Who is new among the Gnomes & Friends?

Hello everyone. I have listed the house again and you can see the information here. It has been on the market for 3 weeks now, hopefully it will move quickly. I am more than ready to move forward. I have been struggling to create because of needing to keep the house showable all the time. Clean-up takes away from creative time... But, as I may have mentioned before, a friend asked if I could make her a Highland Cow (Coo). I told her I could only promise that I would try. After a few unsuccessful attempts, and lots of thinking about how to create one, I finally had success last weekend.

I ended up making 4 last week, and they are currently cooling from their bisque firing. I made 6 more this morning. Keep in mind that this is the very same friend who asked me if I could make her a gnome, and we know how that went! Also in the kiln are some more snowmen with hats and an owl with a book (another request attempt). I hope everyone is enjoying Spring.

Breakthrough

 I have had a breakthrough! For some reason, I have been in a creative slump these past couple of months. I have been imagining things I can create, but just have not had enough mental motivation to actually create much of anything. Oh, I may make a thing or two, but the drive to actually create, has been hard to come by. It happens to most all creators.

What started getting me out of the slump was to create a project for the creative group that meets once a month at our store. I had chosen paper quilling as the medium. 

I found a free pattern and tutorial on line for the crab. I made it to her dimensions in the red. Then, I doubled the length of the strips and made it again in blue. (thepaperycraftery.com) The bear and the squirrel were from the instructions in a kit we have at the store by Quilled Creations. The gnome, I designed myself. When we had the creative session, a few people made the gnome into Santa by making a red hat with a white pom pom at the tip.

The flower is one I created on-the-go for my aunt's 87th birthday last week. 

The beagle is another design-as-I-go for a birthday card for a friend (she has not seen it yet). I know improvements can be made if I make one again.

The bear is another birthday card for a friend who has not seen it yet. 

And, finally, this weekend I made a concerted effort to take out the clay and get started. I created 20 pieces over the two days. (I possibly could have done more, but I had to take care of other things like laundry, sorting through some boxes, running the dishwasher, paying some bills, and some R & R to re-charge for work this week.)

The creative slump is over. I may not be moving at a record pace, but I have broken through and hopefully will keep some momentum going. Next weekend I should be glazing and firing these so I can re-stock gnomes and angels at the store... they are seriously low. 

I hope all had a safe Memorial Day weekend and that you have a good week ahead. May the moments you share with those close to you be full of wonderful memories.

Back in the saddle - sort of

I am grateful to have my kiln finally up and running again. It was a mix of emotions every time there was a delay of some sort. 

Now, I need to re-adjust my expectations of glazes at the correct temperature. This glaze on the shamrock pin had a wide range of firing temperatures. When the elements in the kiln were old, it was not reaching the top temperature, but that was OK for things that did not have to be vitreous to hold food and drink (like gnomes and friends...). So, I thought the green on these wouldn't be quite this dark. Don't get me wrong, I love how they look, they just were not the shade of green I was expecting.

Now I need to finish packing and hauling off things to be donated (that we once thought could be in an on-line estate auction) so I can move some of my boxes of things I am keeping out of the corners of rooms and into the closets and cupboards. This is all so I can list the house again. I need to downsize or I will literally go broke. I cannot afford the upkeep of this house. It is also much too much room for me.

Speaking of downsizing, the house I really wanted to buy 2 years ago, when mine was not ready to list, was back on the market. I was getting hopeful as it stayed on the market for several weeks. Unfortunately, it has a contingency offer on it now. 

The right house for me will come on the market when the timing is right.

I hope all are doing well. I'm putting up with the arrival of pollen season here. 

 

My secret project is secret no more

Well, to give a little background information first... Back in the 1950's, our dad was a fine arts student at the NY State College of Ceramics at Alfred University (graduated in 1953). During his time there he designed, modeled, molded, and cast some salt and pepper shakers. We used a set on the table while we were growing up. 

