Reminiscing

I was just going through some old photos that I have scanned on my hard drive.  These sure do remind me of why I love photography so much.  Being able to capture images like these are priceless.  They remind me of time, love, emotions, pure joy.  I don't know if I would have remembered these moments without these images.  I know there are so many moments that I miss capturing because I haven't had my camera with me.  These photos were taken in 1998 and 1999 for photography classed that I took at the local junior college.  I took these with an old Ricoh SLR that my mother gave me for my 16th birthday.  By this time I had probably had the camera for about 15 years and still absolutely loved it.  I hand developed these photographs for the class and then scanned the 5x7's into the computer a couple of years ago.  Sadly, I no longer have the camera or the images, casualties of my last move.

This creek runs right through the campus of Chico State University.  We were enjoying a warm spring day after a long, wet winter.  I actually love the way this image picked up dust from the scanner.  I'm thinking of reworking it in photoshop to give it an even more vintage look.

Cat Portraits

I went to church today and then I got a good nap.  Not like I haven't been getting a good nap everyday for the last two weeks or anything.  Oh boy, school is going to be rough this semester.  Do you think anyone will notice if I fall asleep on the ceramics worktables every afternoon?  After the nap I unburied the picnic table from the painting supplies and realized there were cute furry things roaming around in the yard.  It's amazing how one can be minding one's own business outside and then realize that one is being watched by furry things.

Betty, keeping a close eye on tiger.  She belongs to the next door neighbor and comes into the yard in the late afternoon to watch the squirrels in the persimmon tree.  At night she comes to look in the back window and proceeds to hurl herself at the opposing cat on the other side of the window.

Tiny, cross -eyed after getting one eye punctured.  His name is Tiny because I caught him when he was feral at about six weeks.  He had a bad cold and he was super cute and tiny.  He has the absolute, softest fur I have ever felt on a cat.  It is so soft and silky, you almost can't feel it.  By day he is a sweet, submissive, scaredy cat.  By night he becomes the king of the yard and tries to chase Betty around.

Tiger, keeping a close eye on Betty.  AKA, cat with a 'tude.  She is almost as attitudinal as Betty.  I blame it on catching her when she was three weeks old and bottle feeding her.  She thinks she is boss.  Don't pet her unless she wants it or she'll bite.  We have a strange relationship.  I think I should pet her whenever I want.  I get bit a lot, but not bad.

Tie Dye Madness

Soooo, before the painting madness there was the tie dye madness.  Of course you wouldn't know any of that because I haven't posted for so long.

 

I just finished painting the second coat of paint on the bedroom.  This has taken me about a week to work on.  And I still have all the trim.  I flippantly thought I could just "paint" the bedroom.  This room and the one I am in now have been a pretty robin's egg blue for the past 13 years since my mother bought the house and who knows how many years before that.  They were both way overdue for a paint job.  I am moving into this room and I couldn't bear the thought of winter in a cool blue room.   This is what I finally came up with after four hardware stores worth of paint chips and samples and testing all over the wall.  I call it Buttercream Frosting.  It is my own custom mix.  I couldn't find quite the shade I was looking for.  I could find one darker and one lighter.  I bought one gallon of each and mix them together.  I am pretty pleased with myself.  And exhausted!

It has been a mad dash of playing around the last week.  It isn't like I have a list of about thirty things I HAVE to do before school starts again in a week.  I should give myself a break.  It's not like it has all been play.  Last week there were the three out of town doctors appointments (not for me, I'm the driver) and then all the grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning to do since my mother has been laid up.  You know, all the normal, domestic stuff.

Anyhoo, this tie dye madness began a week ago on a lazy Sunday afternoon when I remembered I had shirts that had been sitting in the tie dye box for about, ahem, four years?  I thought it would be pretty simple and easy to do those up in a jiffy.  Ha ha ha!  Ya right.  Now, drumroll please, here for your viewing pleasure are my tie dyes. Ta dah!

It took me a few days to get through the process.  I only tied up the shirts on Sunday and then it got too dark to mix up the dyes.  Then Monday I thought it would be a great idea to barbeque AND tie dye.  Oh, I kill myself!  What was I thinking?  Just when I thought I was finally done with the madness, my son and his girlfriend wanted to tie dye.  After all, there was extra dye and the mess hadn't been put away yet.  Therefore, the madness began again.

