Evolving studio photos...

I find it difficult to somehow convey what life is like right now and to show you what I want to. There is a lot going on now what with my developmental psychology class and the unfolding spring with its tricksy weather and, of course, the progress of the studio remodeling. I will simply do my best to show you what is going on and hope that you will find it interesting. The photos I will show you are of my mom's studio just after she ( and I helped a bit!) finished the primer coat on the walls. She showed me her sketches of the mural she wants to create on the walls too. I also took photos of her lovely artwork and the views around my parents' house that inspire her. I couldn't help following the beginnings of new flowers peeking their leaf tips through the soil past dead growth as well as the chickens nibbling in the yard. Each spring seems like another triumph and its amazing that it never fails to delight me. I also love seeing the growing hope in my mother as she proceeds to change her studio space. She has longed for a room of her own to do with just how she wants. Like most of us though, she has that other voice that says ' why do you have to use THAT color? why can't you just use white?' I try to remind her to not listen to that unhelpful voice but she is the one in the end that must battle it. Maybe that's why spring seems even more meaningful this year to me; new growth is a battle against the past and the negativity that can stop us. I will have more pictures soon of the ongoing progress!

Remodeling a studio...what to consider?

This is a post that I've been thinking about for awhile that hopefully will help some of you who have a studio; be it a small corner or an entire garage. I have the great fortune of getting to create in clay due mostly to sharing a studio with my Mom. It is about the size of a two car garage. Recently, she decided it needed bigger windows--and boy is there more natural light! so while the new windows were being put in why not insulate and paint too? Now we have a great excuse to re-organize the entire studio to maximize space; I will take pictures of how it evolves. I have done some research into how other artists organize their spaces, whether they are large or small. I found some pictures of creative ways that they've found to organize tools, books,etc. On this post I'll show you some cool ways to organize tools and some of the studios. It was difficult to find good closeups so I hope these will give you a general idea at least. I'm hoping to make this an ongoing project so let me know what you think!
The tool holders were made by etsy sellers: Designer's Embellishment Tool Form Size Medium by Evertale, Artist's Brush Rest or Holder by GeorgiesWarehouse, Desk Organizer by lessandmore, and Handmade Artist Caddy by kissesfromana

Out of the kiln and back home!

I've been waiting for weeks for my life size man sculpture to be fired and yesterday he finally came home with me! My boyfriend came up with me to the studio to help me lug him into my car. He lost a lot of moisture weight in the gas kiln but he was still heavy enough to require two people to transport him. Here are pictures of my guy and the mat of clay I made to accomodate the movement he would make in the process of the temperature increases. It has been an interesting process and just the changes that happen when water based clay dries, heats up and cools down is amazing! He came through the firing pretty well but as you can see a bit from the pictures, he has several cracks in him. Fortunately, the cracks didn't go all the way through the clay. One of the main reasons we hollowed out our sculptures evenly was to prevent cracks. Cracks happen when the thicknesses are uneven. I really tried to be as uniform in the thickness of all areas but there were several places I missed. I will fix these areas with some heavy duty epoxy and mix in some clay grit to mimic the look of the clay: I hope it works! Overall, its been a positive experience and at least he didn't break a part. I think he came out pretty well for the first time doing sculpture this way. Thanks so much for your positive feedback during this process!

Sunday browsing for creative mugs...

I had the best of intentions to compose a wonderful blog post about studios ( which I will do in the future!) but I've been busy attending a developmental psychology class. I haven't been to school for over four years so this is a big deal for me. It is fascinating and I've been watching some great documentaries--"Babies" and the "Up"series about a group of children from different backgrounds in England as they grow up. Well worth a look even if you aren't going to school and practice observing on a daily basis ( like we do!)
Here is some of the variety of mugs on Etsy...
anatomical heart by foldedpigs
mug with horses by MorrisPottery
Dragon Rhyton by CHISCHILLYPOTTERY
Yer ugly mug by cahokiacreatives
All around the house mug by potterygod
Church door Celadon mug by glazedearth
kitty cabeza mug by CircaCeramics
Octopus mug by monicapharr

Holiday goodies

There is no snow on the ground but this is the most joyous holiday I've had in years. In Tacoma and in the surrounding areas, there are many talented artists and I couldn't help but buy some of their wares. The ceramic cups were all made by different artists at Seward Park Clay Studio where I took the life size bust class. The glass molded cup was made by local glass artist Oliver Doriss. Our apartment is watched over by this wire man year around. I hope all of you have wonderful holidays!