterns from the book and require carving into the surface of clay as an assignment. I created this mug as an example. I used soft slab technique wraping a slab of clay around a cylinder. The glaze is a cone 10 Laguna product called blue-brown. I sprayed cobalt carbonate lightly over the glaze.

Doughnuts

2007-08-12T12:51:00.000-07:00

Nancy's mom sent her a small slip cast teapot that was round with a hole in the middle. I dubbed it the doughnut teapot. The doughnut teapot inspired me to explore this shape with my potter's wheel.

Teapots

2007-07-28T12:03:00.000-07:00