Amoeba Of Protection

I had this idea.....
My brave, fearless, curious, fast granddaughters are coming for a visit...this is good.
The deep (as in holy *#** how-are-we-going-to-get-her-out) abyss between the yard and the driveway....not so good.
This worry (among many others) has been keeping me up at night ....but then I had this idea....
I could rake the leaves (there are PLENTY) into a circle dividing the safe, flat part of the yard and the steep, danger-Will-Robinson part of the yard..... and we could  have a ceremony when they arrive....
light some flashlights, sprinkle some oils and ask for protection...
....from things that dwell in the abyss crossing into the yard and for brave, fearless, curious, fast little girls crossing from the yard into the land of the abyss.
Yes, some fear is intended...
Alas, I have had no time to do this because of school....so before I went to bed last night I thought how great it would be if the rain turned into snow and I got the day off (how I thought I would rake leaves in the snow is beyond me).
It didn't snow......
But the old saw mill at the school caught on fire (rather sad) and school was canceled today.
So, I put on my beautiful-soft-as-butter-Italian-calfskin-driving-gloves-from-another-life....I didn't want to ruin my only other gloves (hand knit finger-less fair isle gloves, I do have my priorities....and I just don't do blisters) and started raking the circle.
Here's what I now know for sure:
There are way more leaves than you think.
Circles are hard....
Amoebas...not so hard.
Shoes with deep treads will easily and accurately locate all dog poo.
My yard is much larger than it appears.
The wind always blows the leaves back to where you just raked.

 just thought someone might be interested.

...And Sometimes Blue Comes Out Yellow

Well...these wine goblets (or globlets as my daughter once called them) were suppose to be a lovely, earthy brown with drippy, brownish blue around the rims....alas, the brown came out yellow...as did the blue.
Yellow is not a favorite color of mine.

Mugs

Four almost matching mugs!  The blue swirl was a surprise...I rather like it though.  It's way harder than I ever imagined to make things out of dirt that end up the same size, the same color and the same weight.  Hopefully I'll have the ah ha before my two years are up.....

Even More White Crackle

Two (very small) white crackle pots.
Here's what I learned....I don't like to throw raku clay. It hurts my hands.... it gets all rough and rocky.
I like it for hand building though and I'm about to find out how I feel about extruding it.
(This should be an interesting project so I'll try and post a lot along the way).

More White Crackle

This is the tallest cylinder I've been able to throw.
A whopping six inches.
I put Rapunzel on it since it is my tallest clay tower....so far.
I am sad to point out the fact that the glaze ran onto her braid (I hate when that happens)...still, it's the first "me" piece I've made since the toe incident and I'm rather pleased with all the lovely crackles.

Ginko Angel In The Window

My ginko angel is in the front window of Gallery 262 on Main Street in Waynesville, NC!
(several more of my raku angels are inside the gallery)

This is me...being very happy.

Raku Friday

I've always loved white crackle glaze against the beautiful black of raku pieces but my crackles never seem to crackle, the white is never really white and I never seem to get a really pretty black...behold the wonder of raku Friday!
This little pot turned out so perfect!  It has a green crackle glaze on the inside, and just look at all the crackles...and the beautiful black!...I'm so excited.
I have such plans.
 (Nothing like having an instructor who's happy to share secrets....and glaze recipes....and change the schedule to include a raku firing .....every Friday!)
I love it here, I really do......now, to throw something bigger......

Shooting Soy Sauce

These are some of my finished tiny (around three inches tall) soy pots! I tested them with water today, they all work, they all pour water..... halfway across the table (something about the tapering spouts).
They would be perfect for shooting soy sauce on your dinner companion's food (or the people sitting at the next table)....sort of a sharing, serving piece!
Anyway, I like them and I'll most likely make more...the spouts were fun and I'm sure, with enough practice,  I'll figure out the secret to a closer pour......or, I'll come up with a whole line of serving pieces..... for the lazy hostess!

Little Soy Pots

Today's project.....tiny, little soy pots and an odd vase!
I'm having so much fun!

