Porcelain Birds, Juicy Color Combos and Update
Porcelain Birds
In August, I had an order come in through wholesalecrafts.com that included several porcelain birds.
Plaster Bird Mold
The birds are not terribly difficult to make because I made a mold years ago in a workshop I took back while living in Maine. During the workshop, participants used bird illustrations from an old Audubon book and translated into clay from which we then made plaster molds. Can’t remember the name of the instructor off the top of my head, but she specialized in architectural ceramics and used molds like this to create large installation ceramic pieces. The most time consuming part of the process is allowing the mold to dry between uses and then cleaning up the rough edges of the birds.
Saffron and Tangerine
It’s officially Fall and has been for a few weeks now – it also happens to be one of my favorite times of the year. Warm days, cool nights and an explosion of color makes me incredibly happy. The leaves are slowly starting to change color here in Denver and flowers are still blooming like crazy. While there is plenty of color inspriation in my own garden, I am particularly inspired by the flower beds at my nearby park where I walk my dogs nearly every day. The colors are what I hope to replicate in developing a new glaze palette for my work.
Saffron, Tangerine and Chartreuse
I need to remember my camera next time I meander over to the park before the gardens are put to bed for the winter.
Golden Mustard and Chartreuse
Even the leaves reveal wonderful color combinations as they turn colors – I’m not sure if this leaf is from a cottonwood tree or other. The Ash tree is one of the first to change colors in the fall and one of my favorites as the color morphs from green to yellow to orange to bright crimson. No photos of an ash leaf right now.
Meanwhile, last week was one full of necessary dental and medical appointments. You may remember that I started taking a medically supervised weightloss drug in early July because nothing else seemed to be working. Quick recap – I developed a thyroid disorder shortly after the birth of my daughter in 1997 and gained a lot of weight as a result (in addition to a variety of other symptoms like hair falling out, extremely dry skin, being contantly cold, extreme fatigue, and depression). Apparently it’s a fairly common occurance for women to become hypothyroid after pregnancy or other physical trauma. Even after my thyroid levels became stable through medication and my other symptoms disappeared and regular visits to an endocrinologist & nutritionist and trying to lose the weight unsuccessfully through diet and exercise for two years – going so far as to train for and run a half marathon in 2006 and 2007 – I opted for drugs.
Anyway, I had my follow up appointment on Friday and I’ve lost 20 pounds since July and am down to a number on the scale that I haven’t seen before being diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I feel better physically and since I didn’t throw out my “skinny” clothes, I now have a whole new ward robe! That’s about all I’m going to say on the topic of my foray into weightloss drugs – now I just have to keep it off.
Have a great weekend,
~Cynthia
Deborah Woods
October 4, 2008 at 11:46 am //
If you want to make these in quantity more often, could you maybe make up a bunch, keep them moist under plastic, and then when you have say maybe six or whatever, make plaster molds of all of them, so they would become your new mold model. Then you could make several at a time.
Undaunted
October 4, 2008 at 3:08 pm //
Just the other day I was thinking about your post back in July and wondering how you were getting on. I’m glad to hear that it has been a success for you.
The birds look great too! Did you have to put your clay bird in a container and pour the plaster over it? And then when your plaster has set, do you make more birds by pressing clay into the mold and smoothing off the base?
Shawn McCann
October 4, 2008 at 6:11 pm //
The birds look great Cynthia! Congrats on your success as well in the last couple of months. It is always a great feeling when it actually works.
Linda Starr
October 4, 2008 at 11:49 pm //
I thought you looked thinner in that photo your daughter too, congratulations. Good luck with your glazing research and trails.
LB
October 5, 2008 at 7:55 am //
Oh no! I hate going to doctors and dentists! I hope you are okay!
Cynthia
October 5, 2008 at 8:03 am //
Deborah – Ya know, I’ve thought about doing that. I guess I’ve been a little too lazy. I think that if I had a huge order I would make more molds. Though, I do think it would be cool to have a little installation of birds hanging around the house!
Linda – Yes, these are press molds. We used a very plastic clay to make the original and then poured plaster around the bird. Once the plaster was set, we dug the clay out off the mold and discarded the clay. I use a rib and a rubber mallet to distribute the clay evenly and then follow up with dry wall sanding screen to clean up rough edges etc.
Thanks Shawn! It was a hard pill to swallow when I couldn’t make it work on my own and the thyroid issue is ongoing, but now I’ve got a handle on it.
Linda S –
I’ll keep on keeping on down the glazing trail…
LB – All routine drs. visits. For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to lump them all together in one week. The dentist visit was a cleaning and then I’ve been postponing having a bad crown replaced for the last 2 years, so I finally said let’s do this thing while I have dental insurance.
