Week 7 - It's Finished!

 Well it looks like I missed two weeks of blogging about my progress on The Octopus. I kept telling myself that I was almost finished, and if I kept working instead of writing about it, I would be done sooner. Only I kept finding more work to be done. The good news is that I am finally finished with this piece! I put the backing on yesterday and photographed today. That last 10% of any project is always the hardest. I took some nice photos earlier today.
The entire background was filled in with the same shade and texture of blue to keep it uniform. After much agony and wanting to add more color to this piece, it just wasn't working. I scaled back to just let her shine. I love it.

Let Them Figure it Out - Week 4

On the porch where I do my clay work, I have a little table for my 2 year old to paint. When we stay home, painting is one of our outside activities (and I can sneak in a few minutes of mosaic time). Yesterday, my little lovely says, after about her fourth painting, "I want to paint mom". And she decorates my arm, and her face and arms with gobs of paint. I had to laugh and let her do it. Just watching her paint with no rules was quite liberating. She mixes the colors in ways I never would. Dirty brushes go into the paint jars. Clean water buckets get filled with clay and rocks. Its amazing. I just watch and learn. There are no boundaries here, it's quite nice. She knows no different. Why wouldn't you put a brush filled with black paint into a jar of orange paint? Well, I have my reasons, but I'm going to let her do it her way. And I think this is pretty great of me! I don't step in and tell her to do it my way. So many parents try to control the way their kids do things. I say, as long as it's safe, let them figure it out.

I love being a stay at home mom. It is the hardest and most rewarding job I've ever had. I never imagined how wonderful having a little child would be! I love the changes that have taken place in my life. My daughter makes me laugh all the time. She is my little light shining all day, with funny sayings and an adorable face. She thanks me with hugs and kisses, and dirty hands. I wouldn't trade back for anything.

Here is Week 4 of The Octopus. I feel like I  made a  lot of mistakes in this past week. For several days I have created and torn apart most of the background. I am having trouble with getting the color combination right at the top. I've been playing with blues and greens, creating patterns with the colors. I just can't seem to feel comfortable with it yet.

Bleeding for my Craft

For some reason I expect more from myself  in a week's time.
This past week I got the outer frame done. More pink glass beads! It's exquisite! I also started the sea background and placed some pieces at the bottom for sand. I'm not sure yet about the bottom ones, maybe I want more contrast. It takes a long time to get all those little pieces in there! And today I cut my finger, which is
not unusual. I meant to take a nice bloody photo for the blog,
but forgot and washed my hand. It's not so gory without the
blood there.

Anyhow, here is a photo of The Octopus - Week 3. She is going to look so great! I need a name for my new creature. Originally I thought it was a him, but now with the teal and pink.... I am just not sure. Any suggestions? Ophelia? Opal? Oscar?

I also made progress on my Bug Boxes. I got the handles into the styrofoam and ready for plaster. However, with the weather changing so much... I am not mixing plaster in the cold or the rain. No Way! It's supposed to rain late today and tomorrow. Maybe I can plan for Thursday.

The Octopus - Week 2

Here it is!  Week 2 of The Octopus.

I reworked the tentacles and I'm almost happy with the way they look. I like the way they break the frame. After looking at an older piece, Meredith the Mermaid (below), I asked myself why I didn't frame out the mirror and decided to try it for this one. My fear is that is is too gaudy... too many beads... too girly. But sometimes girly is good! I will probably have to rework the tentacles again on the bottom part of the piece to allow for the frame to be more consistent.

This weekly check-in and taking photos gives me new perspective on the artwork. It looks different on the table in front of me vs. on the computer screen.

Meridith the Mermaid

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The Octopus - Week 1

Happy New Year! I am going to post a progression of my newest Magic Mirror, The Octopus. Here is a photo of the preliminary drawing and starting the head and tentacles. It will likely change shape as I continue to work on it. I am so excited about this new piece! It is coming together pretty fast. Sometimes I get really inspired by a shape or creature and can't wait to bring it to life. Just imagining the  Jelly-like movements of the Octopus, swimming in the sea. It may sound crazy, but I love to spend time with him!

