1 Intro
2Starting out
3 You and me together again at last
4Product Design
5Rubber mold
6 Be a Sculptor
7 Marbleizing
8 Getting Ahead
9Paint techniques
10 Foam carving

                            Dan's World  a very strange place to be                          Pg 1

Beyond here there be Dragons

  First let me say that I am a traveler but then we are all pilgrims on a journey or more properly on an odyssey through space and time.  Our flesh and blood ships are these capsules which we pilot across the great abyss of life. 
  No map or directions come with the capsule of flesh. No sign posts mark the way. Each of us chooses his or her own path and has to deal with the consequences or challenges of the adventure that unfolds therewith. 
 Each individual's future is out there in the dark void. 

 There are moments in each life that are a time of choosing.  The weight of the decision can have life altering impact.. Do I start that new business? Do I quit my job, fight or run, move or stay where I am? When you are at these monumental decision points it's as if you are at the crossroads of eternity.  You know your journey will change your life forever and will change the lives of others around you as well.

 To peer out into the inky blackness is of no avail. No hint or clue of your  fate is visible in the  endless shade. It is you and you alone who must set the course for your destiny. As the time of choosing draws nearer the silence of your indecision  envelopes you.  Your quickening heartbeat is your only company  and it pounds against your eardrums.  The mere  thought of moving out into the vast black unknown has you frozen in place.  Your immobility  can only be a temporary respite though for the world moves on and the dawning is upon you. Life has a way of bringing change to you if you refuse your responsibility. It seems the universe desires our participation. You cling to  the flimsy borders of this little raft called sanity for one last moment before making the choice. The ship of change has docked and the ferry man  extends his hand.

Brave souls are we who have bought a ticket for this ride called life, for there is no refund on the admission price.  Once entered into, the contract cannot be broken. We move forward either willingly or are dragged kicking and screaming into the dark void of tomorrows.  At some point we must face the fears that bind us to our insecurity.  Each day moves us a little closer to that  far distant shore where this journey ends and the next one begins. The amount of time allotted to us on this plane of existence is finite. It's up to us to live every moment of it and live it well. As to the next world we can only hope that the blissful stories about its rewards are true. As to the tales of its horrors on those we dare not dwell. Life provides enough tribulation without adding eternal fears to the weight of the load we already carry.

The Secret Sacred Silence

  What are our choices? To stay rooted is to stagnate. To move forward into the cavernous black is to exchange the hell you know for an unknown future.  How many times during our lifetime have we stood at  the brink of disaster and had to make life altering choices?  I for one have been to this place all to often and know its depth and breadth all to well.  This is the place where shadowless forms  arise  before your mind's eye like  the creatures that haunt the moors on  cold damp moonlit nights or those that slide silently across a loch with  not a soul but yourself  out there in the mist..  To be human is of necessity to move forward into those fathomless depths. If it is any comfort, know that there is a fellow traveler out there making the  choices frightening as they are, standing at the precipice trying to survive just as you are. 

 Fortunately I have found as many times as not great joy, abundance, love  and camaraderie out there in that secret darkness. We all carry the light of confidence within us. We need but to shine it on the path and place one foot in front of the other. The drama will unfold as needs must, with four part harmony and in glorious Technicolor on the screen of our future.. Face the challenges as an adventure. Meet them head on and see them through. Win or lose feel proud that you were one of those who had the courage to step out into that vast unknown.

  This moment right now is one little side trip, a minor diversion from the innumerable list of events that compose your everyday  routine.  You could have taken any of a thousand threads but you have chosen this one. So, welcome to my world and thank you.  These pages are more than a description and display of some work done previously. It goes beyond that. Every portfolio does at least that much. This is a peek into the living room window of the life another being, an aberrant being albeit but a being nonetheless.  This glimpse into another person's world is offered in friendship. It is also offered as a means of determining whether or not this is someone you can relate to if you are thinking of having work done by me.  It is the place where judgment is made.

Mind to Mind. I Don't Mind

 Although the protective glass you peer through separates us  you are inexorably becoming a participant in the flow of consciousness put forth on these pages. As our brains attune themselves to the imperceptible electronic pulse of this modern day looking glass a connectedness of minds occurs which enhances the natural  interplay of the written word. At some point in the future this false electronic connection will not be necessary. You will be able to read my thoughts more easily than the words on this page. 

  Whether I create with words or pictures or three dimensional form it is the creating that matters. Moving thoughts through craggy ravines  and over sky scraping mountains by the use of the written word is a thrilling and powerful creative venture .  It's a connection with another being that is direct and personal.  I enjoy it immensely.

 If I am able to tell people how to do a project in an entertaining  and different manner from others all the better. It is just a matter of talking to people on a one to one level as if we were all sitting around the dinner table  enjoying each other's great company. 

Everyone's  world is unique. That's why it's so intriguing to look into someone else's. World's can be bizarre or very common and stable places. For my part I came here to test the limits of creativity in this material dimension.  My way of getting through life is to invent, create and discover  whatever is exciting, unusual or informative in this world and tell about it.  Your methods and paths will be different from mine. Your vehicle may be a starship and mine a row boat but the final destination will be the same.  We are both travelers searching for the lost shore. Before taking up residence in that city of silent souls I would like to make a difference in this realm..

  As we eagerly head out into the golden sunrise we shall not be daunted by the challenging  adventures that are put in our path..  We shall take up the gauntlet and meet life head on. In time it may even come to pass that we join forces in some noble venture to enrich the world.

Traveling Through Time

  Time is such an elusive  indefinable concept.. Tentacles of it flow out of this pin point on which we stand. In one direction the future calls to us, beckons us forward with a buffet  table of every conceivable delicacy, both bitter and sweet.. In the other direction what we perceive as the past lies spread out on the floor like so many faded photographs. We can pick one up and examine it at will.  To do so takes us down the path of reminiscing.

 One can get caught up in the twisted tentacles of time. They are as tunnels that lead to every conceivable event that ever was experienced. Choosing the proper departure point requires that we rummage through some of these old photographs spread out on the floor, brown with age and frayed on the edges. We lift one of these fragile images from its resting place. The pull backward toward a less complicated time is strong and immediate. This one leads down the tunnel of my beginnings as a plaster master.   Perhaps you have considered learning the ways of plaster working. Here is your chance to glimpse into what that life might be like.

  Come on this journey with me. You'll learn a little about me, a lot about how to become a worker in plaster and other crafts and a world of subjects from the bizarre to the inane.  Together we share this physical excursion called life.  The bumps and knocks, thistles and thorns are all in place awaiting our footsteps. Without them the rewards would not be half as sweet. Even the beauty of the rose is guarded by thorns. 

If these pages ease your journey even just a little then I have  accomplished my goal. By  command of the Grand Architect we must be here in this physical dimension. Let us make it the most fulfilled reality that we can. 

And so fellow traveler we set out on a new leg of the journey.  Standing here at the portal we gather up our last bit of courage and step forward.  Let the journey be joyous. Let the way be made clear and let the revelries begin.

  Dan Kijak

  e-mail me

Dan Kijak   4308 Shankweiler Rd. Orefield PA 18069

610-391-9277

 So you want to become a plaster master.  pg 2 Next  pg    

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