Posts Tagged “porcelain boxes”

I finished painting the last porcelain box yesterday and left all 20 uncovered last night so that I can bisque fire them today. They are all more than leather hard by this stage and with our semi arid climate - they’ll be dry by the time I check on them later this morning. I’ll be glaze firing the lot of them on Thursday just in time for the Summer Art Market on Saturday and Sunday. I’ve been oddly calm the last couple of weeks - which is a sharp departure from the panic mode I normally find myself in right before a show. This happens mainly because I try to make too much too late and then end up having a lot of oops pieces because I didn’t allow sufficient time to dry etc.

As a departure from panic mode which is really rather unpleasant for my mental state as well as my family’s well being, I decided that I would make x amount of items by x date and that is all. It may mean that I won’t sell as much, but that’s okay. It’s better than putting schlock out into the world.

I used to compare my productivity levels to other peoples, and then had a sharp realization that I’m in a different place right now. I’m basically a stay at home mom who happens to have a ceramic studio at home. I’ve always fancied myself a “full time” artist, but the truth is I really work at it part time when I can steal a few moments. I haven’t kept a work log, but I know that when my daughter is in school (it’s summer break right now), I work about 5 hours a day - which translates into roughly 25 hours a week. Now that she’s home, I probably work just as much but at really odd times.

I know there will come a time (and it’s racing up to me fast) when my 10 year old will be a teen and will be less interested in my companionship. So, I’ve reminded myself to relax - enjoy the time I have with her because soon she’ll be out of the house. She’ll be 18 before I know it and I’ll be able to spend uninterrupted hours in the studio when that happens. I don’t want to miss anything right now! It’s a good exercise in being “present” and not wishing my life away too fast.

Meanwhile, I sent this porcelain hand-painted butterfly box to Anderson Ranch Arts Center for the annual auction taking place on August 9 this year. It wasn’t my first choice, but it does represent current work that I hope to continue exploring. I realized that I missed a few deadlines and needed to get something in the mail.

Have a great day everyone,

~Cynthia

Chicken

I’m almost finished adding the final touches to the 20 porcelain hand-built boxes that I’m making for the Summer Art Market which takes place next week. Only five more to paint - and then I plan on bisque firing on Tuesday and Glaze firing on Thursday. That will leave me Friday to inventory and price my work and otherwise get organized. The art market is open at 10:00 am on Saturday - with a preview sale for Art Student League VIPs at 9:00 am.

The crow might be my favorite right now

I’ve finished listening to Eckhart Tolle and Oprah discussing The New Earth. It was a so relaxing and thought provoking for me. I have the book - now I just have to find the time to read it. I love being read to though because I always seem to be short of time and when I do have the time at the end of the day, I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to get past 3 pages.

Frog - from tadpole to full grown

Each side of this one has the basic evolution of a frog’s life from tadpole to grown frog. I was just too lazy to photograph the other side for you. I’m going to enjoy getting feedback from people in person next weekend.

Goldfish

Meanwhile, I decided to treat myself to a one day workshop. I’m going to be visiting the studio of local Denver artist, Annie Chrietzberg, otherwise known as “Earth to Annie” the weekend of June 21 for a hand-building workshop. I’m looking forward to meeting her and learning some new techniques.

It’s a gorgeous day in Denver, so with nothing further, I bid you adieu!

~Cynthia

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