back to ceramics

I made it to my pottery studio with time for myself today! It seems like ages since I've had several hours to myself - just me and my clay. I worked on sculptures today - both are of couples, kindred spirits, simplified forms. One sculpture is high and lanky, the other is short and squat. I like how they are both turning out. I covered them as they both need more work. It is good to leave them and come back at it with fresh eyes. Tomorrow I hope to throw some pots on the wheel, and then I can trim them up on Sunday.

I'm trying each day to remember how the Florida sunshine warmed body and spirit - it is so cold here, -24 degrees (F) today, with a forecast of 0 degrees tomorrow...a real warm up! Spring is coming, right?

Our daughter was accepted to graduate school in Dartmouth, Mass - in ceramics. I look forward to learning a lot from her in the future. We are going to the big ceramics conference, NCECA, in Phoenix in April. That should be fun - I can't wait to see all the exhibits/galleries/demonstrations.

Stay warm!

Florida sunshine

We're back from sunny Fort Lauderdale - and trying to pretend the snow is white sand! We loved the city, the beaches, the sun and the people. What a fun place to visit. We even took in three art museums and were impressed by all three. The art museum in Fort Lauderdale, tucked away near the public library, had a special exhibit of Picasso's ceramics. That was fun to see, even though most of it didn't look like it took much time to throw together! The Bonnet House, near the ocean in Fort Lauderdale, had beautiful grounds and lots of eclectic art that the owner and his wife had created, including murals on the ceiling, a la Michaelangelo. My favorite museum was the Norton Museum in West Palm Beach, north of Fort Lauderdale. What a gem - they had a wonderful representation of art, including impressionists, contemporary, Chinese and lots of other artists. Don't miss it if you are in the area!

My students are all starting a pottery unit today - we'll be throwing on the wheel (attempting it, anyway), and some handbuilding. They are so excited - I think every one of them loves working with clay!

'catching up'

My shop on my website is finally close to getting up and running. I thought it would be done the beginning of November! Do any of you have internet shops, beside etsy or one of those similar hosting sites? We are using the service Zen Cart and there has been so much to learn. I can't even say I'm doing most of it. We hired a computer expert to do most of it, then my husband got involved, too. He's been spending hours and hours on it. Finally, it was my turn. I've been taking photos, writing descriptions, weighing and measuring everything. I think I've revisited each item about 4 times. When I need to put up a new product from here on out, I'll be a lot smarter about info gathering - and get it all in one shot! It is exciting nevertheless and I look forward to having a 'Grand Opening'!

My art students finished our cartoon unit this week - they've worked hard and did an awesome job. I learned a lot, too, so that's been fun. Some of my students seem to have a real talent for cartooning, so maybe we'll see their work on the comic page when they are older. How fun would that be??? For me, anyway!

Take care and may God bless you and yours!

Mini gourd clock photos

I'm posting more photos of my mini gourd clocks today. I'm hoping to start soon on a new idea I have that will combine my love for felting with ceramics and the images I like of mothers with their children or baby. I'm excited about it, and have been mulling over ideas about how to 'put it all together' for a couple weeks. We'll see how it goes.

We may have our two little granddaughters here for a week or so. That would be fun! We love having them at our house, except it is so quiet and picked up after they leave.

Our Valentine Art Show went well, although none of us sold a thing to anyone who intended it as a gift for their sweetheart. It was really cold that afternoon/early evening, like 20 below zero (F). Maybe we would've had even more traffic had the weather cooperated a bit. We're thinking of trying the same sort of 4-7pm show just before Mother's Day. We had wine leftover so we each took home a bottle!

I picked up my clocks -they'd been showing at the same place since Oct. All my ceramic clocks have sold. Two of the polymer clay clock faces had cracked so that was disappointing. I don't know if I did something wrong when I baked the faces or if the wood base I glued them to shrunk and caused the cracking. I thought the wood was really dry as we'd had it for a couple years. Disappointing but there's a lesson to be learned if I can just figure it out!