Tag: textured
Summer plates
Long, late, evenings outside in other people’s gardens, shared platters of salads and fresh berries, watching the last sunlight trail on the flat water, cool mountain hikes as that favorite birdcall echoes in the gathering dusk, kids on the grass until the stars come out. I was thinking about how to safekeep these beautiful summer moments and how to keep them fresh, so, when I looked over these shots I took of my new work, I realised – this being the seventh summer I’ve enjoyed on Orcas – I may have already stored them in the plates I just made.
Sweet turtles
These turtle dishes put a smile on my face, and I hope it brings a smile to you too. Maybe it is the colour in bloom all around me that’s inspired me to explore tones that are not in my usual glaze selections. Fun to be out on a limb and hanging on for a bit. Enjoy the sunshine everyone!
Opening this Friday, May 9
Christa Smith of Feltsmith and Sharon Ho of Optimism and Co. invite you to our
Studio Opening
at Eastsound Square #D3 (behind Mia’s Cafe and Olga’s boutique)
on Friday, May 9, from 4.30pm to 7pm
It is finally warm enough to keep our door open, come and see what we have been up to.
Walk with me
Handmade ceramic pendant and two round beads. Glazed and high-fired to cone 5/6, pooka shells, stone beads, found objects, natural strings.
Hand carved ceramic bead with relief glazing.
Hello! From two summers ago, a memory of a tangled seaweed necklace studded with rocks inspired this recent work. I named this ‘Walk with me’ because I think of the person wearing it as a collector who picks up bits and pieces on long meanders on the beach or in the woods and strings them in her memory.
This is one of the artworks featured at the annual Edge Arts Collective show at the Orcas Centre Gallery on Orcas Island. The show is one of the most anticipated of the year among island artists and collectors, not least because of its swinging opening night party. It opens this Friday October 4th, party starts at 5.30pm. All invited.
I’ve had a long busy summer, and Fall (my favourite time of year! featuring my favourite colours!) signals my time to hunker down in the studio and translate my summer’s travels and inspirations in new work. Off I go. Won’t you walk with me?
I tried Polymer Clay
Go ahead, be a stick-in-the-mud potter (pun intended) and cringe, but polymer clay offers incredible elasticity, negligible shrinkage and versatility. Case in point: Orcas Island artist Maria Papademetriou uses it to create ethereal sinuous ‘veins’ around driftwood branches as part of her assemblages.
I found this out first hand at an Introduction to Polymer Clay workshop by the very gracious Maria herself, whose intriguing artwork reference shrines, amulets and talismans from her Greek Orthodox childhood. The class was held at Monkey Puzzle Workshop – a cosy, new art-discovery space at Eastsound Square launched by the inimitably bedecked Ms. Sallie Bell, as an extension of her stone bead and metal jewelry shop, Monkey Puzzle, a few doors down. In fact Sallie joined the class and together with Charlotte Sumrall, a textile artist, we three had a great time watching Maria’s demos, and getting our hands dirty with rolling and cutting the polymer clay (a hand-cranked pasta maker is involved), stamping with ink, and even applying gold leaf. It is just the most agreeable and approachable medium! To my delight, the material fees included some bead shopping at Sallie’s shop for embellishments to add to our ‘masterpiece’.
Maria has over 35 years of experience working with ceramics, but she is infectiously enthusiastic about polymer clay as a medium. Her enthusiasm alone made the class really interesting. She is an engaging speaker and generously opened the window to precious little tips from years of art practice. Oh, and she also brought a mean plate of homemade chocolate brownies. It was a Sunday well spent. I am still too much in love with ceramic clay but I AM already thinking of using polymer clay elements to incorporate into my own mixed media work.
There’s another class this Sunday. Check it out.
Sunday January 27th 10am-12pm 1pm-4pm
Location: Monkey Puzzle Workshop, Eastsound Square, Orcas Island
Fee is $50, plus a $20 materials fee.
PREREGISTRATION IS REQUIRED. Please contact 317-5522 or email monkey@rockisland or information/registration.
P.S. Did you know there is a Northwest Polymer Clay Guild? Check out their site to see the work of artists already using this medium.
Crow’s Seasonal Dress
Sometimes a black dress just won’t do. A little brown and a little blue and crow’s ready for a ball. Or a wedding party in Spring, maybe?
Standing at 4.5 inches tall, in food-safe glaze, oven safe and microwave safe, overall, a great (and safe) bird to have at the table.
Duck, Duck, Goose
I agree, the title for this post needs reworking, but it’s the newest game Sammy picked up at preschool and he has been walking around saying “Duck, Duck, Goose”. In any case, this waterfowl pitcher is a different form I am experimenting with. It has a more elongated base and a wider mouth. The effect, to me, is a bird on the water. The combination of form, texture and glaze recalls the style from a couple of decades earlier. Don’t you think?
Hand-built ceramic slab with handcarved surface detail. Commercial glazes of contrasting colors on the inside and outside, iron oxide wash, fired to Cone 6.
Mr Jay Next Door
The idea for this little guy came from the beautiful midnight blue family of jays that lived in the tree next door all summer long. I miss them. The photo does not do enough justice to the actual glaze, which is a deep, dusky charcoal with undercurrents of blue.
Hand-built slab with hand carved textured details. Commercial glaze fired to Cone 6.
Red Jacket For Winter
Hand-built slab pitcher with carved details. Commercial glaze, iron oxide wash, fired to Cone 6.
Like birdsong in winter, I’ve been too busy sheltering from the cold to throttle about much, but oh, I’ve been busy in the studio making pitchers, and ceramic jewelry (a post on that coming later this week – I have a case made for a Wearble Art show at the Orcas Center, opening this Sat, Dec 1). My newest bird friends will attest to that. Enjoy the next couple of posts. These birds are all very versatile 5-inch tall pitchers that fit snugly in the hand for pouring. Use for milk, olive and nut oils, dressings on your table, or for bath salts, soap or shampoo holders. Food safe glazes and textured wings provide a firm grip.
optimismandco.com 