Dirty Girl Clayworks

hot off the presses

2012-02-13T20:05:00.000-08:00

fresh, warm from the kiln. wouldn't it be lovely if they also smelled like fresh bread...?
some new works for spring.
bringing back slip trailing and raised dots
working in more simple line drawing.
feeling pretty good about it, a little nervous. funny how simple things can feel risky.

new things on easy

2012-01-08T21:32:00.001-08:00

i've just posted some new items on easy...it's been awhile...trying to get some things up for those looking for valentines treats!

holy hummingbirds!

2011-12-10T19:11:00.001-08:00

yes the hummingbirds have been buzzing busily about searching for nectar. the fuchsias really just finished a week or two ago (really!). i managed to sketch a few before they were done and combine a sgraffito version with some hummingbird stencils. having fun with it. the white bowl was the first piece i made, and some of the underglazes burned out a bit, weren't think enough, so i made sure to apply 3 or 4 coats of slip and underglaze on the platter.

i am hoping to play with some basic washes over the winter. try them as a kind of watercolour over the slip. been using a mix of 1 part stain or oxide with 1 part gerstley borate, mixed with water, and they come out nice and vibrant. keep you posted!

sale!

2011-12-06T19:06:00.000-08:00

i haven't done any shows this winter, so i decided to have a festive sale!
come on by the studio gallery
5321 Old West Saanich Rd, Victoria BC
on Saturday Dec. 10, 11-4.
all stock will be 25% off, and maybe i'll even bake some cookies!
see you there....

a few small experiments

2011-11-20T20:27:00.001-08:00

sometimes at my job (as technician in the ceramics studio for the camosun college visual arts program) i get time to do a little experimenting (i call it professional development) and play around a bit. the students are selling art and goodies at the upcoming college craft fair, so i said i would contribute a few mugs to the cause.
just played with a little sgraffito, and basic images. i have been using more sgraffito in my own work and trying to become more confident with freehand drawing. although i still often trace images on over the slip and then incise through the tracing. i'm attempting to be more playful, as sometimes i feel my work is a little tight. it's easier when it's not work that i am expected to ship to a store or gallery!
here's two of the mugs. i'm really loving the handle on the squirrel mug:

computer limbo

2011-10-21T15:41:00.000-07:00

my "antique" (7 years old in apple land is considered antique apparently) computer has died and my harddive is being held hostage by the computer store until my new one arrives...so will be posting soon from my shiny new machine in a week or so....

apples on the brain

2011-09-25T20:37:00.001-07:00

well aside from dodging space junk freefalling through the atmosphere, this week also heralded the beginning of Fall. The equinox brings to mind crisp air and cozy sweaters. darkness at bedtime (for little ones). more baking, harvesting, preserving...that natural instinct to stock up for winter. and, well, one of my favorite fall things, apples! apple sauce, apple cake, dried apples, baked apples, apple and beet salad, apple juice warm and cold...and so to celebrate all things fall, we had a party. it was lovely, musical, and i'm still full 24 hrs later....
for this party i made little books with a great apple recipe - apple spice loaf. diligently used Nova's nap time to cut stamps from safety-cut block, ink and print. she helped with the collating. and i sewed a stitch in each to keep them together while she fell alseep the night before the party. and with all that i didn't get a chance to bake a sample loaf! (i must acknowledge here that my mother, finding out i had no loaf, only two very rich chocolate tofu cream pies, went and picked apples, bought raisins, and whipped one up faster than you can say "autumn apple spice bread")
all that being said i have a couple of leftovers (not only potato salads but a few recipe books) - so if you would like to have on for yourself....leave a post here by friday and i will draw one name from a hat and you might get it in the mail!

feast on the fruit of life

2011-09-18T20:27:00.000-07:00

continuing to work on ways to combine image making on the functional ware. here we have stencils with the finger dots, mishma branches, slip trailed lettering. a fruit bowl for the season. should be full of apples, but we keep saucing all the ones we pick!

new old stuff

2011-09-14T14:07:00.001-07:00

well i started on this quite a while back, the beginning of a portrait project, which looks like it will be a longer term project then i had originally thought, seeing as this is the only one i've made since the spring.
spent most of a stitch & bitch night cutting the stencil. used paper clay, slips and underglazes. not super happy with the frame, probably should have made it a plain oval, but for some reason am always drawn to these curlicue things...have to temper that tendency.
it's actually been out of the kiln awhile now, just took me a couple months to dig out these photos!

city hub voting

2011-09-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

Vote for your favorite arts and culture businesses at city hub victoria. vote everyday!

