Hiking for Inspiration

I spend most of my time in the studio, but recently I have taken up hiking with my dad.  He loves Civil War history and so we go out hunting for old building and fort sites.  It's great to get outside, and extra fun to "treasure hunt" around for ruins.  I also have the opportunity to observe nature!

Beautiful, large quartz stones (Dad for size)

I love the ring of moss around this tree.  The contrast of textures and colors, it inspires me to create work with more variety of the two.

The low cut in the earth is the "moat" of an old Civil War fort.  The rise to the right (beside the shed) is an odd backward 7 shape and where the fort used to sit.

These bright greens popped out of no where, everywhere else on the stream was still brown!

This lovely stone has made me want to find a new matte glaze with a blue hue.  Its important to think of what colors help others pop (something I forget sometimes)

Part of an old mill dam, built up to stop up the creek and feed the mill.

These tree roots weave over each other in such a delicious way.  And just think! the creek used to travel down this path but now its path has changed and this tree is left floating.

What could be under this huge rock? (next to the site of an old house, which took us two tries to find)

It's a well!  An old, hand dug well. Stone lined.  I was only able to take the photos by sticking my phone down the hole.  The craftsmanship is astounding.  40ft deep perhaps.It makes me think of the inside of a coil pot.  Smoothing out the coils can be a bad thing, when you end up hiding such great textures.

Hope to go on more hikes in the future and find more cool places!

Trinkets

I have been working on finding glazes which compliment my slip trailing and also work well with one another.  I have four that I am very fond of at the moment.  I like that they are bold and cause the porcelain slip to stand out, but I feel I need something more.  Another direction which I am heading is to find some pastel, matte glazes to contrast the bright translucent colors.  Getting closer but nothing I'm in love with yet.

These are some images of my work featuring the for glazes.

Amber

Blue

Pink and Green

and more pink!

Manassas Shop Window

I have my work on display at Manassas Clay normally, but this month I have the whole front window as well!  It features both my functional and sculptural work.  This is really the first time I have seen them displayed together and am pleased with how nice they look together!

The view from outside

And from inside

Journey to Denmark

     As I am very bad at updating this, and have been quite busy I thought it would be best to make one post about my six weeks in Denmark. I took part in Project Network at Guldagergaard. I, along with 10 other artists, had six weeks to create bodies of work for a group show.

The view from my studio space.  I really enjoyed seeing people and dogs walk by.

This was my messy work table.  It seems no matter how clean a space starts out, I can clutter it up.

I used plaster press molds to create my smaller pieces.  The molds were made in Denmark and I even got to bring a few of them home!

For my seed forms, I use a lot of different glazes and washes to obtain an organic feel.  But all those different things needed to be measured, mixed, sieved and tested.

They look like a little army of alien forms when they are loaded into the kiln.  Each small seed form is individually painted with washes and glazes and then set on small tripods in order to stop them from sticking to the kiln shelves.  They look all nice and calm now but bump one over and you have the worlds most annoying game of dominoes.

Because there were so many of us in the show and a limited amount of space, we could not show all the work we created over the six weeks.  This is the majority of my work along with the wooden boxes I made to display them all.

     These pieces, my seed pods, are inspired by forms found in nature ranging from actual seeds, deep sea plant life, insects and my own imagination.  I am also greatly inspired by Cabinets of Wonder and their collections of nature and art.

     After participating in this wonderful program, I am very excited to continue exploring seed forms, as well as researching new glazes and finishes for both my functional and sculptural work.

     Cheers!

Fun with Jars

     I wanted to practice making lidded vessels, and here is what came out of it!  Also, I love these two glazes and how they play with the slip.

Short and Wide

Weight towards the bottom

Little more girth at the top

          I am very happy with how they finished.  No lids stuck or anything!

Time

     I seem to be very good at avoiding blogging.  It is helpful for me to look at my pieces and try to decide what could make them better.  Just keep trying!

Small lidded box before and after.  I wanted to test using different glazes between the slip trailing, though I am not in love with the outcome. 

Another box, I have been enjoying exploring them.  I like the color combination here but I wish it had a handle.

New kind of box!  Here I was testing out a different and it came out very... Aztec feeling.

A nice form for a medium bowl.  It allows for slip trailing on the inside.

     Christmas ornaments!  I just finished these 6.  The smallest ones are just under 2 inches, while the larger ones are around 5 inches.  They each have a trimmed foot and instead of drilling a hole in them to hang from, I am looking for a complimentary wire or string to wrap around the neck.  Can't wait to see how they come out!

Kiln Presents

     The other day I got some wonderful gifts from the glaze kiln!  I was using these bottles as tests for two glazes.  One is celadon and the other is an opal.

     I also finally glazed one of my boxes, and the lid didn't even stick!

     And then my first attempt at a goblet/chalice or whatever!  I just recently found this glaze combination and I quite enjoy it.