If I stay quiet, I'll be safe

What to do with the bowls I threw. They aren't the right size for food. I decided I'd glaze the inside and write on the outside. This one says: If I stay quiet, I'll be safe.

I think that if I put the hurt inside the bowl, I can dump the hurt out and won't feel it any more.

Yes, I did grow up thinking like this. It probably saved my life.

Blankie

I needed to take a break from emotional art work so I thought I'd do something just for fun. Turns out this is emotional art work, too. I got out the reversible quilting book and learned how to do a reversible, quilt as I go type quilt. Then I proceeded to put an almost noticable dent in my stash of leftover fabrics. I had originally intended to make a quilt for use when taking a nap on the sofa.

When I was a little kid, my grandmother made me a quilt from all the leftover fabrics she had. I would look at the quilt and think, there's my blouse. There's my stuffed toy. There's my pajamas. This quilt I just finished is like that.

The quilt is a fabric version of comfort food, hence it's my blankie. And.... it's more emotional art.

Brand New Veggie Garden with Ceramic Pots

The crops are planted. Here in Southern New Mexico, it's warm enough to get the tomatoes and peppers in. The peppers are sweet and should turn from green to red. The tomatoes are a slicing variety to be used for sandwiches, marinara sauce, and salads.

The circles in the center of each photo are not stepping stones, they are an old, and hopefully good way of keeping plants watered. They are ceramic watering pots. The unglazed pot is buried in the ground and filled with water. The glazed top keeps the water from evaporating. Because the buried pot is unglazed, the water seeps slowly through the pot and waters the roots of the plants. That's the theory, anyway. We're about to find out if they actually work. One pot is made from the red clay body we use in class. The other three, as well as the lids, are made from EM 200.

The garden was planted and the pots filled on Wednesday. The red pot was empty today and the three white pots were only slightly down. I'm not sure if this is a property of the clay or if that part of the garden was particularly dry.

In one of the shots, you can see something that looks rather like fat grass. It's NOT a weed. That's some garlic that Jim put in a few months ago.

Where we are, the ground is probably 95% sand. Great drainage but horrid for trying to grow anthing. Last year, Jim laid out the rail road ties, filled in with bags and bags of potting soil, and welded up a fence for the garden. We live in the desert and have lots of rabbits which come and eat anything that grows. The only way to have a garden is with a sturdy fence.

Newest Sculpture Experiment

This is the most recent sculpture experiment. I dipped the piece in harder celadon and did a second, shallow dunk in ghost ranch blue. For every other student, ghost ranch blue runs to the point of nearly flooding the kiln. I thought sure that the ghost ranch blue would run and make lovely color designs on the piece. Nope. That's the extent of the running. I've no idea what I'm doing that keeps this glaze from running.

For the ceramists reading this, I used B-Mix, fired cone 10 reduction.

Adventure

While I was on the cruise, I spent some time most days sketching. I'd go up on the top deck, and I'd sketch whatever I happened to see. One day, I happened to see a sliding wood panel on the bar. Slide the panels to one side, bar's open. Slide the panels across the bar, bar's closed. Of course the panel had a port hole - this was a cruise ship.

I thought about that port hole and thought about how some people look out the window and peak at adventure. Some people go out and seek adventure.

I thought some more, and came up with a design for a ceramic box. The back side is the sun jumping out of the ocean first thing in the morning. Sunrise is remarkably fast on the ocean.

May you go through life seeing and finding adventure.

Translating Born On The Wrong Side Of The Blanket

In case you're not familiar with the phrase, it was a polite way of saying something quite rude. The current legal phrase for those born on the wrong side of the blanket in New York is "non-marital child." Prior to 1993, the proper legal phrase, and it was used in the statutes, was "bastard."

I'm Not There

Some people see the illusion that's externally imposed. I refuse to live that way - and I'm not there. It's a bit hard to read in the photo, but it says: Born on the wrong side of the blanket, who would find her precious?

Where The Fairies Dance

One day last fall, after an enormous amount of rain, I saw a toad stool growing under a Mexican Bird of Paradise in my back yard. I took a photo of the toad stool and sent it to friends. My former Spanish teacher wrote back that toad stool was her new English word for the day and that it reminded her of fairies. That's why I named the piece Where The Fairies Dance.

That's Clever!

Here's the purse I made for That's Clever! I was one of the artists chosen in Las Cruces to be on the show. It took nearly four hours to film what will probably be about six minutes of fame. The show will air later this summer.

Peaceful Cable Socks

I've been playing around with cables and Peace Fleece. Here's the result.

In The Creative Zone

We took a Hawaiian cruise, and for the first time in 30 years, I actually relaxed. I spent some time most days sketching. I worked out design problems with a quilt and some design problems with wearable art. I came up with a design for a ceramic piece.

This is me sketching on Fanning Island. I found an interesting piece of coral on the beach and wanted to sketch it. I had no idea Jim took this photo until I downloaded the camera onto the laptop.

Ceramic Buttons on the Vest

These are some of my ceramic buttons. These are from high-fire clay and the glaze was fired at ^10 in a gas kiln. I thought I was going to get something else, but these were a kiln surprise. Then again, kiln surprises are what make working with clay fun.

Close Up Of Details of Vest

I used a generic vest pattern, and played with stitches. For the life of me, I can't remember what I did to get this pattern, but I do remember that I had fun doing it.

My Latest Vest

I started playing around with some yellow Peace Fleece, some funky yarn from Unravel (where I have my work for sale) and some hand-dyed yarn I bought at the Renaissance Faire.

