Snuggle Up

The girls snugglin' up

It's raining.....again!

I think we have had maybe 4 days of sun this month. It's set to rain straight through the weekend up until Wed. As much as I love rain, I'm gonna call "uncle" now and hope that the sun makes a strong and lasting appearance very soon.

On yet another rainy day there is nothing better to do but snuggle up and sleep. I did just that this morning and slept late. It was blissful. Today I get things in order in the house and prepare a bit for Father's Day. My husband normally BBQs even though it's "his" day. He just loves BBQing and tonight he pulls his yearly (and famous) all nighter making pulled pork. It's totally worth the long night up stokin' the fires. I normally stay with him for a spell and work on horses with the baby monitor near by in case our son needs us. I prep or lay whites down on pieces. Tonight I have chosen to lay whites on a Mini Independence resin that is being painted chestnut tobiano. It's one of my favorite nights with my husband. Just he and I doing what we love to do and doing it together in our own weird way.

Thirty

"Rella" snugglin while the kiln is cookin'

Thirty.

That is the round about time frame it took to fire up a sugar bowl, a creamer and four napkin holders at cone 6 in my small kiln. That and five days out of the week. :/ A larger kiln would render a finish in 6-8 hours with a ton of other wares cooking at the same time. If ever there was a good reason to get a new (BIGGER) kiln, this would be it. Of course, I could stop making pottery....

Ok, that was weird to say. Now to think about a proposal to those that need to approve such a beast coming to live in this house. Not sure how to proceed except to say..."CHECK THIS OUT...ISN'T IT COOL? LET'S GET IT!!!!!!"

ACHA-CHA!!!!

Yesterday

Sweet little Nala

Yesterday I took the Metro North Rail line along the river and did some rescuin'. Some "ratty rescuing" you could say. I read about this little cutie's dilemma a few weeks ago and decided that with the passing of all four of my little ones this past year that I could safely accommodate a rescue. Yesterday, I finally got to meet and take home little sweet Nala who was chucked in a backyard out in Westchester, NY and apparently had quite a time somewhere. Her little nose is all scarred and as I was watching her strike the most interesting poses for me while I took photos I noticed her right paw was missing a digit. Poor thing.

Now, she is safe and sound in a forever home and is the sweetest most gentle and inquisitive little pet. A house full of love in all forms is a beautiful abode.

Day Trip

Snoozin' after a long hard day of travel

The best part about living in New York City is being able to hop a train (or plane for that matter) and go pretty much anywhere with ease. Today I took a day trip out to Mount Arlington, New Jersey to pick up the new rattie babies. The trip was very scenic and the time away from the familiar was welcomed. I can't thank the Meghan of Paper Heart Rattery enough for allowing me to adopt these two cute little gals from her and for being so kind and wonderful today.

The gals have settled in already and it's been such a nice change of pace watching young, healthy pets bounding about their cage. I had been watching sickies since February. My entire crew were up in age and got sick and then passed and each passing was just heartbreaking because I had spent every day with these pets. I almost forgot what it was like to have a young rattie in the house. Its nice and I've already started to bond with Petunia. I believe she will be the first to train. The other one found the famous hiding spot near the wheel and as you can see, is utilizing it. That is ok. All in good time.

Today was a long, but fruitful day even if I didn't do a stitch of art work. The time away has replenished my urge to work and has inspired me.

Petunia's first photo shoot

Smile!

Morta

Black n Tan Commission in progress

Morta...this post is about that awful inevitable. The goddess sorta took a bit of a rest here in our household and won't leave it seems.

First, the meanest rattie I have ever owned, (from Petco I must add) Fawn up and died. Not before she came to me, curled up and started being nice and friendly. :/ Too little, too late, but I'll take it. She was scared. Then Toby gets ill, badly ill and has to be put down. Next, we missed the little hint on the Sea Monkeys website which states: "For better results feed only HALF the small spoonful of Sea Monkey food the first time you feed."

DOH!

Cue four year old crying and mom reassuring him that the Sea Monkeys were greeted by Fawn and Toby and that God takes everything back to Him and that new ones are on the way. New Sea Monkeys in no time.

Of course, all joking aside, we did have another death in the family. My father-in-law's brother passed after a very long and painful battle with cancer. He is at peace and despite another wake to attend it will be nice and comforting to see all our family again this afternoon.

Another comfort on the flip side of death is of course, life. All new babies are a joy and as I watch all the birds outside in our yard chasing each other and preparing their nests I think about my new baby ratties coming home in May. When I contacted the breeder I had no idea I wouldn't have any rats left by the time my new babies were ready to greet me. I figured I'd be a house with six rats. Nope.


Photo: © 2009 Meghan of Paper Heart Rattery
Coming soon my gal Petunia

Photo: © 2009 Meghan of Paper Heart Rattery
Coming soon my gal Cinderella
Yep, she's nekkid!

Not only are the new babies ready, but I was also asked by another rat lover if I could help rescue a rattie from LaGuardia College Science Dept and the call couldn't have come at a more perfect time! I heartily agreed to give a rattie who has helped others learn through the sciences a home.

