Sunday

We had a successful opening Thursday night.  There was a pretty good turn out and many nice things said about my work.  The hit of the evening was Humpty Dumpty.

The turtle below was originally intended for the show but his bottom detached in front during the bisque firing. I have never had this problem before so why this happened is one of life's little mysteries.   I've come up with a couple of ways to work with the break.  We'll see, grasshopper....we'll see.....

Can you see the split ?

Nina Hope Pfanstiehl, the other clay person in the show did wonderful buildings.  The Edward King House, the former Newport Library, was a great favorite by her.  For many of her historic interpretations she does photos of the original building.  I couldn't quite manage to get her photos in my pictures.  I'll get more sorted and posted over the next week.

Edward King House.....Exterior 

Edward King House........Interior

I had wanted to do a long post on Friday but woke up with a wicked migraine; I finally got rid of it last night.  It's goldenrod season;  I love autumn but not many of the pollens that abound.  Ahh country living.

I'm going to try to get this over to Mud Colony to add to clay happenings around the world.

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

Wordless Wednesday

And Then There Were Two

Happy....

......Autumnal Equinox, which officially occurs at 4:44 PM or 20:44 for those international readers who might be stopping by.

And for all the J.R.R. Tolkien fans out there, a Happy Birthday to Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.  If I were more organized I would be offering a mathom or two......perhaps next year.

We had rain all night and for the better part of the morning, but it has begun to clear.  The clouds are quickly heading west.  It's going to get cool again tonight, but not cold enough for frost.

My one large surviving dahlia has begun to bloom.  The rain knocked the stem of this bloom around so I brought it inside to enjoy.

Fall is coming.  There is a flock of grackles grakeling around the pond and woods.  They are loving the pond.  This is an unexpected benefit to having a water feature in the yard.  I hope we'll be seeing many more birds coming through.

I'm supposed to be writing my artist's statement for my upcoming show.....which I will find many and all excuses to avoid doing.  I don't like to say too much about my stuff as I believe that once I put it out in  the world it should speak for itself.  What a viewer brings is as important as what I give.

I think my computer keyboard needs cleaning!

Enjoy the day!  As always, thanks for stopping by.........*s*

Sometimes The Magic Works.....

In this case the kiln gods worked overtime.  I am really pleased with the entire firing.

I am particularly happy with the fish platter.  In the bisque I had some strange white chunks of frit rise to the surface.  I can only think that I did not reprocess the clay enough.  The frit make an amazingly strong body but it can be problematic if not recycled carefully.

I took my dremel drill and drilled out all the white chunks I then mixed frit 3124 to a paste with the Spectrum commercial white glaze that I use and filled all the holes, then sanded them smooth.  I then used the same glaze on the platter. 

 I have done this successfully in the distant past, but only with commercial glazes.  Someday I may experiment on test pieces using my studio glazes.  I always say I'll use test bowls or plates, but I often end up experimenting on whatever pots I have at hand.

This is a new handbuilt mug form.  It holds about 14 oz. or a bottle of beer.  I am trying different lip angles.  I like the look, but am not sure if buyers would take to it.

I think these would also be a good tumbler shape.  I find that with the glazes and designs that I use simple forms work best for me.

This is my Humpty Dumpty cookie jar.  It's probably not terrific to laugh at my own work but this one makes me smile.

Wynken, Blynken and Nod has been a favorite children's poem since I was a little girl.  I love children's   poems and stories.  They provide such great opportunities for illustrations.

These are some of the pieces that are going in the show that am in.  It opens this coming Thursday, May 27 I'm not sure where the time has gone, but for a change I feel ready.

This post will also be over on Mud Colony.  Take a look at what is going on world wide in clay.

AND.......

An early Saturday morning addition.  I was out with Winter as the sun was just coming up (a rosy fingered dawn indeed) when I saw that a moon flower had finally bloomed.  I am always thrilled when I see their ghostly white flowers floating in the night, or in this case, dawn!

Here's hoping for a long, mild fall!

Don't forget Mud Colony!

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

And So It Goes.....

I'm glazing, well....in reality painting....hopefully this will be my last firing on Tuesday, although I will have time to do a refire if I absolutely have too.

Once I start painting the ideas seem to crowd in.  This is what I love in pottery process.  I find keeping my notebook with me at all times helps immeasurably.

There will be many opportunities to use new ideas, I'm sure.

The color on the teapots looks strange because the designs are waxed to make doing the background easier.  Waxing is time consuming but not as bad as having to try to correct mistakes.

This will also be over on  Mud Colony.  Take a look at the world of clay!

Just a short post, with toes crossed for a good firing.  We'll see, grasshopper......we'll see....

