Latest Creations

As I mentionned yesterday I have done a few things creative, such as use up the last of a block of porcelain clay (I use Tucker's MCS Cone 6) and threw 2 bowls and a small vase. They came out of the kiln this afternoon and I was glad to see the glazes turned out OK, especially the ultra clear (cone 6) on the white bowl. I've had a few issues lately with areas turning white. The other bowl was Pam's Blue (coyote glaze) and the vase was a combination of Blue Rutile and True Celadon around the upper lip ( I think Laguna).  Although I have tons of chemicals to make my own glazes I am using the commercial glazes now because I simply don't have the time to weigh and measure and then cross my fingers for my own concoctions. My favourite glaze is called lavender filagree from Laguna ( crystalline cone 6) and when fired correctly produces amazing small gold crystals. The only drawback is that it's not food safe, so it is purely decorative. One final note. For the sides of the Pam's Blue bowl I used shaped cardboard that something had come packed in and pressed it into the sides. Enjoy!

Re-vamping my webpage

So I looked at my webpage today and all I could think was BORING! I built the whole thing from scratch using html code four years ago. What I couldn't figure out my students helped me do. While it's not bad it certainly lacks pizazz. I did manage to put a really cool animated icon on the opening page today, and I re-wrote my artist statement, although it is pretty sparse at the moment due to the fact the creative juices have hit a bit of a standstill. It's not that I'm not doing anything creative, it's just that the creativity is someone else's. For instance, I'm knitting a cute sweater for summer right now, but someone else designed the pattern. I'm grading a pattern to sew myself a dress, but I did not design the dress. But wait! I did sculpt that porcelain angel, and I do have a vase and a couple of bowls firing in the kiln as I write this. Maybe it's not so bad after all.

I seem to have gone off on a tangent. Back to the webpage. I am going to try to update a little bit every day so it is a bit less boring, although I still plan for it to be minimal.

Last item of the day is that there is a brand new spot for those of us who love fiber to visit and sign up for. It's called Feltbook and can be found at feltbook.ning.com. Not to be confused with facebook, although it promises to become just as addictive. I checked it out today and you can find lots of things to sign up for, and of course you can register your blog.

Happy Felting!

First Time for Everything

The last few months have seen me focusing largely on fibre with painting coming in a close second. Over the last two days however I have pulled out my porcelain clay and made a sculpture of an angel. I am not a sculptor and don't claim to be, although I do have a lot of experience with clay. Mostly I stuck to the pottery wheel. I only meant to make myself a little sculpture for fun, but along the way it evolved into something else. It has fallen apart several times already, which makes me more than a little nervous about what could happen to it when it is in the kiln. Clay is always somewhat of a crap shoot, because at any stage your work can be ruined. Maybe it breaks up in the kiln, maybe something goes wrong with the glaze. It isn't over until it's over. I have taken a few pictures of the angel at the leather hard stage which I will post hear. Not to toot my own horn, but I think I did a pretty good job. My final plan for the angel is to cover it either in a clear glaze or perhaps in a lavender crystalline glaze that I have. If it makes it to the end I may also make a latex mold of it and cast a few for around my gardens. I know angels are overdone, but I just couldn't resist.