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ALCHEMY OF CLAY: Art and life connect! This fabric design is by Amanda Richardson - British fabric & textile artist in Penberth Valley, Land's End, Cornwall, England, UK

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Showing posts with label My studio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My studio. Show all posts

Thursday, June 25, 2015

a pile of fur or clay

Here Muffin (head to right with paw over nose) sleeps on the printer (under the towel)

Yes, she looks just like a big pile of multicolored fur.

So, I also have a problem...namely the amount of left-over or shed fur from this warm body...everywhere in the house!

She lies down, and when she gets up, there is a blob of fur remaining.  It is just hairs, but it looks dirty, and definitely untidy!
So I took the scissors to her the other day, as well as her daily brushing.

This pile of fur has been cut from the cat...no cat in this picture!
My studio space at home is very comfortable, and I keep it slightly tidy.  I do work at the BMCA studio also (Black Mountain Center for the Arts).

My own wedging board is plaster under an old pillowcase, and I leave my recycled clay to firm up on it.  However you can't tell by this picture that I left this clay sitting too long, and it's hard as a board.  Time to re-wet it in a bucket and begin the process of reclaiming it again.  This could be a couple of mugs or bowls eventually.

Since I don't do production, when I make 2 plates or bowls, and trim them, I only have a little bit of trimmings left around the wheel.

Last week I was painting some butterflies here at my work table.  Hint, I do keep my glaze bottles upside down, which keeps the pigments easily accessible for the little amounts I use, and maybe helps them not dry out at fast.  One week I tried having them upside right, and the black glaze came out dark brown...

I know, you wanted to see Muffin with her cut.  She's not too bothered by it...and just looks like a pile of fur with strange lengths.  But it has cut down on the frequency of fur balls she usually gives me. twice a week.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Memories of Cherry Blossoms

Back on April 25 (HERE) I posted the beginning of the buds as they became blossoms.

And as I was afraid, the quick plunge into summer meant a short blossom season.


By April 29, blossoms were losing petals and leaves were becoming abundant.

My studio never got to the totally pink light that it had last year.

And last week I had my energies focused outwardly to help my church, so I didn't get to work in my studio anyway.



What if imagination and art are not frosting at all, but the fountainhead of human experience?  Rollo May, The Courage to Create
 



Friday, July 13, 2012

My Studio(s)


A touch of color and detail...Raspberry glaze on the lip, then a snowflake crystal glaze dipped up almost to the top...makes an interesting mix doesn't it?



























Crazing througout the middle and bottom of this one.


Look at the crazy crazing on this one where the rim is dark chocolate (almost black)

Here's a peek at my studio, just for Where Bloggers Create Party, that's happening on the 14th here...  
  Never tried it, and I'm about the 260th or so person to join...maybe.  The way blogger has been treating me lately, I don't know.

 Welcome to my humble place of production...

At the bottom on the right  you can see a slab of wet clay being reconstituted on a slab of plaster (my wedging surface).  The shelves on the wall were meant for wet work, but instead have become a catch-all.

















There's a storage problem at my house.  Where can I store, or display, all the pottery art I've made?  For now this is one very crammed shelving unit (of three).  I've got pottery everywhere!  I will need to organize it (one of these days!)


























One of my favorite things is to put greenware on the windowsills when I have the windows open.  Of course now I'm grateful to have a window airconditioner in the room.




I do most of my glazing at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts clay studio, where everything is fired in their kilns.

I also volunteer for several of the open studio times, helping out as well as being an Independent Student  using the space and glazes.  The cost is comparable to other studios in our area.

And I get to take part in some special firings, like this pit firing a few months ago.



























So this is my "other studio" where I share some great equipment in the community space with other potters.



This gives me many more opportunities to try out different things, like glaze trials.




And for an artist who often prefers to work alone, the clay studio provides community.  Here the Clay Club of Western North Carolina met and shared some demos and a pot luck a few years ago.

The daily sharing of our creativity enables us to get to know each other pretty well at the BMCA clay studio.  I've made many of my closest friends here.  We're a great group.  It's relaxed and fun, and we chat about anything we're interested in, as well as sharing tidbits about pottery making.






Friday, March 30, 2012

Pictures again pottery & trees

New (to me) wheel and first 3 pots on sill


Pot #1


Pot #2

Pot #3


Spring trees near Folk Art Center on Blue Ridge Parkway



Wanting to wander along through the woods, I returned to my duties in Black Mountain.  Another day...I shall walk along these trees.