Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Update on Sadie

I got some nice news yesterday. Sadie was given the Award of Excellence. This piece will travel the state of Nebraska during the next year and will be on exhibition is several galleries across the state.

Two years ago I also recieved the Award of Excellence for a piece that I did called the Peddelers. Here is a picture of that piece.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Face Jug #1

It has been 3 1/2 years since my studio had the fire. With the help of my sister, Nancy, my son, Talakai, my husband, Carl, and some friends I am finally beginning to sift through the debris that was once my studio. I have been doing what little art that I have done in my living room. And it is now time to move through this.

We have removed the burn debris from the room where the fire started. So… new insulation, new electrical, new dry wall, new light fixtures, new window frames, new windows, a new potters wheel, and new kiln, freshly painted walls, freshly painted cabinets. The ceiling is blue; the wall that leads upstairs is yellow. The rest of the walls are white for now, but I promise they will be artsy fartsy soon.
Last Sat, Talakai and I went to the New Earth Galley in Fairbury, NE and worked with Bill. He taught us the basics of throwing on a potters wheel. So here is my first face jug.
I am concerned that we through this jug on Sat and I did not cover it. Then on Sun evening I sculpted this face. There are small cracks on the edges where I added the clay for the face. And a few in the eye area. Yeah, I know, with all the lines and wrinkles, it might hard to see them. But they are there.
I used porcelain clay for the eyeballs and the teeth. I used a red colored clay for the gums and tongue. I used a red slip to color the lips and the corners of the eyes.
I did wet, and score the area I was adding the clay too.

I relize this is my first one. But I would like to not make the same mistakes with the next one if at all possible. I know it is not "pretty". My stuff is not usually considered "pretty". And I have a feeling that the next one will be even less "pretty".
This jug is 6 1/2 tall and about 5" wide. It is not yet fired.

Sadie

This is Sadie. She is figure that I sent to the ANAC conference this year. She has a gourd body with polymer clay head and hands. Her legs are Aves Apoxie Sculpt.
This is her back.

This is from the side (well...duh!).

She is holding a pod head in her right hand. You might ask... "What is a pod head?" Well I collect milkweed pods that grow along the roadsides in the late summer. I then fill them and sculpt a face in them. Then I embellish them. I probably have made 300 of these little pod heads. They are very addicting.

This is just a front view. She is free standing. And, of course, she is a container. Her body is hinged in the back so that she can be opened up to reveal a secret hidding place.