Fresh for Fall

It's been a weekend of purging, cleaning, hanging and cutting. I cleared out the basement storage, am still in the process of removing a large bookshelf/clutter shelf from the living room and I re-organized the kid's rooms to make way for their studies.  It always feels a little chaotic mid-way when I've got piles of stuff all over the place and haven't quite made it to the thrift store to drop off the things we no longer need.  It feels good though, you know, to clear out and lessen the load. 

My sister sent these drapes along with my husband the other night (he went to the island to pick us up some fish for the winter!) as a gift for me and now my living room is a little more cheery with the coming rainy season.  I couldn't quite believe the gift was for me when I first saw the present (no card or name-tag) sitting on my lap-top with no Dean around to ask.  I confess that I peeked, opened the package, even attempted to see if they would fit in the one window by our front door before wrapping it all and carefully putting it back where I had found it.  Turns out my sister found them in a thrift shop on the Island and thought of me and my little interest in Folk Art. Little did she know they were even drapes (she thought they were table cloths) and that they would actually fit (just barely) in our front window...

And then bangs.  A Sunday decision.  After 3 years of growing out my bangs I decided it was time to bring them back. Of course I cut them myself and as such, I'll be snipping away all week trying to make them work for me- all those little stray bits that keep falling in my eyes now.  Not quite sure I made the right decision. I've got 3 more years to regret it, I guess.  

I hope you had a lovely long weekend- tomorrow it is the first day (hour) back go school for my boys and the start of a very busy fall!  I'll be back mid-week when things get a little more settled.

Round 1

I just posted 2 of the Porcelain Vases with the Folk-Art inspired monoprints on my Etsy shop. I made 6 forms in all and decided not to put all my eggs in one basket by glazing them all at the same time. I really like the subtle pale transparent blue highlighting the drawn design, but was surprised that my turquoise stain turned more on the dark navy/grey. I wonder what would happen with other stain colours- must do a test tile next...

New directions in clay

This past year hasn't given me a lot of time for veering off in new directions, trying new things and gaining new inspirations. It's been a lot about making my 'trademark' designs of Poppies and Ginko stems and shipping them off to galleries and shops or for shows as soon as they've been made. Which is good, don't get me wrong, but as an artist at heart, I have been craving new experiments, trying things for my own inner satisfaction, not necessarily for the satisfaction of the next sale. Since there is always a reason behind everything I try, I thought I'd give you the background before these pots have even gotten in the kiln for their first firing!

Some background: Technical
A couple of years ago I had the privilege to attend a 2 day workshop with Paul Scott, the author of Ceramics and Print. It was an inspiring workshop with some hands-on approaches to printmaking and clay. I was excited about trying some of his techniques out in the studio, but with my current work evolving nicely, I set his book aside for another time. I was feeling like that time had come again, and I have been wanting to explore the monoprint technique with clay. For the most part this technique seems to work best on flat, rolled out clay where you can press down your print and it nicely adheres itself to the clay in a clean way. My way involved some newly trimmed vessel/vase forms out of this very white, translucent porcelain I decided to try a box of (a new clay body is always a good reason to try something out of the ordinary with). Using only stain and a little water brushed onto a smooth surface, I left it to dry while I drew my inspirational Dutch Motifs onto the smooth side of tissue paper. Gently placing the tissue onto the now dried layer of stain I redrew the pattern with a pencil. When you lift off the tissue, the drawn line appears underneath with the stain and you can transfer it onto a damp piece of clay! I found it helpful to use a scraper over the tissue, and although my lines didn't transfer on perfectly, there is something really fresh about the drawing on the clay.

Some background: Pennsylvania Dutch Folk Art Book
I have a great Aunt who was a potter living and working in Ontario. Years ago when she found out that I was taking a ceramics class at college, she started shipping me supplies, books and even a wheel that she didn't need any more in order to inspire me to keep at it. I still use several tools that she sent me on a daily basis. One book I have from her is called Pennsylvania Dutch American Folk Art and it's filled with images of furniture, quilts, tin crafts, pottery, and etched glass, along with these beautiful and simple motifs of animals, flowers, people and designs. Also in the book are drawings my aunt made of some of these motifs or patterns that she was planning on putting on her own pottery. My great aunt phoned me recently, just to talk pottery with me. She lives in a care home and is no longer mobile, but her passion for pots is still just as strong.

I'm hoping to put these pots in the kiln and will glaze them (pretty minimally- probably just my celadon glaze on the inside and over the edge and either clear on the bottom or unglazed) over the next week. Will post the results later, but as always, appreciate your thoughts and feed-back!