Vote for Dirty Girl Clayworks on CityHUB!
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a festival, survived and enjoyed

2011-08-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

so FolkWest happened and the weather was so fine, and the energy was great and the music was wonderful and danceable, and the kids area was well, awesome of course!
my amazing team of volunteers helped reaffirm my faith in humanity by showing up with enthusiasm and smailes, with thoughtfulness and talents, and provided me with a stress-free weekend. it's really true that volunteers MAKE a festival. we had had them facepainting, blowing giant bubbles (i made this bubble wand, and it didn't take much practice to get the hang of it, and the bubble recipe i used was 8c water, 1c dish soap, 1/4 c glycerine), getting messy with art, and constructing an awesome box fort. we had clowns, and we had sawn lake nature sanctuary (wow, a great naturalist is a beautiful thing).

Folked UP!

2011-08-08T21:05:00.000-07:00

okay
on top of the usually craziness i have been helping to put together a brand new folk festival here in our fair city. i am on the board of directors and in charge of the children's area and also jurying vendors. this has meant A LOT of loving support and understaning by my family and pleanty of meetings (weekly! late! lots of treats and tea!). i'm so excited and happy to be apart of making this happen, and getting to know my fellow board members. and i must say i will be happy not not have weekly meeting after the festival, which is, ahem, in about 10 days...
so i am trying to be as low stress as possible. my mission is to have a fun and creative kids area with activities for all ages and all free! art and facepainting, a box fort, soccer, hoola hoops, bubbles, water play....and shady space for kids and nursing moms. nature area by swan lake nature snactuary. it hope it going to be great.
so as i don't yet have my volunteer crew, i have started getting stuff ready...like tracing 150 mini guitars (ukeleles) to be painted

and chop-sawing cardboard tubes into drum frames....

yippee!
so come check out the festival, FolkWest! it's going to be lots of fun, gosh darn it!

upcoming show June 18: Clay Connects

2011-06-10T14:11:00.000-07:00

Well I don't do many shows, but I will be at this one next weekend, along with over 30 other members of the South Island Potters Guild. Should be quite a day, come check it out if you can....

chance to win!

2011-06-10T14:10:00.001-07:00

hey friends
have you been thinking...hey i sure wish i had a new piece of pottery from Dirty Girl Clayworks....?
well here's your chance to win - yes! free!
check this fabulous site tomorrow (june 11) and leave a comment and maybe you will be the lucky one!
www.soulemama.com

good luck!

another studio tour survived!

2011-05-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

well mothers day always marks the annual Saanich West Studio Tour, and so was spent eating tea and greeting visitors in the grey & cold weather that descended. it was made all the better by sharing space with a good friend, Madelin Emery, & a new friend Paige Coull. and we got a descent turn out too!

Another great thing about the studio tour is that it motivates me to fill up the gallery instead of just shipping things out... always feels good to walk into a full gallery! here's a sneak peek into the new work i've been doing too. you may notice some polka dots, some stripes, and some multi-coloured stencil layers here & there...

filling up the mug rack, the bowl shelves....

fresh tumblers

getting dotty

and dottier

my herd of wild horses....

* * * * * * * * *

Paige Coull does great , hip, work with lots of decals, mishma, stamps, and other fun add-ons and small alterations.

and funky jewellery too!

