I'll be at the Prominade in Bonita Springs Feb 23, 24, 25th.
For the love of painting and potting!
Sanibel Show..11/24 & 11/25 at 9am till 4/30pm. One of the first festivals since hurricane Ion hit the Island. While the Island has not recovered from the storm its nice to see that there are signs of revitalization,
Last year, do to the hurricane I didn't do many of the larger shows. I do hope to have many other show dates to share this year. Ready to go and I'm looking forward to the new season!
I will hope to attend more of the Promenade Shows this year as well as a few of the larger shows that Boulderbrook Art Shows puts on.
Will have dates soon!!
Crystals in glazing can be difficult, which is why I have avoided adding to my list of sale items. But now after taking glaze courses from CMW. I feel very confident about putting the glaze on pots. This crystal test came out of the kiln today and I'm quite pleased. The sharper snow flake crystals are my favorite style. I have some of the test tiles in a vinegar bath now to see how much sharper and stunning the crystals will look when etched.
I have quite a few wall hangings made of tropical fish. The one animal I really wanted to put on a wall was a dolphin. So here are the dolphins.. and I did get a bit off track cause I made quite a few trigger fish too!
There is a quarter in the photo that shows just how big these are... A real nice size for accents.
The paper I use doesn't have a covercoat for the waterslide. I actually add the covercoat to the printed paper by using a silkscreen. The covercoat is what makes the waterslide work.
The decals will be placed over the underglaze painting giving the painting added depth.
After missing two show seasons due to covid I'm gearing up to get back to shows and hope to have many 'clay paintings available.'
I have been on the hunt to develop dependable phase separated glazes. That being said, a tiny chemical change to a glaze can alter the glaze to make it unique from the parent glaze. So if you want to change from a copper blue to a cobalt blue the wonderful phase can disappear and you get a nice boring blue. Also any number of other faults can show up.
After six months of testing, looking for phase separation and finding lots of really nice glazes.. I have finally found the glazes I am going to add to my studio.
Pictured below are just a few of the tests I have been working on. The base glaze formula I have is really working well with producing phase.
Now... I've been going through a phase. Yup a phase separation!
The term Phase Separation has to do with the fact that the glaze, when properly made to specifically phase, is creating two separate glasses at the same time. Cool right? Yes, yes it is!
So how did I get so glaze nerdy? I took Matt Katz's Online Glaze Class and now I can make my glazes based on science and not poking about to finally get a good glaze for my ware. Check out his site and classes at Ceramic Materials Workshop
So.. On to my new Phases. :) Can't wait to put the glazes onto a pot!
These wall art Seahorses and Fish have been a real treat to create. Glazing has been an adventure of creating colors that are brighter and more colorful than what I am used to employing in my work. The clay is a paper clay which makes the artwork very light. BTW.. these look great on the wall, inside and outside!
See
what happens when you are bored and poke random holes in your pottery?
Staying with the theme of "Gee what if I.." put these colors and glaze
combos?
Will I do it again.. Ah.. I'm usually never that bored.
It will end up being for my orchid.. (which after 3 years is going to flower) or an luminary light.
The dragon flies and fish here are the last ones I have to glaze. Was pretty happy with how they turned out. So now that the pieces are out of my head and imagination, and in my hands I can see where to head with them in order to make them more appealing and create an easier design to build. These are made out of paper clay so they don't weigh hardly anything. I'm impressed so I'll order more of the clay.
After the first batch of glazing the fish.. The application has gotten easier with each one I have done. Which means I'm a lot happier with how the fish turned out for this firing. I've learned so much from this batch that I have more confidence in how I approach the whole process. Makes the overall process easier.
Asked online how to apply underglaze successfully.. Well.. The answer is practice.
Well I'm pleased with these cuties!
These were for wall hanging outside, but hubby comes along and insisted that the fish needed to be on a wall inside. Who am I to argue!
This is my first attempt at painting with under-glazes. While not a fan of how it turned out I realize there is a learning curve. So.. On to the next experiment!
So happy with the clear glaze I created.. Gotta love Chemistry! A perfect fit for the porcelain I'm using and super transparent with a lovely gloss.
As posted before I have been testing colors for this years pottery. I'm quite pleased with the reds and yellows. The peacock to purple transitions.. well not so much.
Though now that I have a road map for colors I'm pretty excited to start the dreaded glazing part of the process. Would love to sit back and just make pots all day, glazing well again.. not so much.
Since I'm not doing shows right now I've been using the spare time to play with glazes and decoration. Changing clay bodies means, especially with porcelains, having to alter the glazes to fit the new clay body. Now that I don't have crazing.. I have been working on colors.
Just pulled these test tiles out of the kiln and did the happy dance. I'm sure that a few of the colors will end up on pots this year.
Suddenly with no shows and none in the near future.. I can roam outside the little box and play with clay in ways I have wanted to but didn't have time. So now is a good time for a little adventure, right? So, silk screening anyone?
I gave it a quick go. I used a hoop and some fabric along with one of my stencils I use for underglaze.
Whoo hoo! I think this is gonna be fun! I ordered a real screen. Even a couple of gel printing plates.