More from the Show

  

Pottery and Ceramics!

You can see these beautiful porcelain pieces by Sylvia Rosen at the Nathen D. Rosen Museum Gallery in Boca Raton. Sylvia Rosen is the benefactor of the pottery studio, that has made this all possible!

This past year I have been honored to be one of the ceramics instructors teaching classes at the JCC in Boca Raton. When I heard I had the position last year I was very excited as I'd be teaching classes where everyone chose to be there! I've taught adult classes before but most of my teaching has been at the high school level which means there are always a few students who end up in your class who'd rather not be there. As a high school teacher that's one of the challenges I enjoyed but I can't say that I miss it. I soon learned that many members of the class have been working in clay as long or longer than I have! They are accomplished artists in clay and other mediums. So I was a little nervous as to what I could help them with but I've been reminded of what I learned when I started in clay, that clay is so extensive that we can never learn or try everything. So we all keep learning and developing new skills. So.... have a look at some of the work you'll find at the annual Potters Guild Show this year......

I'll share more photos in another post. If you are nearby please stop by the gallery and enjoy the show. It runs through April. 

What's Been Happening in the Clay Studio

There really is truth to the saying that time goes by quicker each year as this year is already flying by. But I have been in the clay a bit ..... this isn't my usual bowl shape but I wanted to experiment with my new wiggle wire and I am very happy with this bottom. I love turning over a pot to find a nice surprise.



I also returned to one of my glazes that I found using Ron and John's Glossy Base from Mastering Cone Six Glazes. A few years ago I decided I wanted something minty green but brighter than the one in their book. I wanted to stick to a couple bases so chose one of their bases to work with as I was already using it in their Variegated Blue. From several different test tiles I chose this one and have been very happy with how it looks and works on my clay.

Here's another little dish with a surprise bottom or maybe not-so-surprise as you can see it peeking up on the edges.

 Below is a much larger serving platter that I made using Gail Kendall's faux foot technique. A clip from her video is available at Ceramic Arts Daily, here.

Here's another little dish, great for olives, using Gail's faux foot.

 

I dug out my old basket weaving supplies to try some rim weaving on some bowls. I made several of these years ago but discovered I didn't have a single one left so searched through old photos to see if I could find one to remind me how I had done it. I discovered it was like riding a bike, but with the help of some old basket patterns to help me with the rim pattern.

 

Here's my bowl with the round reed waiting for it's weaving..... and here I go....

And finally finished .... 

 I've also had some fun making a few new beer vessels. I dug out my stamps to announce 'BEER TIME' which it is almost that now.......

 Happy creating... in the clay, the fiber, the kitchen or where ever you create!

Reveal Day at Tangled Textiles

I finished my "Blue" quilt for the Tangled Textiles challenge! I ended up taking the literal approach to 'blue' and dug out all the blue fabrics I could find, sorted them into various piles.....

 

I chose a few that I liked together and added a couple of accents pieces.

 

I decided I wanted to so some fabric weaving so played with my tablet sketchbook feature doing various 'cuts' and finally cut a simple pattern from paper and cut my pieces for weaving....

 

Pieces woven together....

 

I liked that they created pot-like images but they also created fish-like images ..... hmm, which way to go?

   

Final direction could come later, for now on with the quilting. I used machine patterns for the edge stitching along the 'seams' and then free motion quilting for the squares. I'm enjoying the much needed practice I get with these challenges!

 

Now for the embellishments.... so many decisions, but I decided that I would add some clay pieces ... but which ones and where?

 

 A fish? At the bottom or the top?

 Pots with embellishments?

 

 

 

The pot direction won and I decided to put the buttons in the lower area where I felt the center of interest was. After sewing them in place I'm not sure I made the right decision. Perhaps I should leave it without embellishment....

 

But for now here is my finished "Woven Blues"..... 

 

Thanks Beverly for another fun challenge! To see the rest of the blue quilts head over to Tangled Textiles. More will be posted throughout the day and possibly into tomorrow.

As this is my first blog post of 2013 I want to wish everyone a happy New Year, hope you're having a wonderful year! I'll get caught up yet!