Trip

I had the best time on my trip to Tennessee!
Lana Wilson and Margaret Bohles were am amazing team of teachers and I learned so much.
The Appalachian Center for Craft was also amazing. The food was to die for and the center was on a little island far away from civilization or so it seemed. We never saw a car except the ones the staff drove. It was quiet and peaceful. Definitely a place to find inspiration.

When I go away, I leave a piece of art behind for someone to find. This time I left three at the Appalachian center. Here they are:


Hopefully someone will find them and give them good homes.

We got the chance to make a few pieces while were there. Here are the best 2 of mine.











This is an alter for our new house. The new place is called Stealing Crow Farm and the house is actually named Stealing.
In the top window there is a feather with Bird Girl masks all over the top tier. Then there is a crow(of course). The next window is me and Will's feet together and then the bottom has the stamped letters Stealing Crow. There is a dogwood tree carved in the front because we love them so much and the new yard is full of them. I really like this piece and cut the back so that it can hang on the wall outside our front door as a welcome.

This box below is another nasty head bug box. I has a working drawer and inside the drawer is a little doll. This one was so much fun to make. I had a blast with it.

Before I leave....

I wanted to put up a couple of pictures of recent doings.




































I was blessed to have a visit from Mouse aka Grey la Gran, Agent Grey herself as she traveled across our fine state to her parents for a visit.
We had the best time eating, drinking and of course...crocheting and knitting. I had started a little crocheted sweater for the spring but had only finished half of one side. But with a little encouragement from Agent Grey, I finished!
Here it is!





















She was working on some wonderful projects. A very inspiring visit for me!







We have been moving into a new home this week...really for the past month.
More on that later. I just can't bear to think about all the things that aren't done yet. We are truly beat!


And lucky me! Right in the middle of the chaos I get a brief reprieve. I am going out of town to take a workshop with Lana Wilson, a potter favorite of mine. The class is at the Appalachian Center for Crafts in Tennessee. I am thrilled to go with a good friend and gallery owner Christina Brown...creator of a wonderful shop called Just Be.
We will be back on Friday evening and I will post pictures of the work we create.

Roosters, Monsters, and Fish

Here is the front and back of 2 rooster pieces I made for the gallery.
The bottle shape is just what I was looking for and will make more of those today. I am still trying to push the forms a little. I want to work on more interesting shapes, trying always to make a shape that is pleasing but also takes to the carving well.

And since the monsters haven't neglected me, I felt I had to include a drawing of them. This is an image of them crawling out of my head as I sit naked on the floor. It is harder to see this piece on the camera but when it is fired I think the image will be stronger.

















And here is the beginning of a dresser top that will go in our bedroom. It is very raw, I have only just begun, but the colors are singing to me. Koi fish are supposed to be lucky so hopefully they will bring us good fortune and happiness!

The new and the Old

So apparently there is a big thing about rooster sculptures...that I didn't know about but got a call from a gallery, Select Southern Pottery, for carved rooster pieces and decided to give an actual rooster a shot. Here he is in his cocky glory. My friend John Malpass, potter extraordinaire, first tried his hand at it.
( i have to admit that John's rooster was the great inspiration for my rooster...Thanks John!)

These are photos of work I was doing when I was 26. Mad and angry work and encouraged by a book I was reading at the time. I can't remember the exact name of the book but something along the line of The Devil and the Idea of Evil....anyhoo, I was reading this section on the witch trials and Lordy did it make me mad! There is a whole series of these including cups, bowls and plates. I have most of them in the attic because really...who wants to be reminded of these atrocities when trying to digest food?