Finally - a new Post

Yes - I know....... I promised to try to keep up more up to date with the blog.
But well - you know.......... Life gets busy - and the blog is sometimes the last thing on my mind.

Since September, I had 12 shows/sales, some of the sales were 2 - 3 days long. It was a rather busy - tiring few months. Long hours in the studio -and many late nights firing kilns.

In there - I did manage to remember to snap a few pictures of some of my work. I must remember in the future to take pictures of all of my work for future reference.

Dragons:
They seem to be a huge part of my work these days.
They are time consuming to make - but lots of fun. I make "Welsh" or Medievel dragons.
Each of them has their own personality - and they become just like pets. Sometimes it's very
hard to put them up for adoption because I do get attached.

This little fella was a gift to my friend Barb for Christmas.
"Dragonfly and Friend"

The look on the dragons face says it all. (if you click on the picture - you can see a larger version).



This next little feller does double duty. Not only is he cute - but he's also the "Keeper of the Jewels".
His tail is a ring holder - and his hands will hold a necklace (in this case he's holding one of my daughter's "Tree of Life" pendants). You could also use his horns to hold your earrings.
Standing just 5" tall - he's a real cutie. I plan to make a few more of these in the future - and make the wings removable to put your stuff inside the body like a box.

This picture is just a shelf of different dragons that I had at a show in London, Ontario recently.
Not the best picture really - but it does show 4 of the different styles of dragons that I make.



Of course - I also do other types of pottery. Here are a couple of Handbuilt planters/serving dishes.
I had some real problem with the glaze bubbling - and I had to refire them - 3 times. Each time - the blue glaze ran more to the bottom of the pot - leaving greens and browns behind.
I was rather pleased with the overall effect in the end.

The top picture is of the inside of the shorter pot. They have a barnyard scene around the outside - and the barn scenes on the bottom as well.

This Picture shows the "Pebble" planter and the outside of the barnyard dish. Personally - I love the colours on these pieces - almost like a watercolour wash.
That's all for tonight. I also have a new line of handbuilt "Bark" pieces. I'll take some pictures of them, and post them in my next blog (hopefully soon).

Sometimes Life Gets Busy

Life has gotten a bit crazy around here this past few months. I hadn't realized that it was 6 months since I posted - 6 months!

So - I'm taking a bit of time to update what's going on in my world of pottery.

I'm still working on my dragons.

This guy here is one of several of my bottle dragons that I have made.

I start out throwing a bottle on the wheel - then
throw it down on the table. Whatever shape it takes is the pose that the dragon will assume.

I'm in the process of doing some baby dragons right now, so I will post them soon.

I'm also still doing some of the dragons on the
side of pots.

I have this one here - which is particularly stunning. The dragon hangs over the side of the
bowl. The stunning part is the inside of the bowl.

The colour and depth of the glaze is amazing -
and accidental.

I had glazed it once but missed a spot on the rim - so I dabbed some black glaze on top of the rim and refired it. The result was this pool of blue that the dragon is looking into.



I continue to work on my birdhouses and bird feeders and soap dishes (all the big sellers at
sales) - but I really enjoy the dragons - they have so much
personality.


And now for this little ditty here.
My daughter makes these fantastic
"Tree of Life" pendants and sells them.
They are so fantastic. She does them in all
different stones - and 3 different sizes.

I am going to work some of them into some
tealight holders. They will be attached to the
side of the tealight holder - and the light will shine through the stones.

That's all for now, and I'll try not to be so lax
from now on.

Time to Breathe

Well - the sales are over, and it's time to breathe deeply before the next round starts.

I've just finished 6 different shows and sales during the month of November. They went very well for the most part - but I don't think that next year I will be inclined to line up quite so many shows. It's just too hard to get other work accomplished.






Here is a picture of some of the birdfeeders and birdhouses that were a real hit with the customers this season. I love the organic shape of the birdfeeders - and the colours.








I have 3 new pottery students starting in the next few weeks. So - I am very busy trying to clean up and organize my studio. I have to figure out where I'm going to put everything - and everybody - because my studio isn't really all that large.



And - I have orders - orders - orders to fill.

The latest item of interest seems to be
"Yarn Bowls".

Here is a side view of 3 that I made earlier this month. They are all the rage for knitters.
You place your ball of yarn inside the bowl - and thread the yarn through the slot on the side of the bowl.