After Dad passed, my younger brother Rick decided he would like to have the shakers replicated for all 6 of us siblings. I gave him the shrinkage rate of the black porcelain I use and he worked to create an up-sized 3-D printed model. It was then sent to someone to make a mold and he brought the mold to me in October. 

Once I finished preparing for Mistletoe Market, I thoroughly cleaned my work area so the buff clay would not have any chance of contaminating the black. I then started casting. In all, I cast 8 sets, to be able to get 6 good sets.

Unfortunately, my kiln was not firing hot enough to be able to get the true black finish on the shakers. First, I contacted Juliet Bravo studio in Seneca, but they were unable to assist with the firing at that time. I then was referred to Magpie Arts LLC in Clemson and made plans to do the glaze firing in her soon to be delivered kiln. The delivery got pushed back, and then she was dealing with a faulty breaker. 

FINALLY, firing day arrived and I dropped off the pieces to Kimberly. Then, I patiently waited for the firing and cooling to complete. (Insert the Jeopardy theme here.)

Success! They fired a little hotter than I normally fire, but her kiln is computer controlled, while mine uses a cone sitter. Either way, I was/am very pleased with the results.

Rick had me send him copies of one of Dad's signatures, as well as one of mine. He then laser engraved them onto the lids of the wood boxes he purchased. Silicone stoppers were added and they were nestled into wood shavings inside the box.

The glazes I used are definitely not the ones Dad used long ago. His were more muted and covered the entire surface except the feet. We decided that I would use speckled glazes (Dad's were also speckled) and only glaze the lower portion so that the black porcelain would show. This brought Dad's design a new life with my spin on it.

The bottoms are signed with both Dad's and my initials and the year.

I will make more.

Now that all family members received theirs. I am able to "go public" with the project.. 

Making these brought back so many memories of my youth. It also is a testament to how our family remains close-knit. 

As 2024 comes to an end, and 2025 is about to begin, I wish all of you the very best life has to offer. May any stumbling blocks become stepping stones, and may you face life with a positive outlook, no matter the circumstances.

Love to all.

 

Busy creating for Mistletoe Market

I've been busy creating stock for Mistletoe Market. The show is in 1 week. The creative flow has been difficult at times because I need to clean and put everything away every time I leave the house for more than 10 minutes, just in case someone wants to view the house.

Glazed and ready for the final firing.

Some angels ready to assemble. Other items I ran out of time to glaze for tonight's firing.

The last of the items formed for next weekend's show. (I will make more after the show too!)

Collapsible bar that comes with it's own carrying case.

And a shelf underneath for boxes, bags, and tissue.

I have stopped shaping things for the time being so I can finish those that are already shaped. I will resume after the show so I can build stock for the store. I also found this wonderful collapsible bar that I can use as my wrap stand for the show.

Ghosts in the House!

The first batch of Ghosts are finished. All of this batch are spoken for. I am making more!

A bit of production

As I was working with the clay this past weekend, it told me in no uncertain terms that some of it needed to be ghosts. So, I now have added Ghosts to my Gnomes and Friends!

Therapy!

The house listing went live Saturday morning (6/10/23). I had some free time on Sunday and I gave myself a small dose of clay therapy.

I only ended up making 6 gnomes, but it was so restorative to my peace of mind. I was house & dog-sitting over the weekend so I couldn't spend the whole day creating, but those few gnomes made a LOT of difference! Here is the listing for the house, in case you want to see it. (Hover over "house" and click there for the link.)

Still packing...

I can fully understand why moving is often on the list of most stressful activities. (The Top 5 Most Stressful Life Events: 1. Death of a loved one, 2. Divorce, 3. Moving, 4. Major illness or injury, 5. Job loss.) I am STILL packing! I will work for hours, fill boxes and turn around to see that it appears I still have the same amount to go. FRUSTRATING! On the up side, I did fill out my application for Mistletoe Market. Again, I won't know for sure I'm in until the jury makes their decisions. I am eager to get the house sold, move to a new-to-me home and get creating! I miss it so much!