Latest Little Quilt

This started out as a sketch for a tile. Next, it got turned into a mold for a tile. Then, because I liked the design, I turned it into a little quilt. I used holographic threads on the blues. It doesn't photograph that well, but I wanted to at least suggest sun shining on moving water even if I couldn't reproduce it. 

This week's pinch pots

I'm starting to get better shape with the pinch pots and the rim is better. I'm not where I want to be, but I'm doing better than I was. 

Putting the molds together

If you need molds for clay, it's best to be married to a wood pattern maker. Jim's a pattern maker by trade. He made me great molds and helped me "attach" the clay to the bottom of the mold. I tried using his pattern maker tools, but the best tools turn out to be my thumbs and a wooden tool. 

Taking apart the molds

This one came out better than I had hoped. There was a lot of detail in this tile and it transfered to the plaster better than I had hoped. 

Parked Cloud

Thursday morning started out like this. Then it rained. Then it hailed. Then it snowed. Instead of warming up, it got colder. Very strange. Still.... I think there's a quilt in these photos somewhere. 

New Tiles

Last semester, I made some stamps to press into tiles. I used these three to make three more kinds of tiles. I wanted two of each design. I know the two won't be absolutely identical, and I'm trying to avoid a cookie cutter look to my work. 

Plaster to be poured later this week. 

Cleaning The Cruddies Off The Tiles

I cleaned the cruddies off the tiles I made last week. I'll be pouring plaster on these later this week. Note to self: incised lines make for lots of cruddies. 

Little Pinch Pots

I started making small pinch pot bowls last semester.  I like the bowls, but I'm not happy with the quality of my work. I had some time today, so I made some pinch pots paying attention to craft. I'm not where I want to be, but I'm improving. 

Little Quilt In Progress

I used my new fancy threads to stitch down the pieces. Now, I get to look at it for a while and think about how I want to quilt it and if I want any beads or any other goodies on the quilt. 

Great Art it Isn't. Great Bread Pan it Is.

^10, B-Mix, Pete's Copper Red. Yes, those are the cat paw appliques on the ends of the pan. Jim held Escobedo's foot in the clay so I could make a cat paw stamp. 

I had to add a coil of clay to the inside of each of the corners to keep the pan from cracking when being fired. I use this pan in a pre-heated oven. Never had a problem. Butter the pan well, and the very best bread comes out. Great crust, great color. 

A Tile Is Born

I took my sketch book on the cruise with me and did some sketching almost every day. I started by sketching what I saw, then playing with the lines. The end of two week's sketching is above. I originally planned to use black stain for the incised parts in the curve of the swirl and the swirls on the two stripes on the edges. I was planning on using underglaze for the rest and glazing with a clear glossy. 

After I made the tile out of clay, I realized that wasn't a practical idea. So.... now I'm asking all my clay friends for any ^6 glaze that's the blue/green of the sea near Cozumel (photo below). 

This design will go on the wall above the end of my whirlpool tub. There's no water hitting this wall, so I don't have to worry about waterproofing. 

The tiles made by pressing my thumbs into the clay (see photo below) will go on the wall behind the stove. I want something that's easy to clean and will be decorative in that little space. I'm thinking along the lines of something iridescent for a glaze. 

My Scale Drawing

I used a quilting ruler to make the 6" square and the 1" strips on the top and bottom. Then I drew on the rest of the design. 

Getting All The Tools Out

Jim made me a 6" square tile mold. He put draft on the edges so I'd be able to get the clay out easily. I line the mold with plastic wrap, drop in the 6" slab of clay, put the block on top, and hammer on it with a rubber mallet. 

In Progress

Because I was going to "applique" clay onto the tile, I rolled out a very thin slab. I cut out two 6" squares and used my tile mold to make squares. Jim made the mold with draft on the edges so the clay would release from the mold easily. I smooshed down clay around the appliques, smoothed, smoothed, and then smoothed some more, and finally drew the lines in the swirl and on the two end pieces. 

Ready to put away for the moment

I have to clean the cruddies off of them and make sure there are no clay crumbs in the incised areas; but for the moment, they are on my shelf, nicely wrapped in plastic waiting for me to come back and finish them. After that, I will be using them to make the plaster molds for the tiles. 

I had planned on making four of each tile. The two on the bottom are made by pressing my thumbs into the clay. These will be the tiles for behind the stove. I'll make two more to make four molds. 

