New Porcelain Boxes and Splog
I’ve finished embellishing 9 out of 20 boxes
I’ve been slowly plugging away, finishing the 20 boxes that I decided to make for the Summer Art Market taking place on June 14th and 15th here in Denver. I’m happy to report that all 20 have been assembled and that I’ve added all the feet and special themed knobs. After making these, the possibilities seem endless – I have quite a long list in the works. I hope to finish the other 11 in the next 2 days so that I can dry these, bisque fire them and then of course glaze them before Friday, the 13th. Oh me-o-my, Friday the 13th! With that in mind, I definitely plan to have the glaze firing finished on Thursday, the 12th. So far, I’m on track.
A few of the most recent
Rabbit porcelain box
Goldfish
Poppy Box
The knob generally dictates the painted elements that I ultimately add to the box. In this case, I was inspired by the poppies that just finished blooming in my garden. As a departure from my earlier boxes, I added some pink underglaze to the cherry blossom box (see the top photo). I’m not sure what will happen to the color at cone 6 – even so I’m toying with the idea of adding a bit of red underglaze to the poppy box. I realize that I need to make some test tiles for all the underglazes I’ve collected over the past year while teaching my kid’s clay classes.
What’s next on the horizon? I’m making some new lino-cuts so that I can expand my printed boxes and other forms. I have found that I really enjoy hand building with clay. When I was first learning to throw, hand building afforded me some success when the frustration of working on the wheel got to be too great.
I’m almost finished listening to Oprah and Eckhart discuss A New Earth and have had varying degrees of responsiveness from their discussions from “Oh my God – this stuff is terrific” to “this is a bunch of hooey!” Ultimately he does not offer an easy fix to our woes – it takes work on our part and a willingness and awareness to make small changes in our own personal lives. I really get that the premise of the book is to be aware of our own actions, thoughts etc. – to be present in every part of our life. We can’t change anyone but ourselves, but if enough people came to realize this, the world will slowly begin to evolve to a higher consciousness. Food for thought.
Meanwhile, I was deluged by some really heinous splog recently. But funny thing is that it was only on one particular and apparently vulnerable post. I finally had to close comments to that post and the splog has stopped. Some of it even squeaked by Akisment, my spam blocker. Overall, I’m very glad I switched my blog on over to WordPress and can’t say enough good things about it.
Happy Wednesday,
~Cynthia
Frogs, Snakes and Lotus Flower
14 new porcelain boxes and counting…
I had a pretty relaxing past few days over the long Memorial Day Weekend – hope you did too. I managed to squeeze a little work into my weekend, but not much. I recently discovered that I can download audio books onto my iPod Nano and that my local library has audio books for download. I’ve temporarily grown a little weary of the music I’ve loaded onto my iPod and have taken to being read to. I’ve also become a podcast junkie. I’ve been listening to Oprah Winfrey and Eckart Tolle’s online workshops covering Tolle’s new book, A New Earth while I work. Hours pass, and I’m transported to a different place. Now I need to buy the book so I can really follow along.
Cherry Blossoms and Frog
Here’s a few of my newest creations that are almost created stream of consciousness as I listen to all of life’s true possibilities. I’ve made a list of themes and have even invited others (mainly my daughter, husband, friends and sil) to weigh in on other possible trajectories. I have repeated a couple of boxes that have already found their way into the world outside of my studio.
Meanwhile, I drove up to Evergreen, CO to pick up remaining work from the Fine Art of Craft show that closed on Friday. I sold a few pieces which made me happy and I transported the rest home which will be added to my inventory for the Summer Art Market in a few weeks. I agreed to donate a piece of my work to be auctioned off this summer at Anderson Ranch Arts Center in August. Wouldn’t you know it, the piece I planned on donating (see below) is one of the pieces that sold! So now, I need to make another or donate something else.
Sand dollar and Snake Boxes
I spoke with the owner of CO/RK Gallery in Denver last week who saw my work at the Potter’s Guild Sale in early May. She’s interested in carrying my work, however, I told her it could be awhile before I have some available. I was also introduced to the owner of the Evergreen Gallery by my friend Mary Cay at the opening of the “Fine Art of Craft Show” who was interested in carrying my porcelain boxes. So, I have a few things to follow up with in the next month or so. Funny thing is as I listen to Eckart Tolle and some of the things he talks about, I find myself feeling a little disenchanted with selling stuff. I know I need to reconcile this with myself before I end up selling everything I own and running off to save the world. 
My husband’s waiting in the wings for the computer – so must go. Plus it doesn’t help that he keeps interrupting my train of thought.
~Cynthia
