A doe a deer

Another watercolor that I did last night.  I put it on the computer and cut it out, then added the solid background.  Not sure why I am doing these, just a change of pace.

Fired the kiln (again)!!!

John and I have been so busy preparing for the upcoming shows that we are in.  We were able to fire two glaze loads and one bisque load over the past week.  Last night I started a third glaze load and this morning I started another bisque load.  With our new kiln we are having to learn a little as we go.  There were some great pieces that came out and some not so great pieces.  Hopefully, they will get better every time.

One piece that didn't make it was one of my people pots.  I small crack opened up around the lady's neck.  I was really disappointed because this is a double people pot (very time consuming) and it was glazed with the Saturated Metallic, which I never use on my people pots.  But, they now have a happy home in my flower bed at the studio!

I know these aren't for everyone, but they are all very personal to me.  It is weird how one can become emotionally attached to the work they are doing.  But, I have been asked to have five pieces in a show at the Royal Bean in Raleigh for the month of October.  They are doing a "Dark Art" theme and I guess some would view my work as dark art, especially my funeral urns (not sure why...).

There is a positive side to these kiln firings and that is that John and I have finally mastered our favorite glaze: Pennell Strontium Matt Glaze.  I mix the glaze from the raw materials, which is kinda like baking a cake.  But it is very finicky and has to be fired to an exact temperature so that we get the effects we want, but it is not running off the pots onto the shelves.

I have also made a ton of jewelry pieces and will be posting these to my website : www.liquidambar.artfire.com a little at a time. 

The first show is this coming Sunday, October 4th, in Chapel Hill from 1-6pm.  I am just hoping for some weather like today - perfect!

And since my blog wouldn't be complete without a picture of "nature" - here is a picture from Sunday morning by the front deck. Thought it would put us in the October mood.

The Wild Life

Ok, back when I was a teenager the "wild life" would include all kinds of things that I would never tell my parents about (although they always knew). But, now I am amazed at all of the real wild life that is around me every day. The studio is a perfect place for nature lovers (and both John and I are).

We were busy at the studio working all weekend, but every time we turned around there was another interesting creature. We woke up Sat. to see a cute little Bambi, still with it's wobbly legs. Didn't see Mama, but we knew she was watching us.

Later that evening we took Biscuit for a walk and came across a box turtle in the drive way. Biscuit was very curious but stayed her distance.

This guy was posing for me.

And then while we were taking a break from our artwork we came across this beetle. I felt like someone was watching me all day!

I can't help but start to think of all the forms, colors and patterns that are in nature. My mind starts going in a hundred different directions and I come up with a hundred new ideas that I can do with my art. Wouldn't you want to see that beetle about 6' tall made out of concrete that you could climb on? Or the turtle made out of stained glass?

Alright, I need to stop coming up with new projects and finish some that I have started. Who knows what we will see next? And what great projects it will inspire!