The two with the design are a happy accident. I was going to make all the tiles go in the same direction. But I wasn't watching what I was doing when I made the second tile and made a right and a left. I like how the tiles work together. I'll make another right and left so I can make four molds. I thought by using four molds, I could make a number of tiles all at once plus the tiles would have subtle differences in them. 

Antigua

I had fun talking clay with the woman in the pottery shop. 

St. Kitts

An amusing little town with low rider motorcycles. 

Grand Cayman

Watch out for the turtle with the peg leg. 

Cozumel

I want a ^6 glaze that matches that color of water in the photo. I will test any and all recipes sent to me and post photos of the blog of the results. 

This was Cozumel, a high end city on a low end island. While NAFTA did increase individual "wealth", Mexico is still a very poor country. 

We did find lovely bamboo towels here and bought some. They will be shipped to us and I can't wait to get them. It was great fun to walk into the bamboo shop and show off Jim's bamboo socks and my bamboo dobby cloth slacks - both hand dyed by me. 

Boat Lag

It's like jet lag, only different. We've home from a two-week cruise of the Caribbean. While on the boat, I became seriously relaxed. No back spasms. The compressed nerve in my leg decompressed and healed. 

We flew out on 12/31 and I had forgotten that on the holidays, the inexperienced pilots fly. Oops. I failed to buy earplanes and the pilots (we flew El Paso to Houston to Miami) failed to properly regulate the cabin pressure. I blew out an ear, and I still can't hear in that ear. Yes, the ear has been seen by a doctor. The ear drum is intact. It's dull rather than shiny. There's no infection but there is swelling. There is also impatience on my part to get this misery over with. 

There were mirrors all over the ship, so I was constantly reminded of how much weight I've gained. I worked out on the elliptical machine on the ship 9 of the 14 days we were cruising. Now to keep that up at home. 

I'm in the process of downloading and sorting the photos. I'll post photos when I'm done. 

In the Miami airport, I not only found earplanes for the trip home () but I also found some local murder mysteries. Whooo hoooooo! All in paperback and all in my bag waiting to be read. 

Jim's Sculpture in Progress

The photos were taken in the scene shop at NMSU so you have to ignore the background. These are some of Jim's extrusions. Even the people were extruded and altered. Jim's going to be doing some carving on the wood base and the sculpture is meant to be on the floor. He calls it "Family Outing."

For the Birds

I've been feeding the birds for the last few months. Jim took some metal, his welding skills, and made a lovely little house for the bird seed offered in one of Jim's plates. We've been getting finches, dove and quails. 

My Work In Progress

I wanted to try my needle and hand on square beads. I think these are roughly size 8. Having deep seeded magpie tendencies, I was immediately attracted to the shiny copper beads. 

More Beaded Cuffs

Latest Cuff

The last time I went to the bead store, I found beautiful ice blue beads and deep blue beads. I thought they looked great together. I tried working a pattern, but the deep blue beads are smaller than the ice blue. Why on earth can't there be standard sizing with beads? Anyway, I played around and this is what I came up with. It needs a clasp, but neither Jim or I can find the little buttons I made in clay class. 

Dyeing And The New Bathing Suit

I hand dyed some cotton lycra and turned it into a two piece bathing suit. I used a sports bra pattern to make the top (which has a bra built in) and an exercise wear pattern for the bottoms. Alas, I neglected to remember that greens are adversely effected by sun screen. I don't tan - I just turn bright red. Oh well. If it is really bad, I can always over dye. 

Rhodochrosite

Rhodochrosite, which is also called Inca Rose, is the national stone for Argentina. It took me a while to figure out just how I wanted the necklace to be, but I finally got it done. I'm not sure what the black and white stones are. There are small, square, copper colored beads between all the stones. 

The Painting Progresses

Jim's painting is progressing. Here's another interim look at the painting in progress. 

Shalom

A few years ago, I discovered my maternal grandmother’s horrid German was really Yiddish. My grandmother had learned those words from her maternal grandmother who spoke Hoch Deutsch. This part of my family is from East Prussia and all business in East Prussia was conducted in Hoch Deutsch. But at home, they spoke Yiddish.

There’s a direct maternal line from East Prussia to me. I am Jewish. Even though I was raised Catholic, Jewish is what I always was and always will be. It’s who I am and it’s encoded in my genes.

Neither Jim nor I grew up in a happy home. Both of us were raised in a violent, alcoholic environment. I don’t recommend this. We survived, but not without lasting wounds.

I used to go into a deep depression from the third week in November until New Years. Holidays in my home were horrible. There was fighting, yelling and crying. And that was just the holiday meal!

Jim once got a Christmas present from his father; an IOU for a present.

