East Austin Sudio Tour 2017

I'm excited to be participating in my first EAST Austin Studio Tour this year! I'll be at East Space with 7 other fabulous artists! Stop numbers are 33-40 and we'll be located at 2009 Airport Blvd 11 am - 6 pm Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 11-12 and 18-19.

Other artists include: Janna Sammon, Dawn Winter, Ella Nilsson, Larry Goode, Rachel Hinojosa, Sarah St. Laurent, and William Cauthern. Art includes paintings, mixed media, wood, jewelry, metal, ceramics, collage, and drawings. I hope you come and see us!

Vases With Personality!

I just finished some bud vases created with Valentine's Day in mind and I have to say, they are full of personality! What I love about these is that they are cute with store bought flowers, wild flowers, or just by themselves.
Great gifts for your sweetheart including your kiddos!!!

Here are some of the results:

Cats and Bears Oh My!

Okay, 1 bear and 6 cats with 2 swallowed fish, oh my! I finally got around to glazing my cat and bear bud vases. I am still experimenting with the glazing techniques. I tried slip inlay on the littlest cat who seems to be more suited for a toothpick holder! I brushed the black slip into the lines of the bisqued cat and then scraped it off with a metal rib. Wasn't able to keep the white pristine and so the whole thing has a tinge to it.

On the rest of the vases I just brushed black underglaze into the lines in varying shades. The bear is a bit too light I'm afraid, but I also played with polka dots on him. The underglazes are bright, cheery, and whimsical which I love. Wheel thrown vases are also what I stuck to this time because it is so fast to whip them out whereas the hand-built vessels took longer and were challenging to shape symmetrically.

I'm wondering if the bud vase part of it isn't pointless and perhaps I should make little figures instead? Hmm, very torn about vessel versus figurine. Any thoughts are welcomed!!!

Owl Bud Vases

I have been working on these new bud vases. Little owls with eyes that hint at their personalities.
This is the very first batch and I'm still not decided which shapes I like best...a few of them are hand-built and the rest are thrown on a wheel. Some are pushed out to form volume for wings or faces and others are left smooth.
This is also new territory for me on the wheel. My mother brought her old brent wheel to me and I'm trying to reintroduce myself to it. Reintroduction from a very short and informal class some 8 years ago mind you, so I'm kind of teaching myself blindly. I suppose I should watch some youtube videos to jog my memory on how to throw clay.
Glazing is another area where I'm pretty incompetent. I'm not sure what I'm doing but am trying to have fun. Hopefully if I keep experimenting I'll discover the look I am going for.
Happy Friday!

Magnetic Clouds

Cloud magnets in the works! Can't wait to get them glazed and on the fridge.