Madelin and i have known each other over ten years now. we met sharing studio space at Xchanges Artsists Collective... she does raku.

some fabulous juicy red raku

a fleet of polar bears - Madelin makes bears as a fundraiser for bear research.

cheack out that awesome crackle!

something new

2011-05-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

here's a few new pieces. both have things i am happy with and not so happy with. some good learning came from them.

i've been wanting a nice water pitcher for our family table for some time. mulled it over, but didn't, in hindsight, think enough about form. really like the way the decoration cam out in this. i also did another one with swallows which is in the Spottery show in Vancouver...
but the spout is a bit too much for me, and the top not quite narrowed enough. it functions fine, but we do have to pour slowly...

and this large plate (about 14-15" diameter) i worked for quite awhile on, layering the slips and stencils. and in the end, some fine hairline cracks in the slip along one side! ack! guessing slip is too thick. so am layering stencils differently on the new ones (one base colours, negative stencils added in other colours...). will see how they turn out. really like the look of the plate, gosh darnit! and was surprised by the change in colour - that final layer is my sky blue over the green. usually the layered colours don't effect each other, but this really did.

last little note - next week is the Saanich West Studio Tour - lots of great potters & art! and beginning of my "regular" open hours for the rest of the year! come check it out, there will be cookies...

earth day: a day with no pictures

2011-04-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

yesterday we celebrated many things - earth day, a one year old's birthday, the warmth of the spring sun (finally!), being with good friends and meeting new ones, our children, and the joy of community.

we spent the day at twisted vine farm, helping, along with many others, to get the walls of there earthern home! and the day was such a busy, engaging day, we didn't manage to pull out the camera (but i'm sure gen will pos some photos on her site soon).

they are building mainly with light clay (clay slip and wood shavings) and cob.... a clay persons dream home! we are blessed with being able to be apart of such things as building friends home!

and while i have gotten dirty during other work-parties at twisted vine in the past, this i day i got to hang out with my girl! A spent the day filling walls, and he looked so happy and contented to be doing so, that i left him to it. N and I ran around with the other wild kids, spent a lot of time taking turns on the swing (only one swing, many children! lots of patience and communicating about turns...), went for a walk along the trans-canada trail looking for turtles and frogs & finding lots of nettles (yum!), eating cake, snuggling for some quite reading time, sitting by the fire roasting veggie dogs (N's first one!) and just taking it all in. fun day. tiring day. lots of pictures in my head, brief sketches drawn here for you

Hump day!

2011-03-22T20:50:00.001-07:00

Well I've been back in the studio for a few weeks now & it feels good!
you know as much as i needed a break, i do get pretty antsy when away from the studio for too long....maybe that would be different if my hiatus was spent somewhere slow & tropical...instead of here waiting for the pipes to defrost...
in any case i'm making making making with deliveries scheduled in april and some new things up my sleeve (photos as soon as they are out of the kiln!)

here's my studio shelves today as they fill up with work (and a full load in the kiln to boot!)

today was making what i call dipper bowls, and i generally throw them "off the hump" - meaning i don't measure each ball of clay out individually like i do for most things, but simply toss a large lump of clay onto the wheel (usually between 6-8 lbs) and throw each bowl off the top of it until i run out of clay. it takes some practice to get each piece the same size, but once you get it & are in the flow its a great way to make small things, or pieces of things (spouts, lids, etc...). you don't have to centre the entire lump of clay, just the top part that you are using. it's not a radical new way of doing things but i sure like it when it's time to throw dipper bowls

here's the hump looking down from the top

here's the hump from the side, i've already thrown about half of it, glistening in the sunlight (yes it was sunny today and still i stayed in my studio!)

here's the bowls that have already come off this hump

spare time? part two

2011-03-10T19:16:00.001-08:00

well spare time seems like a thing of the past all of the sudden, now that i am back in the studio with many pots to make & orders to fill. but i do have another long time project that i am picking away at.

this fall is was gifted four bags of raw wool. i was so excited. i had no idea what kind of work (whew it's a lot!) would be involved in getting the wool to the stage where i could use it for felting or spin it for knitting... so i did get it all washed over about two months and am starting to card it. knotty by nature is that super fabulous store in town that rents time on their drum carder! it took me two hours to make my first 15 batts...but feels like progress. in the meantime between the next session (who knows when that will be!) i am hand picking it (basically fluffing it before carding it.) and experimenting with dying.

some picked wool, some dyed some au naturel

i have been loaned a variety of drop spindles, but have yet to get the hang of it, so that i can hopefully spin it into something that resembles what one would knit with, i.e. yarn.

drop spindles

N has already requested a hat...so maybe i will have the wool (or at least some of the wool) spun up for the end of summer and get working on some winter hats...