Leaves and Death

As I was driving to school this morning.....amidst a torrential downpour and changing leaf colors and my Eckhart Tolle CD (about now and being in the moment)...I came apon an accident.
A bad accident.
A car had hydroplaned into the mountain (thank God not OFF the mountain) and then other cars had run into each other as they rounded the curve and then others had run into emergency vehicles as they rounded the curve....it was a mess....a BIG slow-me-down-I-won't-get-to-school-on-time mess.
So, I settled into my now (thank you Eckhart),  I tried to notice the way the sun comes through the clouds....the way a tree shimmers when the wind blows through it....the way the wind catches the leaves and makes them blow up instead of down.
I made it to school on time...just....but it got me thinking....
about death..... I thought about leaves falling to the ground so gracefully..... perhaps that's how being born feels....floating down from something so grand to something so very unknown (where you will most likely be blown into a large pile of like minded leaves).....and then the way the wind comes and  unexpectedly lifts the leaves into the air with wild abandon...
and that made me think....
I hope that's how dying feels

Blessings to the people in the accident this morning

My First Mugs!

These are my first mugs!
Five of them have handles that I pulled from the mug (an odd process)....the others have handles that I pulled separately (still odd , but at least you don't have to lick anything) and then attached.
I made several different shapes because I don't really like mugs and I wanted to try and find the perfect one.....
for me.....
I'm liking this.

Wild Turkeys and The Man From Minnesota

There are times when I wish I could be a passenger (with a camera) in my life.
Today , well the past several days...(years)...have been like that.  Today....no, let me start with last Friday.....
Last Friday I drove up to my house after school and the front door was OPEN!  My big dog Rufus wouldn't go near the house....I was worried....but I'm old and what the heck, I went in.....guess what?  Turkey feathers and turkey poop...everywhere!  Yes, city friends, wild turkeys had pecked their way into my house, had their way with it..... and left.  No toads though.
Today.
Today I came across a herd (when they're on the road they're a herd...in the air, a flock...thus sayeth the Jenny) of wild turkeys in the middle of the road right before I got to Miss Minnie's house ( a story for another day...did you know the opposite of many is dewy?).
Were they worried? NO!
Did they move? NO!
Was I late for school? YES!
Eventually they wandered off the road, stepping high and looking at me sideways.....I went around them, drove a bit further and what to my wondering eyes should appear???  
The man from Minnesota.
At first I thought I was dreaming because he was high stepping like the turkeys...he was wearing a red plaid cap with ear flaps and puffy ski pants.  He was in the middle of the road.  But wait, there's more.... he had on SNOWSHOES!  AND, he had a ski pole in either hand. I stopped, he looked at me sideways (just like the turkeys had earlier).  He was mid stride...I waited a moment while he stood there all frozen like and then I just scooted around him....it was surreal.....I was late for school.
I did, however, throw some beautiful mugs and pull some pretty amazing handles which really made me wonder if I was dreaming....I'll know tomorrow.

Bowls Are Easier

I am the image of the week at school!  I was having a bad centering day (notice the wonky cups in the background) and a woman came and snapped a bunch of pictures of me.... right up close and personal...it was very unnerving.
Centering seems to go better at times...although I have no idea why some days are better than others.
I made the tall cups in the picture below (they're white) and now my first bowls!  Bowls are easier than cylinders....

The Skeksis, Still off Center and Some Random Oddness

I know this is a poor quality picture...... it's hard to take a picture while doing the creepy-all-over-dance.
Behold the Skeksis (wild turkey)...a truly ugly creature.. and alarmingly large.  This one is probably 3 feet tall.  I saw it from the corner of my eye.... outside my bedroom window.  (I was having a lie down after another depressing day of not centering clay and yet another sleepless night wondering what I've gotten myself into.  Surely this will get better...I'll keep showing up and ruining 25 to 50 pounds of clay a day and eventually my muse will realize I'm serious and throw me a bone...I'm counting on this.)  Anyway, this turkey was on the deck looking in the window at me..............Rufus just slept.

Yesterday, while I was out at the chigger bench talking to my daughter, I saw something in the woods.  Normally I don't venture past the patio but this was odd....it was orange...it was large enough for me to notice....so I abruptly (as is my way) ended our conversation and ventured out past the safety of the concrete into The Woods!  Here is a photo of what I found....coral!
Who knew?

I also found a lime and a potato......

