Contest Winner

Michelle is the winner of my wine charm giveaway. Congratulations, Michelle. I'll send the set of six your way as soon as I have a mailing address (unless we are gone, in which case I'll sent it when I get home again.)

We are spending some time over the holidays in Mazatlan with our daughters, son in law and one of our grand daughters. The other set of grand parents will babysit Haley, one year old. Her parents decided they would have more fun without her! Imagine that!

Merry Christmas!

Oops! Disaster slops all over!

Oh, my gosh! My ice cube ornament completely fell apart! I left it outside overnight - it was minus 18 degrees (F) and brought it in the next day to take it out of the container and marvel at its beauty. The whole thing burst water out every where! Only the very outside shell was frozen and the inner part was cold water. What a mess...funny, though!

Hopefully, my kids today will have better luck as they will get a warning! I sold a felted landscape today so that was fun...sales are fun and certainly day-brighteners. Hoping you are having a bright and sunny day, whatever your weather!

I'm slowly getting more and more etsy listings...check it out. And slowly my shopping cart on my website is coming into being...maybe in another week or so. Santa, if you are listening, it would be an awesome early Christmas present!

Tree Ornaments

Have any of you tried making tree ornaments that birds will appreciate next spring? I'm giving it a whirl with my art kids on Monday. We'll be stringing nuts (my husband was kind enough to drill holes in all of them- he's a peach!), cranberries, raisins, grapes and other edible things.

We'll tie those strings to a dogwood branch and stick the branch in the bottom of a milk carton. We'll tie the other end of the strings to another dogwood branch and set that on the top of the carton. Then we'll add water and little pieces of string and different colors of yarn as we fill up the carton. We'll set the whole business outside (it's been -18 degrees here - yikes!) until it freezes solid.

After it is a solid, pretty ice cube we'll tie some jute to the top branch and hang it in one of our bare trees. Hopefully, it'll be a pretty ornament to glisten through our long winter. The birds will start coming back after it has started melting and they can enjoy our little treats, and the strings will come in handy for their nest building.

I'll take a photo and post it - so you know if it works, or not!

PS What is your pet peeve during the holiday season? Mine is people who don't understand the concept of waiting in line, or else understand it and don't think it should apply to them!

May God bless your Saturday!

It's Holiday CONTEST time!

Good morning!

I'm having my first blog contest! It's an easy one, too...

1. Just become a "follower" of my blog by clicking "follow this blog" in the "followers" section. This enters you in the random drawing. If you are a current follower, thank you, and I'll enter your name, too.

2. Tell your blogosphere friends about this. (Thanks!)

3. Check back on Monday, December 22 to see who wins!

What's the prize you wonder? A set of 'wordy' wine charms, each charm is a different color or pattern or has a different word. There are 6 different charms in the set with random words like hot, LOL, wino, and others! A "WINO" set is photographed here.

Join me in the followers fun! Thanks!

Australia

We went to Australia, the movie, not the country (been there, done that!) over the weekend. We all really enjoyed the movie, but I wasn't expecting it to be about Aboriginal people...I thought it was a love story, without kids! Anyway, when we were there a few years ago, we learned a little bit about the past treatment of Aboriginal peoples by white society and the government. It makes me cringe to think how often people all around the world have been and still are, treated as less than human, by the rest of us. And how dare we consider our civilization and way of life as the be all and end all of civilization? We allow our babies to be killed before they are born - how civilized is that? I just don't get it.

I did get some art done this weekend - had 10 kids here to learn a little bit about Salvador Dali (we were at the SD museum in St. Petersburg two years ago - fantastic!). Each child did an acrylic painting of a dream or dreams that they could remember...it was fun!

Our youngest daughter came home, for maybe a month or so. She's been making art in Fargo and is now busy applying to MFA programs across the country. She makes beautiful pots, check her out at amyuthus.com. We both should have shopping carts on our websites in the next week or so. I'm excited for that.

I was fortunate enough to have an etsy mentor look at my etsy shop. She gave me a lot of good suggestions that I'm in the process of implementing. I hope to get a lot more listed throughout this week!

Happy Advent all - may God bless you this week!

Clock Fix & Photographing Art

Thanks to Cindy for her hint on finishing up polymer clay with Future Floor Finish! I'm busy today redoing all my clocks and wine charms to rid them of their sticky feeling - I'll be glad to have that project finished so I can confidently box them up and ship them off to happy new 'clock watchers'. I can say they make me happy, lined up on my work counter, when I turn off the lights at night and their little buttons glo in the dark!