And being back my studio does feel good, i just getting back into the old juggling act. i am working on some new fun stuff, lots of layers of colour, images, and polka dots! will show some photos when they come out of the kiln.
also working on some portrait pieces, something i've been wanting to do for awhile...also give you a peek when they get out of the kiln...stay posted!

spare time?

2011-02-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

well yes time for other things does exist! as i have reminded myself this past month or so, on hiatus from my chilly, damp studio...
finally finished the quilt i started for N's birthday (which was in, well, november...). i like to quilt, or i like the idea of quilting, but don't do it often. was fraught with sewing machine woes, the snapping of many needles, and the extra time it takes to try and make it work with what material is at hand rather than head to fabricland for that final 2 metres... many old pajamas and shirts and scrip scraps went into this quilt... really freed up some storage space!
here's the finished product! snuggly! and really cozies up N's room.

oh the simple stencil

2011-01-15T17:38:00.000-08:00

ever held a fabulous piece of pottery & thought how the heck did they do that?
well my approach for my regular work is fairly simple: slip & stencil.
slip being a liquid coloured clay that i mix up from a top secret recipe.
stencil being a basic mylar shape that i cut out. why mylar? so i can wash it off & use it again. a HUGE step up from when i first started using stencils & cut each one out from newspaper. paper works great but isn't reusable & thus very inefficient for any kind of "production"...
so i thought i'd share a bit of my basic process with some photos in case anyone is interested.

start with a leather hard piece, here a dipper bowl

wet the stencil & adhere to the surface.
sometimes the stencil will lift in places & slip with go underneath, ruining your nice clear lines & making some work to clean the lines up.

poor slip over stencil (or dip piece into slip).
let it set up until it's no longer shiny

pull the stencil off & voila!

giveaway on mayamade

2010-11-27T12:49:00.000-08:00

tomorrow, nov. 28th, the lovely Maya of maya*made is hosting a giveaway of one of my new knitting vases & a couple of dipper bowls. I've really been enjoying getting to know Maya, and her site is great, so check it out!
here's a sneak peek of the vase that will be on her site tomorrow:

studio tour

2010-10-11T20:26:00.000-07:00

well everyone likes to have a little peek around in someone's studio, that's why studio tours are so much fun! so here's a little look inside & out of the studio space i spend so much time in....

this is the front of the quanset hut that the studio is built into. my sweetie's studio is also in there, as well as large open workspace and storage above. and home to a few mice and haven for evilina, our resident feral cat...

here is some of the inside space, with my studio door.

it's not very large or very glamorus, my well used studio. home built with shipping pallets, and scavenged wood...it serves the purpose, but i do dream of a more spacious, insulated, airy light space....
this is looking staright ahead from the door.

and this is looking to the left. and that's it! (remember how i said it's not very big? about 10 x 15 ft)

work in progress....

here's a quick look inside my sweetie's studio/jam space, where he was painting with our wee one. and she was jumping on bubble wrap, giggling.

this is another angle of the inside space as you are walking out.

here is the sign just outside the gallery garden, a sweetly welded piece from a woman in parksville. i traded her some bowls. great deal!

my sorely neglected gallery garden. the pathway is quickly being overcome by wild strawberries and plantain. seems when i have time to garden it's usually frantic digging/planting/weeding/watering/harvesting in the veggie garden. really must give this space some more love.

here's the little gallery space. this little building was my dad's darkroom for years, and housed in the quanset hut, where my studio is now. some friends helped PUSH it outside (it was on caster wheels) and get it onto the skids i built outside. then we (a and myself) slapped a roof on it & punched in a window & voila.

and here's a view in the gallery.

and lastly the building that houses my artistic benefactors, my parents. without the cheap rent they grant me (not to mention childcare, cookies, cups of tea, and watering the garden) i would be making pinch pots on a corner somewhere. yes, the house is round, made of metal, & it turns!

thanks for taking a look & feel welcome to come by the real studio!