A Falling Squirrel and Sleeping With the Splat Swatter

I was driving down my road yesterday when a squirrel fell from the heavens and landed SMACK on my windshield, slid down the hood and went under the car.....I was, to say the least, surprised.  Before I really had time to react, he ran out from under the car and ran the rest of the way down the road right in front of me.  Odd...first the wild turkeys and now a squirrel...they don't seem to realize they could save us all heart problems and just scamper off into the woods.
Last night was one of those I-can't-turn-my-brain-off-and-sleep kind of nights.  So I turned on my light and read for a while. (Note to self....Dear Jenny, never be near the only light in the house at night...you will be attacked.)
A big (really big) green bug with bulgy eyes and long grasshopper-like legs landed on my head.  There was some screaming and a St Vitus type dance. I ended up at the foot of the bed....the creature landed on the head board and just sat there.  I must say there was a creepy sort of cuteness to it...I tried to catch it in the alarm clock bowl (it's a zen clock with a singing bowl) but I couldn't remember where I'd left my glasses so I missed......it hopped and flew and skittered around and landed on my pillow.  I ran down the stairs (something I promised myself I would never do because, well, I'm a bit accident prone) and got the bug swatter that I bought on a whim from K-Mart because it's in the shape of a big SPLAT, and ran (I know) back up the stairs and smacked it good.
I'm sure if I had run across this big green bug outside I would have thought it was cute ...perhaps taken it's picture and gone on with my day...but seriously....in my bed?
Now when I go to bed I'll keep the splat swatter next to me just in case.
FYI...my big dog Rufus watched the entire disaster from the comfort of his bed.

Off Center and Mystery Poop by The Door

I went to school yesterday to practice throwing taller cylinders. It did not go well.
I am now the proud creator of a 25 pound bag of soggy, twisted globs of clay....I couldn't center anything.  Possibly the distraction of the security guard who came in with his drug dog and told me sad stories about the loss of his sweet wife in a Germany kind of English...or the other potter who came in after an unfortunate shea butter run in ( I really can't stand the smell of shea butter...I know it's good for all kinds of things...but yuck, gag, blah )...or maybe the weather...maybe just an off center day....maybe I should be taking a computer course instead....maybe I'll always suck at the wheel.... I don't know....I cleaned up and drove home.
When I left for school I had gone out the kitchen door...when I came home I went in the front door and that's when I saw it. The PBTD ( poop by the door).
(Now...here's the thing....I took a picture of the poop by the door but then I thought perhaps no one really wants to look at a photo of poop....I'm not going to post it.....yet.)
The PBTD  is not a new happening.  It started when I first moved in...every morning there was a poop right up against the front door.  I mentioned the PBTD to my mom who took me to her house to look it up in her scat book.
Segue....who has a scat book laying around?  Why is it called scat?  Who drew all these pictures?  I can only imagine the smell of that artist's studio.....
According to the scat book it looked to me to be sidewinder rattlesnake poop.  My parents just stared at me.  Apparently not.  My mom thinks it's a frog...a really big frog.  Perhaps I don't really want to know.
I just want it to stay outside....

20 Cylinders...sort of....

My first assignment at school is to have 20 straight sided cylinders thrown (and trimmed) by this Friday....this is a photo of my progress.
I feel like I've regressed back to summer camp.... and then just a step up from a plastic lanyard.
I just keep throwing pots.
Surely, eventually something will click and this will become second nature...until then.... well, here mom....I made you a pot.

Gelato and a Frog in The Water Bowl

I've finished my first week of school. I've thrown 30 or so questionable cylinders. I've drawn some negative space.  I've looked at slides of some really old pottery. I've come home covered in mud every night....I love this!
I drove back to Atlanta this weekend for a visit with my dear one and a hair appointment.....because once you find the perfect stylist you just drive there (M4 Studio)..... no matter what.
Atlanta was hot...but pretty.  We had some delicious grits for breakfast this morning and then had the best gelato ever.....actually, it was the first gelato I've ever had.  Much yum!  It was made by a gelato aficionado named Paolo.
The drive home was exciting.  Someone decided to stop on the interstate.  This is never good.  Cars slid around, horns were blown,  the smell of burning rubber was in the air.  Amazingly no one crashed...however Rufus (my big dog) ended up in the front seat with me....along with everything else that had been so carefully packed.  After I figured out the reason my car wouldn't move was due to Rufus slamming us into neutral (thank goodness not reverse) I found a pull over spot and put things back as best as possible...the rest of the trip was uneventful....
But, when I got home there was a bit of an event.....there was a frog swimming in Rufus' water bowl!
How did it get in the house?
Oh dear lord what else might be in the house?
And....I had mopped the floor with creature deterring peppermint oil before I left on Saturday!  Just imagine what would have been in here had I simply used Mr Clean?
I drove down to my parents and got my dad to come and remove it.  When my dad got out of the car there was a really, really big spider on his shoulder (never tell someone not to move and expect them to remain calm while you muster the courage to brush off what ever the creature is that demands stillness).  Dad pretty much held still while I found a shred of courage ( I really hate spiders) and did a sort of crazy dance brush off thing.  We took a moment to regroup and then turned our attention to the frog. It was doing the breast stroke around the edge of the bowl.  When dad picked the bowl up the frog stopped and just looked at him.
I hope he enjoyed his late night flight across the yard.
I hope there's nothing else in here with me tonight.....

