Boxes....Everywhere!!!

Parrot sketch for china

Boxes...they are all around me. The are even in my sleep.

I'm near the end of the "boxes project" and I will be happy to put china painting to rest for a spell. At least until sometime in January. I'm seeing boxes all around. I can't look at a magazine without thinking how that centerpiece in the shot will be nice reference for the roses around the dog or the parrot. Everything I see, if I'm not paying attention, turns into a china painted piece in my head. Sorta like a video or movie that happens inside there. I see paint smooshing around and forming images. It's both cool and annoying at times when I'm tired.

First layer of china paints

When this happens I know I've reached the end of the project and it's time for a break. I hope to have the very last piece of this box project done by Monday and I can reveal all the pretty pieces that were created. I'm actually really happy with most of them (there are always one or two that never come out as planned) and I feel I made huge strides in color application and rose formation. I just sorta figured it all out of a need to complete the project.

Now though, time to become human again and help decorate a Christmas tree. Of course I won't go without my sketchbook and brand new ceramics book to flip through! I mean, there is only so much tree trimming I can take before my mind starts crying to be fed more art.

Quiet Reflections

I love "Tutu's" muzzle. So kissy!

Quiet. Reflective. Painterly.

That pretty much sums up me right now. I sat down at my studio desk last night and didn't really have to force myself to work. I really wanted to paint and welcomed the calming feelings that came with several hours of non stop finishwork.

I tried not to focus on having to put Toby down, but thoughts of me somehow betraying a friend just wouldn't leave. I know it was the right thing. He suffered too long. So, in trying to ease these thoughts I decided I would try and complete two projects I took on a few weeks ago that won't find finish for one reason or another. The porcelain tea light below was one of those projects. It's now ready to meet its new owner and hopefully cheer her up. The thought of it cheering someone up, cheered me up a bit.

So, animal wise we have one less here at the Danza house. I thought it might be fun to get a few photos of all our animals here. I'm going to do that soon. Once the fish wake up outside in the pond and once my new adopted baby ratties arrive in May. All positive and good things to reflect on.

Spirit Jump tea light

One Little, Two Little....

Tryin' out the china cabinet

"One little, two little, three little ratties..."

Actually, there are five ratties total that are finished right now. I'm currently waiting (very anxiously I might add) for shipping boxes and a couple of other COA items to arrive at the studio in order to present the public with these finished creations. Hopefully, my orders will arrive this week. I'm on the edge of my seat.

Of course, while waiting I've been creating and have had great fun trying to pick out colors for the little Sleepy Bunny run. I decided to produce the run in fine English porcelain. I know it shrinks them down considerably, but they are so much more durable in porcelain and there is that love affair I have with the porcelain.

Start of the bunny conga

It's so creamy and lovely especially on the bunnies who have white showing. What has truly happened to these guys (and gals) is that they have now sorta become like little worry stones. You can hold them nicely in the hand and you can carry them around without worrying they will be broken or destroyed. I have all four hangin' out on my laptop as I check in with you all today. They are totally chasin' those Monday blues away. Too sweet.

On Your Mark.....

Today I'm tidying up the pieces currently in progress and getting on my "mark" by finishing up color ideas, ordering boxes and yes, even trying to come up with names. So far I love the PEW (pink. eye. white) best and he is even more special because he is a clinker. There is a little piece of porcelain moving freely inside him. It happened during clean up and it makes little clinky noises when you shake him. I'm already having fun trying to find the perfect name for him. So far it's a toss up between "Cha cha" and "Clinker". LOL

Three rats and four bunnies

Those Lost In The Fray

"Lil Pumpkin" a sm sized pony
She is in progress and not finished

Sometimes pieces get lost in the fray here. Days, weeks, months and sometimes even years go by before I finish some of these projects. The two pieces I'm showing off today are two examples of things getting lost in the fray. For whatever reason they both got pushed to the back, back, BACK burners.

Cone 10 porcelain vase
with cone 6 glaze

The little epoxy pony has yet to find closure. I'd venture to guess that for about two years she has been "in progress". I have added to her. I have taken away from her. I have never yet been satisfied with her. This year, however I am determined to finish her. If not for my NAN 09 donation, I'll finish her for myself because it IS important to bring closure to projects. If no one wants her once she is cast and fired and looking pretty in porcelain, it will be ok. She is about to teach me even more about casting and mold making and she will teach me new lessons in working with porcelain than any classroom situation can.
My fear however is that May is just too close for a deadline for such lessons. We'll see.