Noelle
October 5, 2008 at 11:50 am //
Hi Cynthia. The bird molds are lovely. Where did you attend the mold making workshop while you were in Maine?
patricia griffin
October 5, 2008 at 12:02 pm //
Nice birds! I haven ‘t ventured into mold-making… yet! That’s one thing about creating with clay — the possibilities just keep going and going. Congrats, too, on the weight loss. I’m always balancing the healthy eating and exercise thing with the desire to enjoy each day. I’m more “well-rounded” today than I want to be, but I don’t beat myself up about it anymore.
judy Shreve
October 5, 2008 at 1:30 pm //
Fall is my favorite time of year too & your leaf photos are gorgeous. Those lovely birds would be beautiful dressed in some fall colors! Was that Marcia Selsor who led your plaster workshop
Congrats on your weight loss. It’s so hard especially if your thyroid’s not giving you any help! I had a long break in my apprentice duties in September & decided to get some put off dental work done — my advice is don’t put it off!! It would have been much easier not to do it all at once — so you have my sympathy.
denise
October 5, 2008 at 7:15 pm //
Mmm, those colours are gorgeous. And the birds are great – they would look fabulous as in installation. Congrats on the achievement too. It’s much nicer to feel in control of your health, than like its controlling you.
Janet
October 5, 2008 at 9:22 pm //
Colors are really great. Are they as intense in real life as on my computer screen?
Congrats on weight loss so far. One side effect of this move is some weight loss. Not alot, but encouraging.
Cynthia
October 6, 2008 at 6:25 am //
Noelle – I finally found the info about the workshop I took at University of Southern Maine while I was a student at the time. Ray Chen – who was then ceramic’s chair at USM, organized an all clay event and exhibition at USM the fall of 2002 called “Pushing Clay” http://www.usm.maine.edu/mcr/news/releases_02-03/clay.htm. There were a lot of events that week, including a hands on workshop taught by Carol Grant, an instructor at Coppin State University in Baltimore. She’s had an interesting path on the road to becoming a ceramic person and I remember her as a very warm, thoughtful and generous instructor. It wasn’t so much a mold making workshop as it was how to use unique molds as embellishment for pots or as architectural pieces. During the workshop, she constructed a ceramic arch for installation above a doorway.
Thanks Patricia – By the time I decided to go the drug route, I was exasperated. It was as if my body had reset itself and wouldn’t budge. While a part of my desire to lose weight was inspired by vanity, it really is a health issue for me – my father died of a heart attack at age 43, and my paternal grandmother was plagued by heart problems her whole life – had bypass surgery in her 60′s and then a series of smaller heart attacks. When my weight is high, my cholesterol levels sky rocket. Our thyroid gland controls metabolism among other things – so frustrating. I’m not sure why the drugs worked when intense exercise and minimal calories didn’t. From what I learned about the drug is that it alters the brain’s chemistry in addition to inhibiting appetite. In the beginning, I had to remind myself to eat – I’d forget…and that is weird. Meanwhile, my Dr. wants me to stay on it one more month because my thyroid hormone levels have probably changed due to weight loss. The less a person weighs, generally, the less thyroid hormone a person requires to maintain “normal” levels. I’m ready to go off the drug because I really don’t like taking anything that’s not necessary. And, I doubt I’ll ever fit into those super skinny jeans I’ve been carting around since college
I’m okay with that. I feel better now, have more energy and am not out of breath if climbing stairs. I really hope I can maintain the loss now so I don’t have to get on the roller coaster again.
You are so right about clay – so many possibilities and not enough time to explore it all.
Judy – I postponed having my crown redone since it was just done in 2004 when I lived in Maine – just ticks me off to have to pay for it again 4 years later. I have pretty good teeth and don’t really ever see the dentist and stayed at the practice in Maine because I loved the hygienist – unfortunately, the dentist wasn’t as good as she was. Luckily I have dental insurance through my husband’s job, but I still had to cough up $500 + change to have the crown replaced here in Denver. $500 represents a lot of clay or maybe even a new piece of equipment!
I dragged my feet for 2 years, and luckily, when the dentist took my old (new) crown off, there wasn’t any damage or decay to the surrounding teeth. I guess I can count myself lucky. Funny thing is that I needed a crown because I am apparently a nocturnal teeth grinder and cracked my tooth in half – I woke up one morning in Maine and took my dog out in sub 10 degree F weather and when I sucked in the cold air – ouch.
Thanks Denise – the colors are so intense right now. I’m going to bring my camera to the park this morning and hope that the garden beds are still there…. It’s about that time of the year when they’re put to sleep for the winter. Speaking of winter – the mountains were supposed to get 6-12″ of snow last night. Luckily it only rained in Denver last night.
Janet – Yes, the colors are that intense right now! I’m not sure that will translate well to ceramics, but I sure love that pop of color. My husband and I love to move – though with each subsequent move we make, it becomes harder. It’s sort of a time for cleansing and purging. I think I told you that my husband graduated from Rutgers in NJ and it’s a lovely area – especially if you find a home on the coast. Congrats on your loss too -