Blue Horse Studio- copy of Oystercatchers

 So when Karen said that she loved the picture of the painting of the oystercatchers that I photographed at the Blue Horse Gallery on SSI, I thought, hey, it's her bday, why don't I just copy it. So I did. She was THRILLED. Unbeknownst to me she had actually been in touch with the gallery asking the price of the piece ($650 plus tax!!!!). So she really did like it-- enought to consider buying it. They are quite cute. The funny thing is that all these colours our our house paint colours. So of course they match all of Karen's palate as well as we have similar interior decor tastes.

Clay horses

 Because some pottery friends were doing a raku firing,
 I decided to try the horses in a raku. The glaze was not one I was familiar with-- they were supposed to come out white crackled with black. The joys and frustration and unpredictability of raku.

So, I did not like them all smokey black, so I am re-firing them in the electric kiln with a white glaze on (second picture is of the raku'ed pieces with white glaze on, before glaze-firing in electric kiln). They may not make it-- they could explode as raku is very hard on clay and I was already seeing cracks. But… you gotta do what you gotta do!

I'll add the "finished" (broken or not?? **suspense**) picture later this week.

Raku fire experiment #1

Katia and Hilary and I did our first raku trial. I had done a raku firing years ago, but I was never in charge. We were all totally newbies and the firing was absolutely… smelly. Nothing worked out the way we wanted-- agh well!

The first picture is of some bisqued pieces with raku glaze on (horses and blue boy mine). Then there's a picture of us loading the kiln. Then of the face in the kiln-- which I thought was pretty cool-looking.

Sea Turtle Saga

Nine months ago Karen comissioned a Sea Turle (her totem animal.  I have been having such a time with this. project.

The first prototype I did was smaller, and I thought pretty cute with lots of stamp action on it. Karen found it too busy (I think), and too small. But at least it is proportional (see end!). Fenna has requested this one in her room.

 So I went bigger and had such difficulty with scaling up and getting things to fit in the kiln, not cracking, and finding a half decently interesting glaze etc… Here is one that I chucked as I hated the glaze. Like, really HATED it.

Anyway… 4 large turtles later, this (see below) is where I am at, which I am STILL not happy with. Her head is too small, as are her front flippers. (Jeni suggested I call it a red-eared slider and be done with it... but I think that Karen's totem self may not appreciate being demoted to a small pond-dwelling pet.

The glaze is OK here-- though I think Karen wanted more teal colouring. I have learned through all this to make these large turtles in pieces, and epoxy them together at the end after they have been fired. (This green turtle is in seven pieces.)

Back to the drawing board... These turtles will be the death of me... I had never even contemplated death by turtle, but now... it almost seems appealing.

A giraffe is born

 So my first "horse" has rather too-long a neck, so I glazed him like a giraffe, which works. We'll see what happens with the other three.

Handmaid's Tail-- nearly done...

I've been working on this piece ever since Billy Rae Manghams class at MISSA 3 years ago. She exploded in the kiln, and has undergone massive reconstructive surgery, though if I do say so myself, you can't tell. It has take me a long time to decide what to do with her. I knew I could not glaze her because of her fragile state, but I was unsure what colour to paint her skin. I foudn some cool silver jewelry that I thought would suit, but I knew I wanted to alter those as well. I wanted to play around with some irridescent or glittery paints/ surface treatments. I wanted her to have dragon skin in places. Anyway, she has come together over the past few months it seems. I am remaking a base for her, as the one she  is on is glazed and does not really "match". So she is still not going to be done for a while. But that's OK as I am not quite sure where I will put her once she is done anyway.

Memet Art Day #2- 11 September

This day brought to you by the Luther/ Kellys and the McConnells.

I spent this afternoon in the pleasure of my own company, listening to an Ian Rankin audiobook and finishing up 3 projects I have been working on for the last while. Both the clay girls were made over a year ago and I only just recently started to paint. The Rainbow Juggler is a replacement piece for one that Darah absconded with in lieu of a newly minted bday gift. The Mermaid Girl was an experiment with some new shimmery irridescent paints that I just picked up (as well as some sparkles). I am getting the  nerve up to finish my large Mermaid's Tail sculpture which needs a little pizazz.

I finished putting some final touches on my most recent mother and baby elephant piece as well. Certainly a vast improvement over how it looked out on SSI, where I started it.

Clay horses

 There are four of these fellas now: I just made another two yesterday (though this one is from back in May). Once they get fired I will paint them up and see how we can make them special.Alternatively, maybe I should experiment a little more with those slips from my most recent Debra Sloane MISSA class-- I woudl liek to make more of a Raku crackle somehow. If only I had a Raku kiln, or knew someone who did.

Memet Art Day #1- 3 September

This day brought to you by Murray!

Today I worked on the large brown/ tan Hundertwasser head piece that has been sitting unfinished for about 3 years now. Added a bunch of purple into it-- looks way better.

 I also worked a little on my "family". I had thought perhaps I would have these done in time for the opening of the new Metchosin Art Gallery (MAG)'s inaugeral exhibition "Visions of Metchosin", but our timing for being out on SSI meant that I was not around for the deadline for submissions. The pieces are not done anyway-- but I have moved them along from the black forms they have been for the past year or so.

Now I just have paint sheep on one, Mathesson Lake on another, and the ocean on the third. 

Fused glass pendants

 Fused glass pendants-- a new design!

SSI art D1

Heads up!

 Finally got these two heads up on they wall. They've been kicking aroudn unassembled for several months. Am very pleased with them. Kiki has a set of white heads over at her place in London. I quite like these ones with just a bit of colour to them.

My version of a cool sculpture

 The top one is the original artist's sculpture. I have asked my friends several times for the original artist's name, but they are not forthcomign with it. Anyway, suffice to say, I thought it was very cool, so when I was at MISSA with a bit of extra time, I tried making a version of my own (second down). Then I painted it (last pic). I thought it was a very cool way to make a form, and clearly I could refine my execution quite a lot.

Poppy's Urn

 I made this urn at MISSA this year, using a red clay and some very cool low fire clay glazes. I am super-pleased how it turned out. I also made about 10 small versions of these, but I have yet to paint these-- I am not glazing them. This piece coudl ahve used a light spray of Gerstley Borate to give it a bit more of a sheen. I may give it a coat of something.

January and February art 2012

Here's a taste of what I've been up to recently. The dog drawings are felt sharpie, and I am copying the style of Heather Galler, whose very cool work is featured in Etsy. The sea otter was Murray's valentine's day card. The turtle is the start of a commission for Karen Link. The clay face is just for fun. I am in the mood to make more faces, so keep tuned!

Encaustics course

Last weekend I took an encaustics course from a local homeschooler/ artist named Angela Menzies. Here are some pics recording some of this crash course.