Eupatorium Maculatum

This is Joe Pye Weed.
I've always wondered who Joe Pye was and why he has a weed named after him. Now that he's blooming all around me I decided to look him up.
Joe Pye isn't a weed at all, he's a wildflower. A really big wildflower... sometimes 6 feet tall (like the one outside my window).
The book I was reading says Joe Pye is an imposing presence....but me, I prefer to think of him as a protecting presence.
Anyway, the botanical name is Eupatorium Maculatum ....there are several species but I think I have the spotted kind...FYI, maculatum means spotted ( my dad is a landscape architect so botanical names are important in my family....so important that my sisters and I all have botanical names, Jeneferus Fragrantissima, that's me Jenny, Amelea Umbellata, my sister Amy and Annis Margrypus, that's Annie, the baby)
Back to Joe Pye....he was an Indian in Massachusetts during pilgram times and, although some species are poisonous, he cured typhus fever with Eupatorium Maculatum...how about that?
Now we know.
We can all sleep better..... and, if need be, typhus free.

And So It Begins....

This is my 45 minute commute to school every morning (notice the traffic).
Today was registration/orientation. I was not the oldest person....but close.  Anyway, orientation was well done but somewhat stupid and very boring ( I know a lot of work went into trying to make it a memorable experience so I hate to be too critical....still, yuck). Registration was mostly lines.....I decided against the line for the parking decal and ID card....perhaps next week when things slow down.
The new craft buildings are suppose to be ready in a couple months...so I'll get to experience both the way too small, falling apart, NOT air conditioned buildings and the new solar powered, roomy, arts and crafts style, totally beautiful buildings....I kind of like this getting to be part of the change to something so very amazing!
My mom went with me...because your mom should always go with you to orientation....no, she's fond of the school because she graduated from the fiber arts course a few years ago and was interested to see the new buildings.....we went to lunch at the Mellow Onion or the Good Onion...perhaps the Noble Onion....anyway, it was delicious and worth a trip to Waynesville NC....just look for a restaurant with "onion" in the name.
I like it here.

Dog Socks and Wild Turkeys

After one too many falls down the stairs, I found some non-slip dog socks for my big dog Rufus.....he looks a little odd but he can move around the house now without his legs sliding out from under him!  This is good.

The Road

Last night I was driving up my very steep, bumpy, somewhat scary road and six or so (never try and count things while driving up my road) wild turkeys ran out of the woods and then ran in front of my car the rest of the way up to my house.  They were very funny looking ....sort of plucked and leggy and worried......then I got a little worried.  What if they were fierce?  What if they wouldn't let me out of the car.....what if they were like geese?

I had a goose once.  His name was Ubu. My parents gave him to me because I got trapped by a snake under the hammock (long story)...apparently snakes and geese don't get along.  To be honest, geese really don't get along with much of anything.  Ubu hated the lawnmower, big wheels, shoe laces, frogs, bracelets, earrings and most people.  The garbage men would grab a lid from the trash can and use it as a shield when they picked up the trash....a hissing goose with a 5 foot wing span running down the driveway to protect his trash can be a bit daunting....they would jump back on the garbage truck and throw the trash can lid, frisbee style, at Ubu...lucky for Ubu they were not ultimate frisbee players. 

Ubu ended up at a park with a lake.  He and the other geese that lived there were relocated at some point....  people couldn't get out of their cars.

...anyway, the wild turkeys ran into the woods when I parked so I have no idea if they were fierce or not.  I sort of think not....they were a bit too silly looking. 