I Found

Miniature porcelain vessels

Sitting down last night to touch up some of the lingering Christmas presents and china painted ornaments I noticed two of my teeny weeny vessels just sitting there. The more I ignored them, the more they called to me until I finally picked them up. I turned the small vessel this way and that way and found it had a fairy flying on it. Out from the plate popped a mermaid.

Dealing with the tiny vessels is going to be very interesting.

Teeny Tiny World

Tiny porcelain vessels pulled off the hump

The Thanksgiving day celebrations went on through the night here. At 10 P.M. I had had enough and put myself promptly to bed. I just couldn't take any more eating, drinking or cheer with family. The upside to getting to bed at 10 is that by five in the morning I was bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to take on some clay. Having been inspired by a web link to some teeny tiny raku vessels (thank you Sarah) I was seated at my wheel working some tiny vessels of my own.

Two hours into the adventure I determined that teeny tiny vessel throwing was easier than it looked, but I was determined to make it work. I am dying to see pieces like this china painted with fairies and bugs and tiny flowers and little mice with dresses on them. Every step of production though is a nail biting experience, but four finishes out of six tries isn't so bad for a start and I have to honestly say that I feel like I'm on the brink of discovering something big.

The Egg & The Horsehead

China painted porcelain egg

Today I'm adding just a quick blog entry with images. I've been working non stop on this egg and for the most part I am very pleased with the way it came out. I was shocked at how easy it was to paint humans on porcelain. I loved the way the paint felt going on and my brain and hand were one. That usually never happens on bristol or canvas. I love things smooth and blurry almost and one crit I continually received on my paper work was that it was too smooth and "dreamy" but on porcelain its ok to explore such techniques. Of course the house and my son have been patiently waiting for me to return and tidy up and play

So that is the plan today to dust very quickly and then play. Late tonight I'll be at the fashion show watching them auction off the egg. I hope it is received well. I'll leave you with a few more images of the egg and a new medallion that was also completed in the studio this week.

Close up of Madonna and Child

. Egg slightly opened to show inside

New medallion

Unfinished Projects in 2008

Currently for sale with
"way back in the day" reserve. Link.

Today the heat was on when I woke up. It's been very chilly. I believe we may just zip past fall and get right into winter in a few weeks. Sunday we started to really feel the weather change and I had a huge burst of energy that day. Later in the evening I used that energy to take inventory of unfinished projects for 2008. The largest unfinished project was the Sleepy LIttle Mouse project.

Mice colored and ready for some
scratching out with a razor

I had almost forgotten I had seven more little ones in bisque waiting for color. I am very happy to report that turning on the airbrush to color these last little ones was actually a happy event! I really enjoyed it. I will confess that I stayed within the brown family on these seven though. Their first coats of color were fired and then glossed. Even though I used brown in some fashion on them they all look completely different. That is good for a run like this, but very bad for an OF china run. I may have to rethink my OF china run on the rat sculpture "Listen".

I suppose that is ok and I believe OOAK are more favored and I can totally see the rat sculpture having greater appeal if each piece created is completely different. This too was another project, when I took inventory, that had been pushed on the side. This one though hadn't gotten lost in the clutter.

Rat with proposed mold lines

It was gently placed on the side because I am really undecided about the mold lines I've made. I can't seem to "see" where they need to go and I'm trying to plan the casting out on a multiple piece mold when I've only ever made a three part mold. This one is gonna be a learnin' thing. So, I just did my best with the knowledge I've gain and with the help I have received in talking with other mold makers in the model horse industry. I've taken in their words, advice and thoughts on the matter and I've let their words sink in. I've given the sinkin' enough time and now its time to just "do" and that is my main project for the rest of the week.

Porcelain candle holder
glowing in the dark

My other project is completion of the fall outting donation. The teapot I was hoping to donate is cracked and out. A luminary is in and if I can find some fine holiday scented candles at Bed, Bath and Beyond this week, I will be thrilled. My donation will actually look fairly good sitting on the raffle table I think. Above is a photo of how the English porcelain looks when there is a candle inside it. Don't you love that glow?

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.

150 lbs Later

Newest porcelain pieces

One hundred and fifty pounds was about the amount of clay I started off with when I purchased my little Shimpo wheel. After all that clay had been thrown and fired I am now just starting to get pieces that I am truly and sincerely happy with.