Enjoy what seems to be a chilly but sunny Sunday here in Southern New England.

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

there's still time for Wordless Wednesday

prune plum pizza/ coffee cake

Waiting

I find the hardest part of firing my kiln is waiting for it to cool.  For some reason I generally fire at night, then have to torment myself waiting for the kiln to cool enough to open it.  Yesterday I did some work outside, but spent most of my afternoon watching Game of Thrones and the evening watching Argo.....a nail biter even though we knew the ending! 

I am, as of now, changing my habits and firing early in the day.  Then when it turns off I can wait late afternoon and all night without peeking.  Sometimes the small, obvious changes are the hardest to put into practice.

I have only opened a few shelves but so far so good.  I finally managed to find space for the dragon and the sea horse.  They've been sitting on my shelves for ages saying, "What about us?"

This firing was a little odd as I didn't discover that the bottom switch was off until the kiln had been going for two hours.  It's all bisque on the bottom so everything should be fine.

This is a short post as I want to get it onto Mud Colony.  Take a look and see what is going on around the world in clay.

We're having a clear, dry, sunny sunday.  Nice for hanging laundry out to dry.  I have my toes crossed for this weather to continue well into October.

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

Wordless Wednesday

Buy this book!

And So It Goes.....

I actually remembered to take a few pictures while I was working on the ewer/pitcher!

The first one shows the tree in a light brown with dark brown to highlight.

 The next one shows the dark brown smudged into the light brown.  This is just the first step.  I keep adding and blurring until I have what I want.  One of the things I like about working this way is that what your see is what you get.  Some of the stains are not as strong, but once I learned how to compensate, I was fine.  Pinks and blues in particular can be a lot stronger than anyone would expect.

The preying mantis moulted.  From what I have read they like to do this upside down. The mantis in back is the empty husk.  She is now happily on another leaf of the dahlia, eating bugs.  We have started to think of her as a pet.

I have had one lonely morning glory bloom.  There are more buds, so, toes crossed, there will be many more.

My hibiscus has gone mad with blooms.  The pink and apricot become florescent at dawn and dusk.

 And last is the Angels Trumpet.  I just love the name and the variety of blooms.  I have finally found that these are datura as the flowers are upright.  Brugmansia has pendulous flowers.  I just wish I had the space to winter them over.

It's still humid with showers on the way.  There was a flash flood in Cranston yesterday and an apartment building had to be evacuated.  We are supposed to have lower humidity and real sun tomorrow.

Frederick Pohl, the last of the "inventors" of science fiction died at ninety-three. This was a man of many talents.  The Space Merchants still resonates.  Neil Gaiman has a remembrance of him on his blog.

Just heard that RI beach attendance was down this summer due to the weather.  Waddaya know people don't enjoy the sea shore in the rain and fog!

Kiln loading and so on today....enjoy yours.

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

Glaze

I've been glazing and painting a few pots to go in the firing I'm planning to do Tuesday night.

It's difficult to see my very light sketch lines but this one is an amalgam of two childhood poems:  The Gingham Dog and Calico Cat and The Sugarplum Tree.

I  may have mentioned that I only use a few glazes....Linda Arbuckle Majolica, Andrea Gill's WOM, Ian Symons Clear.  I also use several Spectrum glazes, Majolica white, Clear, White Matte.  I add a little rutile to all my white glazes to give them a more mellow look.  The clears I use over white earthenware.  I don't do a lot of white work so the clears last a long time.  All my glazes are mature at ^04.

Commercial glazes have a lot of sizing in them; I use super hold hair spray on my studio glazes to give me a sturdy surface to work on.  I used to put acrylic medium in the glaze which gave a great surface but left too many bubbles when mixing.

Once pots are glazed they have to be completely dry before I start working on them.

I use Mason Stains for all my colors.  I mix them 50-50 with frit 3124.  Sometimes I mix them with paste (50% 3124; 50% Gerstley Borate...I usually keep a mixed pot of it around)  Mixed with frit the stains are more like water colors, mixed with paste, again 50:50, they are more like gouache.

I am a true brush freak.  I'm always buying them.  I use only natural bristle; synthetic is not as responsive.  Liners, sumi brushes, and mops are among my favorites.

For the first time in ages I threw some small kitty and dog bowls.  It was kind of pleasant to sit at the wheel and throw the same thing ten times.  It's been gray and dank lately so these are taking forever to get to a trimming stage.

There are thunderstorms and rain in the forecast, but the weather does not preclude have a great Labor Day celebration.

I'm putting this over on Mud Colony.  Take a look; there's always something new.

Enjoy the holiday or if you are not in the U.S.A. have a good week end.

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