Knitting Bowls

Speaking of knitting, which we weren't, I've made some yarn bowls. Tomorrow is Alpaca Day at the Carp Farmers' Market and I thought some yarn bowls would be appropriate. Since I can't draw an alpaca to save my life, I finished them in plain colours although I did do a few with my cartoon sheep design.

This one is a left-handed yarn bowl, for the left-handed knitter. (All the rest are right-handers.) If the bowl is sitting on the floor beside the knitter, the yarn is pulled upwards and to the side, so the slot or loop has to be on the correct side. Other than that, I wasn't too sure of the size, so I made some Pair-of-Socks size, some in Hat-and-scarf size and some in Cozy-Sweater size.

Since I'm currently knitting myself a narrow scarf, I think I'll just go and test one of them!

Of Honey Pots and Bees

I have just finished painting 283 bees.

No, I didn't catch 283 fuzzy buzzy things and daub them with CIL Interior Latex in Lagoon Blue. Although the bumbles might look nice with a little touch of blue on their tummies....

It's Honey Day at the Carp Farmers' Market this Saturday and I got a little carried away making things decorated with bees to jazz up my booth. I made a few honey pots (not many, I didn't have much time), but then I went on and made some hangtags:

 And some bookmarks:

Here are a few of the honey pots, before they got dipped in clear glaze. I have them in the kiln right now, hopefully to be ready in time for Saturday. There are also some square coasters and some round trivets. I throw my trivets, by the way. When I tried to make them from slabs they kept coming out slightly oval, due to the clay being stretched by the slab rolling, so now I just throw them. Easiest thing there is to throw!

And then I went on to paint a bear sitting watching a bee.... then strolling over to see the source of the bees.... then leaping off the page with a swarm of angry buzzers after him. But you'll either have to imagine that, or come to the Market on Saturday!

Meanwhile, hum along with me: 'Oh, the honey bees are buzzing....'

It's the Berries, Dahling....

Berry bowls, that is. I'm kind of late this year, but I will have berry bowls for my booth at the Carp Market this weekend.

Always hard to know what size to make them. This is true of a lot of pottery items - which is why I joke that I make things in two sizes, too big and too small. Mugs, for example. No matter what size they are, someone will come by, pick up a mug, heft it to check the size, and ask me if I don't make one a little bit bigger.... or a little bit smaller. Sometimes I think it is just a variation on the old 'I am not buying this but it is your fault' game, but usually I remember that every person is different, every cook serves food for a different family and variety is the spice of life, yada yada.

Berries bowls, however, are kind of tricky. I know, myself, I like a larger bowl for serving strawberries than for serving blueberries. Mind you, the last time I served raspberries they came in one of those small paper fiber boxes, and I just handed my husband the box. He didn't comment, just ate the raspberries. Good husband.

The bowls I've been making take 2 lbs of clay (900 grams if you're metric) for the top and 1.25 lbs (600 grams) for the base. I trim the bases of the bowls flat, then attach a thin coil and throw the foot. The tricky bit is making sure the bowls are soft enough to trim, but stiff enough to allow me to centre the coil on to it. Then I let them stiffen upside down for a bit before turning them right side up and cutting the holes.

In case you're wondering, it's a real peeve-off to find you've cut the holes off-centre. I know this for a fact.

Here is a shot of one of the bowls with a jug left over from last year:

Berry bowls are great gifts: they don't have to match the kitchen! And nobody already has one!

Hmmmm, think I'll have strawberries for breakfast...

Raven, the Trouble Maker

 I see I haven't posted for a while.... well, blame Raven.

I started doing some designs with a large black Raven on them a couple of years ago. It was Hallowe'en that led to that, really. My booth at the Market was looking pretty skinny (it was the last week of the season) and I wanted something black and white so I painted some large bowls with Ravens on them. I liked them, and painting free-hand was fun. Painting large black thugs was therapeutic!

What I hadn't expected was that people would like them.

So I did some more, and then some more and then some mugs and one thing led to another until this spring I foolishly applied to be included in my local Arts Society's group show at the Foyer Gallery. This was totally uncharacteristic for me. I dislike competitions and know I never do good work when I am under pressure, so why I did this I don't know. Probably I didn't expect to get in so it didn't matter.

But I did. So I figured, well, OK, lots of time, I don't need these pieces until July 14th. Then I found out the theme for the show was to be 'Summertime and the Living is Easy', which didn't exactly help. I couldn't really paint Ravens hoisting cans of beer or b-b-q-ing or sitting by the pool, so what was I going to do?  I had the awful thought that I'd have to make Raven look happy. A happy Raven would definitely not be up to anything good.

So then I was told to submit pictures of the finished work by June 25th. Right in the middle of a Serious Project (Serious Projects are the kind that make money) and during the busiest time in the garden and while various Home Systems were falling apart, I had to stop and work on Raven instead. This is another way Raven causes trouble.

Making the pieces was no big deal. I decided to make some shallow bowls like before, some small plates and some mugs. I only needed 4 pieces for the Gallery so I figured the rest would be for sale. Then I started to paint..... and Raven just did not co-operate. Some looked like kind cheerful souls, quite the wrong 'look'. Others were limp.... or plain boring.... Raven causing trouble again.

