Showin' Off Some Finishes

Custom glazed "Brownie"
with OOAK earthenware base

Today, I wanted to show off some finishes.

All three pieces had many inspirational moments attached to them, especially the "Brownie". I feel like my handle and understanding of the china painting process has furthered incredibly in the past few months. Working hard in December on some tight porcelain deadlines really made me get in and "get it right" right there. There was no pussyfooting around or whimpering. I had people waiting for boxes to be painted for the holiday and I had to deal with color firing off and images not getting dark enough in a short period of time. Reds and pinks were being lost like crazy and I finally figured out how to combat that issue. I'm so glad too cause this little Brownie was able to receive the cutest little pink muzzle. December was like a crash course and it seemed to really influence my custom glazing of the equines. I feel super confident to paint every bisque waiting in the storage room collecting dust. I have never felt that way till now. Next, I'm gonna tackle my bisque Otto.

Everything here is 100% painted by hand. No airbrush. Just me, my brushes and the figurine. I'm very pleased.

"Brownie" showing off his front side

"Taboo" resin in bay roan appy
commission for a very patient client

By the way, the Taboo was a commission and will be going home to his owner (who was a complete gem while she waited for him to be finished). The Brownie and unicorn will be sales items probably going up to auction this weekend. I'm very excited to officially unveil all their photographs.

More information about sales pieces coming soon at Danza Ceramics News Group. Please join if not already a member.

Porcelain unicorn custom glazed

Tails, Brownies and Lace

Another view of the "Listen" sculpture

As suspected, the tail on "Listen" has produced problems. A few minutes before I finished cleaning up the very first rattie sculpt I nicked the tail and of course, the tip fell off. Because of this occurrence I have decided to rethink the design of her tail. Each rattie will get a rolled out "coil" tail. I will do all that by hand. It will save time and ALOT of frustration. Also, I'll be able to tuck the coil form closer to the body which will make production and shipping so much easier.

I have been keeping at least one piece from the runs that I produce and so this broken tail rattie will remain in my collection. I fired her up with the broken tail yesterday and will glue everything back in the end once she is all painted. I will add a bit of a cloth strip (like a band aid) to the broken area and I believe it will look very cute.

I pulled her out of the kiln late, late last night and I was pleased to find that everything fired beautiful. She is much smaller than I originally anticipated but that porcelain is magnificent! So gorgeous and so much detail. Now...time to order the wooden bases that will finish off each and every rattie.

Brownie slowly coming to finish

My gal "Pixie" also
getting china painted

The ratties and rodents have been overpowering the studio it's true, but in the process of all this production I have totally enjoyed the diversion both Brownie and Pixie have given me these past two weeks. Well, ok, Pixie has been here for a while now. I started her and then got really scared about putting her in the kiln to fire on the work I had done. Once I saw how Brownie fired I decided to pop Pixie in and I was so pleased to find that her color is even richer than Brownie's. Now, to remember how I did that on her. LOL

Ceramic creamer for sale

I also had some time to finally glaze a few pieces that were waiting on my bisque shelf. I have been having fun experimenting with lace and stamps. I have a ton of stuff for sale. If interested in seeing the entire selection please hop on over to my NEWS group and view the "photo" section. There is stuff there from $5 to $22. (Pssst...Mother's Day will be here before we know it!) Any questions or comments can be directed to me personally at: studiodanza@optonline.net

Have a great day everyone! It's gonna be near 50º here today! Wooo hooo!!!

Bisque Day

Some bisques I've started painting

So, last night I poured and put together the very first "Listen' sculpture. I was a nervous wreck the entire time. After about two hours I had one rattie together.

Phew!

I had no idea putting porcelain pieces together would be so time consuming. Of course, the last piece I created (Hedgie) was more simple in design than "Listen". Hopefully the firing process with "Listen" will be as stress free and seamless and Hedgie's was. Of course, only two ratties will fit in my kiln at one time. She wound up being much larger than any other sculpture I've made.

Brownie getting the
first layer of china paints

Because there is a size issue I thought about pouring a few in earthenware, which is a lower fire clay and will require less time firing, but decided late last night that I really think I want the entire "Listen" run to be in fine porcelain. I just love porcelain. I love the way it looks...feels and acts when I'm working with it. I also prefer to paint it once it is fired.

It will be a while before the ratties will be ready to be painted so until then I've started painting a few other bisques. Painting all those non horse items like the boxes and espresso sets really gave me some good practice. It feels great to be painting horses in china paints again. The paint is just flowing exactly how I want it to. Yeah!

Layering color down the back