Pixie Dust

Sadly, that is a cigarette:0(

I have the cutest pixie of a daughter in the world. She's 18 and has her own most adorable style of dress that I guess could be best described as if you took a punk rocker and ran her into a wall of color and then had a mind meld with a hippy and then sent her to live in some bohemian tribe, she would fit right in. Sounds wild and crazy, but she wears the outfits that she puts together with such style that women have stopped her on the street over the years (she started this as a tween) to admire and compliment her. I so love this about her. When I was young I too had my own style of 80's hip, but my girl has it all over me. I never sported fairy wings as she has been know to do either :0). She has always been her own person, eeking mega brains and personality and an off the wall sense of humor. She is not only intellectually brilliant, but is a very talented musician and writer and not surprisingly, an artist. She had  always amazed and delighted me when she was little with her bright, detailed drawings brimming with joy and the observations of a busy young mind.

I suppose perhaps the museum visits and the bed time stories of Frida Kahlo, Mary Cassatt, Degas, and one of our favorites "When Pigasso Met Mootisse" might have had something to do with her love of art.
Or maybe it was "Please Don't Eat The Pictures" (Sesame Street at the Met) that we watched over and over together. Maybe her Dad and I had something to do with it, he also being a musician. She has always had a lot going on in her mind and emotions and being a very strong willed and independent only child, can be difficult to parent at times. We are also a lot alike in many ways, and at times, the mother -daughter relationship has been painful for both of us as she struggles to break away and become her own person and I struggle with letting her go. 



When she was little I looked forward to the time when I thought she and I would spend time making art together, maybe somewhere between 12-17. Little did I know that her fiercely independent teenage personality would want nothing to do with me in that realm. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised. From the time she was small she always wanted to find things out for herself and thought she should know everything, which is why I let the desire to home school her pass. 

First Place HS ArtShow Painting

I had never "taught" her art. I purposely never sat her down and said, "this is how you do this." If she asked, I shared, but I never wanted to impose my vision or style on her.  I never wanted anyone to look at her work (if she pursued art) and say, you're good just because of your Mom. In that, I was successful, as she is such a wonderfully talented artist with a personal style and visual narrative that surpasses her youth.


To my delight, something wonderful happened this week. The time I have been waiting for came. She asked me to teach her pottery! She asked to come to the studio! She was letting me in! We can now learn and share in each others creative processes. I want to sing, I want to shout! It means so much to me to have this opportunity to share and bond with my daughter over the processes of art that have saved me.

What a delight it is to see her beautiful designs in clay coming out of her so easily.I love looking at her in her funky cloths and exploding with the creativity and specialness that is my daughter. Everyone in the studio comes over to admire her work and compliment her. I have always been proud of her for so many reasons, but this is a special kind of proud, and I am feeling an excitement about our new budding artistic relationship and us sharing where each of our artistic journeys might take us together. :0)

In the Clay Studio

Ceramic Incense Burners

Down 'n Dirty with Clay

A friend reminded me today of where my head was at around last September. It wasn't a good place. I had had a very bad time with doing outdoor festivals. Much of it attributable to painful problems with my right foot. But also a general burnout of the show scene, coupled with a slow economy and a feeling that I was stuck in a rut with my work. While complaining to said friend, I mentioned that I felt that I had to change things up, that I was bored, that I felt pigeon holed into what I was doing. (My cow paintings) CREATIVE CRISIS had struck! Thank goodness I had a Christmas commission for a couch painting which allowed me some leeway and a break from painting cows. Don't get me wrong, I love my wild cowies, but I just wasn't feelin' it.

Come around December when my daughter began painting lessons with a friend of mine, I wandered into the clay studio to kill some time and fool around with throwing on the wheel, something I had never done. I think I got hooked the first time I got my hands and pants all dirty trying to center the clay on the wheel and do my first pulls. I had found that new challenge, that new outlet that I was yearning for. I had forgotten about my angry rants in September. I was telling my friend how I seem to run to the clay studio every free chance I get now and that's when she reminded me of the dreadful headspace i was in just a short time ago. Now, I am having so much fun learning so many new techniques and ways of making things. The coolest thing about clay is that it teaches a control freak like me to let go. Being a newbie, when I throw the clay on the wheel it often dictates to me what it will be. Sometimes it will bend to my will but often not. It teaches me to go with the flow. When I apply glazes, I can put colors together with my painters eye, but again have to accept what the clay and the glaze and the heat determine as the outcome, not me. So every Thursday, when the kiln gets opened, it's like Christmas or giving birth to something. Complete surprise. If you look through my archives, you will see the progression of where I started and where I am today. So much fun! In a few weeks, I will be having my Annual Holiday Open Studio. I have somehow managed to make pieces in the short time that I have been making pottery, that other people might like to own. (I know because I have sold a few already) Above is a sampling of some of my recent pieces that will be for sale at my Open Studio. Unfortunately, I haven't offered them for sale online due to shipping concerns. I can honestly say that each piece is one of a kind because I am just learning and wouldn't be able to replicate a piece if I tried. If you are in the area, I hope you will stop by my sale to see my awesome new pottery and my paintings and everything else I have to offer (including some great wine and snacks). I am sure I will continue painting. I rejoice in the knowledge that as a creative person, my life doesn't have to be just one thing. An artists life is a ongoing work of art, a creative process in itself which knows no boundaries. If you are thinking about trying something new yourself, I highly recommend it. Even if you don't think you are a creative person, spread your wings, try on something different and see what shakes out.