Of course I ran out of black and my favourite large brush disintegrated and I couldn't figure out how to show mist in the distance. Just more Raven trouble.

But I got them done, and photographed. Here is one of the designs, which I'm calling Woods Edge Summer.

Whew, met the deadline, now I can relax.

Until Raven's next trick.

The Birds That Sing In the Spring, Tra La....

Actually, do Blackbirds sing? The ones I think of as blackbirds are really Red-winged Blackbirds, and they sound more like rusty hinges than Pavarotti. Probably there are other kinds called Blackbirds, and maybe some of them have sweet songs.

The ones on my pots don't really sing so much as they chirp and cheep and act cheeky.

Here's a picture of some in progress. I've been asked a few times how I make them, and you can see, it is quite simple. Just make a shape, mug or bowl or some such, then cut out a Blackbird from a flat slab of clay, and stick it on. Done. Well, except for then painting the bird..... adding the details.... firing the piece.... dipping it in clear glaze and firing again. Any potter reading this will agree, easy!

Painting the birds and their details

It's fun putting the birds on! And then when I come to painting the details, I just let my imagination go and things happen.

The black line which meanders around representing the birds' paths as they hop around can go anywhere, and the little colour motifs which represent the things they find as they go can be anything - leaves, sprouts, pebbles, clouds.... anything.

Here are some finished bowls:

With luck, there should be a whole load of them ready for the Market on Saturday!

Thinking Asparagus, Sort Of

Will somebody please restrain me? Every time I sit down at the wheel to throw some sauce jugs (for the Hollandaise to go with the fresh asparagus available now) I find myself making another Fairy House base. Arrrggghhhh. I have enough Fairy Houses!

Now I need small jugs in cute shapes to go with the asparagus dishes I'll have at the Carp Farmers' Market opening on May 10th. Here are a few:

See the little jug? Perfect for Hollandaise sauce, right? Just in case you don't have one, here is my quick and easy (and foolproof) recipe for that:

Combine in your blender: 4 egg yolks, 2 tbsp. lemon juice and a pinch each of salt, cayenne and white pepper. In a small saucepan, heat 3/4 cup of butter until it almost bubbles. Now, with your blender running at a low speed, very slowly pour the butter into the mixture. It will emulsify almost immediately, so be ready to turn the blender off quick. Pour into a nice Pine Ridge Studio jug, and serve hot.

Easy, right? And delicious! Great on eggs, over asparagus, even on toast....

Another great thing to do with asparagus is to roast it. Really. Just break off the ends, wash, etc. Lay the spears in a single layer in a glass or pottery dish, sprinkle with butter, parmesan cheese, and Panko crumbs. Roast in a medium to hot oven for about 15-20 minutes. You may need to watch the time as thick asparagus spears take longer, and you may want to turn them over half-way through. Whatever you do, have that sauce ready!

Now I'd better get back to the wheel and throw some more Fairy Houses.... no, I mean, sauce jugs.

Clay + Felt

Doesn't that sound intriguing? I was certainly intrigued when I heard that Catherine Gutsche, a local artist, who was coming to my Clay Day, was going to make something combining clay and felt. I just couldn't see how the two could come together! (Except as a muddy mess..... but I was sure that wasn't what she had in mind!)

I'll let Catherine tell about it in her own words:

"Why do children get all the Play Dates? It's just not fair. That is the reason artists make a point to invite other artists to their studios for Play Dates. It's our version of the coffee klatch in the cubicle world. We like our worlds but occasionally we too need the company of other like minded folk.

It was for this reason that artist/potter Lis Allison extended her Pottery Play Date invitation to the artists in the West Carleton Arts Society group. When I got her email I was so excited. I’ve had this crazy idea cooking in my head with no way to execute it until then.

Over two weekends Lis hosted a small group of artists in her rural pottery studio. She quickly gave us a basic intro to pottery and then let us free in her workspace. She guided us individually and expertly answered questions that flew at her from left and right. We each embarked on our individual projects with coffee and conversation flowing.

I described my project to Lis and we both agreed that I wasn’t really 100% sure how I was going to execute the final product. But that’s often how I work, I have a picture in my head and a pretty fuzzy plan that often takes a few twists and turns until I settle on my final outcome. Being a mixed media artist, my plan was to join pottery and felt into one piece. How they were to join was a developing theory. And here is the resulting fusion of pottery and felt:

I call this one 'Purple Jester', and there's a possibility that you may see it at the West Carleton Arts Society Expressions of Art  fall show and sale."

 Wow! I'm totally impressed! What Catherine did was, she made a small bowl with a row of holes around the top edge. Then she felted the 'hat' and added the beads and wire and sewed the felted bit to the pottery bit. Voila, a nifty little object to make you smile every time you see it. Can't you just imagine one on your desk or on top of your computer or on the shelf near your art supplies? 

I hope she makes lots more! And thank you for telling us about it, Catherine. By the way, I have lots more clay.....