Odd Summer

I injured my big toe in one of those freak accidents that no one would believe and then I re-injured it in an even more unbelievable accident.  It seems like I've spent most of the summer with my foot elevated or in the low country boil pot full of ice water. Now that I'm mobile again (although still shoeless), I'm in the middle of my second move.... in 4 months...this time to NC.  I'm moving up (on Tuesday) for two years.... to take a clay course at a school that feels like summer camp.....all this to say I've spent almost no time in the shed...no time with my hands in clay.....no time with flaming cans of treasure...it's been odd.  I don't do well when I go too long without creating something. So, I painted this picture.
I needed something big to go in the house in NC and canvas was on sale at Michael's and Phil bought me paint and Joan had mentioned a friend who paints really big zentangles....so this is what I painted.
We went ahead and hung it on the wall, even though it's not quite finished, because we have a Wallah staying for the weekend and we needed to get it out of the way (the painting not the Wallah).  It's hanging over the stove, covering a decent size hole in the almost renovated kitchen.....well, perhaps not "almost"....definitely closer though!
I had been thinking I would stop this blog when I went to school but I think I'll just add to it....it's familiar.

Saint Cecilia....The Rest Of The Story

St Cecilia with the 3 slashes

Finished St Cecilia

Remember Saint Cecilia?  She's the patron saint of musicians...the saint  they tried to behead...
three times.
When the beheading was unsuccessful she was sent home....where she lived for three days.  People came and collected her blood and received her prayers.

St Cecilia with the severed head

I made a small icon of her because musicians are many in my life.
I didn't know the beheading part of the story when I made her.
After reading more about her I thought it was odd that I had made her with three slashes filled with little beads across her neck (something I would never do on such a small piece because it's so hard to glaze around all the little beads)....
when I was ready to bisque her I thought it was really, really odd that  her head had just barely separated from her neck....
but, when I hosed her off after removing her from the reduction can and she SCREAMED at me...well, I just don't know what to think.

I suppose water got up in the little crack between her head and neck and the steam escaping was what made the spooky Eeeeeeeee!

but wait, there's more...I seldom (like never) get red colors when I raku...check out the color of her robe.

Saint Milburga

I've been thinking about birds a lot lately...I think it's because of the mocking bird that's been hanging around the shed.  Mocking birds are cool in small doses but this one is beginning to make my brain hurt...anyway, this is Saint Milburga.... the patron saint of birds. She had a mysterious power over birds ( they would do what she asked them to...like make her bed and stuff...no, wait, that was Cinderella )
...she also had the ability to levitate...I wish she was my neighbor.

Another Mother Earth

Today I made another Mother Earth...she has flowers in her hair and on her dress and two little birds perched around her and when she's finished she'll have some leafy, birdy, flowery charms and beads hanging from her....

How Odd Is This?

...so,  I've been without internet for a little longer than I'm comfortable with....but today I'm at Six Star Service...a subaru repair shop in Decatur, getting my headlight bulb replaced.... and they have internet!!!! 
I've been wanting to post this somewhat creepy oddness that I discovered a few days ago.  
I started loading the icon boxes I've been working on into the kiln and I noticed Saint Cecilia's head had separated from her neck.....now, if you go back and read the post from April 18th you'll realize why this is so amazingly odd.....and to add to the creepiness of this severed head business...the other icons......made at the same time, from the same clay and dried at the same rate
....well rats, they've finished my car.....I mean I'm glad they were speedy but now I'll have to finish this later in the week .....when comcast comes.....
3 days later....(If you have a Subaru go to Six Star Service subaru repair shop...they are super nice and they didn't charge me labor to replace my headlight bulb...and they have internet!)
Comcast came today and I am all interneted up! 
...back to poor Saint Cecilia. 
What I was in the middle of explaining was that all the other saint/goddess icon boxes I made that week kept their heads...in fact I've never had a head separate like this before.  
I think if this had happened to one of the others I would have tried to fix it but Saint Cecilia seems so determined to let people know what happened to her poor head that I'm going to leave her the way she is.  When she's fired it probably won't be very noticable but I'll point it out and make sure her new family knows her story!