I have worked with earthenware white, earthenware mocha, stoneware and the ever evasive porcelain. My preference of clay still stands with porcelain. It's smoothness is intoxicating. It's gorgeous even in the bisque state and it glazes up flawlessly. And the most thrilling aspect to making porcelain pottery is if you add a tea light inside the vessel, it will glow. No other clay has captured my attention and heart like porcelain. Porcelain and I are a good match.

One of the first from my wheel

I searched the blog this morning for a photo of one of the very first vessels I pulled from my new wheel and felt so thrilled to show off. I have to laugh now. Its so wonky! I was so proud to show it off though. I'll be excited to see where my pottery making adventures take me in the NEXT few months! It's an exciting time in the studio.

Clay Day

Working with some clay

I knew my camera had video capabilities on it, but I didn't realize how much video it could capture in one sitting. Six minutes seems like a long time, but I guess its not when you're pulling some clay. I wound up closing up the upper portion of this vessel (which I didn't get on film) and I managed to cut a lid out cleanly.

I really would have liked you to see how I've been making these lidded vessels. The part where you stick a razor into this perfectly formed cylindrical shape is a trip! I hold my breath, stick it in and pray for the best. Today I had a successful cut. I'll try it again tomorrow and see what I can capture on film. I'll try and remember not to poke around at the beginning stages. Its a bad habit I have, especially when I'm pulling porcelain (which this was) and I always try and make sure my first pulls are nice and smooth and slow. I've really wreaked alot of pottery pulling up too fast. In time the process will be even more smooth for me.

Exploring the Lidded Vessel

My inspiration

For many years I admired this pretty porcelain dish in my mother's bathroom. It always had crazing. It always had that awful crack. Still, I secretly always wanted it for my own and when my mother grew tired of it and chunked it in the basement (aka: the dungeon of no return) I asked her if I could claim it as my own.

This piece has followed me through my single life, my married life and it continues to maintain a position of importance on top of my china cabinet. I never understood the appeal, aside from the fact that it was porcelain. Earlier in the summer I finally think I figured out why I was always so enamored with it. It's a lidded vessel.

For the past two months I have made it a point to explore lidded vessels and the push to do so came when I was admiring this piece for the millionth time. I guess you can always find inspiration even in the things you know so well. The way the lid sits on the base fascinates me. There is very little shimmy when you hold the base. The lid fits perfectly.

Lidded vessels just pulled

Bisque fired vessels with lids

Getting a lid to fit perfectly is not an easy task and I have had many false starts. The pieces that did come out well I am rather proud of and hope to match just the right glaze to these pieces in the next two weeks. There is no rhyme or reason for the shapes. I just let the ball of clay go as it wants. The actual lid is made by building a vessel up and then closing the very top of the vessel. You visualize where the lid will go then stick a razor in the clay while the wheel is moving and hope for the best. Im still getting the hang of this part, but all around, its been a fascinating exploration and most importantly a fun one.

Computer Day

Meows & Mini's donation
before another kiln firing

Today was a day set aside for catching up with emails, burning information onto disks and all that boring paperwork that comes along with running a small business. Paperwork piles up fast, as do the emails coming in. I'm making good progress in all areas. This busy work enables me to step back from the rattie project and really clear my head and anxious hands. I'm very excited about producing "Listen's" mold in plaster, but if I approach this molding process too fast I'll wind up creating more work for myself.

Right now I am unsure how to part this sculpture. The main issue seems to be with the ears. They have to be molded perfectly otherwise I'll get terrible results, especially in porcelain. Porcelain has zero tolerance for mistakes. Every area has to be molded perfectly so the porcelain slip slides in the mold easily, but most importantly comes OUT of the mold easily. More study of the rubber rattie is necessary. As I am working on boring things I am staring at the rubber version just planning my attack.

There Is Something....

Horse hair tea cup

There is something utterly dreamy about the smell of a horse. I suppose you have to be a horse fanatic to understand. I've had a hunk of horsehair in my posession for a while now. Smelling it from time to time is just something I love to do because it reminds me of my trips down to the barn. On a really down day that smell can even take me as far back as when I was nine just waiting for my neighbors to arrive to feed their horses.

Today I got to experience its smell in a new fashion...burning on a hot piece of pottery. With tongs in hand and saftey gloves I dove into my little kiln, plucked out a porcelain teacup and began adding hair. The smell was atrocious, but the result was fabulous. I'm now totally dying to try this technique on more pottery.

Well, tomorrow it's back to the grind for me. I let myself wander enough here with my pottery and dreamy smells. If I dont get things mailed out and a few projects completed customers will be coming after me with pitchforks. And you know, I wouldn't blame them in the least.