Tomatoes: Before, During & After

Finished Tomato Pail

Tomato Factory

Terra Cotta Tomatoes

Finished Underglazed Tomatoes

Final Glaze Coat on Terra Cotta Tomatoes

Finished Pail of Toms

Beginning Stages

Heirlooms and Oranges

Floral Wall Boxes

 Step One: Add a brown underglaze wash to bisque fired wall boxes.

 Step Two: Sponge off the excess brown wash.

 Step Three: Find some old school carbon paper.

 Step Four: Transfer drawing onto the wall box.

 Step Five: Add underglaze color to image.

 Step Six: Outline with underglaze pencil.

Step Eight: Finish the last tile, and load it into the kiln.

Step Nine: Coffee washed, splattered, and ready for the final firing!

The Great Outdoors

Leafy Handled Fern Emblem Vase

Summer has begun in my backyard, and in my studio. It is the time of year when flowers flourish, and the flowers attract pollinators to the yard. My neighbors are not fond of birds, and have installed silver flashing strips in all of their treetops. Even better, the birds seek refuge in my yard. There are the usual nests, which get recycled each year, and there are new nests that can be heard, but not seen. I am hoping to collect some flowers and make sprig molds to use on some of my pieces. And, maybe some bird nest sculptures are in order as well. It's exciting to see what new inspiration the season brings.  

Fantastic Floral Books

Wall Blocks Awaiting Floral Designs

Gorgeous Thistle

Leafy Emblem Close-Up

Teal Vine Vase

Birdie Sprig Mold

The Garage & The Clay Shed

My garage is tiny. It houses my car, my gardening tools, the lawnmower, my impressive gallon paint can museum, and my kiln. Today, I took a moment to shore up my sagging production shelving. I added some plywood to give a flat storage surface for pieces waiting for the kiln, and for pieces arriving from the kiln. A complete load is cooling right now, and so the shelves will soon have their first test.

The clay shed is next on the cleaning list. It is literally bursting at the seams. I just found out that I've been accepted into Open Studios. So, it's time for a major overhaul!  Heaven help us.

  

Mrs. Callahan

 

This is a really difficult time of the year for teachers. It's insanely busy, and overwhelming. Everyone is very emotional. I'm teaching a combo 3rd / 4th grade class this year, and am slowly approaching critical mass! I thought that I'd take some time out to post an essay about my second grade teacher:

The most important member of the holy trinity of art supplies...

Second grade was a wonderful experience for me, mainly because of Mrs. Callahan. She always wore a headband, and she had thick, black glasses. Her voice sounded like she smoked about a dozen packs of cigarettes a day. Mrs. Callahan would work at the school on Saturdays. Sometimes I rode my bike to school and helped her. She showed me how to work with clay, and we made papier-mâché puppets. Mrs. Callahan also gave me a color wheel, and let me mix all of the paint for our classroom projects.

In our class, I felt like I contributed. I made people laugh. Sometimes, I rolled my pants up as high as they would go, then I would stretch my shirt over them. Even when I acted silly, I felt accepted. Other kids thought that I was weird, but they liked the games that I invented. The inside of my desk was full of ideas, toys, and creations. It seemed like Mrs. Callahan didn't just know me, she understood me on a deeper level. She knew what I needed in order to be a happy, successful student, and person.

Often used in conjunction with yarn...

Second grade was a year that helped to form my interests in life. Every project that we worked on was literature based, and was artistic or creative. I made cave paintings with a partner. We worked on a mural featuring the inside of the cabin from Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Mrs. Callahan entered my picture of a Zulu woman in an art contest. I was sad to not get my picture back when everyone else did. But, she surprised me when I got it back a month later and it had a fancy blue ribbon on it. I am convinced that I am an artist because of the many hands-on experiences that I had in second grade. As a grown up, I ran across a quote that made me think fondly of Mrs. Callahan, "A life without making things that tell you who you are, and what you feel… is not enough."

Tasty, and useful too...

 

Doing the Wash

First, these pieces have had color applied, and have been fired…

Next, they are covered with a coat of brown underglaze wash…

Then, the wash is sponged back…

A black underglaze wash is applied…

This wash is sponged off, leaving black in the textural valleys…

Finally, matte glazes are applied on the interior spaces…

And now, for the final trip to the kiln...

Loved One: Antoni Gaudi

"There is a shroud of mystery surrounding Gaudi. In all probability, the first mist preventing us from gaining access to his work is the intrinsic mysteriousness of all genius and, at the end of the day, of all human spirit. The situation is complicated by the well-known fact that Gaudi wished to create an aura of silence around his persona."   Juan-Eduardo Cirlot

It doesn't get much better than Gaudi. What kind of a person decides to build an enormous cathedral in the 20th Century? A deeply spiritual man, with a mastery of all applied arts, and a devotion to nature.

Gaudi was incredibly spiritual. His work is replete with religious symbols. Even his non-religious projects. His work depicts an intensity, and a reverence for nature. It is easy to see his love of this world, by his dedication in reproducing it, after his own manner. It is the work of someone who intimately understands the divinity of the creative process.

Gaudi understood the applied arts. He seemed to know how far a craftsman could go, and then he asked the craftsman to push a bit further. Ceramic, tile work, woodworking, masonry, ironwork, and glassblowing, were known quantities to him. The ironwork on his buildings is absolutely breathtaking. It can appear to be ribbon, kelp, palmetto, dragon spines, all with the appropriate texture and finish. The woodwork in Casa Batllo shows impossible curves, openings, and budding doors. All pieces are hand joined and fitted. It is as though all the craftsmen in Catalonia were called upon to prove their skill.

Gaudi was entranced by nature. His study of natural forms showed his interest in math, and in all of the scientific disciplines. The nave of Sagrada Familia is a mathematical enchanted forest. It is said that Gaudi planned the stained glass windows in the nave, to shade and shimmer like sunlight in a forest. Although it is based on nature, Sagrada Familia is unlike any other place on earth. The parabolic arches that Gaudi loved to use, make the vented laundry loft in Casa Batllo, into a living, breathing biological body.

Antoni Gaudi lived alone. He spent most of his life, devoted to his profession. He died after being hit by a tram, while on his daily walk. It is said that the streets of Barcelona were full of mourners as his coffin made it's way to be buried in the crypt at Sagrada Familia. The cathedral above him, is still a work in progress.