So, hopefully, Morta will have grown tired of her stay soon and the house will be bursting with new life and friends AND with new Sea Monkeys too.

Enjoy your weekend.

Lazertran Transfer Paper = F

Label attached to bottom

So, for the past two days I have been struggling with transfer papers from Lazertran because I want the rat sculptures to have a nice polished look on the bottoms. I capped the large pour hole in the leather hard stage, printed out my information and then proceeded to adhere the transfer papers to the bottoms. Then redid them when they bubbled. Then did them over once again when the paper turned white instead of being transparent. Then reprinted everything because the type distorted. Then tried to get the cut marks to disappear to NO avail.

At this point I am so beyond frustrated. The black hooded rat named "Maybell" gave me the worst trouble. At this point she has one word on her and that is, "Danza." This word is the only part of the paper that didn't get messed up after the process.

I went to their website, followed their directions and reread those directions again and again and reapplied the papers over and over. So, two days of nothing but bottom work and I'm through. I've decided that this product is not worth the money I spent and I'll never buy from this company again. Money and time being wasted are NOT two welcome things in my studio. So Lazertran Transfer Paper Co. you get an F!

The ratties themselves turned out great though. Here is "Willow" a chocolate agouti. At least, I think the way I glazed her would fall into this color category.

"Willow" rat sculpture

Full Speed!

Ratties in the wet box

Today I blasted out of the starting gate at full speed. Packages being mailed and bills being paid. Ratties were also on the list of "to-dos" and I was able to cast 3 more today. I have found that the plaster molds can only handle 3 castings in porcelain during any given day. I was happy for that today cause I was tired of prying plaster pieces away from fragile porcelain by the afternoon.

I have thankfully found a very efficient way to clean the rats up. I also found that hand rolled tails DO crack once applied to the molded body. I found a way to fix the tail mold that wasn't really forming properly. I added a drainage ditch to the tail mold and that solved the tail problem. So I'm now full speed ahead casting rat sculptures and their tails.

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!!!

Exciting!

Drying porcelain

I'm all excited today. The very first rat sculpture is together (only took 4 hours) and is drying. Despite the length of time it took to assemble her and clean her up I'm beaming and am really excited at the prospect of many little ratties waiting in line to be painted.

I fear my original plan of 25-30 pieces may have to be shortened considerably. That amount will be unrealistic with the overall length of time this piece is taking to put together. Perhaps once I clean a few more I'll get into a rhythm, but basically that long tail (which isn't tucked onto her or laying on a base) is causing issues. One swipe and it falls off. So, extra care is being taken with each seam line I remove. I'm going super slow. That tail will remain a problem even during the loading of the kiln, the painting of the piece, and it will continue to be an issue when shipping. Although it looks great I will reconsider tail positions in my next pieces.

Last Fire

Dainty cup with original sketch

Today I fire all my Valentine's Day projects for the last time. The last fire on any project is always a nervous one. Anything can go wrong and in past cases it has. I must remember to always vent the kiln for the first 45 minutes. No ifs, ands, or butts with this rule. If I don't vent, I loose my reds and purples. In the case of most of the work in this batch I'll loose all my pretty Valentine's Day reds.

Overall I'm fairly pleased with the way my idea transformed onto the porcelain. In the past I have sketched out the mice for porcelain design, but not the actual color blocking. This time I planned it all out and I found that the entire project went more smoothly. Flying by the "seat of your pants" doesn't seem to work well with china painting. I think I'm ready to take on that tea set now. ;)

Work Continues

Valentine's Day china

This morning I broke the news to my son that we lost Odin. I had been preparing him for Odin's death, but he was still upset to hear the news. Odin was the only rattie I would allow him to hold and pet. I believe that children should learn how to respect animals and treat them well even if they are just children. Later today we will bid Odin farewell for good and then take his little decorated box to the shed outside. The first moment the cold spell breaks I'll bury him in the far corner of my beloved garden. A fitting send off to a beloved pet.

Despite the upset, work continues here. I am preparing for Valentine's Day with a few "mice" boxes and really cool espresso cups! I love these cups and am so excited to bring the ideas in my head onto the porcelain. The work is moving quickly. Much quicker than I expected. I poured all my energy into painting last night and this morning. It felt good and was therapeutic.

New Idocus hangin' out in the kitchen

Another exciting project just starting to brew here in the studio is another JAH painting tutorial (May/June). I'll be creating a roan painting tutorial on the brand new Idocus mold. I'm totally and utterly smitten with this new mold. He is wonderful. I love him! He arrived from the company at the perfect time to cheer me up.

Productive

In the drying room

This week was a very productive week both in the studio and family-wise. Family-wise our son is learning how to print his letters and has been engaged and excited about learning. His enthusiasm is totally infectious.

Studio-wise I was able to FINALLY begin molding my rattie sculpt "Listen". The use of Legos as mold boxes has made things so much easier and has helped me to visualize how to tackle more complicated molds. Granted, a tail (or long coil) is not too technically advanced, but without the proper tools and experience moldmaking it is a shape that can overwhelm. As you can see, its molded and I'm jumping into the body of the rattie next week.

