Kristen's Fountain Update

Hello! Happy Holiday Weekend to everyone! You might remember a picture of a bowl with a carved rim that I posted awhile ago. I said it was for a fountain that I was making for my girlfriend. All the pieces of this fountain were finally dry enough to bisque fire, so I heated up the kiln yesterday. Here are pictures of this fountain as they look bisque fired. I'm going to glaze them this weekend and hopefully fire on Monday!

Kristen loves birds, so I added a stylized birdie to the fountainhead. This is why it took so long to dry, I didn't want the bird to blow up in the firing! So far, so good! Now, the last glaze fire I did over-fired and ruined alot of pieces, so I'm a bit nervous this time around! But, the bisque fire was text-book, so I'm hoping that the problem was fixed. I still need to sculpt a kiln-goddess!

Lotus Zen Fountain update

Last night after work and dinner I was feeling very tired (typical for Monday), so I didn't get very much done in the studio. I did managed to prep 5 smaller petals for the inner layer of my Lotus though. Then covered them with plastic to firm up a bit. They can't dry too much or they would crack when I attach them. Then I went inside and watched PBS' "Mystery" movie which featured Kenneth Branaugh. Haven't seen him in awhile and it was very good! Loved the music.

Today I attached these petals! (see pictures) Now I've got it covered up again. I'm debating on whether or not I need to add any more petals. I'll let this sit and stew in my mind awhile as it dries slowly.

Next I need to get the bowl and "stand" for the lily pad leaf thrown! This will have to wait another day as I have a meeting with the Troy Arts Alliance tonight.

Lotus Zen Fountain - "How To"

Hello! How is everyone? I'm writing like many people will see this when I know it's probably only a small handful. What the heck! Anyway, in a crazy stupor I entered my Lotus Zen fountain design into a local Sculptures exhibit and now I have to create it! Of course I've known about it for a few months, but it just seemed like there was so much time! It's due the 3rd week of June, so I finally decided to get to it this weekend.

Thought it might be fun to take pics and catalogue them here--so folks would get an idea of how I create a Lotus Zen fountain. Also, for me it's fun to see it come together so quickly! (Kind of like those "home renovation" TV shows when you see a whole house remodeled in 30 minutes)!

First I sketch out my design, trying to figure out exactly how to assemble all the pieces to make it work as a fountain. So, it's more than a sculptural piece of art, it's also functional and therefore much more complicated to make. How to house the pump? Where should the water spurt out of? Will it splash? How to attach petals so they won't crack? What shape should petals be, like a lotus or a water lily? What does the seed pod look like? The Lily pad? What shape should the bowl be? Glaze color? Which clay? These are all questions that I ask and answer myself during the sketching process. I'd like to add that I tried 2 test versions of the flower itself before I came to this design. The first 2 were darn ugly!

Next, I rolled out a slab for my lily pad leaf. (not shown). I cut out a paper template that I drew by hand and then used it to cut out a piece of clay for the slab. Sit leaf aside to dry a little bit.

Seed pod formation came next--hand built/sculpted and poked holes (not shown)...set aside to dry.

Lotus petals--cut out paper template from hand-drawn petal. Rolled out slabs of porcelain clay, cut them into smaller squares, then covered them up with plastic so they wouldn't dry out too quickly. Then, I trace around the paper template onto the clay and cut out one petal at a time. I then "pinch" the clay, compressing it evenly to thin it out (see picture). I grabbed Terry from his wood shop to take a picture for me! I do this for each petal, then bend the bottom a bit so it can be attached there. Leave to dry a little bit so it will keep shape.

Then, I determined where the seed pod will sit on the leaf. (Note: real lotus flowers do not actually sit on the leaves, they have a very strong stem. But, my clay lotus needs good support underneath it, so I'm using the leaf!) Before attaching the seed pod, I cut a hole in the leaf--so that the plastic tube from the fountain can come up through the leaf and into the seed pod. Attach pod.

Next, after the petals are stiff yet still a little wet, I attach them to the leaf at the base of the seed pod. I use the biggest petals for the first row, then they are smaller as I go up. I got 2 rows done this weekend! I've covered it up securely so I can still work on it during the week. I hope to add 2 more rows, if possible.

Coming up: Throwing the base for the lily pad leaf and creating the bowl!

My beautiful world...in Ohio - U.S.A.

Hello! We had a wonderful day here in Ohio where the sun decided to show itself after a week or so of dreary days. We've had a very wet spring and so the land has responded with beautiful green grass and dark brown earth. My husband and I went mushroom 'hunting' for morel 'shrooms but didn't catch anything! Seems we were too late in the season, or they just didn't form this year. Enclosed are some pictures that I took to give you an idea of how beautiful it is here! On a pottery note, I bisque fired the pots in my last post and I'm hoping to glaze them tomorrow. I'll write a note here after the glaze fire and hopefully will post some pictures!

In the studio...update

Hello! It's about 82 and gorgeous in Ohio today! I've been fortunate to play in the studio in the last week and I wanted to show you some pictures of what I've been creating. I'm doing a combination of thrown and hand-built pieces. Lately I'm really loving hand-building!

Note: the pots in these pictures are all in the drying stage and so they haven't been fired yet. I'm hoping to be able to do a bisque fire either late Sunday or Monday night. The first picture is a fountain that I'm making for a really good friend, a Soul Sister in Seattle! This is the bowl and the fountain-head has yet to be created. I just carved the rim this morning.

I've got some custom mugs and soap-dishes in the works also...here are some more pictures!

Spring fever...

Greetings from Ohio, USA! It's so beautiful and warm out today! I've been sitting outside with my bathrobe on, reading a draft of my "book" that I've started writing. My warm fuzzy blanket covered my legs to keep them warm as I sipped on hot coffee.

Keep seeing crows around me lately and I would like to figure out what they represent. I spoke with a Shaman last night and he said crows have different meanings depending on how many appear to you. Usually it's just one, but today there were 3 in a group. They kept coming and going, and flying directly over me! My tears welled up as they did this and I felt the love they were sending my way. After the 3 left, the 1 crow kept coming and going, landing in a large tree near me and calling. Then he would leave again, and come back 10 minutes later.

My willow tree who blesses my pottery studio with her long loving branches has bright green buds already! This makes me very happy. :-) Her name is Gaia and I love to give her Reiki hugs. This helps me connect deeply with Mother Earth.

Just came inside to get something to eat for an early lunch. Opened up all the windows in the house to bring in the fresh air. It's almost 70 degrees (F) already! This is quite a shock for us in Ohio in March!!

Have a wonderful day!
di

Casserole Dish!

I made my first casserole dish and cooked mushroom chicken with yellow rice in it tonight. It worked beautifully! I'm not known for my cooking, but it was fun to bake in a dish that I made myself! (Going to keep this first one for myself because it was my first). My older sis, Debbie has already put in her order for a purple casserole dish for Christmas. Hopefully I can get it done by then. Actually, I'd like to make some baking dishes that are about 1/2 this length for making brownies. But, I've got to work on some new water fountain designs first! They are floating around in my head and I need to try them out. Thinking of more lotus blossom/water lily designs using porcelain clay. Porcelain can be semi-transparent if you get it thin enough and I think this would work beautifully for the petals! Cheers!