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This year could not have started out any more different than the start of 2009. Completely opposite. While this time last year began with a whimper, this year has crashed through with a roar! Like Godzilla stompin' through Tokyo! It's been wonderful. So many projects simmering nicely in a giant creative stew that I've been feasting on heartily.
For starters, I have a whole pile of tiles drying and scheduled to be fired on the 20th. Then once they're glazed, up they'll go on Etsy to debut the opening of the new store. I've also finished three more horse designs (to create a set of four with that first one) along with two kitteh designs and two doggie designs. But just sose yer warned, these cat and dog tiles are quite different from the horse ones. While I plan to create "pretty" designs for these four-legged friends (like the horse designs), I have to get some nuttiness out of my system first. So, in short, the cat and dog designs are funky, goofy and a little bit silly, but a lot of fun. I plan to create two more of each, rounding out each cat and dog concept to four tiles each to create coherent sets, or mix n' match dealies.
I've been workin' on the Haffie mare here and there, too. But most of my attention has been focused on these two Brownies, a solid grey and a spotted one:
For starters, I have a whole pile of tiles drying and scheduled to be fired on the 20th. Then once they're glazed, up they'll go on Etsy to debut the opening of the new store. I've also finished three more horse designs (to create a set of four with that first one) along with two kitteh designs and two doggie designs. But just sose yer warned, these cat and dog tiles are quite different from the horse ones. While I plan to create "pretty" designs for these four-legged friends (like the horse designs), I have to get some nuttiness out of my system first. So, in short, the cat and dog designs are funky, goofy and a little bit silly, but a lot of fun. I plan to create two more of each, rounding out each cat and dog concept to four tiles each to create coherent sets, or mix n' match dealies.
I've been workin' on the Haffie mare here and there, too. But most of my attention has been focused on these two Brownies, a solid grey and a spotted one:
The reference photo I'm using for the grey solid Brownie caught my eye because the shoulder stripe, mane and ear tipping were a burnt sienna color whereas the rest of him was grey. Striking! So I hope I'm able to capture that in glaze. I also tried to play with hair texture a bit, scritching in hairs along the lower leg and in the mane, tail and ears a bit to bring that out, so we'll see how it looks when done. As for scritching, the spotted one took me a day to scritch (broken up between two days to give my hands a rest). I wanted to see if I could amplify his "hairness" by playing up hair worls and whatnot, and I like how he's coming out so far. I hope to have them both done next week, then up on Auction Barn they'll go, one after the other.
I really like working on Brownie because he's not so delicate and has lots of sturdy hand holds, making him a good "lesson horse" for a newb glazer like me. But I've been playing with a tortillion on both of them, smudging things to try and create certain effects and I'm really interested to see if that method turns out the way I'm envisioning it. Ceramics are so unpredictable. The best you can do is guesstimate and learn through trial and error, and even then, the media can throw you curve balls. So while cold-painting is WYSIWYG, the opposite is true of glazing. Quite literally, you have no real clue what you'll end up with until that clear glaze is fired! A bit like Christmas morning and a bit like a "good news/bad news" scenario. It sure makes for interesting kiln openings!
Anyway...back to the creative gorging...
"We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails." ~ Dolly Parton
I really like working on Brownie because he's not so delicate and has lots of sturdy hand holds, making him a good "lesson horse" for a newb glazer like me. But I've been playing with a tortillion on both of them, smudging things to try and create certain effects and I'm really interested to see if that method turns out the way I'm envisioning it. Ceramics are so unpredictable. The best you can do is guesstimate and learn through trial and error, and even then, the media can throw you curve balls. So while cold-painting is WYSIWYG, the opposite is true of glazing. Quite literally, you have no real clue what you'll end up with until that clear glaze is fired! A bit like Christmas morning and a bit like a "good news/bad news" scenario. It sure makes for interesting kiln openings!
Anyway...back to the creative gorging...
"We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails." ~ Dolly Parton