Spinning the Clay Fantastic

Spring 2012 Sale

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 21:00:00 +0000

Here are photos of my display for the Spring 2012 sal.

Painted pieces and the last of my wall hanging vases. Yes, those are dragons. It is Year of the Dragon after all. The blue dragons on the side are water dragons.

More skull pieces. Surprisingly the boy skull plates sold and the girly skulls have not. Yet.

I have a lot of lovely red bowls for sale. As of Saturday night, only one has sold. Ah well.

More bowls.

And some heart shaped turtle coasters, as seen in one of the previous posts.

I'll update this post after the sale!

Purple Hippo and latest sculpture

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 05:05:00 +0000

Here is the 3rd hippo that was commissioned. I used the Coleman Purple glaze and actually got a reddish purple.

He turned out well.

Now, my mom has requested that I make a few open mouthed frogs... oh the list never ends.

Currently, I am working on a Elf Maiden sculpture for a friend. I need to get her arms done and hair, of course. And ginormous ears!!!

Here is a close up of her face. I think I'll open up her mouth and try to make her more smiley.

New Painted Pieces for 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 05:55:00 +0000

Some new pieces that just came out of the kiln.

All these pieces will be on sale (with the exception of the Red Dragon slab plate) next week at Blossom Hill Crafts Annual Spring sale.

February Work

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 05:34:00 +0000

Baby Hippo, made for my mom. I will have one more hippo to make after this for a friend. She wants it as a bowl for her cat's food.

Here's a side view. The hippo's body was made with about 2-3 lbs of clay. The head and mouth parts too. This one is about half the size of the first hippo I made.

As you may have noticed, I've been a bit quiet on the blog since January 16. Well, I kept hurting my back while exercising (dead lifts first and then some high impact jumping). So, my throwing was kept to a minimum.

Right now, I've got a few plates to paint as well as some slab work. I'm really into painting right now, so making slabs is a quick way to create clay canvases to paint on.

Now, I need to make a few more slabs and plates and then start mass producing bowls for a red firing in April. Yes, I have to prepare for these things this early!

Happy New Year! Honey Jar

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 04:28:00 +0000

Happy New Year! Well, I am starting off the year with a honey jar made for a friend. You can see the jar in its leather hard state. In the photo above, the cylinder laying on its side is a glaze sample. When the honey jar is bisque fired, I'll be using the Ohata glaze which is a lovely rusty red.

Here is another view of the jar.

The other project I started was another hippo for another friend. After this, I have a number of items to make (3 custom plates, creamer and sugar for my cousin's bridal shower, yarn bowls for the store and for my mom's friend). I shall be quite busy in the next few months. And I am very happy about that. I just hope I have some time to do this sea-horse sculpture that is floating around my head and yes, that was a very bad pun... And the creature is more like a horse in the front with a fishtail rather than a real seahorse. I will keep you informed about it!

Finished Hippo Candy Bowls

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 20:10:00 +0000

Hippo Candy Bowl #1

Hippo Candy Bowl #2

Hippo Candy Bowl #1 and #2

The customer who ordered the hippo was very very happy and picked it up today. I still have the second one (the one on the right or Hippo Candy Bowl #2), but I have a few people interested in it as well.

They are pretty darn cute.

Hippo Candy Jar

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 06:07:00 +0000

Here is one of the Hippo Candy Jars that I made. I was commissioned to make one for a man who wanted one for his wife. As advised by Joanne, the owner of Blossom Hill crafts, I made two. Just in case.

This hippo took about 15 - 17 lbs of clay to make. The body is completely hollow. The mouth is where the candy (jelly beans) will go. There are holes on the bottom of the hippo's feet that lead into the body part. That way we won't get any explosions.

Once the hippo was a bit dry, I started underglazing it with Western brand underglazes. I'll have to take a photo of the interior of his mouth next time so you can see the uvula. Now, I didn't make a hole between the head and the body just in case a stray jelly bean slipped through the hole. You'd never be able to get it out!

There's his cute little tail.

I'm currently bisque firing this hippo. He and his twin will be cone 5 clear glazed over the weekend. I can't wait to see them when they're completely done!

Gandalf and The Treewoman 2

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:25:00 +0000

Gandalf is finally out of the kiln. He turned out quite well, if I do say so myself.

The shadows/darker parts are all from the firing process. I didn't put any glaze or slip on him. Just put him in the kiln and had him angled so that the flames hit him on the staff side first.

And here is The Treewoman 2. In looking at her, I thought that if I make yet another one, I'll be sure to have more action with her arms. Maybe ones that go around and loop more. Still, I am pretty happy with this one. She's happy.

Underglazed plates

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:36:00 +0000

These all came out of the kiln last night. Blue Bird of Happiness

Medusa

Another Skellie and Rose

Unicorn - done for a friend. I really do not plan on making more of these.

More Yin Yang Kitty plates. All but one is sold.

And I think that may be it for underglazed plates for this year.

Gandalf is cooling in the Wood Soda Kiln. I'll be seeing the results on Saturday. Fingers crossed!

Hippo Candy Jar

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:50:00 +0000

Last night, I put together the commissioned Hippo Candy Jar.

