Saturday, December 13, 2014

Celebrating Mexican Craft

Crazy about these monkey masks...

Betsy McNair celebrates the Feast of the Virgin of Guadalupe by having a home sale. Her house has some pretty fabulous sculpture, jewelry, and textiles. While I was there, a customer bought a fantastic back strap loom, complete with a detailed textile attached. I was able to pick up some presents for friends and family.

Look at that tiny green Michoacan pineapple...

Shirts and blouses...

Fabulous hats...

Painted bowls...

Small masks...

The kitchen...

Out the back window...

I bought some holiday presents...

Monday, December 8, 2014

Well Toasted

Some of my favorites...

My kiln is broken! Part of the way through firing these student cups, the relay switch stopped clicking. In order to reach cone 3, I had to leave the pots in about six more hours, while they fired again. This caused some interesting things to happen. First, it caused the underglaze to become extremely matte. It also brought out the luster of these matte red and green low fire glazes. There is almost a metallic finish to them. Also, the lengthy firing really toasted the Navajo Wheel clay. These finishes work well with the joyful and spontaneous glazing. It reminds me of the work of one of my favorite clay icons, Jean-Nicolas Gerard. His work is so loose and free. Tomorrow, we are going to plant succulents in these pots. Each student will take home one, and then sell one at the school's Holiday Craft Fair. Can't wait to see what they look like with the plants in them!


Might have to buy this one...
Love the spots and stripes...
Jean-Nicolas Gerard...
Jean-Nicolas Gerard...

Sunday, December 7, 2014

Spotted Glass

The site of a holiday sale, a restored church...

Loved the house numbers...

And loved the gate...

My slumped glass plates by Ron Baldwin...

Most are Christmas presents...

But, this one is mine...

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Not a Typical Friday

Red and green glaze, after white underglaze...

Today, in class, we glazed our small pots. They were very problematic to make, because the damp, cold weather promoted slow drying and cracking. I was able to repair many of the cracks using homemade paper clay, made with pulverized clay and papier mache. It took hours to fix them! We were going to use crayons to make polka dots and stripes on the pots.  But, some test tiles using various colors, caused a change of plan. We brushed on white underglaze to lighten up the red and green.

We also had a fruit and ice cream reward. The kids really came through on the fruit. It was delicious. We had pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, cantaloupe, and plenty of bananas. This was perfect after the tedium of glazing!

After cleaning up and packing up all of the pots, I headed off to visit my parents, and to meet my sister. My mom is out of the hospital and is no longer needing her oxygen tank. Afterwards, my sister's husband treated us to dinner in Palo Alto. It was a busy day…

Glazing trays, otherwise known as plastic plates...
Each student made two cups, one to keep, and one to sell...
Disappointing test tiles using crayon wax resist...
Bread, beautiful bread...
I had a margherita pizza...
Tasty lime dessert...
Unwrapping and sponging off the rims and bases of the pots...




Friday, November 28, 2014

Taking the Long Way Home...

Breakfast of champions...
Dog is my (carsick) co-pilot...
Christmas shopping at Yonder in Pacifica...
The beach at Pescadero...
Sunny attic in a Pescadero antique shop...
Looking away from the Pigeon Point lighthouse...
Finally, we're home...

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Holiday Projects

Putting some leaves next to the heater, to secure the wires...
And, then making even more...
Couldn't finish last night, in the dark shed...
More leaves and flowers did the trick...
Carrying them inside the house to dry where it's warmer...
Backlit in the kitchen...

Monday, November 24, 2014

River of Words

Elijah started adding color with pastel and watercolor pencil...
Tristan finishes up his watershed map...
Hannah's robin is very hungry...
Ashlee uses watercolor pencil to add color to her map...
The trees set the stage on Ximena's illustration...
Makaylah also had sea stars...
Champ shades a mountain lion with pastel...
Frida's red fox receives some color...
Thank you Linda Cover, for the wonderful art lessons...