Then to top it off, and just because there was a little dye left, I made this little wall piece.  And we wont even talk about the rest of the leftover dye that is in the refrigerator.  Next week, reality.  Moving the bedroom and trying to complete the to do list.  Wish me luck.  I hear the dyes calling me...

Catching Up

I think I am finally starting to catch up.  Maybe...  Well, I have been trying to anyway.  Taking too many naps though messes up you sleep cycle so I've got to ditch that developing habit.  Besides, I wont be able to when school starts and I don't want to have to go through withdrawals. 

My mother had a minor procedure done to her foot so I got to hang around today.  Not like I really needed to go anywhere.  Uh, wait!  Overdue library books.  Yikes.  But, as I was saying.  I finally got through sorting paperwork in the  spare room and today I made another mess.  I got into the boxes of pottery I got out of the kiln the day before I left for Fresno.  Now there is pottery all over the floor and paper piled up in a corner.  The cat likes that.

I photographed almost all of it with my new canon SLR, hehe.  Here is a gorgeous little shino chawan that turned out great.  I posted it to my Etsy shop along with some other items.  I will be posting more in the next few days.

I think I threw this with B-Mix.  It is the only one.  I wish I had made more!  I love the speckling on the inside.   I think with the next photo shoot I need to move the piece either back away from the white or use some black fabric or paper to absorb some of the reflection that is happening on the bottom of the piece.

Now I am starting to accumulate a lot of work.  I am not sure if I should just keep working to sell it on Etsy or if I should sign up for a craft fair.  Hmm...  One thing is for sure.  I have so many new ideas from the clay workshop that I'm not sure what I am going to work on next.  Decisions, decisions.  Time to whip  out the sketch book and start working on some ideas.

Perfect Evening

I had a wonderful evening tonight.  I headed out to Horseshoe Lake to see what kind of pictures I could get around sunset.  It was about time to really play with my  new camera and break it in a little.  The weather was great.  I got there just as the  sun was headed down behind a hill.  It had cooled off and there was a nice breeze.  It was beautiful to listen to all the ducks, crickets and birds as they headed off to their nests for the night.  They were actually making quite a racket.  Not the ducks, however.  They were just making peaceful little noises.  While I was walking around the lake I got the awesome opportunity to see this young buck come down the hill to get a drink.

He was really pretty use to seeing people and wasn't too interested in me as long as I held pretty still and didn't make any sudden movements.  Of course the telephoto really helped.  One of the main reasons for getting a new camera, besides the other one dying, was to get a digital SLR with a telephoto lens.  I have really missed having that ability to zoom in and to play around with depth of field.

My son was wonderful enough to set up his iMac in the spare bedroom so I would have a fast computer to save and edit my photos on.  Big thanks!  I have more wonderful photos from this evening but I still trying to figure out where I saved them to on this computer.  Thankfully I have worked on Macs before but I am more used to the PC platform.

Back in the saddle...I think?

I finally made it home after a month of Summer Arts at Fresno State.  A kagillion things have happened and I have barely had time to think about other things much less to blog about it all.  My brain is still buzzing with new information.  What to do with it all?!

The last two weeks in Fresno were spent in a class called Building Reactive Sculpture.  We had the amazing guest artist, Trimpin, teaching us all about activating sculptures using musical instruments and found and recycled objects.  We took a field trip to the local junk yard and thrift stores. We also used solenoids and motors and everything was hooked up to the "brain," a mess of midi cables and circuitry all leading to a master keyboard.  At our conclusion, Trimpin, directed our improvisational performance.  We all had a great time and were sad to see him leave.

I learned a lot of great things in this class, including soldering, welding and working with arduino.  I am looking forward to putting all of this to more good use in my sculpture class in the fall.  Wait, that is only a few short weeks from now!

Now I am busy teaching a group of kids at summer art academy for a week.  Today was the first day.  So far, so great.  I think the students are really interested in my photo litho class.  I gave them a short intro today and tomorrow we dive in.  I'm planning to post a bunch of photos to my flickr page as time permits, maybe after this week is over.  Phew, lots of fun!

Too Busy to Blog

It has definitely been a whirlwind of activity lately.  We finished our ceramics workshopes last Friday with a culminating show in the Conley Gallery at Fresno State.  We did our installation with guest artist, Holly Hanessian.  These organic pieces are the ones we created with Jason Briggs.

