More Odd Finds....The Wetbox.

He's really furry now.

As I continue to pack up the basement studio I continue to find odd things. Things like the wetbox I forgot about. A wetbox is a covered box filled with a bit of dried plaster which is kept moist and is used as a holding station for ceramic pieces waiting to be cleaned or waiting for parts, like tails, to be added to them at a slightly later date. The box keeps everything moist. Turns out I let all these pieces wait a little too long. Two years two long I think. This is apparently what happens to porcelain when it's left in a wetbox and forgotten over a couple of years. They get strangely furry. Ahh well....

Would have been a cute dumbo rat sculpt.

Wetbox complete with dried up pieces

In any case, I had to toss everything in the trash. I tossed, but didn't look.

On a happier note, I have finished the "Oliver" resin and wanted to share him with you. This is the third Oliver I've painted and I can't seem to get enough of this little one. He's quite a lot of fun to paint. My new favorite resin to play with.

Sales item coming soon.
Sale announced on both Yahoo and
my official Facebook page.

Ups and Downs

New ornament design
in the green ware stage

A day of ups and downs.

That's the description of today in a nutshell. Had some ups and had some downs. The best "up" was most definitely cleaning my new Christmas ornament because I have struggled for weeks with this design and I finally have the mold in working order. I had to let go of the lovely flow-y mane for a choppier one, but it's ok. I'm just happy to see the piece come to fruition. I hope to have at a few fired by tomorrow and at least one glazed by the weekend. It should prove to be a lovely piece for the tree.

Another "up" was receiving the first Christmas presents from one of my dear online friends. I took this shot before I opened it. It was wrapped so pretty and I sat and just enjoyed it fully. The piece inside (a ceramic) was gorgeous. I'm totally inspired! I've also solved a few problems I was having with pin designs through this gift. I will treasure it not only for it's beauty, but for the knowledge it afforded me. Thank you! You know who you are! It totally made my day.

I love that tag!

The "down" part today was having to turn down another job for 2010 because my kiln is too small. I could not, in good conscience, go forward with accepting something I know I could never produce. Even if I do get a kiln in early January I couldn't commit knowing that right now I don't have the equipment to fulfill the order. This "too small" issue needs to be resolved within the first quarter of the new year. No matter how painful it might be now. It needs to be tackled.

Gifts In Stoneware

Napkin holder and creamer

Ok, so like I mentioned earlier last week, my best friend of many, many years is FINALLY getting married. They are having a small bridal shower for her. I got the idea to make her some pottery to go along with the table cloth and cloth napkins she had down on her want list. The cloth items are all white with some sheeny squares. The perfect backdrop for juicy pottery.

So, this is what I came up with to compliment what I purchased from her list: four napkin holders, a creamer, and a sugar bowl. (I can safely show you cause her computer bit the dust a few years ago and she has been without one since then. So I know I'm not spoiling the surprise.) I haven't really pulled pottery in months. Since January I think. I'm just beyond disgusted with my small kiln. I can fire up one pot and 2 small things at one shot. Really a waste of electricity for cone 6 if you ask me.

I need a big kiln...STAT!

I never even intended to pull pottery. I mean, these things were just beyond my reach. At least, that is what it felt like in school when I was trudgin to and fro on campus from illustration class to pottery class. I saw the school's huge gas kilns and their rows of wheels and the pottery majors full of mud working away in their private, dirty little studios and thought, "Seems too secluded and complicated for me." Then, years down the road, I find myself making little medallions in my toaster oven. That is when the thought of buying a small kiln hits me. A whole new world opens and then I began to wonder about wheels and if a small one would shut up the little voice inside that is crying to make pottery again like I did years ago in college. I could make all the crappy vessels I wanted without anyone looking over my shoulder or judging how I'm doing. No one to be tapping their fingers waiting to use the wheel I just snagged after waiting an hour for another student to be finished. Everything would be on MY time. MY clay, MY glaze colors, MY....everything. Just me and my thoughts alone in a secluded studio...away from commissions and forums and the routines of daily living.

I find a small wheel and buy it and then find out the ceramics store in NJ delivers to Brooklyn on Tuesdays and all of a sudden I'm neck deep in lbs of clay, greenware and glazes. Now I can even give serious gifts to loved ones and feel truly proud. I've even sold a table full of finished pieces! Never in a million years did I ever see myself doing this. Never.

I have to say that I pulled the best stuff I have ever pulled these last two weeks. Of course, it could be the new kiln guardian that Barb sent me. Sorta wierd....he comes along and walla...no more disasters? It could be that I'm just really inspired to be celebrating with my best friend and doing so the very best way I know how. Making something for her. I'm so happy these days are finally happening for her. I almost can't wait to have fun with her again and yuk it up.