Upcoming show, new work

2010-09-20T14:27:00.000-07:00

If you happen to be in Nanaimo, or know anyone thereabouts, please drop-in on this show, should be some great work!

Stencil Madness X 4
4 artists, 2 stencils let's see what happens...

Tanya Streeter-Wilson - textiles
Grant Leier - paintings
Katherine Moore - glass
Faro Sullivan (Dirty Girl Clayworks) - ceramics

Join us Saturday September 25 4:30 to 7:30 for a little party. If you can't make it then the show will run for three more weeks -unless the work is all bought up! In addition to the lotus and bird stencils that all four artists are using there will be more of our work depicting our favourite stencilled imagery such as dragonflies, crows, swallows, hummingbirds, herons, trees, bikes, bunnies and more.

--
Artzi Stuff
309 B Wesley Street
Old City Quarter
Nanaimo BC
250-716-8989
www.artzistuff.jimdo.com
Join the Artzi Stuff Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Nanaimo-BC/Artzi-Stuff

*****************************************

as part of the show i have been working on some new ideas using trays for cup sets. here is the four lotus tumbler set with tray that i made (excuse the very average photographs done on the floor and in front of my studio door, quickly as N was napping, but you get the idea). I also made a couple of tea for two sets, but they are still cooling in the kiln. these pieces have ben really fun to make. think i will keep making time when time allows, like after the xmas rush. am just skipping along to keep up with things these days. yikes! i have enjoyed making more of the framed platters as well & am pondering the effect of pairing the textures with the stenciled imagery. see how far that can be pushed. and am dreaming up some more intricate stencils (am drooling over a book of japanese stencil designs...).

oh yeah. also wanted to mention that i will have a virtual table during october on poppytalk handmade (with new work!) and a sponsor spot from october-december on maya*made
exciting stuff! and will post when it's all up and running.

a little colour

2010-08-31T15:12:00.000-07:00

well you remember the first framed platter pieces i made? I have the second generation, these with some colour! it's pale, i know, but I am easing into it (and the photos are a little washed out). Tried a few different sources or texture and have since made some texture rollers which i used on the third generation (not yet fired). amasing how hard it is to squeeze in a little experimentation here and there! but i already started working on xmas orders, so i guess i know what's in store for the next few months...

bike love. with tread.

pig for fun. with different tread.

two trees. yes, with cedar.
not very original, i know.

let me know what you think!

art in the next generation

2010-07-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

Well this blog is not meant to be about proud mom posts, but i have been thinking about art and kids a lot lately and so couldn't resist this photo of my daughter showing off one of her paintings (ahem, rather "mixed media" pieces), which she hung in a local kids art show.

some days it seems so hard to find time or desire for any art, and some times it is the most important thing (don't you just love it when the first your toddler asks at 7 am is "can i do some painting" or "can i make some clay"?). How to strike the balance with all the other great things to fit into a day (like riding bikes, cooking, reading, swinging, swimming, playing, gymnastics, napping, running, jumping, singing, dancing, hide&seek, sorting buttons, giggling, climbing, telling stories, looking for animals, watching boats, kayaking, picking berries, gardening....sigh).

as parents who are artists, we try to consciously bring art into every day life. sometimes that simply means having art on the walls (which my sweetie regularly rotates around the house to keep things fresh, and to see how long it takes me top notice). sometimes that means painting, gluing, sewing, sculpting, cutting, experimenting, getting messy inside outside & all around the house. it makes one think about how to talk about art, what to do with it, why we make it, how it shapes us all from the very start. I'm not trying to mould N into an artist, but do hope she has an appreciation for it as she grows.

on pondering why i've taken to reading blogs, one great reason is how many fabulous craft & art ideas i get from other parents out there. so many people sharing their great artistic ventures & processes. i am thankful for that. and while there are many many great sites out there, one good compendium is the crafty crow.

