getting down to it

okay, so it's not really winter anymore...spring around the corner, daffodils in full bloom, blossoms snowing down in the wind, the peas and broad beans peeking up...
so its time wake up from my mentlal hibernation and get down to it, making of a more productive sort, or a more regular routine. this week was mugs, egg cups, juice cups, tumblers, and platters!
here's shots from the afternoon...

BEFORE (platters off the hump molds, with rims finished):

DURING (stencils chosen and placed around, not yet attached):

AFTER (slip poured over stencils, then slip trailing, sgraffito, text, etc...and stencils pulled off)

hoping to load the platters and everything else in the kiln tomorrow!

new stencil

working on a new set of stencils: bears!
here's a couple of process shots, testing, and adjusting. subtle adjustments, but they make a difference…

i try to keep the stencils for my regular wares pretty simple… so think i will leave them with just these highlight lines added for the time being. partly as they are slow to cut (even though this winter i have been blessed with a studio assistant who cuts lovely stencils for me!), and though they are reusable they do eventually wear/tear…

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"

on the way to make it

unloaded and loaded the final pots for the Make It Vancouver show this morning...will be heading over on the ferry friday morning with the whole family in tow. Come on down, it sounds like it's going to be fun. Unfortunately i will be missing out on earth day celebrations. but N & A are going to check out the parade down commercial drive.
i've made some new cake plates, inspired from one i saw in seattle during nceca. i've also got a few new stencils - raven flying, raven looking back, primroses, and some new moths. looking forward to summer assistants cutting stencils for me this summer!


"eat delight" cake plate, side view









view from the top









hummingbird cake plate









view from the top

holy hummingbirds!

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!

feast on the fruit of life

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

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!

oh the simple stencil

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!

Upcoming show, new work

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.

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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

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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.

the someday blog

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