My hubbie is working diligently to figure out our new camera and how best to use it to photograph art. He has stools and a ladder in the living room, with clamps to hold up the lights, a cloth draped down the front of the fireplace and across a low, Japanese-style table. I'm so thankful he'll mess around with it because I don't have the patience for it!

Two of my pottery students, a fifth grader and a third grader, had success yesterday centering their ball of clay on the pottery wheel - all by themselves. They were thrilled and so was I...it is such a feeling of accomplishment for all of us!

My felted wall hangings, madonna and child, and landscapes will continue showing downtown through the holidays so that was good news. I guess they don't have another artist scheduled yet - happy accident for me! I'm going to lend my curio cabinet to our daughter, Amy, so she can show her pottery there for a month or so (go to amyuthus.com to see some of her work). We are both in the process of getting shopping carts on our websites - hopefully, that work will be done in the next 10 days or so.

Thanksgiving was such a fun time - our daughters (3) were all home, along with our son-in-law and two granddaughters. My youngest sister, Julie, and her family also came, my parents and two other sisters/hubbies. We played Wii (Mario Cart was a fave), cards, 'Katie's game' (a word/drawing game, sort of like written 'telephone') and Chase the Ace - besides eating more than plenty all weekend! Such fun to have company!

I've posted my schedule of Sunday kids' classes for January through May on my website (www.jackiesart.com). I'll add a pottery class or two a bit later...

Happy day to all!

No before Christmas show and sale...

Well, the Dec. 6/7 show didn't work out. It was too short of notice for most artists that I contacted. One of the painters suggested having a Sweetheart Sale on Jan. 31. We'll try for that and with our target audience Valentine's Day shoppers. We'll work on it next week and see if it'll be a go or not.

We had a house full of company for Thanksgiving - lots of fun to have family here. The oldest was my dad, 79, and the youngest guest was our 13 month old granddaughter. Every towel in our house was used - I was surprised to find the linen closets empty when everyone left and we started doing laundry.

I have been dismayed because the acrylic spray that I used on my clock and Wino wine charms has remained tacky after 10 days of drying time. I called Krylon and they sent a Min - Wax product that I am supposed to use on top of the Krylon. Three coats with a natural brush and it should take care of the problem. I wish I didn't have to spend the time brushing that stuff on. I guess Sculpey clay has a lot of oil in it that reacts with the Krylon spray - they've had other similar calls. I think they should have a caveat on the can that it isn't good to use on Sculpey.

I had two etsy sales this week so that was fun...Namaste and LOL both sold. I hope to get some more listings up on etsy this week...now's the time for Christmas shoppers to be browsing around.

Fine Art Show & Sale

I've decided to try to put together a Fine Art Show and Sale for the weekend of Dec. 6 & 7 at the Columbia Mall. I'll need to bring between 10-14 artists together to help share the cost of the space. It should be a busy weekend at the Mall, so hopefully sales will be good. I'll need to confirm with the Mall manager on Monday of next week.

I've finally gotten a few new listings into my etsy shop: some nightlights (Christmas trees and other designs) and "Wino" wine charms...perfect gifts and handmade besides! I plan to get some pottery listed, along with a few other items, too. I've been frustrated with my photos turning out bluish or greenish - this after I figured out how to get it focused on things that are close. We are liking our new camera, but I wish it didn't come with a learning curve! It's so hard to learn things the hard way, by trial and error.

Art Show Coming Down

My show at the Dakota Harvest Bakery comes down today. I plan to get busy and photograph the felted landscapes and felted madonnas, along with a bunch of my newest pottery, in a pretty light green glaze, this week. I'll get them listed on etsy just in time for Christmas shoppers. I am also hopeful of revamping my website and adding a shopping cart feature to it - our good neighbor, a computer guru, is taking care of that for me.

After returning from Egypt, I started an Egyptian art unit with my 28 weekly students. We are doing tempera batiks and some clay cartouches in the pottery studio. The more I read about the ancient Egyptian culture the more interesting it becomes...and the connection between the culture and the art is SO pronounced - one could hardly exist without the other. It was fascinating to be in the tomb of one of the high priests from 4,400 years ago and see the relief carvings and learn why they were done...my kids are doing paintings of themselves doing something they enjoy in this life, that they also would like to enjoy in their next life.

