west coast winter

just rainy, west coast wintery thoughts….

A Show of Hands

Please come and check the one seasonal market i am doing this year!

oh, and if you aren't able to make it to cobble hill for the show, but you are bopping around victoria, i will have my studio gallery open nov. 22 & dec. 5 from 10-3!!

going round

I have been really getting into making plates.
it's not that i don't make plates, i just don't usually make that many.
for years i have made small platters that are square, rectangular, and oval using hump moods. i like them, i like hand building and i think they are very sweet. but, i think, because of their shape, often people wonder what they are for. in my mind they are for serving food, but of course what something is used for is up to the user, and i know many of them are serving as soap dishes…
in any case is have started making more plates on the wheel.
regular, round plates.
and then sets of plates.
dinner plate, side plate.
and then large platters with deep feet and holes for hanging on the wall. i had the idea to do a show of large commemorative bicycle platters. maybe that will come to pass, maybe not, but i am hooked on the round plates and platters these days.
and no one asks me what they are for…
here are some snapshots:

mugs & markets

first of all here's where you can find me this Saturday!

and there you will some some of the mugs from the previous post, now finished….and much more, naturally

oh the merry mug

tis the season for making mugs.
while to some the christmas season may still seem far off, for those of us in the business of making and selling handmade, we've already been ramping up for awhile…
here's a few studio shots, from an afternoon of mug making.
thanks goodness for the sun, which speeds along the drying of the slip in such a lovely way. will be missing that soon, as the days get damper and i have to resort to the heater under the plastic for drying things in any kind of timely fashion…

marbling

i have been playing here and there with some more traditional, "old-school," slip techniques.
here are a few recent adventures in marbling….

with dragonflies and slip trailing

with jellyfish

this one with ferns. learning how some stencils or colour combos don't work so well together….or maybe it is just "subtle"

Clay Connects

every year the South Vancouver Island Potters Guild puts on a show & sale. It's happening this Saturday and it's going to be sunny (great because my set-up is outside)! come on down, there will be lots of great work to be seen and taken home…

photo shoot

here's some images from a recent photo shoot…really should take a photo of my set-up. i always enjoy seeing how folks set up their photo boxes etc…. mine's made of pvc, duct tape and sheets of opaque corplast, with photo paper back drop. i made it so it can be easily disassembled, stack flat, and it's cheap! i do have a little nylon pop out photo box for quick shots too. i don't have anywhere to leave a photo box set-up, so i don't end up taking photos as often as i would like or should.

i must say, one of things i find challenging about taking pictures of my pots is they tend to look different all the way around, or front/back. so with a little help from my fabulous father, Francis Sullivan, a few of these show two views

a touch of whimsy

just a few playful pieces… these quick snaps are a little blurry, something's up with my camera, but you get the idea…

fresh from the kiln

some more new work, including the finished cloud bowls. quite pleased with them. is confirming, however, that i need to set up a spray booth somewhere in the studio, or something portable to use outside. not only is it good for large pieces, deep pieces, but also gives nice even coverage of the raised slip trailing lines (which when dipping, i usually go back over with a glaze dipped brush).

new works

while i really should be making mugs, mugs, and more mugs…i have been trying to squeeze in some play time, new stencil images (caribou, foxes, different bikes), some challenges and problem solving, and just some silly decorating.

caribou with a half overdone slip trailed & finger trailed decoration

new cloud bowls

some double dipped mugs

am really enjoying the cloud bowls…. other pieces feeling a bit girly somehow, probably the colour scheme. will think about some darker contrasts, maybe even good old black and white!