Here is a view of my sculpture made while laying on the floor of the gallery and looking up towards were it was hanging from the ceiling.

We deinstalled the show and cleaned up the studios on Friday afternoon and that marked the end of the workshop.  I was exhausted but because I am a glutton for punishement, I decided to run up to Yosemite for a day.  Run isn't accurate.  My friend, Rehka, and I drove to Merced and then took the YARTS bus up to the valley.  It took about three hours.  Then we hiked the Mist Falls Trail up to Vernal Falls.  It was a gorgeous day but this out of shape body took a beating.  We took the bus back down to the youth hostel for the night and then back to Fresno on Sunday just in time to be at the orientation for Reactive Sculpture.  I am still trying to catch up on much needed rest.  Maybe when I get home.

Sculpting a Bust with Tip Toland

Who knew sculpting the human head would be so interesting!  We just finished up our three day intensive with Tip Toland.   She is an excellant and very patient instructor.  Thank you, Tip! It was a mad dash and late nights to get our busts finished.  I didn't get to sleep until 2am this morning.  This is the first time I have done any type of figure sculpting and I am very happy with how this piece turned out.  Since we got done today a little early I am thinking a little nap is in order.  We don't have to be back in the studio "officially" until Monday morning for our next guest artist, Jason Briggs and the next big whirl wind of activity.  That doesn't mean I'm not SUPPOSED to be in the studio working but I am going to take some time off for the holiday weekend.  Some new friends and I might even make a drive up to Yosemite for the day.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Heather Mae Erickson and Tip Toland

Yesterdy was sad because we had to say goodbye to guest artist Heather Mae Erickson.  Boo hoo!  This is the plaster mold I learned how to make during her stay at Fresno Summer Arts Program.  We learned so much, I hope I took good enough notes and can remember it all. 

This is a one part plaster drop-out mold.  I started this one by making a simple free form cottle out of clay to hold in the plaster.  As soon as the plaster set up and the mold was still soft I removed the clay and proceeded to file and sand the sides using surforms, drywall screen and wet and dry sand paper until the surface was nice and smooth.  Next, I soaped it with Murphy's Oil soap and built another cottle around this positive and poured in some more plaster.  I was worried that I wouldn't get out the positive but just like that, it slipped out like it was supposed to.  Yeah! 

I did completely mess up this negative mold, however, when I tried to cast a mother mold.  It had been drying for slip casting when I decided I would make a mother mold and even though I soaped it up, the plaster stuck to it and I couldn't get it out.  I think I was supposed to do this step either when it was still wet or with shellac on it since it was dry.  Oh, well.  Now I know!  I'm going to try to make another one if I have time. 

This is the first one part drop-out mold Heather taught us how to make.  The important lesson here was learning how to make nice straigth sides and it was an excellent tutorial that required a lot of attention to detail.  Great for the perfectionist in me!  This mold I have actually been slip casting and I am excited by the multiples concept.  I will make a bunch of these forms which will allow me to play around with arranging them in different groupings. 

Our next guest artist, Tip Toland, arrived last night and we spent today learning how to sculpt the human head. Time to get some shut eye.  I want to get an earlier start tomorrow.  I have been staying up way too late laughing and having a good time with new friends.  But wait, I have to Facebook first!  Lol.

Bunny on My Bed

 This is Momma Bunny.  Really original name, I know.  She looks a little wicked with the red eye going on.  She is an outdoor bunny who should really be a house bunny.  I used to have my bunnies in the house until I got allergic to them.  It's a shame.  She is an adorable bunny, very well behaved.  Sometimes I think she is a dog.  She loves to be petted.  Momma bun got to come inside today to get her toenails trimmed and to get a summer home in the basement where it is cool.  I tried to but her on her back and nestle her in the pillows to put her in a bunny trance for the procedure but she wasn't having any of it.  So I just gave her lots of nose rubs and gently pulled each foot out from under her and trimmed her nails.  She did great.  What a sweet bunny.  Nose kisses!  I brought her daughter in for the same treatment.  Not so good.  She is a super nervous bunny and she peed on the bed.  I at least got some of the longest nails trimmed.