One of the boys is hang gliding, Egyptian style - his face is in profile, with a frontal eye and shoulders, but feet and hips in profile. One of the girls is swimming with a long Egyptian gown on, complete with fancy pectoral collar - quite a swimsuit! We are having fun learning about and trying out some of the Egyptian art ideas.

My husband is trying to get a new TV and Wii up and running - I think I'm happy to watch our old one. It has far fewer buttons on the remote. I'm not sure I'm up to learning about the new one. We're hoping to have fun with the Wii at Thanksgiving when family will be here visiting!

Holy Land & Egypt

We're back! It was an awesome trip - to walk where Jesus walked, to see the sights of Jerusalem and Jericho, to climb Mt. Sinai in the dark of the night in order to experience the darkest of skies and a magnificent red sunrise, to float in the Dead Sea (the first time in my life that I have really floated!), to have a boat ride on the Sea of Gallilee,

to pray in the Garden of Gethsamane, to have communion in the Garden Tomb site, to visit Capernaum where Jesus did much of his teaching and ministry, to go to the site of the Miracle of the Five Loaves and Fishes, to see many ancient Roman ruins and aquaducts and learn about their marvelous building accomplishments, to put our feet in the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized, to visit Bethlehem and the place where Jesus was born,

to go to the Dome of the Rock where Abraham was ready to sacrifice Isaac, to learn about the Bedouin nomads, to walk around the top of Masada and see the caves at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, to walk through a tunnel and touch the Western Wall that stood in Jesus' time in Jerusalem, to learn about Hasidic jews and a bit about their lifestyle and culture, to see the Treasury at Petra, one of the Wonders of the World, to see the Sinai and Sahara deserts, to ride in a tunnel under the Suez Canal,

to see the well where Moses met his wife and the site of the burning bush, to see some of King Tut's tomb treasure and his golden death mask, to see the Giza pyramids and the vendors hawking camel rides, horse rides, postcards, head scarfs, beads, photos and other merchandise, to see the Great Sphinx without his nose and beard (because French soldiers used them for target practice), to see reliefs carved in the tomb of a high priest 4,400 years ago in all their original colors, to see places where soldiers and police are everywhere, to experience the culture shock that is Cairo - this trip will be a resource for the future for me, spiritually, emotionally and artistically.

How blessed we are to live in the United States - to have the freedom to travel to other places in the world, to say what we want, when we want and not fear reprisals, to know that in large part our well-being is directly proportionate to how hard we work and what we envision for ourselves and decide to pursue!

Vacation Time

Tomorrow my husband and I follow our hearts to the Holy Land and Egypt. We are going with a group from Fargo (yes, Fargo of movie fame!) and will be seeing the sights and walking where Jesus walked...pretty amazing!

The final Art and Wine Walk of the season was Saturday. I did well - my best wine walk sales of the year so that was really fun. The Dakota Harvest Bakery has a mini-show of my clocks, felted wall hangings, weavings and tapestries up until Nov. 16. When I get home I'll have to get busy and get some new things made for the Holiday Show I'll be in on Nov. 15...it'll be a rush to get things made, dry and in and out of the kiln in 9 days! I seem to do well under some time pressure, but I won't go so far as to say I thrive on it.

I switched out some things at the Canad Inn gift shop this morning - they now have some reversible words, bison, mugs and teacups, necklaces, white dry erase boards, wine charms and 'keep it dry' coasters. I picked up the "God Bless USA" desk top flags and the birdhouses. There probably isn't' a big market for birdhouses in North Dakota in the winter!

We had two of our daughters home for the weekend, along with our two granddaughters, Taylor and Haley. It is always so quiet after they leave...luckily they leave behind some messes so I can be busy with straightening up and putting away - it takes my mind off the quiet for awhile!

Will blog again when we get home - unless I have time and access from abroad! Take care...

Dragon Table Donation - Rescue Mission Silent Auction

I made the decision to donate my Dragon in Suspension Table to the Grand Forks Northlands Rescue Mission for their Silent Auction benefit coming up on Oct. 23. I put a minimum bid on of $200 to cover my expenses. Hopefully, it will bring in more than that as I really believe the Mission's mission is an important one in our community.