This first set of tiles, for the Octopus' body, were done with the red clay back in 2010 http://anneinclayland.blogspot.com/2010/02/studio-time.html. The textures came from metal hardware that I found somewhere, and it was a good test on red clay with this glaze. I am running a little short on tiles, so I may have to amend the picture from the original drawing. That's fine. It will look great.

I need to fire my kiln again soon... the tiles I glazed last week were somehow painted totally the wrong color. I am not sure how this happened! Ugh! Apparently I wasn't paying attention. One great thing about ceramics is that (sometimes) you can glaze over the old glaze and re-fire the piece. If I fire them by Thursday I can use them to work with over the weekend... assuming I got the color right this time.

Slow and Steady

Some of you have been asking how my show went last month...

I enjoyed setting up my table and meeting some really great people. I can't say that I made spectacular sales... just one! But one is better than none, right? It was dark and cold, I can't expect miracles. But the outdoor show circuit is a better fit for me than the gallery circuit. I did a gallery show in 2009 and just didn't feel comfortable there. Plus I had no control over how my work was shown and was pretty upset with the way it was displayed. The Alive After 5 show in Sanford was a good place to start, and I think I had a good spot - right next to The Wine Bar! I even bought a beer from the guy next to me and made friends for the night. So it was fun. The crowd was lively and supportive of my work. I got a lot of positive feedback from people, just no buyers that night. The artist next to me said November was a better month for sales, as she is a regular at this venue. I will try again. And I think a daytime show would better represent my work - no fighting against the darkness and the cold. Now I just have to motivate myself to do it again.

I have started a new mosaic. Yes, back to the Magic Mirrors. I actually drew this one out about a year ago before finding my mentor for the slipcasting. Today I am firing the kiln with some new tiles for the new mirror. I look forward to piecing it together and another beautiful work of art to grace your home.

And another great thing happened today. An old friend wrote me to ask about a mosaic she had seen previously listed on Etsy, as she wanted it for her new baby girl's bedroom. I feel so happy to get this piece to my friend. I love to make artwork, and yes, I want to sell it. But the main thing is for other people to be able to enjoy it and appreciate it. I make these pieces partly for myself - to bring my visions to life. But also, the art needs a good home where someone will love it. Goodbye Seaside Lisa. May you love my dear friend and New York City.

Two Studios are Better than One!

Ceramics Studio

Two studios are better than one! I'm actually surprised at myself for getting this far. It took me so many years to get my ceramics studio up and running. I guess you could say years of procrastination, fear, and saving the money to get my kiln hooked up and repaired. It's hard to save a lot of money when you're just getting started in the world and not paid a large salary. Slowly I saved and accumulated materials to fill up my space. Small purchases and "trash to treasure" items over time, has led me to quite the inventory! And now that I have a small supply of mirrors, tiles, and peppers, it is high time I get this stuff out to the public.

Storage and Finishing Studio

After making my first sale on Etsy last month (Hooray!) I realized I have no place to pack and store my work. Well, it turns out we have this neat little space in our utility room that was hidden underneath mounds of wires, broken computers, computer parts, stereo parts, empty boxes, wires and... did I mention wires? Apparently it was a storage room for my husband's "projects in progress" and most recently, "projects on hold". And because I have such a love for projects, I decided to take over a part of the room. The idea of organizing this mess for my own benefit was very appealing to me and I think it was completed in three days. I wish I had taken a "before" photograph because it's hard to imagine the transformation now.  And although I am still sharing a good portion of the room with tools and trophies, it feels good to have a place to finalize and store my pieces.

The best part of this takeover, as strange as this may sound, was taking those old computers - SIX of them! to the recycling center. It saddens me to see people leaving out electronics for the trash each week. And saddens me even more that the workers will take them to the dump. There are harmful heavy metals in old electronics, and they should be disposed of properly. Next stop: Metal Recycling!