A few nights ago, I was walking my dog around my neighborhood in Denver, when I happened upon this manhold cover. While I had passed by on this street many a time, I never noticed it. Maybe, I noticed this time because the sun was setting and the last rays of the day highlighted the fishes’ silhouette. I’m not sure, but I did a double take and knew I had to come back with my camera in tow.
I’ve been wondering what a fish is doing on a manhole cover in the city of Denver. When I saw it today, I realized it reads “Drains to Rivers”. I googled images of manhole covers and there’s quite an assortment of eye candy if only we look down.
Drawing of Bee on linoleum
I have decided to add to my lino-cuts. My lone dragonfly needed another insect companion - the bee.
Bee relief print on clay
I have found that the relief prints on clay work better on flat pieces than ones in the round, so I’m playing around with some different clay shapes to print on. I like the idea of a house and once it’s fired I’ll add a wood block to the reverse side so that this will be able to hang on the wall as a small art piece. I think these might look great in small groupings. Mile Hi Ceramics does carry “ceramic ink pads” that I think I’m going to try out. I imagine these would work like regular stamps and ink pads on paper, only the ceramic ink will be fired onto the piece. What I’m curious to find out is whether the ceramic ink is to be applied on top of other glaze like china paint, or if it’s an underglaze.
Ginkgo Cup - need to work on my technique
Printing the relief prints in the round isn’t working out too great. I suppose I could use commercial rubber stamps, but I like the fact that I’m using my own stamps. It might be better to use the ceramic ink pads to apply my images.
Top view, ginkgo cup
For this cup, I tried to make it square after I had thrown it on the wheel, but, I don’t have the right size paddle. Consequently, the cup has all kinds of dings on it. I’ll most likely recycle this cup.
In other news, I joined another Etsy Street Team called Etsy Mud Team or EMT a group that works exclusively with clay. While it might seem counter productive for a ceramic artist do join other ceramic artists in marketing promotion. I actually think it will be beneficial. We all have different styles and use different materials and firing methods. When I did the Summer Art Market, I noticed that when people came into our booth, they either gravitated to my work, Kathleen’s or Mary Cay’s. There didn’t seem to be any cross-over. So I think this is going to be good!
That’s it for today,
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