Green Coil Project

This was the shape that I began with, don't really know what inspired it

I have that song "Apologize"  by One Republic going through my head right now. I feel real crappy about the delay on the Coil Project, I have only myself to blame. I don't know what I was thinking giving myself a deadline right at the beginning of school. I have the piece done and at the studio to be fired I just have not gotten over there to glaze it yet. TO DO list for this week! Promise! So, just to whet your appetite...here is a picture of the creation of my monster....

Adding Coils

Finished! It has another neck growing out of the other side, just did these pics with my phone. I wanted to smooth out the whole thing so bad, but my instincts kept telling me to calm down and keep the coil texture. You can see where I did have to end up smoothing some though.

My process started with the funky shape, building up the coils and letting them slowly start to sink back on themselves. This is tricky because if you add to many to fast it will collapse, so you have to do some, let it get a little leathery and then add more. The "necks" I had to add a day later after more drying by using slip and mucho patience.

Don't really know what kind of glaze I am going to go for yet, just going to let the choices inspire me. I really do want something very organic and natural though, because I see this piece going in the garden and letting some vines start to grow in and out of it.

 Whatcha think?

*on a side note, just read back over the post and realized there is a heart shape that was unmentioned. This is my daughter's take on the project. She made a cute heart shaped bowl, will post her finished project as well.

Pot Update + Recent Paintings

I thought that while we are waiting on the Coil-Project due date I would update you on my recent paintings as well as a fun photo of me "pottting".  Photo by Lily (age 8) I dropped it off to be fired and will hopefully glaze it at some point this week. Since I do all of my work at home, I have to fire elsewhere which leaves it to the fates on how fast it will be. So, fingers crossed it will be ready by deadline!!!!!!

For my Pregnant friends I have been doing a number of baby room oriented paintings

This has been a very productive couple of months for me, and I have finally started to really love making art just for the journey instead of the destination. Once I started doing this, I noticed my attention to detail becoming more pronounced (up from none at all) and that I actually crave time alone uninterupted to create. Which, drumroll please.....Will be next Tuesday when I take BOTH kids to school for the first time!!!!!!! Next up on the agenda is starting the Sketchbook project...Must start soon! My theme: In Flight!

Clay Play

This is our first 3D clay project and it is going to be FUN. Here is the basic premise; cut out a piece of paper or cardboard in a crazy free-form shape. Then, using coils build up letting the clay take you where it wants to go.  I love doing this because no matter how much you plan, once the clay starts to develop it's own shape it could turn out to be anything (and most likely inspire you in a certain direction).  The only rules are that you must start with the shape of your choice, any size you are willing to develop (fire, glaze) and that you use coils, no slabs. 

For this project everyone is welcome to participate, at the finish line we just ask for results to be emailed to one of us for posting on the site. The time limit on this project will be 1 month, which puts us at deadline on the 19th of August. If that sounds like not enough time for you, please do the project anyway and send us results whenever, we will still post them!

If you have any questions feel free to ask, I am flexible and would like to keep it as open as possible.  Meaning you can do just about anything you want...:)

Lonesomeville: Creative Inspiration

This might be the next painting on my roster.

Lonesomeville? No, I'm not talking about a sad country song. Lonesomeville is where I've been throwing my pottery the last several months. An old farm house, built in the late 1800s, sits nestled away on an acre of land in South East Portland. The good people that live there are always in motion, beautifying their surroundings and bringing the house back to life little by little. While I've been working there the past few days, I've witnessed them cast & glaze pottery for the business, while insulating and dry walling 2 rooms that had been down to the studs on the second floor. Cooking dinner, painting, scraping up linoleum... Their gardens are simply amazing (see sample flower above) , and someone is always cutting the lawn, or harvesting vegetables, planting, cutting... always moving. I'm fortunate enough to get to play in their studio space and I can't really articulate what a pleasure it is. Throwing open the double carriage house doors and emerging myself in clay, it's the most peaceful thing.

Part of the mission of this blog is to share inspiration- talk about the things that make us want to create. My creative mind has definitely been the more forward thinking side of my brain lately. It's a strange switch, and I'm still trying to adjust from a scheduling perspective (I'm very similar to my friends at Lonseomeville, I don't really stop moving either), but I'm really enjoying it! Carrying a sketchbook for our last project was a good catalyst. I sketch a lot more and jot down notes and ideas. I can pinpoint moments and connect them to something I'm working on and planning to work on. I'm giving more time to the process, instead of just pushing for the finished product.

While I was putting my plates out to dry, in the sunny garden bed

I had one of those inspirational moments.

The shadows that the flora cast on the plates were stunning! I've really been trying to think more about the decorative part of the pottery and this is a great solution. Using plates and platters as a vehicle for painting has long been one of my favorite creative expressions. Maybe it's my need for functionality and efficiency in all that I do? Anyhow, I ran back to the studio and grabbed a plate that had already been bisque fired and came back to the garden with paint brush and new test glaze in hand. Here's how they looked before being fired:

I'm so curious to see how they look when they come out of the kiln later today...

Pottery Trial and Error

Here are a few pictures of my adventures...and misadventures in the pottery studio. I'm cranking out work for an upcoming sale, so it's been all about repetition and moving quickly. The challenge of clay is that there are many places in the process where things can go wrong. As you can see in the first picture, the bottoms blew off a few of my pieces in the bisque firing. Here you can see how they look before they're trimmed. Trimming is a great way to eliminate excess bulk/weight from the bottom of the pot and it also allows you to give your pot a more continous shape.


This last photo shows a glazing mishap that has rendered these bowls useless. I'm thinking that maybe it's time to experiment with a mosaic project. Besides, who doesn't love to smash things with a hammer once in a while?