Plaster mold (for ceramic production) of a tail

Creative Roll

A newly finished Vixen resin

I'm totally on a creative roll right now. I'm finishing up projects and diving into the mold making process for these projects. After seeing Lesli Kathman's use of Legos on her blog I finally felt the little light bulb go on and realized that this mold making monster could be harnessed and controlled here in my own studio. I feel much more confident molding the more difficult pieces I've sculpted. I have no idea if I'm cutting the molds correctly, but I suppose I will learn through trail and error. All I really know is it really stinks not to be creating and I'm so very glad the holidays and sicknesses are over with because I feel lost without busy hands. I found the following quote by Pearl Buck in my travels recently:.

“The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanely sensitive. To them....a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create-so that without the creating of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, their very breath is cut off... They must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are creating."

No truer words were ever spoken! Without art and creativity I think I would shrivel up and die.

"Harriet" a hedgehog mate for Hedgie
and their little ones together

Large mouse on pillow

Flat equine medallion/plaque

Small medallion

Diving into mold making

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?

Happy St. Francis Day

Father blessing the animals

Today is the feast of St. Francis. A day where we remember our patron saint of animals and we give God thanks for the animals that comfort us, the animals that help us and the animals that sacrifice their bodies as food for us. It is one of my favorite feast days in my religion because I love animals. Our church loves them too and invites all pet owners to bring their animals to the church steps for a special blessing. This year there were many dogs, guinea pigs, a parrot and even one little itty bitty turtle that came to be blessed.

Toby (who is displaying
his best "dainty hand")
and Odin before leaving.


We have so many animals in our household, but this year I decided to have my two beloved ratties Toby and Odin blessed. I have grown so attached to these two animals in our household that it seemed fitting to take them. Both rats are approximately 1 1/2 years old which, by rattie standards, is "getting up in years". I know most will be reading this entry with disgust and it will send a shiver down your spine. I respect that. If you can, just think of them like a really large hamster with a really long tail. The best way I can describe the appeal for these animals is that they are like having the best attributes of a dog and a cat all rolled up in one and when you bond it is really strong.

This is probably one of my most favorite prayers. So it is fitting I include it today. Have a wonderful day and be sure you hug all your pets today.

~THE PRAYER OF ST. FRANCIS~

Lord, make me a channel of thy peace,
that where there is hatred, I may bring love;
that where there is wrong, I may bring the spirit of forgiveness;

that where there is discord, I may bring harmony;
that where there is error, I may bring truth;
that where there is doubt, I may bring faith;

that where there is despair, I may bring hope;
that where there are shadows, I may bring light;
that where there is sadness, I may bring joy.

Lord, grant that I may seek rather to comfort than to be comforted;
to understand, than to be understood;
to love, than to be loved.
For it is by self-forgetting that one finds.

It is by forgiving that one is forgiven.
It is by dying that one awakens to Eternal Life.

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.

Success!

In the umm, resin flesh

I am very happy to report that all went fairly well in the mold making process of my rat mold "Listen". I am now halfway to a ceramic finish.

Today I decided to pour a bit of resin in the silicone mold to see how it looked and to solve a huge problem with the tail. I am now very tempted to pour a few ratties in resin just to cold paint cause she looks so tempting.

Silicone rattie waiting for plaster

The problem with the tail is that I made the mold box around the original tail sculpt incorrectly. The silicone, when poured, just pooled around the small opening and plugged it up. I opened the mold and slathered some silicone on one half but the end result isn't so nice. It looks nice in the photo above but it really isn't. I'm not sure how this resin tail will fair being incased in plaster, but I have to try to solve this problem the best way I know how because my original work is now destroyed and I really want this particular tail to be on this piece.

Just....

Finishing touches on "Listen"

Just a few more tweaks and then the rattie sculpture will be done! The hands gave me a problem (of course), but the great thing about wax is that if something looks wrong you can just smoosh it, start over and not have to worry about ruining the integrity of your entire piece. You can have as many "do overs" as you need.

Now, I'm bursting to see this sculpture in porcelain. I can't wait!!! This thought is taking me to the finish and beyond. I've already begun to sketch a few more "rattie" ideas. I'm curious to see what I can do next.

Heatwave

Pony cart ride at the b-day party

There's a heat wave going on here in NYC. Gotta stay cool and wet. That means this weekend has been filled with lots of water, drinks and a birthday party or two.

This weekend also found me sketching quite a bit. I guess you could say I'm warming up and getting ready for an illustration project that has been on my mind and is quickly letting me know it's time to come out. Thankfully, I've really been in the "mood" to doodle and it's been lots of fun keeping my nose in my book.

"Listen" in the beginning stages

I've also made strong steps towards finish on my rattie sculpt "Listen" last night. Was up till close to 3 a.m. just making adjustments. I have her hands left to sculpt and then I can begin the process of trying to figure out how to mold her. Eeek! I'll be honest, I'm rather nervous about this step. She will be the most complicated piece I've tried to mold so far. But, she is no where near as complicated as other sculptor's pieces so it is not impossible. I'll just make a silicone mold and keep trying till she comes out correctly.

But phew, I'll end it here. It's only 9 a.m. and it's hot already today! So, enjoy your Sunday! :)