The Mission provides support in the way of food and shelter to people who really have no where else to go. The weather is starting to get cold and nasty here in the north country - the mission is warm and safe, with strict rules and help for people to get back on their feet. I give half of my art sales to the Mission - I figure they can put it to good use and it is a way that my God given gifts can benefit others.

Waiting for my art kids to come this afternoon...we are doing take-offs with oil pastels on "The Scream" by Edvard Munch.

What makes me scream? Spiders and centipedes, worms and snakes, deep water and heights, staying alone. Is that everything? It is enough!!!

Landscapes, madonnas & clocks

After an almost - all nighter, I delivered a bunch of new art to the Dakota Harvest Bakery for a mini - show they are having of my work for the next month or so. I also switched out my pottery in the curio there. I'll be displaying tea cups, mugs (large and small), matching pitcher and salt and pepper set and a small herd of buffalo.

On the wall at the bakery, will be five artsy clocks (including three that glo-in-the-dark), several felted landscapes (including a wonderful summer sunset), a felted mother and child wall hanging that I call "Mother's Love", my Creation weaving, a weaving designed to hang in a window that is complete with crystal beads called "Steely Night" and a landscape called "Moonlight on the River". I used metal warp for that one so it is shimmery like the metal trees that I incorporated to embellish the tapestry.

My art kids have been working on a "horse" unit. Hopefully, most of them will finish their paintings this week. They've been practicing drawing horses, and last week concentrated on drawing the head. Most have chosen acrylic paints to use for their finished work, and they are turning out beautifully. We looked at a lot of horses in art as a precursor to the unit. Lots of famous artists have chosen horses as subjects - they are certainly majestic, elegant animals!

Time to pick apples - lots have fallen off the trees already. We plan to make some pies, crumbles and cobblers to put in the freezer to enjoy later this fall and winter. It is great to be able to go to the freezer and get something nummy, but it will be a long day today!

Kelly in Virginia bought my "Is it Wine Time?" ceramic clock this week so it is winging its way to her this weekend. I'm sort of getting into making clocks - both ceramic and with polymer clay - they are fun!

Red buffalo, teacups, jewelry and pottery frames

The red glaze came on Monday evening, and I had the kiln fired up 2 hours later. This morning I opened it to find most of my beads melted onto the kiln shelf. I learned a lot about glazing beads this time around. I wish I didn't have to learn most lessons the hard way...

But, the good news...6 little buffalo, oh, so happily, standing up nice and tall and proud! I love the new glaze - it is a rich dark red, and the feel of it is wonderful, too. I think I'll try it on some mugs and other things next time around. Everything except my jewelry and my biggest bowl came through the firing intact, with no surprises. The biggest bowl has a crack on the foot ring - darn!

I've started working on felting and weaving landscapes inside the new pottery frames...the first one is flax fields, with a river in the middle and a stormy sky. I love the wonderful blue color of flax fields and decided to incorporate it into my landscape. I'm trying to get it finished so I can hang it in at the Dakota Harvest Bakery on Friday (the show will be up until Nov. 17).

Waiting for a glaze...

I ordered a new Cone 6 glaze last week and was really hoping it wouldn't take the week to arrive that the salesperson said it would...but today it has been a week. It is a red shino and I ordered it especially for my little buffalo. Everything else is glazed and sitting in the kiln, so I should be able to fire the kiln up an hour or two after receiving the glaze.

Tomorrow I'm taking some art to the Dakota Harvest Bakery. It will be in a mini-show for about 6 weeks...including the next and last Art & Wine Walk for this season. I made two new clock faces last night, with Sculpey clay so I need to pick up the clock mechanisms for those today. Hard to think that it has been 6 weeks since the Art & Wine Walks for this season started. Time marches on too quickly!

I'm working on a large felted madonna. So far the basic design is complete - the mother and her child are on the background felt. Next I'm going to either felt some shiny fibers on top, or sew them on, but I'm having trouble deciding which colors to use. I hate taking things apart so I'm trying to make the right decision from the beginning. I didn't weave a basic structure first for this one and it has worked out well, except my felting brush is so small that I'm constantly moving it. I could use a large piece of thick foam but I really like using the brush instead.

I'm hoping to post some photos this week of my new glaze and my new madonna!