Slow Kinda Day

One stamp design for my pottery

A whole week of school ends with....(drumroll)....a fever and cold for my little one. I suppose its best to get these things out of the way early on, huh? Unfortunately, I suspect that both hubby and myself will be enjoying the fun sometime next week.

So, today proved to be a very slow day of puttering around with some stamp design ideas and getting my reference book for my china painting and ceramic ware up to date. Stuff that I could do at my leisure as water boiled for tea or while cartoons were on. The tons of magazines that arrive at our doorstep are like gold.

Keeping my reference books filled

I scour through all of them for inspiration. Its great to see what companies are producing for the house and home and I especially love anything ceramic. The colors and shapes always spark ideas.

The weekend will be a quiet one. I anticipate making more headway on updating my ceramics website. I'll be sending out advertisements soon so I want to make sure the site is tidy and up to date.

Glazing Woes

Sake set in white and moss green

Since attending my church's fall outing I have had the Christmas fair on my mind. When it was suggested I participate in this seasonal event I thought of all the unfinished vessels that could lend themselves nicely to such an occasion once finished. I have so many vessels that remain unfired and unglazed because I really don't like glazing. I have a difficult time applying glaze. I find my color combinations to be lacking and overall I can't seem to quiet my mind when I am glazing.

Opps!

But the other day I sat down determined to make a bit of headway in the backlog of my ceramic ware. The scene was business as usual with me and glazes. Me, the table and floor covered in droplets of glaze. Ceramic ware with run off spots and lids that confused. How the heck was I going to glaze a lid and not have it stick to the kiln? I figured out that if I propped the lid on a kiln prop I could paint both sides. Of course, who knew that one lid would FALL halfway through the cone 06 firing and land on it's side? Certainly not me! Of course, it happened to the one lidded vessel I loved; the pink one I had hoped to push some sticks through the lid and really give it a Japanese look.

Lidded vessel

Of course the sake set came out nicely and although I froze when I got to applying glaze to the outside I decided that nothing says "orient" better than a black ink brush drawing so I've decided to china paint the outside of this set. In the end, given my glazing history, its the safest route. I can see beautiful trees on this already and once I have a few other projects near finish in the studio, I'll start this one.

So, I'm no closer to participating in the holiday festival, but I am learning some hard cold lessons in glazing and that will most definitely benefit later on down the road.

A Great Night

Raffle donation #17 full of goodies

It was a great night! The Golf/Fall Outing dinner was fun and full of many participants, many of which were women who were tempted by my luminaries and candle donation. I peeked inside bag #17 and found a plethora of raffle tickets. Of course, the Victoria's Secret raffle bag was overflowing, but hay, they have had more time brand imprinting than Danza Ceramics. LOL

It really was a successful night for my little ceramics studio. There were many positive comments and compliments about the luminaries. One comment that was reiterated throughout the night was, "I never knew you made such items." I was happy to hear the comment repeated because my whole goal was to get people within my community more aware of what I do. It was highly suggested by the Christmas Fair organizer that I participate in the Christmas Fair this year because apparently there is nothing like what I make at that fair and she felt my work would be gobbled up. I like the sound of that and am looking into the fair. Honestly, it sounded like she wanted a commitment last night which made me feel very good. If I can have enough ceramic pieces by early December I may just set up shop for a day at the Christmas fair. If anything, it would be an interesting experiment into seeing what people like and what they dislike in my ceramics. It may also be a crash course in lots of hurt feelings too.

I have to admit that the best part of the night was dancing with my son. He LOVES to dance and even though they had background music playing it wasn't a "dancing" kind of night. To a 3 1/2 year old though, if they hear music and if they see open space near a podium it's a dance party! And when your little boy askes, "Mommy, can you dance with me?" you forget that you are the ONLY adult moving your body on the floor of a non dance party and you just enjoy the moment with your little one cause the sense that such moments are fleeting are strong. At one point, I got a flash forward to his wedding day and what a tougher dance that might be for me.

The weekend is just starting. I have both my boys here for the entire weekend and it started fantastically last night. I got to sleep in late today and am having breakfast made for me by hubby. Mmm...did someone whisper the word diet out there? Yeah...forget that this weekend! So have a wonderful weekend out there everyone! I'll see ya on Monday!

Game Over

"Game over man! Game over!"
I give.

So the teapot wasn't anywhere near being dry last night when I checked it, but everything looked great. I woke this morning to find a good portion of the upper part dry. The lower portion of the spout, to my dismay, was displaying a nice large crack. I was, and still am, speechless and disappointed beyond words.

The offending crack

I am besides myself and I know that some days you just have to give into projects cause no matter how hard you battle with them, you will always wind up the loser. I started this project for presentation two months in advance of the due date. The first teapot has earned an honored spot on the "learning shelf" in the studio. The second one came out even better than the first and I took my time adding the pieces, but I guess I didn't adhere them well enough? Something went wrong because I shouldn't be staring at a crack at the bottom of the spout.