Wood Buttons

Jim has been busy the last couple days. Now, he's working on making wood buttons. If you're interested in buying any of his buttons, please contact me at debthuman@zianet.com.

Jim's Latest Needle Cases

Jim spent the day making needle cases. All but the one he made for me are for sale. The one he made for me is a special size - just perfect for my felting needles.

$20.00 (USD)

If you'd like to purchase a needle case, please send me an e-mail at debthuman@zianet.com.

Artful Socks

Cotton and acrylic. The foot is made from cotton.

$60.00 (USD) plus shipping.

If you're interested, please e-mail me at debthuman@zianet.com

Peaceful Socks

Both pairs are made from Peace Fleece, a wool/mohair blend. Peace Fleece is wool that's made from a combination of fleece from sheep raised in Maine and sheep raised in Russia.

Hand wash cold water, lay flat to dry. DO NOT PUT IN THE DRYER!!!

$60.00 (USD) plus shipping.

If you're interested, please e-mail me at debthuman@zianet.com

Artful Socks

Wool, rayon, mohair and cotton. The foot is made from cotton, so it's a remarkably comfortable sock. These are tube socks and will wear longer than socks with heels in them. In hand knitted socks, it's the heel that wears first. With tube socks, you simply rotate the sock, and there's no heel to wear out fast.

Hand wash cold water, lay flat to dry. DO NOT PUT IN THE DRYER!!!!

$60.00 (USD) plus shipping.

If you're interested, please e-mail me at debthuman@zianet.com

Jim's Needle Cases

These are Jim's latest needle cases. All are for sale and each is $20.00 (USD). To order, please contact me by e-mail: debthuman@zianet.com.

Yard Art

When they grow up, they will be solar powered fountains. For now, they are yard art.

Kadish

Regardless of our beliefs, death touches all of us. We all lose people we love and we all will die. We all experience loss and sorrow - no one is immune. This piece is named after the Jewish prayer for the dead. The pieces on top of the box actually fit into holes in the top of the box.

Misfit

This piece has a square peg fitting into a round hole in the top of the box. There are lots of misfits; Albert Einstein, Van Gogh, Georgia O'Keefe, me. We're the people who see things a bit differently and never quite fit in.

Conforming Misfit

Some misfits try really, really hard to fit in... but we never quite manage to conform. That's why there's a round peg that fits into a round hole in the top of the box.

In God's Image

Woman was created in God's image.

In Memory of my sister, Christina Marie Griffasi

1962-1997
I still have a hard time dealing with my sister's death. I thought making this ceramic doll would help. Her foot was mangled in real life, too. When she was a little more than a year old, my mother watched as she played in oven cleaner. After cleaning her off, my mother put the oven cleaner soaked shoe back on her foot. For hours, she yelled at my sister to stop crying. Finally, after at least four hours, she took my sister in to the hospital. My sister had second and third degree burns from the waist down. Her foot was burned the worse.

I had put holes in her hands because I had originally thought to put ski poles in her hands. Christina went skiing with friends and after watching her tear wild down the mountain, her friends asked her where she learned such great hot dogging. Christina told them she never learned to ski. The last run of the day, there was freezing rain. Christina went down the mountain with her eyes closed. That was my sister. She wasn't afraid of life.

Melonoma killed her in June 1997. My mother decreed that no one should tell me that my sister was sick or that she died. A friend called me to let me know that she had seen my sister's obituary in the paper.

How To Buy My Art

If you are interested in buying any of the art pictured on my blog, you may e-mail me at: debthuman@zianet.com or visit Laughing At The Sun Gallery in Mesilla, NM (www.laughingatthesunmesilla.com) or Unravel in Las Cruces (www.unravel-yarn-shop.com).

Renaissance Faire

Jim and I got juried into the Las Cruces Renaissance Faire this year. Only a limited number of artists in each category are selected so this was a special accomplishment for us. This was Jim's third year, my first year. The was also the first year the Faire organizers allowed artists to share a booth. Jim's work needs to be displayed on tables, mine needs to be hung on walls.

I made the fabric panels from upholstery fabric. They need a little help. I put a pocket on the back of the panels so we could slip a wooden board into the pocket to stabilize the panels. For some reason, I didn't think to put a pocket behind each nylon cord. Next year - I'll have the bugs worked out.

Jim and his little pouffy pants

This is the third year that Jim has been juried in as an artist at the Renaissance Faire. Each year, he wants something a little different with his costume. This year's addition is little pouffy pants.

Me and my Tutu

The Renaissance Faire organizers require that artists be in costume - and this was mine. How shall I put this delicately? I failed to remember that restroom facilities consist of port-a-potties. The tutu had to be removed and the rest of the outfit is a jumpsuit. At least I didn't drop my tutu in the toilet.

Here's the inspiration

This Quilt Is Talking To Me, But I'm Not Hearing It

I woke up this morning with a quilt design dancing in my head, and I've been working on the quilt. I keep not being satisfied. I do some rearranging, then do another project so my brain gets a chance to think, and then go back to the quilt. I think I'm closing in on what needs to be done, but I'm open to suggestions.

Blue Painted Purse

For this purse, I played with the assorted shades of blue and purple paint. Then I used gold Luminere paint and quilted with a holographic thread.

The beads on the bottom are some I made in my clay class.

Orange Painted Purse

I've been playing with painting on fabric. This time, I used some Luminere paint for the copper accents. I quilted the bag with one of my special verigated threads. Then, I used some of the buttons I made in my clay class. I've been experimenting with brass and copper luster on the buttons.