Busy Days

It's been a busy, but here and there sort of week.  The sun has been out so we have been trying to get yard and garden into shape.  Finally it has been warm enough to start putting plants outside.

The last of my daffodils are blooming.  They are minis and are always the last to bloom.  I think I need to move them as a lot of the buds dry our before they open.  

We are in the middle of pollen season.  Everything has a green film over it.  I am so glad for modern allergy medications!

 We recycle everything in this house.  Aloysius was bound and determined to fit into the box Linda sent with goodies in it.  He's still sleeping in it.  Who knows the mind of a cat?  I know I sure don't!

My big thing has been experimenting with monoprinting on a gelli plate.  Linda Germain is a printmaker who has great information on the method, both making and using.  Of course I have to complicate things by trying to do it with clay.  I spent a good part of yesterday figuring out that the process does not work on dry tiles.  I think freshly rolled slabs may be more successful.

I am also exploring my printing mediums.  I am trying a mix of frit, gerstly borate and mason stain in a paste form.  I am also trying various underglazes.  I think the trick will be to keep them fairly thick like regular printing inks.

I could just print on paper and use it as a transfer, but that means thinking in reverse and has a different effect that printing directly.

Iam doing this strictly for my own enjoyment.  I am in the process of cleaning and reconfinguring my studio.  I can work on exploring an idea for an hour or two without much mess.

This is the 11x11 gelli plate I made.  It's a little thicker than it needs to be, but I tend to overbuild when I am starting a new project.

If anyone has any ideas or knows of anything out in the ether I would love to hear them.

Adriana asked on her latest post, "What is the pot you would not part with?" After thinking a bit I realized that this guy, which is the first pot I ever made and kept back in 1966 must be the one.  It has stayed with me over many moves and has always been where I can see it.  It has always been special for me, even when I did not think of it as such!

Little did I know, when I potted for about five months back then, what I would get into twenty years later.  I thought of pottery as something I had explored for a few months and left behind, mostly due to life's little complications rather than a dislike of clay.  Sometimes life does have foreshadowing!

I hope everyone has a sunny, good day....or rain if you are in a drought.

This post will also be over on Mud Colony.  Everyone should click on over and explore clay around the world.

As always, thanks for stopping by..............*s*

Fantastic Mr. Fox

On Tuesday I went to the post office and there I found a box of goodies waiting for me from Linda Starr.  Inside a cool bread book Our Daily Bread first published in 1970.  This is an oldie but goodie, that I once owned but lost in one of my many moves.  There are sponges.  Look at the big one; it looks like an underwater fern.  Aaaand I was going to buy a new sponge and chamois next time I went to the art store.  I think Linda can count mind reading among her many talents.

The piece de resistance is Fantastic Mr. Fox.  Has anyone seen the animated version of Roald Dahl's book?   George Clooney is Mr. Fox and this is a perfect portrait.  Right now he is hanging here in my plant sun room, but I think he is going to be down in my studio.  I find something comforting having other potters' work around me when I work.

BIG HUZZAHS and THANKS, LINDA!

Spring is here again after several days of too cool weather.  It's supposed to be in the seventies.

We're going to the pond supply store to get plants for the pond.  Hopefully once we get some plant cover on the water the fish will have places to hide from Mr. and Mrs. Red Tail, andwe'll be able to
remove the net.

I'm also biting the bullet and going to Walmart to look for some sort of containers for the gelli plates I have been making.  Yes, yesterday's Wordless Wednesday was a gelli plate.  It was so amorphous that I couldn't resist posting it.

Have a great day and, as always........thanks for stopping by...........*s*

Wordless Wednesday

Monoprints

No, I have not gone completely around the bend and taken to posting pictures of pans of water.

 I have been reading a lot lately about commercially available gelli plates.  That got me to thinking about making my own plates.  After poking around on Google (so much easier than having to go to a library and pour through card catalogs) I found a terrific blog Linda Germain has.  It's filled with all sort of information, including instructions on making your own plates.  I made mine in a silicon baking pan that I have hesitated to use for baking as I often bake at fairly high temps.

I'm not sure how I will use this, but I'm thinking of it as another way to make images to go on clay.  I used to do a lot of silk screening, both for printmaking and for transfer to clay.  This seems to be a good time to experiment as I have been doing some work in white earthenware with an eye to underglazing.

We'll see, Grasshopper......we'll see..............

Speaking of grasshoppers, does anyone else miss Robin Hopper's wonderfully informative blog posts?  I notice lately that a lot of his books are being reprinted.

Sunny with a cool breeze .....just enough to make it uncomfortable to be outside.  I go out for about twenty minutes and then come in.  I am always surprised at how much can be accomplished in twenty minutes if one concentrates on the task at hand.

Enjoy the day and, as always, thanks for stopping by..........*s*

May 12, 1013

Happiest of Mothers Days to one and all!

Fun!

After staring at various blank forms for the last month or more I have begun playing a bit.  What I have mentioned before and am now sure of is that I am many times more gestural when working with handbuilt forms.  For one thing I don't have to wait until the clay is set up enough to handle, and then there is the fact that I don't have to trim.

I'm experimenting a bit with lid attachments.  Hayne Bayless makes wonderful clay hinges for his very elegant teapots.  Me?  I'm not so elegant, so I'm trying to find an earthier(?), solution.  

I want them to interact;I like the way these little guys have something going on.  Arguing? Asking for directions?  Hero Worship?  I suppose to always have them in the position I want them in I'll have to make trays for them.  Oh the complications of life! (We all should have these be our only complications.

The pots below look sort of like teapots but they're meant to be cruets as they will only hold about eight ounces when they are finished.

            

AND here is the reason why I do not take cups or mugs I have collected into my studio.  Aloysius decided that this was a good morning for knocking thing onto the cement floor.  The mug was a second, but it was pleasant to drink from and by using it I solved the drawbacks, including the futzy way I constructed it.

The beech tree, now partially blocked by the white oak branch is getting greener.  Not so much other trees.

We're having a gorgeous sunny day between rainy days.  I'm alternating between time outside and time in the studio.  At last I feel fully thawed from winter.   (My brothers tell me there was snow on my birthday....April 12...around Lake Winnapasaukeh ....and they wonder why I don't want to move North!)

This post also can be found on Mud Colony.  There's all sorts of interesting stuff there.....especially Gulgong!

Enjoy the sun, moon and stars!  As always thanks for stopping by..........*s*

Wordless Wednesday