fresh from the kiln

2010-07-19T14:45:00.000-07:00

well it's always exciting to be experimenting with new ideas, trying to push the regular work a little further.
these are a couple of pieces i made the week after my workshop at MISSA (did I mention how great MISSA is? check it out!)
it looks a little rough, but will sort itself out with a few more attempts. definitely will be adding more colour! enjoying the paperclay i bought for course, although i find it a little tough to rewedge when it's not super fresh & of course would like it a darker brown. so will try out making some of my own using my lovely chocolatey clay body.
so these are after thinking of picture frames & ways to make texture. did these two "frames" with wheels of one tricycle & one kids bike.
let me know what you think!

taking time

2010-07-13T14:07:00.000-07:00

well, about a month ago i was blessed with the opportunity to spend a week at the Metchosin International Summer School for the Arts (MISSA). Wow! a whole week just to make new objects, learn techniques, play, and visit with others potters and artists - how luxurious!

the course was hand-building with paper clay with Cory McCrory.here's one of Cory's fun pieces

the absolutely best thing i came away with was using lino cuts for surface texture. and i had the chance to sculpt, which i never do! most of the class worked on mermaids. i made a mermaid in a bathtub. what a challenge, but great to have Cory walk through the various stages and the things to think about. as i make largely functional pieces and some wall pieces, thinking in 3D was really fun.

naturally, a few days in, i started pondering if and how i would use these ideas in my own studio practice. finally in the last hours, as i worked on a teapot, it came it me. at least a place to start. will post images in days to come of the first pieces i have made and fired.

in the mean time here are some pieces i made on the first day. raw, then with underglaze. still need to take photos of the final products...

and here are a couple of the mermaid, raw (still haven't painted her yet!)

trying to stay connected

2010-07-05T14:50:00.000-07:00

when i started this blog i thought, sure no problem, i'll be able to get on there "regularly"...
than life took some unexpected turns with family & health.
but managing to stay afloat, just not online...so much.
working away in the studio, with my studio helper and inspiration.
took a week long class (will write more on this to come, just need to load the photos from the camera) at fabulous MISSA and having fun trying out some new ideas...

and managed to post some pices back up on etsy. will endeavour to post something at least once a week. trying to get myself out there, out there, wherever that maybe or lead...

the someday blog

2010-02-04T20:50:00.000-08:00

well a piece has found it's way to a post on the someday blog - about stencil art!
find it here:
the someday blog

also have posted some pieces on etsy:
dirty girl on etsy

Upcoming shows

2009-11-25T12:19:00.000-08:00

here's a few places to find me in the coming weeks:

Hemma Made Craft Fair
Saturday November 28th 5-10pm.
Free entrance and refreshments. Come join us for free warm cider and treats while perusing lovely local hand made items, everything from kids items to clothing, jewelry and art!
1274 May St, Victoria

Arts & Crafts: exhibit - craft fair - party
Dec. 4, 2009 - Jan. 10, 2010
In partnership with our sister-store Regalia Boutique, Boucherat Gallery and Studio 16 1/2 will be mixing the best of all worlds in Fan Tan Alley to celebrate the holidays. In Boucherat we'll host a big fat group show of your favorite artists with all kinds of extras. Upstairs at Studio 16 1/2 on the eve of Dec. 4th we'll have a craft bazaar with great designers from Regalia and beyond. That evening we'll regale you with music, festivities and spirits of the liquid variety. Please consider this a celebration of 5 years in Fan Tan, 1 year at Regalia, and a true warming of the new Boucherat Gallery!
Opening Dec. 4, 7pm
16 Fan Tan Alley, Victoria
http://boucheratgallery.com/?action=archives&exhibit_id=465
You can find my work in the Boucherat Show, not the craft show!

first post!

2009-10-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

well i never thought i would be out on the internet in such a way! how things evolve. coming soon is a website!! and etsy page!

a quick first post while my munchkin and sweetie sit on the kitchen floor eating toast and talk about elephants.

this photo is on of my small platters. some new images coming. but it reflects my ethic. and the fact that there are so many chickens in our neighbourhood. yay for the urban farmers!

i suppose this blog will mostly be for updates on what's going on in the studio (Dirty Girl Clayworks) & occassional thoughts and impressions of life. i don't really know. we'll see what inspires, where the time comes from, and how life and computer relations evolve.