New Paintings

These are the paintings I have been laboring over for weeks. To all who were expecting flowers in a vase, so sorry to disappoint, I did start one, but became so bored out of my mind that I had to plaster over it. The first and only one was fun because I had never painted one before, but I can now see that it is not for me. I love abstract because it is a way for me to get close to spirit and paint what I am not able to verbalize. Does this make any sense? When I finally broke through my old patterns of doing things these are the paintings that came. I used Venetian plaster, acrylic, graphite and pastel and varnish. They were so fun I got lost in them. One day I painted for 11 hours with just food breaks, now I call that being in the groove. Both paintings are 12" x 12". The tip top painting is called "A Thousand Views of A Spirit in Motion" and the middle painting is called "Nine" The last photo is a close up of "Nine". There are a zillion layers and I sanded and scraped and plastered and drew and carved and burnished. If you enlarge you can see more of the detail. Very labor intensive. I hope you enjoy them, please let me know. Happy Saturday! XOXO

Bowls Dressed and a Spoon And a SALE

It has been a busy week! I spent a few days in Santa Fe with a friend and I have been working on paintings, mostly I have been plastering over them, as I am trying new things and most of it is not working, but I never give up!

I got my new bowls back from the kiln today and wanted to share. Each one is hand built (which means I don't wheel throw them) each one is porcelain and one of a kind (no two are ever alike even if they look similar). They are all food safe! Over in my ETSY shop I am having a Christmas in July sale, until July 31St all items in my shop are 10% off, even new items. I will be listing these new bowls this week, but if you would like one or would like to know more about them (like size or cost) just email me or leave a comment on this post. If you want one I will list it reserved in your name. To get the sale price just type INJULY in the coupon code box that comes up at check out.

Please let me know what you think of the new pieces. I always love your insight.

Have a creative and happy Tuesday! XOXO

More Inspiration

I found this quote today and it struck my heart, thought I would share:

Don't bend; don't water down; don't try to make it logical;
don't edit your own soul according to the fashion.
Rather follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.-Franz Kafka

MERCILESSLY, he said.
This I am doing and this I will continue to do :-).
May you as well.
xoxo

Animal Wednesday, A Call for Help

Please go here: A Place to Bark and make a donation, anything at all will help. The wonderful Bernie who has rescued a zillion dogs and cats and saved their lives is in need of your help. If you love animals and I know you do, please go and give what you can. And blog about it too, get the word out that she is close to losing her animal shelter. Thank you! XOXO

Sunday Inspiration

I am a big fan of the writer Jan Frazier and whenever I need a shot in my spiritual arm, or feel anxious or sad I go read one of her essay's and always come away feeling full of grace.
Here is what I read today:
Jan Frazier April 23rd, 2011 -->
Open the Door

On the other side of the familiar is the extraordinary.
Have you always known this was so?
That quiet hunch, that there is more to you?
More to life than the day-to-day absence of satisfaction?
Everything a door, every wall an opening, on second look.
Every floor a trapdoor.
Every solid thing you lean against, a thing on hinges.
When you walk through and look back, it’s gone.
When you drop through and look up, there’s only sky.
You are floating but nothing’s holding you up.
It isn’t the way it appears to be.
You aren’t what you think you are.
When you think you’ve got it, and you put your fingers around it,
your hand comes up empty.
There never was anything to be afraid of.
Outside the room of every terror,
someone is looking in the window, smiling.
That’s you.
Give it a go. You don’t have forever.
What if you had only a day in which to do
the one thing that matters?
Today is the day.
Don’t try too hard to figure out what this means.
Smell something burning?
It’s the inside of your head.
Just let yourself fall backwards.
Never mind wondering if you’ll be caught.
Be quiet.
Let yourself rest from all the effort.
It isn’t a dream.
It’s real.
You are the dream.
Know what you know.
Open the door.

I hope you enjoyed this thought provoking bit of writing.
I am off to work on paintings I have been struggling with for weeks. I went to an art show last night and was very inspired by a Taos artist named Tom Dixon. Hopefully some of that inspiration will help :-).
Happy Sunday! XOXO

More Naked Bowls

Just for fun I thought I would show you my new bowls (and a spoon), they are not glazed yet.

I am really enjoying making the bowls, but right now I am currently hard at work on a painting.

I am really missing Zeus and Spike and B around here, but trying to keep my spirits up with art, funny movies and hiking with friends and Zoe and Max help a lot. I hope you are all having a great week.

Love. xoxo

Animal Wednesday

I think we need a little humor around here. This is a photo of my darling furbaby Zoe, and my boy Max, Zoe is a bit of a nut and this is her under the rug, Max is fascinated :-).

I tried to get a photo of Zoe peeking out, but I was not fast enough. Happy Animal Wednesday!

xoxo

Zeus

The best dog in the Galaxy passed away this evening. It was not planned. We had a normal morning, he went on a hike with me and did fine, but when I returned home from work, he could hardly stand and could not walk. I knew with no doubt that it was time to say goodbye. My heart is broken, I will miss him more than words can say, but now he is free. XOXO

New Bowls

I finally have finished bowls to show you. The tip top bowl is the inside of the finished bowl from the last post and the second down is the outside of the same bowl. Then the finished vase from the last post. The rest of the bowls are done and from a few posts ago when I showed them naked and dressed, now they are fired. All of these bowls will be going to my ETSY shop soon.

If any of you would like to know more, like size and cost or if you would like me to reserve one in your name in my shop, just leave a comment here or email me (see side bar). Let me know if you like em :-). Happy Tuesday! XOXO

New Work in Process and Hodgepodge

I know it has been a long while since I posted, but there has been a lot going on around here!

These pictures show my process in making a bowl and a vase, one step at a time. Start at the bottom and work your way up: first I wedge the clay which means I get all the bubbles out which is impossible, but you have to try :-). Then I roll out the clay just like dough. Next photo shows the clay being formed into the bowl, this take some time and a wee bit of effort to get it all even and the right thinness, then I cut away the excess clay. After it sets for a while I lift the clay out by the cheesecloth that keeps the clay from sticking to the bowl, this is the tricky part because if you do it too soon you may ruin the form. after I remove it from the bowl the real work begins, I have to smooth it out and get rid of all signs of the cheesecloth unless I am making a bowl which shows the texture, then I just smooth out the inside. I also made a vase with the coil method, the third photo shows the last coil (clay rolled up into a small cylinder shapes) being applied. The coil method is by far the slowest method, you have to attach each coil and smooth it out. The last three photos are of the pieces after I painted them with underglaze. Then I clear glazed parts of them (not shown) and they are now being fired in the kiln. I wanted to show you the finished pieces, but I won't get the fired pieces back until Tuesday and I did not want to wait that long, so this will be a two part post.

In other news: Many of you have sent me emails of concern because of the fires raging around Taos. It was touch and go when the fires were threatening Los Alamos where the government has labs that contain deadly toxic chemicals, but they have the fires under control now and I think all will be well soon. The smoke has been awful, and I am sad for the forest and all the animals, but we are still here :-).

Also update about my dog Zeus. He is amazing. His legs are getting weaker and I know we are lucky if we have the weekend, but I never know with him as he keeps rallying. Everyday is a gift and I know that.

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and a Happy 4Th of July. XOXO