It all comes together

I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday weekend – I know I did! We kicked it off Friday with D.’s art opening, which was awesome. Besides spending all summer making the pieces, it took him over 10 hours just to install the birds. And almost all of that was on a ladder with his arms above his head! But I think it was well worth it. Tons of people stopped by to check out his work, gape and ask lots of questions. Almost everyone who saw it thought it was beautiful, especially at night when the lights reflected hundreds of swirling birds on the walls around the space.

The weather was perfect and the crowds were huge. And on top of all that, he got a write-up on the Philadelphia CityPaper blog (our biggest local arts and entertainment paper) and his university is contacting him today to write a news story for their paper. (Publicity was my contribution – I made the postcards, laminated signs, took photos and sent out half a dozen press releases!)

It took me quite a bit of experimenting to figure out how to take some nighttime photos of the installation, but I think I got some decent shots. You can check out the entire album on flickr, but here’s some highlights:

The full installation!

Visitors take a look

A different view

D. talks to the public about his work

Night birds

Get out your party hats!

I turned 26 today! Wowza!!

I probably should write something personal and thoughtful about turning the corner in the direction of 30, or life or somesuch, but I’m frankly pretty tired from workin’ hard, playing hard and generally packing as much into every day as I can manage.

So my birthday present to myself? Going to bed early and waking up late, followed by a four-day weekend! Sweeeeet!

(Oh, you’re wondering what’s that at the top of the post? A juicy blueberry muffin I made from a small portion of my frozen berry treasure trove!)

Breakthrough!

OMG! My Flash site now has LINKS! That WORK!!

It’s starting to feel like a real goshdarn site! Can’t wait until it launchs and you all can see…

The Installation Goes Up!

While I slave in front of the computer screen this week, D. is out on a ladder, making sure that his show looks perfect in time for the big opening day this Friday.

He spent several consecutive days hanging his porcelain birds and they look fabulous! So many people stopped to check them out, stare and ask him questions. I can’t wait until we have the lights up and it’s nighttime, and people can walk in and under the entire sculpture! Also at night you can’t see the microfiliment (fishing line) that they hang on – it just looks like a flock of amazing birds taking off from the center of the park.

The head of our gallery also encouraged him to install the project again in the spring for a major ceramics conference that is coming to Philadelphia  – a huge compliment for his first public work!

These photos are from the first day, so you can’t get a sense for the entire finished design. But I think you can see where he’s going with it, and how realistic and lively these pieces look as they’re hung. Watch out for more pics of the finished work later this week!!

Oh my oh my

This has been a crazy busy week! D. got his installation up and it looks fabulous…he’s already getting some accolades for it and I’m very proud of him! There should be pictures coming very soon.

I’ve been up over my head trying to complete two websites at once – one designed in HTML, and one in Flash. In retrospect, I probably should have taken these two classes seperately. I had no idea that both would be so much work! I got stuck on a (seemingly) really simple issue on Flash tonight and nearly ended up crying.

D. even snuck out and got me an ice cream because I was having such a hard time – whataguy!

Post-ice cream I had a breakthrough and was able to get a bit more done. Now I’m stuck again, but I think I’ll at least have something to show for myself in class this week. I can’t really show you exactly what I’m working on (because I haven’t figured out how to upload it), but you can see from the pictures above how I am creating the intro with a ball of clay rolling into a slab. It looks pretty fun, in a Gumbi kinda way. Can’t wait to show off the finished product!

Exciting Build-up

Thanks for all the great comments on my glaze tests! I’m glad everyone likes the 3% rutile glaze. Now it’s time to whip up a big batch, plus test a couple other glazes that will complement it on the insides of bowls and cups.

In the meantime, I’m watching with excitement as D. prepares for his first big exhibition. He is just in the process of installing a major ceramic installation in a small city park. Hundreds of white porcelain birds will be spiraling down out of the sky, suspended from trees, into the center of the space, where earthy ceramic blooms will be growing out of the ground. The title of the exhibit is “Emergence,” and the official opening will be Friday, Sept. 4 (although he is racing to get most of it up and ready this week). You can see a couple of the birds he made in these pictures my photographer friend took.

I hope to have lots more photos as it is going up and the finished show! If anyone is in Philly that weekend, please let me know, we’re going to be having a party to celebrate, for sure!

Opinions needed!

Okay folks, here are the results of my glaze testing! Now, you may be interested to know that all of these samples are the exact same glaze recipe. Yes, it’s gram for gram the same, except for tiny adjustments to the amounts of two colorants – Rutile and Iron. Some of these have a little more of one, or a little more of the other, or a balance between the two.

Above, you can see the results on test tiles made of porcelain clay (most of my current work is in porcelain). Below, you can see the dramatically different results these glazes give you on dark stoneware clay:

Personally, I’m leaning towards the recipe with 3% rutile and no iron at all. It looks good on porcelain AND stoneware, and I think the soft porcelain look would contrast nicely in a bowl or cup containing a bright glassy blue on the inside. It also has a beautiful almost “snowflake” crystallization going on:

It would look equally good on stoneware, albeit a much earthier, natural effect:

Some other close contenders include this iron heavy, reddish/black version:

And a matte, earthy green with a lovely texture:

What I pick may wind up being my dominate glaze for a new holiday line of work. What do you think? Which are your favorites? Can’t stand one? Inquiring minds want to know!!

Something new afoot

Remember this bowl? You may not, because I made it all the way back in June 2008. But it’s a favorite of mine, and when I was pondering some new design ideas, it immediately popped into my head. I love the way the soft, earthy brown texture contrasts against the tropical glossy center.

The problem is, these glazes were fired in a special kiln, where compounds of salt and soda are sprayed inside during the hottest point in the process. I did it at a special workshop, but our normal kiln is not equipped for it (or rather, if we did it once, the chemicals would permenantly contaminate every future firing. So you need a kiln dedicated entirely to salt or soda).

So what to do? I consulted my studio’s glazing guru, an old hand with years of pottery experience. With her help, I came up with half a dozen possible glaze recipes. She also suggested spraying the pieces with a water/table salt solution to mimic the type of firing I like.

I finally had a chance to mix up all the glaze tests I need, and I should be able to see the finished products Friday afternoon. I’m super excited, because if I like the results I may be able to serve up a whole new line of work just in time for the holidays…

Sweet

It’s been busy, it’s been hot, and it’s been a little rough trying to get our lives in order before D. starts school in two weeks.

But that didn’t stop us from ducking out of the house for a nice walk through the neighborhood this evening, trying to catch every hint of breeze drafting through the sticky, humid air.

While we were out, we walked past a farmer’s market, just packing up shop. The only people left were a Menonite family, selling flowers. D. bought me a bouquet from a sweet little boy in suspenders. I wish I could have gotten a better picture before my camera battery died, it’s just beautiful!

New Digs

D. and I were talking food and recipes (like we usually do) and I was playing with my new camera on a delicious meal he had whipped up for dinner. Two and two makes four, and before you knew it, we had launched a separate WordPress blog devoted to food! It’s still getting developed, but please do stop over to This Little Kitchen and check out what we’re cooking up!

My plan is to keep this blog for crafty and ceramics related posts, and try to alternate updates. We’ll see how it goes!