We now live two time zones away from family. Christmas was easier, but it still brought back a sack full of bad memories for both of us. I tried new traditions and made Christmas Knishes. The bad memories still came and haunted us.

Hanukkah is a much nicer holiday. It comes without stress and without horrible memories. It carries no emotional baggage. It is not Christmas and I hope it never is. We went to a public menorah lighting during Hanukkah. It was wonderful to hear Hanukkah music and to celebrate being Jewish instead of hiding behind a smile.

I am surrounded by clerks who wish me Happy Holidays, Christmas music, and people who assume I celebrate Christmas. They mean well; I must not snarl at them no matter how I feel. I remind myself of the joy of the public menorah lighting and return the good wishes.

Sometimes, I can use the moment for education. I was asked recently if I were ready for the holidays. I said I was already having my holiday, it’s Hanukkah.

At work, I handed out Hanukkah cards and Hanukkah gifts rather than Christmas gifts.

If you celebrate Christmas, I wish you the joys of the holiday. I wish for you the erasure of all sad memories associated with Christmas that you may have.

For all of you, I wish you shalom – the peace that goes far deeper than the absence of hostility. I wish you the peace that permeates your soul and heals the hurt inside of you. 

Latest Beaded Cuff

I started combining beads in a specific order and something interesting happened. I now need to figure out the clasp for this one. 

Jim's Painting In Progress

Jim decided he wanted to work really big this time. He paints with oils and I think we might have to install this one on the ceiling.  

Hanukkah In Mesilla

Yes, that's a large Catholic church behind the gazebo on the Mesilla Plaza. The large star is from the Mesilla Christmas Tree. It was so much fun to be out in public doing something Jewish and listening to Hanukkah music. Jim went with me and he had great fun eating the wonderful latkas. 

Beaded Work In Progress

Yes, I know those are threads dangling. It's not done. I started playing with beads and had one pattern in mind. Then I though... I wonder what would happen if I did this..... And this is what happens. Can't wait to get it done because I have another experiment in my head. 

Maybe This Bowl Isn't All That Bad

I found a free pattern for fabric bowls online and gave it a try. I did fine up until I got to the part where I used the serger for the top edge. I think I have a major tension problem and I should have serged a test piece. I was going to give up on fabric bowls, but the more I look at this, the more I kind of like it. I will need to do tension adjusting for the edge. The orange on the edge is the fuzzy type thread that one uses in the serger. I like how it works. 

Art For Kids

On this one, the waterfall brown ran a bit. I used slips on the bottom with clear glaze and I used a commercial glaze and waterfall brown n the top. It's made in two pieces, but they sort of glued themselves together in the firing. I'm about done with this project. I like the colors on the bottom. I like the shape. It's nearly 3' tall. 

Art For Kids or Why Won't This Glaze Run?

You'll have to turn your computer to the side to see the top photo. For the life of me, I can't get the sucker to rotate when I post. Oh, well. I used waterfall brown, which is supposed to run. I put it on thick. I did all the little tricks. It didn't run. That's me and runny glazes. Glazes that will run like Jesse Owens for others stays put for me. Sigh. 

I used a fiber clay with this piece and did clay "appliques" in places, carved in others. The waterfall brown was supposed to run and do fun things around the sticky outie parts of the piece. 

Perhaps next time. 

Gas Kiln Firing 12-5-09

Here's what came out of the kiln. I did a lot of experimenting with glaze and glaze combinations. I also experimented with designs for three tile installations I want to do. This was a pretty successful firing. I like what the clay did and I like what the glazes did. I tried a bit of a reduction starting at ^02 and ending at ^1. Then I fired in oxidation to ^6. 

The Pig Snout

As much as I like the idea of this sculpture, I'm not wild about the way it turned out. This is a fiber clay and this is the second large sculpture that cracked in the glaze firing. 

Pinch Pot Experiments

Shots are looking down into the bowls. Some are large enough to drink from, some are tiny and some will make wonderful M&M bowls. 

Tile Ideas

I played with design and with glazes to see what I liked. I want to do a tile installation in the powder room, the master bath and behind the stove. 

Bead Pots

I'm still working on perfecting the design of the bead pots. I'm trying to figure out just how big the funnel on the top needs to be in order to pour beads from the bead bowl without beads escaping and running all over the room. 

Glaze Experiments With Bead Bowls

New Bead Bowl Design

I used a small bowl as a slump mold for these bead bowls. I'm still working on finding the right design that will make pouring the beads into the bead pot easier and still be a nice shallow bowl for holding the beads.