Pages 10/10/09

A final batch of Day of the Dead hand painted ceramic skulls. They were ALOT of work, but worth it. It's so cool to see them all together. To the left are a few covered with glaze waiting to be fired. Next week I'll get them into the kiln. My November show and sale is fast approaching and I am beginning to feel the pressure.

Final Skulls

Pages 10/07/09

These are my ceramic pendants finally packaged. I am really pleased with the final overall packaging. I ended up making my own packaging backing and painted them and cut them myself. I think I still might stamp the outside boxes to add even more to the design.

Pages 08/15/09

This is my messy art table out in the living room. My husband suggested I get this table one day when we were at Michael's. He thought it might be a good thing to get all my art stuff off the coffee table. ;-) So, this is what I do in the evenings while we watch TV - I finish off artwork and do whatever needs to be done.

I thought I'd show you some of the projects I am finishing off. I don't like to work on one thing too long, because I bore really easy! I have about 10 things going on at once here. The bisqued moons you see here were painted with outdoor paint. Last night I started adding details to them with a Sharpie oil paint pen. You can see them closer in the photos below. I'll work on these quite a bit more. I will add details to the eyes, lips and cheeks and will most likely go over them with some sort of paint treatment so the pattern isn't so 'in your face'. Once done, I'll seal them with sealer and embellish with beads. I'll show you them as I go.

Also on the table are Day of the Dead magnets which I packaged in small zip bags. All that's left to do is make some sort of tag on my inkjet, so they'll sit there for a few more days while I get around to making the tags.

There's a candlestick I started working on. I have a box of 6 to do, and this is my prototype. I work out the pattern before I do the rest. This shape is very tricky, but I think it's working. I still need to complete the top portion, but got bored and moved on to something else. lol.

To the right are a couple of wine toppers that went through the kiln a second time due to a bad glazing. I finished them up by adding the corks. These are ready to put into inventory. Behind the corks are the tops to two boxes that need another coat of transparent glaze as I did a 'patchy' job last time. The glaze I use is on the table to the far left. There's also an ornament that got stuck to a kiln stilt. Doh! I had to file it down with that long white rectangular tool you see sitting on the desk. The bad spot will need to be reglazed and fired again. Once it fires it will be as good as new.

Lastly, there's a box to the right. These are the boxes I ordered to package my 3" button ornaments out. I was testing the ornament to make sure I ordered the right size! The wire you see near it is what I am going to use to make a hanger from. I take a bit of copper wire and curl it around to make a really neat hanger.

Oh! Nearly forgot! The purple square you see to the right by the moons - this is photo cube I made from leftover clay. They've been high fired and painted with acrylic paint. I poked holes into the top before firing. Last thing I need to do is add multiple wire curlies so you can add photos. I have it on my desk to figure out what size wire gauge to buy. I'll post them as I finish them.

So, that's it. Those are all the small projects I am finishing up. As you can see, there are alot of small finishes that need to be done before a project is considered complete. Another side to the creative process.

Pages 08/08/09

Another kiln firing. Still working on ceramics rihgt now, preparing for the November Pottery Sale I am in. It's ALOT of work. I made 40 bottle toppers and painted about 24 pendants, 8 small skulls among a bunch of other things! The ornaments came out really nice, as well as the pendants and the two little boxes. Still more work to do, almost everthing you see in black and white needs color painted on.

Pages 07/14/09

I didn't paint this painting, but I just won it on eBay and I am thrilled. I've admired this artist for sometime and I finally won a piece. This painting is titled "3 Boats on the Water" by artist, J. Rudy. There is not alot of info for this artist but I found this gallery with examples of their art. Below is a detail of the piece showing some of the cool collage elements that are hidden in the painting. Awesome work. I can't wait to get it.

Pages 07/02/09

Here are a few of the ATCs I made when I had friends over for an ATC night. It's been awhile since I did traditional collage and it was fun to get back into glue and paper. I had to explain how to make ATCs to a group who had never made them before and it was a challenge. Most people had a tough time not 'over thinking' even though I told them to relax and do whatever first comes to mind. After making a few, people finally chilled out and got it.

I never plan my collage. I go ahead and use items that call out to me and I try to get people to do the same. You never get anything done if you stress over the blank page!

We plan on getting together every third Thursday, and next time we've agreed to make Matchbox Shrines.

Pages 06/20/09

A strange digital collage ATC. All put together in Photoshop.

Pages 06/16/09

I spotted an image of mine in the Somerset Studios, Creative Impulse Newsletter. It's one of the twinchies I made for an ArtChix swap which is now in an ArtChix collage sheet. Here's a link to the how to, and the video. Enjoy!