Here's his gaping maw for a bag of jelly beans.

Another view.

And of course, he has to have a tail.

I will underglaze this guy and then cone 5 fire him.

I will also make a second one just in case this one doesn't turn out.

As a side note, Gandalf's staff on the bottom was broken off. My bad for leaving him at the studio instead of bringing him home. However, I have the piece, so I will be firing it and then glue it on. Fortunately, the break happened right under his hand and the joining can be hidden.

More Underglazed work

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 04:55:00 +0000

I have been busily painting since APE. Most of my recent painted plates have all be commissions which makes me very happy.

Here are some painted plates:

Yarn bowls:

With the exception of the Brown Bunny and Blue Bird yarn bowls, all of the pieces here have been sold. I have 3 more yin yang kitty plates that need to be finished up and one of those is sold. All in all, things have been going very well for me in the pottery world. I am currently working on another commission, a hippo candy jar. AND wood firing season starts up next weekend. I can't wait!

Tree Woman 2, teapot and Skellie Sculpt 1

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 22:00:00 +0000

They're all out of the kiln!

Here's a closeup of the Tree Woman 2. I painted celadon glaze all over her. Some of the greener areas are where the glaze was thicker. I do need to photograph this one more professionally. Very happy with how she turned out

The little bell shaped teapot. I will have to get a handle for it. Maybe this weekend.

Finally, my first skellie sculpt. I'm going to paint her with acrylic paint. Should be fun!

2 bowls and the next Skellie Sculpture

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 19:51:00 +0000

Threw 2 bowls last night. One is for a set for my Aunty. The other is with the leftover clay. I need to smooth the edges of the rim.

Here's the second Skellie sculpture. I need to add her arms and the bird next. And, it's kind of top/back heavy. I think I'll put her arms toward the front so that it will be more balanced. I'm still wondering about adding some hair to the top of her head. Will see.

Skellie girl sculpture

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Here's the Skellie girl that I sketched out before. I had to make some changes in order for there to be stable, especially around the neck.

It's a fairly small sculpture.

I think I will fire it to cone 10 and then I will use acrylic paint on it.

Here's the bluebird and a close up on her hand.

A close up of her face.

I have another skellie girl sculpture in mind that I'll probably work on tonight.

Current work 10/18/11

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 20:22:00 +0000

Some new plates to paint. Most are already spoken for. Only the snake is not a commission. And that plate dried funky. It's oval and not flat. My bad when I put it out to dry. It wasn't exactly balanced properly on the other plate it was drying upon. So, I thought it might be nice to make something 'new'. This might go into my personal collection.

Skellie girl with Blue Bird of Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:40:00 +0000

Sometimes, I get an image in my head and it will not go away. This can be a good thing sometimes. But, when I am tired from sculpting and have no energy to continue, well, then I just have to draw the image out. Since Gandalf is done, I think I'll spend tonight's work time to making the above image into a sculpture. I will have to make a few changes since having bone skinny pieces of clay would be fragile and likely to break. But the general gist will be there.

Gandalf statue part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 16:38:00 +0000

Here he is, all put together. I think I could have added some detail under his beard to show the neckline of his robes. Still, I am pretty happy with how he turned out. And his hands make me really happy.

The only thing I am concerned about is the connection point of his staff to his hands. I think there is potential for breakage on his arms in general. We shall have to see. Right now, he's in the process of drying slowly. I think I'll keep him drying until right before Thanksgiving. That's when we are firing next. Survive, Gandalf, survive!

Gandalf statue

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 05:20:00 +0000

I worked on the Gandalf statue tonight. He now has a head and a hat. I'm actually quite pleased with how he's turning out. This is the first time I've sculpted a male. I think I've done a better job on him than I have on the ladies I've made. Maybe this is a sign for me to do more male sculptures.

Here's a close up of his face. You can't really see the age lines I've put in his face. The flash sort of washed it out.

Here's his profile from one side.

And his profile from the other side.

Now, I just have to figure out his arms. I do know that I want his left arm upraised and I think I'll have his right arm bent and curled in over his stomach. The left arm could cause issues with sagging or just plain falling off if I'm not careful in how I attach it. Hopefully, I will get this done this week.

Gandalf

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:58:00 +0000

A few years ago, I was very much into the Lord of the Rings movies. I made a candle holder that was carved with a pattern similar to Gandalf the White's staff. My aunt bought the candle holder.

A few months ago, Aunty came to my place, looked at my sculptures and said, "You have to make me a Gandalf to go with my candle holder."

So, a few weeks ago, I made the base for the sculpture. Last night, I added wrinkles to the base. Now, I have to add the head and arms and such. That will be this weekend.

Alternative Press Expo

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 16:11:00 +0000

This past weekend, I sold a few of my painted plates at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. Well, more than a few. Enough to cover the table fee plus a little extra. If anything, it was a great way to meet people and hopefully get my name out there.

Hopefully, some of the people I met will start following this blog.

So, tonight, I plan to work on my Gandalf sculpture for my aunty. We'll be down one teacher, so I'm not sure how much work I can get done on it.