There is no time to make another so I suppose I can try and put together an interesting raffle package with some of the fine English porcelain luminaries I have been creating. Pair one nice one up with a handful of Yankee candles and I might have something formidable for this event.

I'm disappointed to say the least cause the porcelain bowl, although pretty, doesn't have that WAM factor I was hoping for. I could also just not donate and sulk. I think for today I will allow myself to sulk just a bit. Perhaps spending some time working on a sm might make me feel better too.

Therapy for a bad day

I'll end on a positive note today. I am happy to tell you that the second (and last) batch of Halloween mice came out of the kiln looking really cute. The candy corn mouse is my favorite from this batch.

New Halloween mice fresh from the kiln
Please join my NEWS GROUP for sales info
Going on sale tonight

I'd also like to mention that I have placed one of the fully painted lidded boxes I finished this week up at auction. This piece can be personalized to suit the buyer's needs. Full photos are also being shown on the auction site and I like the way they came out. Very feminine and pretty.

Currently at auction

Mice and China

New Halloween Mice Designs

Mice and china seem to be a very good mix for me. Not only am I enjoying this romp with the subject of mice, I am loving the fact that each piece I create is set in stone, or, rather, it is set in china. It's permanent and won't be ruined by air, or water or non archival paper or bad paints. It will last until the piece is broken.

I am exploring some new areas of china painting including scrolling. I haven't had much success with making scrolls with a brush so I turned to the crow quill. I was able to produce some fairly decent scrolling on this green box with the pen. Hopefully the scrolling and red paints survive the kiln.

Decorative box

All these pieces will be for sale so please be sure to stay tuned here or to my news group.

My Poor Boy

Strong chemical-smelling ooze

My poor Doris Lindner resin "Top Secret" is oozing. Before my husband and I workout in the living room in the morning I move the big boy from his shelf in the china cabinet. He is a large, solid cast resin and he wobbles just slightly when we run and do jumping jacks. For about four months now I moved him without seeing any issues. Today, there was oozing.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with this piece. I'm just glad I never sold him. I took off his bows and wiped down his ribbon. The problem seems to be coming from where I glued the bows. I used Zap A Gap and baking soda. I'd hate to think that this combination of products on top of resin causes reactions. Nothing else has gone bad on the horse. I'll wait, watch and see.

It's days like this that make me want to just forget resin completely and turn all my attention to china and china painting. The only thing that can harm china is crazing (and some people like this effect) or a fall. Once the piece has been created and painted its good forever.

Teapot Take Two

New Teapot (close up)

Hopefully, I got the teapot right this time. I've been working for several days straight just trying to get my teapot finished and ready for the fall outing and I think I correctly fixed the spout issues and the lid problem.

The spout itself was very basic and rather chunky and unappealing so I spruced it up a bit by shaving down the shape to be more feminine and added a goldfish. The fish was a last minute "a-ha" moment and I just ran with it. I believe it helped distribute the weight of the spout better. Before, all the weight seemed to be on the bottom portion. Which, I will confess, I really struggled with. I pulled a straight spout and then flared out the bottom portion a bit but cutting that shape on an angle and getting it to sit properly against the pot was truly a challenge. I still feel like I fumbled my way through that one. I'm going to try and make another teapot this week and I want to attach the spout better and in a more beautiful way. With each one I'm sure it will get easier.



Overall, the spout on both teapots (this one and the first one) proved to be the most difficult part of this project. And, I did test this new one in the leather hard stage to see if it would hold the proper amount of water. It does, but I didn't let the water sit fully in the pot and I didn't pour. I'll leave the real tests for after the firing. Wish me luck. ;)

But Can It Pour?

Pretty Little Tea Pot

Why....YES! A resounding, YES! It CAN pour.....umm, all over the place!

My heart raced when I opened the kiln this morning to find that my little tea pot for two had fired perfectly. The stoneware was the perfect tan color it was suppose to be (if overfired it turns pinkish). I was surprised by how much it had shrunk though. Not a big deal. I would just label this offering at the fall outing raffle table as "Tea Therapy For One" and not "Tea For Two".

The holes in the handle sections looked small. They too shrunk in the firing process.

Note to self: "Make bigger holes next time".

Despite the small hole issue, the lid fit perfectly. I mean, it was brilliant! All my work this past summer struggling to make lidded vessels paid off. This one fit without any shimmy.

But the most important part was yet to be tested. Would it pour? And it did. It dribbled almost instantly since the shape of my spout was incorrect. It went out and not out and up. The UP part was the part I didn't think to research. I have tea almost every night from a pretty porcelain tea pot and never once thought to LOOK at how the spout was designed. My tea pot can't even be filled half way. Once the water hits the beginning of the spout the water naturally fills that cavity too and that cavity is just straight so the water fills it and comes right out.