Saint Cecilia

Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians...it seems because she heard heavenly music in her heart when she was forced to marry a pagan.....
who she converted.....
which led to his execution (one way to stay a virgin).
Like so many saints, there is gruesomeness in her story but also sweetness and beauty.
When I made her the neckline of her dress reminded me of notes on a staff....but after reading her story I realized  they could also represent drops of blood from the three times the executioner tried to behead her.....unsuccessfully.
I find it interesting how often an unknown (to me) part
of the story shows up in a piece I'm making.....

Yet Another New Direction

Sometimes I make things the same for a while and then I don't anymore...this is one of those don't times.
I'm really liking the new direction my icon boxes are taking.
This is a new Saint Theresa  (she's the one with the prayer hands) and Saint Zita (with the braided hair).
Saint Zita is the patron saint of lost keys.  When she's finished she'll have little keys hanging from her and Saint Theresa will have a prayer box ...like the one I posted a few days ago...only different.

St Theresa...Finished!

At last...
the weather was perfect...
there was spare time...
traffic was tolerable...
the first raku fire of the year!
I absolutely love raku...I love the smell and the bit of danger and the miracle of each piece and catching up with my friend Joyce....who is brave, and lights the raku kiln (check out my post on September 14, 2010 to see why I avoid this step).
 
This is the finished St Theresa!  (I posted a picture of her on March 19, 2012 ....she's the saint with the beautiful prayer).

My daughter did the bead work and added a small pewter prayer box.

I think she turned out divinely!

St Vincent

St Vincent, patron saint of wine merchants, vineyards, and connoisseur of good wine!

Mother Earth and Father Sky

I've been busy making small icon boxes since I got back from N.C.
When I finish these, Father sky will have little stars hanging inside and underneath and Mother Earth will have birds and leaves and flowers.

...Still Glazing

Week two of glazing.
These are the last few pieces...
I slabbed some clay out yesterday.... just to change things up a bit....hopefully it will be the perfect dryness today
...I've got this idea

The Shed

This is one of my favorite places (next to the orchid house at the Botanical Gardens)....the shed.
It has a funny blue door that was made by gluing two sidelights together. The door doesn't really close so I keep it from blowing open with a paintbrush...I also use a paintbrush to keep my hair out of my way and long ago I had an old VW bug that I could start with anything pointy...like a paintbrush.....I wonder if that's a sign of something.....

I Just Let Go

So....I changed things back on my blog...but not everything.
All the super fragile will-this-make-it -? pieces made it through the bisque. (insert happy dance)
My hair is still growing.
I didn't think about moving, or children, or dogs, or changes, or rats today.
I just let go...
....thank you Miera

I'm Just Not A Short Hair Person

Sometimes I like things to stay the same. Sometimes I get a bit bored and I need a change. Sometimes, if there's too many changes, I get antsy and this is never good.

While I was sitting in the shed today (waiting for the kiln to hit 750 so I could close it ) I started fretting about moving and changes and packing and where Peter's going to end up and how to find a place to rent with a 200 lb dog and how to pay for school and rats (because as long as you're in deep worry you might as well add rats to the list) and I knew I was getting antsy ....so, I decided to be safe and just change the look of my blog.
 
With my total lack of computer skills, I hit the button to make "Advanced Changes".  I poked a few buttons, messed with a dial thingy that let me invent my own colors, considered a flippy photo option and spent a stupid amount of time looking through random fonts. Then I made everything look more simple....I'll live with it for a bit and then probably change it back.

When I feel like me again.

I decided changing my blog was probably better than cutting my hair off. (which is a very bad decision I've made several times in the past when I get all antsy)  I usually do it myself, with the kitchen scissors (because I don't want to ruin the sewing scissors...I know, there is nothing normal about this...but this is deep antsy I'm talking about)......Then, I have to spend a year with a scarf on my head while people look at me all sad because they think I have cancer and I don't have the nerve to tell them I'm just not a short hair person.

Glaze Day

And so begins the tedious task of glazing.... I start with the little fiddly pieces and move up to the larger pieces (except when I don't)....it sort of builds my patience for going around braids and branches with my two bristle brush.
This is the first few coats of matte glaze. I'll go back and add some bits of really glossy glaze.... in just the right places....and then wait for the perfect day to raku.
The magic of each piece as I dig it out of the ashes makes all the tedious glazing worth it!

Saint Theresa

This is a small icon box of Saint Theresa.  

