Comfort Food

So, I am feeling pretty bleh today.  We have had unseasonably gorgeous weather here in Northern Ca. Last week it got up to about 77 degrees F.  Phew, in February, no less.  It has been truly wonderful.  Now there is a storm blowing in and who knows?  Maybe it just has me in a mood.  On the up side.  A friend of mine has ducks that have been giving him more eggs than he knows what to do with.  Who knew ducks keep producing eggs durring the winter?  So, I cheerfully agreed to take some off his hands. Now, people who know me will have their eyebrows lifted in a question mark.  Because when I think of eggs, I usually think, EEEWWW YUK.  Yea, I am not a big fan of eggs.  Unless, that is if I am baking with them.  I will eat them, though for protein when I am tired of tofu.  But it has to be like, a little egg with those veggies, please.  Like that veggie scramble up there in my delightful little Erin Paradis bowl that I got at Crimson Laurel Gallery in Bakersville, NC last spring.  Can you see any egg in there.  I didn't think so.  One egg and a whole lot of veggies, spices, salsa, and olives just to make sure.

Now, eggs are eggs are eggs.  But try as I might tell myself that they were just bigger, fresher, better versions of chicken eggs I was a little squeamish about using them.  So I figured it would be best to try them out in brownies first.  Yup.  I killed two birds with one stone.  Comfort food and new territory, albeit, a teeny tiny challenge.  Now they were scrumptious, but I don't think nearly as beautiful as this Sharon Virtue tile I picked up last summer at the ACGA show in Palo Alto, CA.

And...don't you think these images are fun?   I got a hand me down iPhone 4 so I could finally play with iPhone photo artistry.  Alright then, I am going to pull up my big girl panties and get out of the house!

Heart Tile Wall Hangings

When I first started back to college in the fall of 2007, my first ceramics class was intermediate mold making.  One of the projects was a multiples assignment involving tiles that needed to be 2" high.  I started by making a clay positive and then cast it in plaster and used it as a press mold.  Being fall, I wanted to use plant materials before everything fell off the trees.  I used maple seed pods in this one and rubber stamps for the lettering.

Returning to school was a stressful change and I found myself doing whatever I could to remind myself of peaceful, happy things.  These tiles were direct reminders to me of what was important and what I needed to do for myself.  I created about 30 tiles, all with different impressions and wording.  I was told that the hearts brought to mind the work of Jim Dine and the many heart paintings and sculptures he created.

Most of the tiles were finished in 2007 but I recently unearthed a bunch that I was still doing some tests on and had not finished.  The completed tiles had been fired at cone 04.  The above tile had a wash of purple mason stain and I glazed it up with a satin clear and fired up to cone 5.  I am quite happy with how it came out.

 

This last one also had purple stain and I applied a combination of commercial red glaze and a crackle glaze that fluxed into the red and added some color variation.  This one is also fired to cone 5.

I have had so much that I have needed to catch up on since graduating and then I am really trying to keep myself focused on making sculpture for my portfolio and grad school applications.  However, these tiles keep sneaking into my mind and I feel like making a few more. I better use them as a reward for when I get the sculptures finished.  They are a nice relief project. Pun intended.

In the meantime I have listed these in my Etsy store.  I can't keep everything I make no matter how much I love them or there wont be room to make more.  Sigh...

Have a delightful weekend full of peace, stillness and love!

Terra Sigillata Love!

Ok, it's official.  I am in love!  Oh, terra sigillata, how I love thee.  Let me count the ways.  This MIGHT even be better than chocolate.  Wait, what am I saying?  Have I lost my mind!  That could be possible.

I owe this new wave of insanity to Jenny Mendes.  She is an absolutely wonderful ceramic artist who decorates her work primarily using terra sig.  She spent a month at Chico State working and sharing her knowledge with the students.  There was a wonderful article about her techniques published in March on Ceramic Arts Daily.  Jenny left this week and gave us her terra sig to play and experiment with. So far I have just put the red terra sig, made from redart, on these new tile tests.  It felt like I was brushing silk onto my tiles!  I've never worked with this before and let me say, I was really missing out.  Thank you, Jenny!  I have been sworn by my instructors to share all experiments and results.  How can I not?  This is soooo much fun!  I want everyone to try it out.  I found myself fondling my tiles last night.  They were so smooth and soft.  Did I tell you? I have gone nutz!  In the picture above you can see the difference in the before and after.  The lighter tile on the bottom left is a funny, pink recycled clay I made last spring.  All the other ones have the terra sig.  Now, if I can just figure out what else I want to do with them.  So many colors of terra sig to choose from.  What will I ever do?

Fibromyalgia and Internet Issues!

Yesterday I made these gorgeous tiles in a unique shape created with one of my snowflake cutouts.  The downside was using my body in a way I am not used to and then in doing to many at once because I was excited with them and having a great time.  Time just flew by (time really does fly when you are having fun!) and it was late when I looked up at the clock.  I could tell that my elbow was  hurting.  When I woke up this morning I was in real pain.  That all over ache like when  you get the flu.  That's fibromyalgia for you.  Most of the time I can ignore the fibro, especially by keeping busy and I mostly don't feel it.  Then there are days like yesterday when I do something that my body is not used to.  Then I overdo it on top of that and I am quickly reminded of my limitations.  Slow and steady should be my motto.  I had that tender all over feeling and I wouldn't even let my cat initiate her morning ritual of walking all over me.  She tried but it just hurt too much.

I haven't been taking photos too much lately.  I have been feeling kind of obsessed with ceramics.  In a good way, I think.  Here is a photo I took about a month ago of the handrail on the footbridge to campus.  I like the design and the graphic qualities.  I am at campus right now, using the computer.  I finally gave up on mine at home.  It does a lot of things great as long as I don't get on the internet.  I'm not sure what is wrong with our internet at home or if it is a combo of the internet and my old computer.  The last couple of days, hours have been wasted just waiting for pages to load.  This  morning I couldn't get anything no matter how I tried to connect.  I feeling like borrowing somebody's computer just to make sure whether or not it is my computer or the connection.

I'm actually in a relatively good mood, at least that's what I keep telling myself.  But I am tired and sore and in my fogginess I left my keys at home when I ran off to school at 8am.  I was all ready to get into the printmaking lab and work on something extra that was due today.  But without a key, I can't get into my locker to get my supplies.  It's only a ten minute walk home so I'll be heading out soon to go retrieve them.  I think I'll stop and buy a bike lock first in the school bookstore and then I can get back and forth even quicker.  Oh, and a bike helmet too.  But I got to go to the bikestore for that.  Thanks for listening to me ramble today.  Sometimes, you just gotta vent.  Have a great one!