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!

Gourd clocks, Valentine's Day Sweetheart Show and Sale

I've finished almost all the mini-gourd clocks...just haven't had time to photograph them. I'm generally really pleased with how they turned out. The one I like best, I just finished. I took the thin skin that usually holds the seeds inside the gourd out, stained it with some thin oil paint and let it dry.

Then I attached a gourd piece to the back of a small round gourd and paper mach'ed the outside of the gourd with the skin. I'm in the process of coating it with poly-acrylic, satin. It is cool, if I may say so myself! I need a few more of the mini-clocks, though. Our only outlet doesn't have any in stock (and hasn't for several weeks). I ordered 15 from Klockit, but should've ordered 20.

I'm helping organize an Art Show and Sale especially for people to shop for their Valentines. A local jewelry store is hosting - we'll serve some wine and snacks from 4-7pm and be there to mingle about. Eight artists are involved and a couple of other retails spots are going to be especially for the event, too. Hopefully, it'll be fun and a rousing success!

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!

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!

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!