Dragon again!

 Let's start with the tail...

And then come around the side of this little dragon.

 Her head is very difficult to photograph for some reason. 

She's waiting for a new home, where her sweet horsey face will be adored!

Brigid, bright and firey one

Candlemas, Imbolc, Brigid's day, Feb 1.  The sheep are beginning to give birth to lambs (according to some accounts) and Brigid helped them.

She was also a smithy, making things of metal, like jewelry, lamps to light the way, and the needed and ornamental metalwork of the country life.

She was a healer, a midwife.

She was a poet.

She taught the Irish to keen when they lost love ones.

She taught them how to whistle, like birds when in ambush in the woods, so the unseen friends could notify each other of coming danger.

She reminds us that women were the ones who invented fire making, and passed the knowledge to their descendants.

This figure's size is just 7 inches tall.

Teresa's turtle

My good friend is having a 60th birthday party today.

We're going to have some fun celebrating it with her.

Another friend is going to give a turtle watch of some kind to Teresa.

So I'm providing the turtle to keep her connected.  Teresa loves the beaches of North and South Carolina.

Another cat with wings...

 I've found some nice gold to accent the figure...started with it on this little guy.

It's just acrylic paint.
But it reminds me of gold leaf...maybe close enough.

staining a clay cat that isn't an angel

I liked all the little cat angels I made before Christmas.  But nobody bought them, so they are now my own decoration for next Christmas!  I figure just seeing wings on a cat was too surprising for most folks.  Some did laugh however.

So I'm starting again and leaving off the wings!

 Simple little animal, with whiskers.  I've often focused on the nose on a cat, but this one has whiskers!

And unfortunately the one of her eyes is a bit out of focus.

The stain has been wiped off and then more glaze was applied to the eyes.

staining the dragon

 She's out of the bisque kiln, and I applied a stain of thinned Mayco Tuxedo black glaze.

 Sometime next week she'll go into a glaze kiln. I'm liking this finish which brings out the structural aspect as well as reminding me how close to stone a finished clay object becomes.

What she wore in Galveston 1912

Young woman in Galveston in 1912.

The photo was posted on Facebook, saying they were interested to see what people wore when they went to the beach then.  But Galveston was a thriving port city at that time.  Not that people wouldn't go to the beach, but it wasn't as much a tourist place then.

My grandmother was a young woman in Galveston in 1912.  Well, she had recently married my grandfather, and then a few years after that, she would give birth to my father.  Here's a photo of her in 1906 with her first son, Elmore. She is wearing her wedding dress!

Keeping it simple

These little candle holders (glass) were so plain, I made some leafy holders for the holders.  Why not? I don't do candles at my house (rule to protect us eight residents living in the building from open flames.) So I'll put these up for sale sometime if they come out ok.

Dragon building

None of the views show enough of her...she's a bit horsey I think, but I think that's ok for a dragon.

Bark and fungus

 My eye was drawn to this interesting fungus, as well as the bark of the tree.

It stood on the bank of The Little River.  The river is pretty small, but was running swiftly.

Today's quote:
In the mountains of truth you will never climb in vain: either you will get up higher today or you will exercise your strength so as to be able to get up higher tomorrow. -Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, philosopher (1844-1900) 

The master

Warren MacKensie

NCECA honors with many quotes...RIP to the master.

Where is my muse?

The trouble with feeling depressed, is that you're just not inspired either.

I have tried going looking for my muse.  I know getting in nature helps, and for me, being near moving water.  So glad there were a few days of sunshine, and I took myself to not only my favorite mountain creek, but a river nearby with some nice waterfalls.

Hooker Falls

See here for more photos of it.

Thanks for stopping by.

A New Year

It's 2019.
I haven't posted anything since last year, har har har.  But I also don't have a clear concept of what to post, so have left this place vacant for 5 days.

I like blogging.  I like the connections I've made with professional potters, and those artists who aren't considered professionals...but we all have a love of clay (or whatever medium we use) and the creative spirit is alive in each.

Susan Seddon-Boulet

The creative spirit.  I think I'm looking for her today.

It's raining.

I'd imagined (upon night-time waking) a stroll along Flat Creek and sitting on my favorite big stone and eating a snack (a Clementine, a cup of hot tea) I even imagined packing the food and drink.  But when I finally opened my eyes, everything was wet.  I imagined (briefly) sitting on the wet rock, in my raincoat, but my sit-upon was soaking up cool water.  Not for me.