I made her for a friend to give her mom for mother's day....there's going to be a couple of beaded charms and a little prayer box hanging from her base........I love her prayer...especially the part about

"settling into your bones"..... so I copied it for you to love also.                                                              

May today there be peace within.

May you trust God that you are exactly where you

are meant to be.

May you not forget the infinite

possibilities that are born of faith.

May you use those gifts that you have received,

and pass on the love that has been given to you.

May you be content knowing you are a child of God.

Let this presence settle into your bones,

and allow your soul the freedom to sing,

dance, praise and love.

It is there for each and every one of us.

To The Girl Who Bought The Horse Picture

Two days a week I work at an art co-op. Last weekend I had the most amazing experience...right up there with working as a delivery room nurse....a young girl came into the collective and was captivated by a large black and white photo of a horse sort of in mid mane toss...she tried to talk the artist down...no go...and then tried to leave....but she kept coming back to look at the picture. On her third attempt to leave I told her how art is the thing...it's the only thing of lasting value...the thing we pass down to our children, nieces, nephews...it is why we go to work...to pay for the art of the clothing designer, the art of the architect of our home, the artist who designed that perfect rug.....she bought the print! Now, I imagine her trying it on different walls in her apartment...her first statement of this-is-me in a sea of, greatly appreciated, hand me downs....I see her moving over the years and always hanging it in just-the-right-spot...I see it over her first baby's crib.....I see 100.00 well spent!

Asintmah

A

Today I made the goddess Asintmah to go into the tree grotto I made a few weeks ago...
If all goes well with her, I think she would be really nice in a garden.
Now to try and  make something similar..... only much larger...perhaps with moving parts!

Tree Grotto

I've had this idea floating through my brain for awhile and yesterday I had the perfect weather, the perfect clay and a wide open day.  I was hoping I could also make the goddess I want to go inside but that will have to wait for the next perfect day.  My plan was to put the goddess Asintmah inside but, now that the grotto is finished, I might make a really woodsy Mary.....or, maybe I'll make another more rose covered grotto for Mary and stick with my original plan...or...perhaps I'll change my mind completely.
I do that.

Black Madonna

 My next door neighbor puts her hair up like this when she cleans her house and I've always thought she looked like a princess with a fabric crown.....so I borrowed her look for this Madonna.  I was having a bit of trouble with her hair...it kept looking more like Medusa's snakes than princess hair....... then I remembered my garlic press...perfect!
Of course I'll be mincing garlic with a knife from now on but I think it was worth the sacrifice.

New Tree Of Life Icon Box

I'm really liking the windows I decided to add to the sides of these boxes...this one is going to have a little bird hanging in the bottom window [it's sitting on the floor of the box in this picture]...I ought to get some cool colors on the sides now that flames can get through the windows...well, that's what I'm hoping.

In The Kiln

Almost ready to bisque! [the red bowl on the bottom shelf is an experiment with a new clay]  I've got a few more pieces to add but...it's filling up!

Small Tree of Life Icon Boxes

I love making these small icon boxes! They each seem to choose which season they want to be when I raku them.

 I've tried a new hanger design on the back of two of these...we'll see...sometimes my ideas are brilliant and sometimes not so much.

Yemaya Icon Box

I've finished the box for the swirly, spiral goddess.....who [ thank you, Debra She Who Seeks ] has become Yemaya, the West African ocean and new year goddess. It seems I've made some rendition of her each new year for the past several years...I just didn't know her name!
This is the first time I've added windows to the sides of an icon box. I like the way it lets light into the box and I'm thinking some beaded sea creature charms will look most fine hanging in them.
Now...... just waiting for the weather to cooperate for a fine raku day!

Spiral Goddess Picture

This is the picture of the swirly goddess I made yesterday.  Eventually she will be in a large icon box that might have cutout spots with beaded thingys hanging from them....I haven't quite decided yet.  She reminds me of ocean waves, so most likely she'll have sea things incorporated into her design...... somehow.

Spiral, Swirly Goddess

I don't have a picture of this new goddess idea because...well....I have no idea what she looks like....but I will tomorrow!  And so will you because there will be a picture!  Be patient....I think this is going to be good.

I spent new year's eve cleaning up the shed (studio).  It felt so good when I went in to work on 2012's ideas today...and I must confess it also felt good to shut the door tonight on a bit of a mess.  New ideas are seldom tidy...at least in the early stages.