Dragon 4 in the works

 

 She's dry now, and waiting to be bisque fired. We shall see, since there may be some cracks. The slab was too dry as I worked with it, cutting or tearing pieces. I'll try to have construction happen right as the slab is rolled next time.

A process

 Clay comes in a big bag. Heavy. Plastic which keeps it from getting dried out and hard.

Cut some off and then wedge it down (to make sure no air bubbles are in it)

Roll it through a wonderful slab roller device, where the clay becomes thinner and thinner each time.

Then cut, tear and assemble any way you wish.

So besides dragons (more on Number 4 in a minute) I needed some new orchid flower pots.

In process...

This is as the clay is drying, at it's most fragile stage before being bisque fired to cone 06...about 1300 degrees F.

If I want to stain or glaze it, I then can do that before firing it to cone 6...(2330 F) quite a bit hotter, which vitrifies the clay such that it will be food safe, or in my case, hopefully mold safe.

I may add color in some places. Haven't decided yet!

I did make 2 other flower pots, smaller. They are now finished bisqueing.

The Ugly Duckling Baby Dragon

 

Matt Bronze Green glaze applied, and hopes that the bare clay will be sort of a tanish color against the glaze

Instead, it's an orangish color with very muted greens. I don't like that the body construction became more evident, so his little legs are almost invisible.

My conclusion is that the ugly duckling baby dragon just got uglier!

Today's quote:

Try not to expect perfection when starting out on a spiritual path or attaining inner peace.

Another vase

 This is the second vase which is at least 4 years old, since I quit the studio in December before COVID hit. No idea what was ahead but I felt I'd done as much as I wanted to at the time, in clay.

I gave away many of my pots to friends and relatives in the last 4-5 years. But my house is still full of them. Thus I will go back into retail sales again soon.

This simple squat pot looks great with a few or a lot of posies in it. It was glazed with the same techniques as the little bottle vase I posted earlier.

Today's quote:

No matter how dark the cloud, there is always a thin, silver lining, and that is what we must look for.

WANGARI MAATHAI

Gay Smith's pottery

 All potters admire other potters...all.

And we have a friendly way of sharing whatever has worked, or not worked with each other. I swear, as a beginner, I could ask some of the greatest potters in the area what their techniques were.

We all recognize pottery art is more than technique. So we admire each other's works.

I miss the blogger-potters who've hung up their clay spattered aprons and stopped selling on a spring-summer-fall tour through art festivals around the south-eastern US. And others too. Covid ate up an entire talented craftsman industry.

But some are still going strong, using galleries, teaching workshops, making partnerships. I'm so glad to be on mailing lists for some of the galleries, and of course I want to share some of the pottery that I love most!

Here's Gay Smith (Gertrude Graham Smith,) of Bakersville NC. 

She is showing in InTandem Gallery, in Burnsville NC.

https://www.intandemgallery.com/gertrude-graham-smith?category=Gertrude+Graham+Smith

I have a similar one of her mugs. But it's on a high shelf, and I can't reach that high to get a photo.

• LOCATED: Bakersville, NC
• MATERIALS: Porcelain cla
• SURFACE: Glazes & Slips
• PROCESS: Wheel thrown and altered. Gas fired to Cone 10 in soda kiln

I'm looking to make extraordinary pots for ordinary use, enjoyed everyday. My vessels celebrate liveliness, the soft responsive feel and motion of porcelain clay on the wheel. Forms and surfaces are altered while freshly thrown. Most of the work is raw glazed/single fired. Strong form/profile, tactile surfaces, and lively color are major concerns. In the kiln, flames filled with sodium leave luscious marks on anticipated edges.

Today's quote:

Our bodies are speaking to us all the time—and if we pay attention, we hear the gratitude they hold.

COLETTE LAFIA

New glaze, old pot

 I somehow had two vases that had been bisque fired in 2020 when I stopped going to the clay studio in Black Mountain.

They sat in boxes in my apartment as the pandemic passed, and I again returned to the studio this February. And now it's the middle of March, so I brought them in and glazed them last week. There are SO MANY studio glazes!

I chose a white liner, and then two dips into glossy green, first the bottom part, then after that dried, the top. It means pouring the white glaze into the vase, swishing it quickly around and pouring the excess out. Then that glaze has to dry a while (maybe an hour) before the clay can absorb the next glaze.

Before I start any glazing, I paint liquid wax all over the bottom and a 1/4 inch up the edge so no glaze will be on the bottom of the pot.

As you can see, there's a space between both the greens. But isn't bare clay. I dipped the top again into the white glaze, but it was very runny, and acted just like a clear glaze. Sometimes it gives mottled effects on the green, but not this time. If I make more vases, I'll try again!

Pardon my screen saver background...I have so much stuff around my house, there's no clear wall to photograph pottery against.

Today's quote:

When an individual is protesting society's refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of protest confers dignity on him. -Bayard Rustin, civil rights activist (1912-1987)

More dragon work

 A meeting of dragons was held at the philodendron place on the table. Lighting was better, but still tinted a bit green. However, dragons don't mind that at all.

Needed some better shots of Little Miss Dragon Number One. She has a nest full of dragon eggs.

And today she wants to introduce to you, her brother (or sister, we're not sure actually) Dragon Number Two.

Today's quote:

Since there is nothing but just this moment, the time-being is all the time there is.

DŌGEN

Gruff, short film

A whole lot of paper cutting, bending, posing...

I saw an interview on CBS Sunday Morning with Julian Curry, who did all the cutting and filming! Incredible artistry. 

His studio is in his garage...

He used the cutting techniques that are used by scrap-bookers...and then those by stop action animators. Just fantastic.