New Pottery - bison, cups, teacups, frames, jewelry

The kiln is firing - it is mostly full of my porcelain stuff, although there are a few pieces of my students' in there, too, and a few pieces of my stoneware. It will be fun to decide what colors to use on the cups and teacups, bowls and platter, frames for new weaving/felting projects and jewelry.

I haven't done jewelry for a long time, but was reminded how much I enjoy making it when I was in Bismarck for the street fair in August. I borrowed a necklace that I'd made as a student and given to my mom...and I received a lot of compliments on it that day. Since I have the setup to fire glazed beads I thought I should make some for fall/holiday shows. I'm excited to be working on small things!

Today I finished three felted landscapes that I created inside pottery frames that I made and had in my last firing. I really like how they turned out, as they reflect the rural landscape in which I live - fields of gold and green!

The tea cups have a place, opposite the handle, to drop the tea bag when you are finished brewing your tea. You don't have to carry a separate tea bag plate to your desk or easy chair - whatever is your favorite place for a tuppa tea!

A small herd of bison is in the kiln, too - fun to think about how to glaze those...none will be pink, that much I know! I especially love the metallic glazes that I have, and the satin white for the albino bison.

Two large bowls and a platter are also in the kiln - if they survive firing without cracking, I'll glaze those in creams and browns.

November 15, I've been invited to participate in a local holiday show. It will be fun, is a one day event so it doesn't consume the entire weekend - which is good, because I'm teaching about Egyptian art that weekend in my home studio!

Lample II is finished - recycled art

Lample II is finished!

I love how it turned out...the barn wood, diamond willow and the recycled globe came together nicely. I finally had a use for 10 pieces of turquoise that I bought in New Mexico about 15 years ago. I bought them for a future project and really didn't think the future project would be 15 years down the road. But the turquoise matched the paint I used on the globe and fit nicely into the center of the diamonds in the willow trunks. I used glass amber nuggets in some of the diamonds, and left some of the diamonds unadorned.

I 'printed' leaves on the globe in turquoise and amber by painting on real leaves and them pressing them to the glass globe. The colors look nice individually and where they overlap , too. I bought a cut glass light bulb and that adds interest, too, when the light is turned on.

I debated on how best to finish the reclaimed wood and finally decided on Watco's Danish Oil. It seeps into the pores, so the wood is preserved, but doesn't add color or sheen, like varnish does, so the 'history' of the wood is retained. I love that!

My husband did an awesome job wiring the lample and putting the pieces together. It was fun to show the lamples at the Art and Wine Walk today - and fun to hear people's positive comments on them.

Red Lamp + Table = "Lample" is Finished!

It's finished! Our first "lample" is a bright, cheery apple red with white legs and trimmings. The lamp globle is painted with red stripes, yellow and blue spirals and dots. I think it looks cute and it is definitely unique! I'll be bringing it to show at the Art & Wine Walk downtown this Saturday. My art kids really like it and I hope it inspires them to some art inventions of their own! It is especially pleasing to me because this white globe was destined for the landfill and now has a bright, new life!

I continue to work on the second lample - the one with the diamond willow branch legs and barnwood top and shelf. It was disgusting work cleaning the barnwood of bird poop, spider webs, bugs and other accumulated dirt gathering for 100 years. I used a good brush and wore gloves, otherwise I couldn't quite get myself to touch it! Yuk! But it did clean up beautifully and Eric, my husband, has pieces cut and glued for the table top and shelf. I'll coat those with satin finish polyurethane so they'll withstand use.

I need to get outside to get 3 more willow branches stripped. I'll be using tung oil to finish those - I tried it on a small branch and like how rich it looks. Hopefully, this lample will be done for Saturday, too!

Table + Lamp = 'Lample' and Art + 'Lample' = Cool!

"Lample" - a new word I invented for my lamp and table combination! The first one, with primary colors and apple red, glossy shelves, is nearly finished. It only needs some tape removed and the cord moved and I'll be posting a photo. I'm happy with how it turned out - the light looks wonderful and it is cheery and bright - a fun addition to lots of different spaces.

I've started working on the second lample, too. I painted the globe yesterday with turquoise and amber leaves and it's very pretty, especially when lit up. I'm debating whether to make this lample coffee table height or end table height, like the first one. I know I'll have to make two, so I can do one of each! That will leave me 4 donated globes to think and dream about.