It keeps the yarn up off the floor and confined so that it doesn't pick up dust and dirt - and possibly pet passing kittens, cats and puppies.



This is a top view of 3 of the bowls that are in the top picture. They show that there are 2 slots - so that you could put 2 balls of yarn into the bowl.

Actually a really neat idea.

A Quick Update

Seems that life is always too busy. There are never enough hours in the day to accomplish everything that needs to be done.

I have 5 sales coming up in November. Which means I need to have approximately 300 pieces finished for the end of October. As of today - I have about 25 pieces glazed and ready to go.
I also have another 100 pieces unglazed - and will probably run a couple of glaze firings in the next week or so.
And - I have about 25 pieces on the drying rack that aren't quite what we call greenware just yet.

So - that means in the next two weeks - I'll need to finish off at least another 50 pieces - then I can work on getting the other 100 pieces done before the last show in the end of November.

I can say for certain that it's going to be a difficult task.

I took this fella out of the kiln the other day. He has to be lustre fired yet - but, I thought I would test him to see how well he works.

If you look closely - (click on the picture to make it larger),
you can see the smoke coming out of his nostrils.

This is my only one - I'm hoping to get a few more done before November.

Back to the wheel.

Where Have I Been?

Umm - I've been hearing that a lot lately.

Truth be told - my daughter came home for the month of July to visit - so I spent as much time as possible with her, as I won't see her again until Christmas time.

I have also spent a lot of time in front of the wheel - and handbuilding.

I have a new line of pottery out - called DragonWare. So there has been much design work - and preparations for the upcoming fall shows. Orders have been rolling in - and I'm trying to keep up - but I'll give you a little sneak preview.

None of it is glazed yet (a stray cat has had kittens in my studio, and I can't fire up the kilns because of the heat) - but hopefully I can move the kittens out this next week - and get some glazing done.

So - here we go:

I'll start out with the dragon teapot.











Then there's the mug:
I call these little guys "hitchhikers" because that's exactly what they are doing - hitching a ride on your mug.











Then there's the incense burner that my
wonderful husband says looks like a drunken
cow - but really - I think it looks like a dragon puckering up for a kiss. The smoke comes out of the nose.








This is a wine goblet - he's guarding your drink for you.





















This guy is kinda cute too - I call him drinkin bud, cause he's kind of hanging on to the side monitoring how full the glass is.











And here's the last one for now:

Another teapot - this time the dragon is hanging on to the
side, with his tail curled around the spout. I will have
a bamboo handle on it when it's done.



I have more - but don't want you to suffer from
Dragon overload.

So - if you don't see me for a bit more - it's because I have to get out 300 pieces for
the end of September - I'll try to post more pictures as soon as I get a chance to glaze some of these.

This is for Heidi

Heidi is a friend of mine that lives in Eastern Ontario and also raises Shetland sheep.

Heidi is also a dragon lover like me - so we have much in common:

Heidi - I thought I'd post this picture for you:

This is a group of my dragon pots - the ones that
didn't melt. I also have a couple more at a local
store.

They range in price from $18 - $35.

The dragons are all done in either gold or platinum lustre - and they are quite striking.


I'm also working on more sheep:

The problem with sheep - now everyone
wants me to make nativity sets.

I can't seem to keep these guys in stock either.

I have 50 going out in the next week to
Haliburton School of the Arts - and the Ontario
Sheep dog trials.



This picture shows the comparative size
of the sheep with our coins.

I rather like doing miniatures - they are just a bit
of fun.

Tomorrow - I'll try to remember to post a picture or two of the little bird houses that I also do.

Today - I have to get down to the wheel. I now have my pottery in 3 different stores around our county. It's almost all sold out - and I have orders for several more pieces.

When it rains - it pours!

Hope you like the pots Heidi!!

Bragging Rights

Well - I feel the need to brag a bit.

Not exactly the best picture.

But - Puff is all done - I lustred his wings and horns with gold.

I entered him in our teapot contest.

And -

He won first prize for the "Funkiest Teapot".

This picture was taken during set-up at the contest - so, I'll have to remember to go up and take another picture of him.

He's now on a nice pedestal with the other pots - and there's a card mentioning the prizes.

The competition was stiff - there were some gorgeous teapots there, so I was very surprised when I went to the opening, and saw him up with the winners.

I'm proud of me. Now - I have to get back to making some more, as I have a couple of orders to complete. I have some ideas for changes. Watch this space for further updates.