:: Sigh::

Good Morning Tea Pot!


You know who saw this issue before the piece when it was in the drying stage? My sister-in-law the homemaker who is always going on about something in the kitchen or household. We've come to listen with half an ear when the Sunday dinner table discussions start. I'm ashamed to say that I gave her half an ear when I showed her the piece in the leather hard stage. The moment she saw the piece she said, "That is beautiful but the water is going to spill out from the spout." HAHA....ok, I thought. She was the first person I thought of this morning when water dribbled all over my PJ's.

BIG note to self: "Don't ignore April and let her review and critique the next teapot before firing."

Reluctantly I drag my butt back to the drawing board. I have no idea if I can make another in time for this outing in early October.

Solid Time

Comparing the sculpt to the models

I've had some good, solid time with my rat sculpture this week and when I got really stuck on it I decided to head on down and compare some notes with the real models. When working with live, moving models you just have to sit, observe, and just wait for specific areas to come into view. At this stage I was confused about the amount of wax I had taken off the piece. Far too much was eliminated and my sculpture looked emaciated compared to the live models.

The gals in the picture are "Fawn" and "Bluebell". They are two of four pet rats that I enjoy sharing my home and studio with. I know some of you might be cringing at the thought of such a pet and such a sculpture! "Why?" You may ask. You know, honestly, I have always loved rodents. Something so darned cute about their squishy bodies and their perky ears. Perhaps it was my love of Beatrix Potter and her fabulous illustrations of mice having tea and sewing that set my gears from fear to love.

I don't really know, all I know is that I've always had a real soft spot for them and nothing else seemed to comfort me as wonderfully as my little dumbo rat "Odin" when my father-in-law was ill and dying earlier this year. Yeah, that shocked me too. Who knew? (shrug). Every night though, after being drug through the emotional ringer I would head on down to see my Odin. His sweet little hay smelling self would somehow comfort me. My next rattie sculpt will be dedicated to him. There are several rat sculpts in my head. All are dying to come out into the open. Once I finish this one I'll explore the others. I promised myself that I would finish this one before starting anything else. I refuse to get sidetracked off this path again.

Page from my sketchbook

I've also had some good solid time on my wheel. My goal for the remainder of this month is to explore lidded pots, which are very difficult to produce IMO. I'm struggling to get the lids just right. I'm getting there though and I anticipate by the end of the summer I'll have some really good pieces. No over hang on the lid. No shimmy when the pot is held either. The lid must fit perfectly. Making that happen requires calipers (which of course I do have) and a steady hand and good eye. You have to stop pulling the lid when it sorta "looks" just about right, measure the lid against the thrown vessel and hope it will fit. It's been a challenge, but a good one.

Muddy Monday Madness!!!

My son and I had a ball of fun making some ceramic pendants over the weekend. I made the balls and he pressed the clay flat. Here are some of the fruits of our fun labor:

This pendant came out really cool, it almost looks like a Koi fish swimming in a lake under a red sunset. Will be for sale on my Etsy Shop soon.

Sunset red glaze

Sweet pea! The scrolls on this one were just so darling before the glaze and after the tearose glaze had a chance to pool in the crevices I loved this particular pendant even more. This one will also be for sale.

Tearose glaze

I call this one my "breezy" one. I can see oak leaves on the grass in this one and it reminds me of late summer when things are just about to change and you get that one little brave leaf that takes the dive into fall first. This one is the smallest pendant in the bunch and will also be offered for sale soon.

Green glaze

I ran out of stretch wire this weekend, but did manage to make quite a few pendants with the wire I did have. There are two additional ceramic necklaces that I decided to keep from this lot. I wore my bright "Sunset red" one out yesterday and got quite a few compliments on it. Here is the entire lot that will be offered soon on Etsy.

Full lot of pendants coming soon

I'm not too sure when I'll get all of the pendants loaded in my shop, but keep checking later on during the day today and tomorrow morning for updates. If you do miss the pieces don't fret. I do have more coming and will offer them once I buy more wire. Right now though I'm giving everyone a chance at this one below! YEP, a free giveaway!!!

I'm calling it my "Four Star" pendant cause my son and I had a four star weekend making these and this one will be given to one lucky blog commenter on Tuesday, April 22nd (about 11:30 PM est.) Just leave a comment and tell me one "four star" thing that happened to you this past weekend! (Please, keep it clean.)

FREE GIVEAWAY PENDANT!!!!

Please note that only those who leave a comment here will be eligible for this drawing. All you have to do is leave a comment. One winner will be chosen out of all the people who comment. I will even handle the shipping costs and that includes shipping to Europe. Thank you.