This morning I got out the wood rasps and scraped on the diamond willow until I got most of the dirt off and a small start on removing the bark. I don't think I will scrape it down to the hard wood every where because I like the roughness and the color of the under bark layer. It is a nice contrast to the hard wood, which is very light in color. I'm planning to leave the inside of the diamonds darker, too, so they show up better. Or maybe I should clean it all the way to the hard wood and apply an amber colored stain. Hmm, too many options! I'm posting a photo here of the branch/trunk I'm working on so you can see what diamond willow looks like. It is all very fun and interesting to think about - and very different from pottery so it's a wonderful change of pace.

Speaking of pottery, I really want to get another herd of buffalo in the kiln, along with some mugs, tubers (vases with tubes in the middle to hold up flower stems - the tubes have holes in the bottoms so the flowers can drink from the bowl, or whatever shape I make the pot), and soap dishes...so much to do!

Weathered wood and diamond willow trees are plentiful in the Missouri River bottoms where my sister and her husband live, near Williston, North Dakota. We went there over the weekend (350 miles one way) and came home with a trunk full of wood and willow. We had a great time scavenging around their rural area - David, my brother-in-law, has lived there his entire life and so he knew great places for snooping around and finding what I wanted...and even some things that I didn't know I wanted! Did you know there is weathered wood with cool, small, round metals things nailed to it with a previous purpose of holding down tar paper and shingles? I didn't either but now I am the proud owner of several such pieces of wood! I plan to use the wood for table tops and shelves...maybe to go with my painted glass globes - or maybe not. I love thinking about the possibilities. David also knew where there is a stand of diamond willows. The trunks of the diamond willow trees have an awesome pattern of large and small diamonds up and down the length of the trunk. I'm going to remove all or most of the bark to help emphasize the patterns. Then those trunks will become table legs or posts for shelves...photos will come when I get something finished. We also brought home some trunks from a thick chokecherry bush - it bled red when it was cut! Sort of sad, but beautiful, too. I can understand how amber is formed from such gorgeous colored sap. Too bad I'm going to Minneapolis this weekend because I'm charged up and ready to go with weathered wood and willow! I'm sure the Vikings/Colt game will be fun, but I'd rather do art now that I have so much new material to work with! David and my husband and sister were great helpers, without them I'd have nothing - thanks for your enthusiastic help with my recycled art projects!

Light globe and glass paint yields visual art!

The donated glass globe painted up beautifully and came out of the oven with narry a crack! Hooray! Now I'm busy getting the wood table top and middle shelf primed - they will be painted a bright red. The legs and additional fittings will be white PVC pipe and caps - I think they will look sort of industrial, bright and cheery against the red wood shelves. My husband, Eric, is helping me with some of this project, so I am grateful for that. I can't wait for it to be done, and all lit up, hopefully in time for the Art & Wine Walk on Sept. 20. I'd really like to get another one done, too - one with copper legs and barnwood shelves (I'm going to my sister's farm this weekend and hopefully will be able to scavenge some from her!) and celadon and copper frosted on the glass globe...visual art made from recycled stuff. I'd like to do another one with driftwood - too bad there are no oceans nearby! I've been trying to list items on sell-arts.com and have had so much trouble. I'm really lousy with computer stuff and lose my patience with it quickly. There are so many other things I'd like to do with my time than sit at the computer! I started on a new herd of pottery buffalo this morning, got two mom and two babies finished so they can dry over the weekend.

Recycling glass globes - trash to art

A new work week - with one less day! I'm so excited because my pottery students start the fall session today. It seems like a long time since I've had the little ones in my studio. We are making plaques and learning about decorative patterns today. One new student is starting, along with the kids I had last year. One of my friends, Lyle, came over before the Labor Day holiday with 7 white glass globes for light fixtures. His business was going to throw them out, but he thought I might like to have them - thinking maybe I could do a trash-to-treasure thing with them. I'm excited to give it a try! I plan to paint them, then make a ceramic base or maybe a wood/ceramic base to hold the globe upright, with a light inside. We'll see how the experiment turns out. If it works as the dream in my head is pictured, I'll post a photo here. Of course, it'll be for sale! I've never used glass paints but when we were in Ojai, California last winter I saw some beautiful painted glass art objects in several of the art galleries there. I am hoping to get my summer students' pottery clear glazed and in the kiln this morning. Every thing came out of the bisque kiln without cracks and still standing - even all the little dinosaurs from a recent boy's birthday party, so I was happy with the firing. Time to get the day started!