I'm also not sure if I'll be able to take photos of the sculpture in progress because my phone has been refusing to take photos of late. Sigh... I will have to get the photos off of the phone before it's too late.

More updates later!

The Mermaid and the Sea Turtle

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 23:32:00 +0000

I've been working on my painting techniques on slabs. I've been using thin coats of acrylic paint to get some of the effects here. I'm pretty pleased with how this turned out.

Here's what it looked like before the paint.

And here's the Phoenix that was carved before. I applied acrylic paint to this one too.

Why the acrylic paint instead of underglaze? Well, with these two, I fired both slabs to cone 10 because they are made of Southern Ice. Yellows and pinks tend to burn out at that temperature, so I wasn't sure how to finish the slabs. After experimenting with watered down underglaze, I decided to try it out with acrylic paint. (Originally, I tried a dry brushing technique on the phoenix, but it just did not turn out right. So, I refired the phoenix to 1800 degrees or so to get the paint off. Surprisingly, the yellow stayed (all that lovely cadmium). Then, I was able to add the color the way I like.

Tonight, I probably will do more work on my Gandalf sculpture. AND I get to unload a kiln to see how my other slabs turned out!

Busy busy busy

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:38:00 +0000

Well, the September sale at Blossom Hill Crafts is done. Next year, we will have the sale a bit later in the month which will hopefully mean we get more customers. Having a sale on the 10th anniversary of the attacks of September 11 may not have been the best timing for us. At any rate, I am busily getting ready for the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco, October 1-2.

I have a few more plates to paint and I'm finishing up some carved and underglazed work. I'm trying a more water color look instead of solid blocks of color AND I'm going to fire the porcelain to cone 5 instead of 10. I think I need to switch to cone 5 porcelain. I don't know if it will be any cheaper, but it might take the glaze better and well, it's meant to be finished at that temperature.

At any rate, here are my latest carved pieces:

The Spiderwoman. Yes, this is the same pattern as was on an underglazed plate. I wanted to try carving it and seeing how it would turn out. There is some issue with the face and the height levels of what I'm carving. Thank goodness for the learning process, right? At any rate, I need to do some fine tuning on her, but she is almost done. Talk about cutting this to the wire! I have to get this all painted up by Sunday.

And here's my Asian Dragon. After discussing some of my underglazed work with a fellow potter and noticing the brush strokes and how not all the blocks of color were solid, my friend said that she was using some very thin coats of underglaze on her pendants. So, I decided to try this on a larger scale and see what happens.

It looks pretty cool now. We'll see how it turns out once it has been fired.

Happy Tree Woman

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 20:33:00 +0000

Last night, I finished sculpting my Happy Tree Woman. I should probably come up with a new name for her.

I really like this latest version.

Here is a close up on her face. I think I need to work harder on making these faces better. I do like this face, but there is always room for improvement.

This weekend, I've got the annual Blossom Hill Crafts sale. And then I've got the Alternative Press Expo in October. Busy busy busy!

Oh! And if you haven't noticed, I have actually created a website to see my current work. Some of it is for sale, some is not. That information is found in the 'info' tab. Enjoy!

The Spiderwoman platter and more on my latest sculpture

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 03:31:00 +0000

I realized that I hardly ever post pictures of my finished work. So, finally, you can see what one of my underglazed platters looks like when completely fired. I like this design. I think I'll have to carve it into a slab of porcelain and add some underglaze to it. That will happen after I finish my latest bunch of plates.

So, on Tuesday, I added a head to my latest sculpture. The face was kind of fun to make, but I still need to work on getting faster and better at making heads.

Here's a close up. I've decided that I wanted to keep playing with expressions on my sculptures. Blank faces don't interest me as much anymore. Can't wait to get started on the rest of her details.

Surprisingly, my office will be closed for the Labor Day holiday on Friday as well as Monday. As my weekend is all filled up, I get to 'play' on Friday. Yay! Will post photos of how it turns out.

Latest Sculpture

noreply@blogger.com (Marlene) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 00:12:00 +0000

August was not a very productive month for me, mostly because I was in Hawaii for the first two weeks of the month. However, I came back inspired and ready to make more stuff!

The Knitting Room was running out of yarn bowls, so I made about 2 and a half bags worth of stock. Unfortunately, of the 14 I made, I've lost 3. Ah me...

I've also been accepted into the Alternative Press Expo, so I made a few more plates to paint. Egad, where does the time go?

I threw 6 plates, one squared bowl and 3 more yarn bowls. Unfortunately, they were too wet to trim today, so I got to sculpt. Yay!

I threw the body of this sculpture almost 3 weeks ago and today was the first time I got to work on it. I'm using the Dark Brown clay and will add a celadon glaze over it once it's done. For the face, I think I might use a different clay (BHC which is kind of a warm honey colored clay body when completely fired). Should be fun.

I have really enjoyed making the folds of the dress look like the trunk of the banyan tree, so I'm continuing with that sort of look. I'm looking forward to adding some interesting details on this one.

For my next sculpture, I'm actually going to branch out and try to make a male figure. My aunt would like a Gandalf like sculpture, so that is what I am going to go for.