And he showed us how his set was made from Amazon boxes.

Here's the short film.

Number One Dragon 2024

 

Number One Dragon of 2024 - finished and waiting to fire.

The test was for my fingers mainly, as to being able to hold tools, and make small details with minor shakes. I may test strength later on the wheel. But for now I've only had a couple of times when a cramp started and I was able to stop and shake it out effectively.

Glazed Number One Dragon - Sorry iPhone enlarges his head when I try to get close!

Number One Dragon, glazed with matt black and matt bronze green.

Some pieces that go into making a dragon.

Today's quote:

At least one way of measuring the freedom of any society is the amount of comedy that is permitted, and clearly a healthy society permits more satirical comment than a repressive, so that if comedy is to function in some way as a safety release then it must obviously deal with these taboo areas. This is part of the responsibility we accord our licensed jesters, that nothing be excused the searching light of comedy. If anything can survive the probe of humour it is clearly of value, and conversely all groups who claim immunity from laughter are claiming special privileges which should not be granted. 

-Eric Idle, comedian, actor, and author (b. 29 Mar 1943)

-------------------

Well, there goes all the PC things that have been removed from humor in our society!

As a blond, I remember howling at blond jokes!

Monday Murals

 At the clay studio building, I've shared several other murals before. But this one is hard to see by a passing car, especially when looking for a parking place. Only someone walking by might get a glimpse of it. I took a break to get some fresh air, and stood right under it, looking at the retention pond where a lot of clay/glaze sludge washes out, as well as rainwater. There over my shoulder I was surprised to see this.

After I enjoyed looking up and down and examining each tile, I went inside and asked Charles who had made the tiles. He said lots of people, all ages. I could see many were made by children. I asked when it was made, and he said about a year ago.

I love how it's strung together by loops of wire, and each column hangs freely from the pipe above.

Sharing with Monday Murals! Thanks Sami for hosting this meme!
Today's quote:

One does not advance the swimming abilities of ducks by throwing the eggs in the water. 

-Multatuli (pen name of Eduard Douwes Dekker), novelist (1820-1887)

Susan Seddon Boulet

 I have long admired her work. I even think I still have a poster which I hung over my desk for many years...there's a fantastical aspect of the paintings...interweaving of myth and magic and humans.

Forest spirit, 1994

A dragon boat

Small household spirit, 1989

Today's quote:

 

Peace is an invitation in daily life to breathe deep, right here, in the uncertainty.

MORGAN HARPER NICHOLS

Truth vs Lies

 The world famous painting- “The Truth coming out of the well” Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1896.

According to a 19th century legend, the Truth and the Lie meet one day.

The Lie says to the Truth: “It’s a marvellous day today”! The Truth looks up to the skies and sighs, for the day was really beautiful.

They spend a lot of time together, ultimately arriving beside a well. The Lie tells the Truth: “The water is very nice, let’s take a bath together!” The Truth, once again suspicious, tests the water and discovers that it indeed is very nice.

They undress and start bathing. Suddenly, the Lie comes out of the water, puts on the clothes of the Truth and runs away.

The furious Truth comes out of the well and runs everywhere to find the Lie and to get her clothes back.

The World, seeing the Truth naked, turns its gaze away, with contempt and rage. The poor Truth returns to the well and disappears forever, hiding therein, its shame.

Since then, the Lie travels around the world, dressed as the Truth, satisfying the needs of society, because, the World, in any case, harbours no wish at all to meet the naked Truth.

As published on Facebook.

A quandry

 

Several times lately I've driven over to a fast food restaurant, and found this strange looking cup. The golden arches are upside down. And to the  right of the logo appears some Korean looking characters.

Hey, here I am in North Carolina. I haven't seen a Korean that I would know to recognize since I've lived here 16 years. Why would Micky D's have it on their cups? If it is of course, Korean. I am ignorant.

Today's quote:

Grateful living is the stance we take when confronting adversity. It is the deep knowledge that what is before us may not be desired, but we can take control of ourselves despite the chaos around us.

JOE PRIMO

Art for the next generations

 The Lost Words, by Robert Macfarlane and illustrated by Jackie Morris...here excerpted by Maria Popova in her Marginalian.

I've long been an admirer of Jackie Morris' art, since she once was a blogger herself. 

She not only does elegant watercolors, but is a mistress (master?) of gold leaf.

I followed the process of Macfarlane's and Morris' publishing this book, so that words removed from the English Dictionary about natural critters and plants would not be lost to the education of the next generation.

It moved so many educators in England and Wales, that movements came up with funding to put this book in each school library in England (not sure but primary grades at least).  It was certainly sold in most of the independent bookstores there.

This done, music was also devised to express the glory of these words, these creatures that would refuse to go unnoticed in the English language. 

Lost Words Blessing Song

Then there were the Selkies, the wonderful seals. Jackie painted them with wonderful inks on great pieces of beautiful paper. She even did this in front of audiences who listened to the music composed for them. It was a wonderful joining together for those who supported poetry, visual arts, book printing, and composition of new music.

I've followed this path of Ms. Morris', which screeched to a halt with COVID. So that's when I purchased some of the art and books myself. And last week just finally realized I was ready to read "East of the Sun, West of the Moon" by Morris with her illustrations. It's a Norwegian myth story, brought back to the 21st century, or perhaps forward. I had looked at the illustrations when it arrived, but it's sat on my bookshelf for several months. It's now my alternate book for bedtime reading (I still haven't finished Robin Wall Kimmer's Braiding Sweetgrass.)

When I gave each of my loved ones a card with Jackie Morris' art on them, as part of their Christmas gifts...some of them fell very short. But the gift was made.

So the generations may be influenced by the arts.