Flowers with spiky petals and crawling vines...

Here he is. The crazy monster eater. I just finished the flowers and vines. I wanted his shoulder area to look like the top of a cake. I can't decide if I want to carve the body or leave it the way it is now. If I do carve it I would imagine it being carved with a diamond design not an actual image.
Any ideas?

My monster eater has flowers in his head...

I wanted to imagine something to take away the monsters in my head. I wanted it to be something ferocious and as wily as the monsters. So far here he is...
He will have flowers coming out of the back of his head and down his neck, finally resting on the platform or shoulder area.

Finished pieces

Here are a couple of the finished sculptures from last week.
I glazed the small head with a cone 6 shino type glaze called nutmeg. It is a lot darker than I expected put I am quite pleased especially with the monsters.

The rabbit has the turquoise glaze that I have been working with. It turned the black slip blue. I am not as pleased as I thought I would be at the result but Will really likes it.
Working on some crazy new sculptures for this week and of course pots.
I have been meaning to post a tutorial here,
but I haven't gotten to it yet...maybe this evening...

A different approach

I have been asked to do a couple of Face Jugs for a show in August. So I made them in my traditional way with the black and white checkerboard background and a funny, calmish face.
But then I thought maybe I should push the envelope a little. I have been doing face jugs like this for a couple of years. So I decided to incorporate the latest "Monsters in my head" theme and here is the first result. I think I need to make the face more expressive but I am pleased with the heads swimming around on the back.

Hey Jafabrit!
( for those of you who haven't seen this blog, Jafabrit is an amazing artist! take a look!)
Here is the link to the items I am selling on e-bay. I have been meaning to make an etsy shop but time has gotten the better of me. My seller name on e-bay is pottingshed.
Leanne
Thanks for posting!

Carved Rabbit

I wanted to see what the rabbit would look like carved and here is the first one.
I like the carved effect. It reminds me of my rabbit when I was a girl. Her name was Chocolate Chip. I called her CC. But she was of course black and white and had a dramatic look to her fur.

Still can't get away from the somewhat melancholy look on the rabbits face...maybe it is my mood and not the shape of rabbit's mouth's in general.
I did like though the way the carved rabbits share legs and the tail with the actual sculpted rabbit.

Head Lice

I decided to post a finished version of the 2nd attempt at Head Lice...or the crazy monsters in my head series.
I still think I may make another one similar to this with a totally black face because I liked that better. The dark black suits my mood better than this. Here the face almost looks happy on the right side. The lines looking too much like eyelashes. Let me know what you think!

2nd attempt

I wanted this face to look bewildered and confused. It is hard to see...I had a hard time photographing the black. I can't decide whether to carve the face of leave it all black. If anyone has an opinion let me know! I would love to hear from you.

Ever feel like.....

there are monsters in your head screaming for all they are worth, making you feel damaged and strange? Well, this week especially, I have a couple of resident monsters and they are having a heyday laughing and talking about all my little insecurities and gigantic failures. Instead of crawling into bed with a book and sadness, I made a couple of sculptures trying to get it into clay how it might look in my dreary head. Here are the first ones.

Rabbit Family

Here is the finished rabbit family. The 2 small babies are rattles and make a cute metallic sound when shaken. I have been working on more sculpture. I seem to have caught the bug....more on this tomorrow. Dinner is a callin!

Rabbit

I made a little rabbit just for fun but liked him so much I have made 3 more. Trying to get back into work mode I thought I would start with some fun sculptures. I just got back from California and it was really amazing. The beauty of the sea, the rolling hills, the mountains, the flowers, the BIRDS, was all just gorgeous.
I was lucky to be have the sweetest hostess, Diane Owens, who would rival even the most considerate southern belle.
We had the first show at her lovely house in San Diego where I had the chance to meet all of her sweet friends. We had such a good time and I even made some shrimp and cheddar grits for them to taste. Then we traveled up the coast to Templeton where we stayed with a wonderful family for another show and then on to Santa Cruz. I saw seals and lizards and scrub jays on the way up the coast. We swam in the surf and watched surfers actually surfing instead of doing what they do in NC ( sit on their boards and wait).
We went to Moonstone Beach and found moonstones...It was a wonderful trip! I still am amazed to be back home looking out my window in the country and not seeing the coastline of Cali. Sigh.

Pendants, ornaments, and mermaids

So, I have been continuing to experiment with linoleum tiles and the turquoise glaze. I really like what I am coming up with. the copper settles just right in the deeper lines and makes every feature stand out. The glaze also lends itself to a watery idea and that makes it perfect to use on the mermaids. I also have been working on making some little tiny tiles or pendants for my trip to Cali....yes! I am going to California!
More on that to come...

Mermaids

I've been making more mermaids and these little mermaid rattles.
I love the way the hair looks with the turquoise glaze, almost like seashells.
I want to continue with sea creatures, and have made an octopus rattle....but he is a little iffy so far. We will have to see how he survives in the kiln.

Bluebirds and owls

I have been loving seeing the darting bluebirds when Me and Will go for a walk. They like to nest in the newspaper boxes underneath our neighbors mailboxes.















And the owls...well...they are always a favorite!

Show pics and an update on new projects

Here are 2 pictures of the show last weekend at the Greensboro Curb Market on Yanceyville Street in Greensboro, NC. This show was the yearly spring Pottery Festival. It is sooo much fun to be able to see so many different potters together in one place.
I had a blast!

































Here are some new greens that I was working on for spring. These 2 linoleum cuts were made for a paper printing. But don't they look amazing with that new green/ turquoise glaze that we made up?





















And this is a new slip that I recently was playing around with. It reminds me of that 70's avocado green with a bit of a yellow twist. I love the hummingbirds in the green.

New work.....

A peacock platter. these taker me forever to carve.













New bird girl. This one was fun with all the skirt ruffles and birds. These birds will actually detatch and be able to be worn as little pendants.






























a couple of bird rattles.















and the mermaid all finished.

Bird King

Here is the Bird King. He is about 14 inches tall and will sit alone at the show. He is part human and mostly bird and can change at will. He still has his wings and I have him wearing a bird mask though in the story he has his own beak. He also has breasts because ...well...I like making them. And I love the way they look on him with the busy wings in the back. He looks androgynous and that was what I wanted for now. I think he will evolve as I keep recreating his image.









































Here is a bird I made really just for fun.
He will be an experiment with a different glaze for this project.
It will be a gold/ yellow with a tinge of green.

Bird girl glazed

Here is the first bird girl after glazing.
I really love her from the waist up. The mixture of the green and the pinkish brown is really sweet. I also love the way the green gets darker in the crevices and bring out her features. I don't however, like the streakiness on her legs. Mr. Pizio says that he is mediocre at best with the green. My intern for the semester wasn't that enamored of it at first but likes it better the more we look at it ( agreeing with the streaky issue ). What do you think?


The conundrum is that I have quite a few of these built. I want them all to have the same glaze. My intern has made glaze tests for colors that I have been thinking of but unfortunately the tests are limited. It is hard to imagine what the colors will look like on the actual pieces. So I have to use the pieces as tests sometimes.


I may be remaking a lot of work....sigh.....