My ceramics instructor at the Art Student’s League asked everyone to try some new surface decoration treatments on our wheel thrown pots. I think it’s a great exercise and will hopefully give me some ideas for new work. (Thanks M.C.!) Our task was to throw 4 cylinders and then apply a different technique to each one. The first one involved painting on a colored slip and employing a method called sgraffito, which comes from the Italian word sgraffire or to scratch. It is commonly used in ceramic arts but can also be used in 2d work. Paint on 1 color, let it dry and then paint another over the top and use a sharp point (or other end of the paint brush) to draw back into the paint. With clay, colored slip is applied and then scratched or carved back into the form.
The second technique I am doing is to paint my design using shellac. I am going to carve away the unpainted part of the clay, so that the shellac painting will remain raised (the shellac will burn off during the bisque fire). We are also going to do some glaze stamping and cold surface glazing. Cold surface glazing is when color is applied but not fired in a kiln. You can use shoe polish, paint (oil, watercolor and acrylic), gold leaf, ink, wax, you name it-the sky is the limit.
I’m super excited! Last week, I applied for a tax ID and am ready to go on that front business wise. I used it today when I visited Mile Hi Ceramics and purchased a new Aim 88T Test Kiln for firing my pendants and other clay derived jewelry and I also purchased some raw materials. I will be test firing my kiln this week and will hopefully have a batch of pendants ready to fire this weekend.
I just signed up for another FREE tele-seminar with Art Biz Coach, Alyson Stanfield and Katherine Weber, author of Red Lotus Letter. The tele-seminar is titled How To Energize Your Art Career with Feng Shui. The seminar promises to introduce the listeners to the prinicples of Feng Shui and how proper studio organization can influence your energy and momentum. I figure, what the heck…I’m converting my garage into my studio space and I can use all the help that I can get!
I should probably mention that the tele-seminar is open to the first 250 people who sign up and takes place Wed. March 21st at 8PM EDT.
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You gooo girl! Great work! I wish I lived near by you. It would be a hoot to get together with ya and work on art! I know how you feel with the studio. My family is getting together to clean our garage out. There’s this lil room. It’s small but hey I figure any room is more then NONE! My Aunt say’s that I can use it for a studio! I’m soooo excited. Probably just how you feel. LOLOLOL
WOW! You are doing so much stuff! I cannot believe how much you are advancing in your career in such a short time. And I’ve been pining for your ceramic jewelry so I eagerly await the return of that. HUGS and I’m SUPER proud of you!!
I always learn soemthing over here! Applying for a tax number — that’s on my list of advice seeking with the accountant on Friday. *sigh* I need a manager.
Tax numbers…BAH! I did that a few years back and it really does help at the end of the year time…good for you. A new Kiln I am so jelouse!!! I wanna come to your studio and play.
I love the new works, can’t wait to see them in the next stages. I also did some energy arranging in the studio, I set my working area up in a horseshoe shape and it does help, not only the flow of energy but it’s easy to get around and find stuff…now if some of these things could start bringing in the sales…that would rule!
I got tagged for a meme…and I tagged you in return…so you are it! *Hehehehe!*
wow, Cynthia, you are back on the wheel again! very nice works!
Your next teleseminar sounds interesting. Though I’m a chinese, I hesitate to believe in Feng Shui as it sounds superstitious to me. Anyway, i have never thought that it would relate to energize art career. Hope it’ll provide you with some interesting insights.
Hi Angela-that would be fun-and yes I agree, any space is better than none. Thank goodness I have the space in our garage to convert.
The time that it’s taken me to get to this point feels slower than molasses, Pinky.
Oh Andrea-I need a manager too! All of this stuff takes time away from making art. I figure that once it’s set up though, it should become easier to manage.
I know what you mean, Heather-it’s not that I look forward to paying taxes, but I don’t want to get bitten in the end.
Fennymun, I am skeptical, but open to trying something new. So, we’ll see what happens. Yes, finally back to the wheel and boy does it feel good!
Will have to check out that feng shui seminar. More and more I am finding myself being influenced by my surroundings.
New pots are looking good.
Boy, you are on a roll here.
my studio is so small I would know where to put the feng or the shui ;0 seriously though, this sounds so interesting and I look forward to seeing how you implement it in your new stuido.
Cynthia, that sgraffito treatment is really beautiful!
I would KILL for real studio space — of course, by studio, I mean 2,000 sq. ft of finished space, a large-format Lightjet printer, a couple of wide-format giclee setups, a few cutting edge computers with 24″ widescreen monitors, a framing and matting station with power tools, state of the art sound system . . .
Oops, I must have dozed off. What a dream!
I was just reading some of Ms. Weber’s Feng Shui tips and I’m violating a lot of them!
You got a chuckle out of me, Jafabrit! I heard the ba dum dum after your line.
I’m sorry I had to delete, Omar’s post because it was splog.
I was dreaming right there with ya, W.J.! Dream it so it can happen.
Actually, I stand corrected…Omar’s post wasn’t splog which is basically a bogus blog used to promote blog affiliates. He created a spam comment and added hyperlinks to one of his many blogs which is a form of spamdexing, which artificially inflates his blog’s ranking.
(As read on Wikipedia)
Wow, those are looking fantastic! I’m so excited that you’re getting back into your ceramic art as well.
And I just got here through your website…looking good and the flow is great!
Cynthia, you live fully immersed in an atmosphere of creativity. That’s the best indicator for an artist: continous CREATIVITY, always thinking in new possibilities, new methods, new perspectives, new fountains of inspiration… That’s the mark of geniuses.
Your pieces of ceramics are beautiful and very original with these carvings and “sgraffito”.
Many subjects contain thousands of artistic possibilities, although at first sight can appear esoteric, or “non correlated” with art… as Feng Shui. I have a good book about Feng Shui (author: Lillian Too) and it suggests very important ideas to make any space more human and agreeable. Other ideas are certainly more extravagant and don’t work for me.
All can have a relation with our artistic work, many things can be useful. For example, I buy magazines of decoration…
Thanks for your generosity, for that link to my website. I also have placed several links in http://www.poeticpainting.com to your very interesting blog.
Sorry for my English.
Regards, Cynthia.
Juan Bielsa