Autumn Inspiration-ceramic pots

I love Autumn. It shows up in my paintings, my photos and now in the pottery I am making. These are a two new pieces using a wax resist technique. I painted with wax onto the bisque clay and then dip in the glaze. I love the natural theme and the way the glazes echo the theme in that they are not glossy or brassy. The larger bowl is in a glaze called Rob's Shino. The smaller one is glazed with mamo or spogemine. (forgot to write it down again :0( ) These will be available for sale at my Open Studio. If you are interested in purchasing before that or would like more information prior to that, please contact me :0)

Returned from MIA

Wow! Life has really been busy for me and resulted in my being missing in action here on my blog and in my work for the most part in general. My darling daughter graduated last week and my life has been all about helping her get there and planning a big bash to celebrate her achievements.We are very proud parents indeed. :0) I did also have that commission that I was working on that I had to keep on double secret probation as it was a gift for someone who follows me on facebook. Now that it has been given, I can unveil it here to show everyone what I have been doing artistically. This is a take on my people on the couch paintings. Mom wanted a couch picture filled with all the things her daughter loves-pets, Gilmore girls, music, theater etc. Some of these things were a challenge to paint- like I don't do animals other than cows that much and the Glee poster hand and cats gave me a little trouble. I am very proud of this painting though, I like the composition I was able to come up with and how I solved the problem of having many browns in the working photos. Mom and her daughter were also very pleased. The other things I have been working on as you know are clay. I have remained addicted to this new medium and I think you can see my quick progress in the pots below which i made recently. My daughter and I think they are reminiscent of Egyptian canopic jars. I really like making them and I think I will top them with some kind of icon of my own, giving a nod to those Egyptian vessels.

New Medium

Having been a painter for so many years I am having a blast exploring the new medium of clay. I had taught art for a few years but my ability with clay was always limited to hand building. A few months ago, my daughter began taking painting lessons with a friend of mine at the Art Studio in New Castle, De. I knew that another friend of mine taught clay there but since it is about 1/2 hour away, I didn't have the to motivation to go over there until I started taking my daughter. Now I am learning to throw pots on the wheel, some of which I have posted here-my humble first attempts. I so enjoy the getting out to be with other artists and the warmth and camaraderie of the studio. Everyone is so helpful and friendly and I am really enjoying the challenge of learning something new. I think I might be becoming addicted :0) These are just a few pictures to introduce you to the studio.

I'm so proud of Me :0)

So I began on this new adventure of being creative everyday, ok, most days, and in that I have been trying something new- throwing pots. You saw what I made a few posts back titled consistently inconsistent where I showed pix of my green ware and just thrown pots on the wheel. Well, when it came time to glaze and fire them, I was thinking about painting and asked my friend and awesome clay instructor Brenda how I might do just that. She showed me the under glazes and how to give them a clear glaze when I was done and set me loose. Since I have always been a painter this was the perfect marriage of old and new. I had a rather limited palette, but I mixed up what I had enough to create some interesting designs, in my pretty little flowers that I painted onto them. I was so happy yesterday when I walked in the studio and saw hownicely they came out. They remind me of painted Mexican pots. I had some other items there that had come out of the kiln as green ware, so I sat and painted those as well and will be able to get them on Thurs. I am so hoping that I will be able to throw on the wheel again by then. I had a terrible fall on the ice last Tues. where I had to be carted off to the emergency room by ambulance because I went down on a cement curb on my back. Fortunately, nothing was broken but I am still sore and on the mend. It takes some strength and a lot of bending over to be able to throw, so please send out a few prayers my way- I really love doing it :0)

Adventures in Clay and Snow

Well, we got walloped with snow last night and lost power overnight. We had about 8 inches dumped on us which my oldest cat (Fluffer ,13) wasn't so sure he wanted to trek far into. And I left Buffalo? Doesn't feel like it these past two winters. Thank God for art. I had fun hand building to make these clay mother and child pieces. Sadly for me. the clay studio is closed today due to the snow and I won't be able to take them until Monday to get fired. I will post them again once they are glazed. Hope you like them :0)