Oh, I just want to hug her and love her up!  All this is part of my preparations for going away to Summer Arts at Fresno State.  I'm heading out in the morning.  I am going to try to get on the rode before it gets too hot.  I got to borrow a lap top from a great friend of mine so hopefully I will be able to post some images from my class, Clay as a Medium for Sculpture.  There is an incredible line up of artists who will be leading the class and I am excited to see what they have in store for us.  Better get my beauty rest.

Laying Down on the Job

 The office assistant doesn't think much about all the paperwork I spread out for her to work on today.

 

What?

I need to do my nails first.

Don't mezz with the offeece assistant!

I am warning you!

Hey, how did this pencil thingy get on MY bed anyways!

Ok, gotta go see if I can get those pots to load themselves into the kiln.  Wait, they need to glaze themselves up first!

Photo Lithography on Clay

Blogging seems to have taken a backseat to the gorgeous summer weather.  Of course, it doesn't help if I keep forgetting to take my camera to the studio with me when I go.  I've been riding my back to the studio which only takes a couple of minutes.  I actually wish it took longer.  There are so many flowers in bloom that it is an olfactory experience everyday.  Tonight I had to ride around the circular drive that goes around a huge magnolia tree just so I could keep smelling it.

I have been experimenting in the studio again.  This time it is photo lithography on clay.  Here is my very messy little setup.  I'm using a sheet of plexi underneath the ink.  I could have used glass but we have lots of plexi in the plaster room.  Just cleaned it up first.  My ink is linseed oil mixed with Mason stain 6600.  I have been watching the demo on Ceramic Arts Daily by Kristina Bogdanov.  It is a great demo and I finally had to try it out for myself.  I wont go into great detail here.  Kristina does a much better job.

Here is my printing plate.  I xeroxed this super cute little batty image for my test.  The plate is set into water and water is flooded over the top and then sponged off.  The wet paper repels the ink while the toner attracts it.

Here I am trying to roll the inked brayer and take a photo at the same time.  Not such a great idea.  I almost didn't notice that my plate was rolling around the brayer. After inking the plate it gets flooded and sponged off and then inked again.  One more flood of water to wash off the excess ink and it is ready to transfer.  The plate gets gently lifted by the corner and is placed image side down onto soft leather hard clay.  The transfer is left to sit for a minute and then burnished with the back of a spoon or soft rubber rib.

Pulling back a corner for a peek.  I actually could have placed the corner back down and burnished some more.  I didn't quite have all the detail I wanted but I was too impatient to see the image.  Also I have been having a hard time with the paper sticking to the clay and tearing so I thought I might try to peel it off sooner.

Looking pretty interesting so far.

Ooh, Ahh!

Ta Da!

Definitely go check out the link for more info.  I also have been reading the photo litho transfer method in Maureen Mills' book Surface Design for Ceramics.  What is interesting and different about her technique is that she uses polyester litho plates instead of paper.  This sounds more durable and I think I might try it.  The paper sticking to the clay will burn off but I want to layer images and I don't want the paper bits to get stuck in the way.  Who knows?  I need more practice and maybe I'll get the technique down better.  But it would still be fun to try the polyester litho paper because you can put it into a laser printing and print the artwork directly.  Has anyone else worked with this technique?  I'd love to hear any tricks or tips you might have.

I Really Do Make Things With Clay

The last week and a half has been a blur of cleaning up the ceramics studio at school.  I was beginning to wonder if I ever made things with clay but last night even though I was tired I made myself sit down and make something.  My friend  was making some cups with dimples in them and I liked them so much I stole the idea for these bowls.  I did tell her first that I was stealing the idea.  These are made out of some aged recycled clay but they still got some cracking on the dimples.  We just whipped up a new batch of recycle yesterday and I really tried to get some good plasticity going on.  I hope it worked.  I haven't tried any of the fresh stuff yet.

What I really want to make time for is some more hand built sculptures.  Here is a sneak peak of what I was starting before we got so crazy busy cleaning.  I am pretty pleased with myself for making these and I am loving how they turned out.  I am so accustomed to throwing on the wheel but I completely hand built these with slabs.  Yeah for me!  I'd like to get some more made before I head down to my month long stint at the summer arts program at Fresno State.  Well, I best be gettin' to bed.  I've got about another 500 pounds of recycled clay to mix up tomorrow.  Thank goodness I don't do it all myself!  Night, night, or good morning by the time many of you will read this.