Design Style Guide interview, pottery, gourd art,

I'm excited! An interview about me and my art is online today! Want to check it out? Go to:

http://www.designstyleguide.blogspot.com/

Yes, I REALLY do walk outside if the temperature is at or above 15degrees F! Today I've been busy in my pottery studio, even though I have weaving waiting for me...I can almost hear the fibers whispering in my ears, "Weave me, felt me, do anything with me but leave me here in my basket, please!" But the clay spoke louder today and I'm making soap dishes, tuber vases (you know, the kind with the tube in the center to hold flowers upright) and tea cups. But what I really want to do is design an new foyer table - one that will be a catch-all...for keys and coins, chapstick and sunglasses. I'm dreaming up a design with either metal or twigs/branches incorporated into the base. Can't quite decide, but I'm having fun thinking about it while I do my 'work' in my pottery studio... Today, too, I need to trim a couple of large pieces, a bowl and a platter, that are a special order. So far, they haven't cracked so I'm happy about that! Well, I better get to it, as I want to (not really, but I'll do it anyway because I really don't want flabby, old lady arms) go to the gym and exercise, get my daily walk done, and work on a photo album for my granddaughter, Taylor. We spent last week together and I want to have a special photo album to help me (and Taylor) remember it. May God bless your day!

Pottery, new classes, weaving - so much to do!

I am home for 4 days and can't believe how much I have on my list of things to do...so much to do in my pottery studio - for myself, and I need to take care of my students' work. They are waiting patiently for me to get it in and out of the kiln. I've a million things to do to get my fall art class schedule posted on my website and some lesson plans in place. Plus I have a tapestry idea that is exploding in my head and looking for fruition! I'm so blessed that "I'm bored, I've nothing to do" is not a possibility for me!

I can't figure out how to put labels under my first post so guess I'll do it this way!

Jackie's Art

After much encouragement, I've decided to start bloggin'.

I'm a teaching artist -into pottery, painting, weaving, giant gourds and combinations of all of those. Lately, I've been making pottery frames for my weavings and feltings of prairie landscapes and mothers with their babies. (Mary Cassatt is one of my favorite artists - I love the gentle and calm feelings so many of her paintings evoke.)

Representing the humorous side of my art:

Check out my wedding ring depositories - specially designed for the divorced or soon-to-be-divorced. What to do with the wedding ring that formerly was a symbol of love and happiness and has turned out now to be just the opposite? Well, throw it in the toilet, of course! Take the roof off my pottery outhouse and you can do just that! A perfect gift to give your friend who is in the s---house situation of divorce.

I also make personal fire hydrants for your best friend. Every good dog deserves his own fire hydrant, personalized with his name. Your pet will be the only one in his neighborhood with such a luxury.

I do make 'serious' art, too. I love embellishing GIANT gourds - some are lamps, huge sculptural bowls or centerpieces - also perfect for the pedestal or stand in your foyer.

'Madonna' and 'family' are themes I explore in my weavings and sculptural pottery. I grew up with 7 brothers and sisters and family is the most important facet of my life, along with my faith in God, the power above us all.

I fire my pottery to cone 6, and use mostly stoneware and porcelain clays. In my tapestries, I use a variety of yarns, including yarn I spin myself and specialty yarns that I find at a huge, wonderful yarn store in Winnipeg, Manitoba...a 2-1/2 hour drive from our home.

I'll soon be posting my fall schedule of classes on my website: www.jackiesart.com. You can also check out my shop: www.jackiesart.etsy.com.

My website has tons of photos of kids at work in my studios - they are great young artists and I love to help them work. I also host art birthday parties, lately tie dye has been the favorite thing to do for the birthday boy or girl, but we can do just about anything, as long as it fits the party time frame.

Our youngest daughter is an artist, too. Check her out at www.amyuthus.com. She makes beautiful functional pottery.

I strongly feel that everyone in America who wants a home, should have one. To help accomplish that goal, I donate 1/2 of my art sales to our local shelter for the homeless, the Northlands Rescue Mission. They do great work and I'm happy to be able to support them in their efforts. A small way for me to use talent God gave me to help those less lucky - but for the grace of God, I could be in that situation, too.

Have a wonderful, blessed day and check back often...I'd love to hear from you.

P.S. A click on the bottom photos will lead you to my website and a click on the top photos will lead you to my etsy shop!