Light & Landscape

I just love overcast and rainy days when the light comes through the clouds without the sun breaking through, giving an infinite play of muted colours to the day :)

I popped in at Karen (my porcelain teacher) yesterday to fetch my latest creation..

I borrowed Jocelyn's teardrop shaped mini cookie cutter which I used to cut 'droplets' out of the form that I made out of porcelain.

Karen then showed me the technique of painting porcelain slip onto tissue paper & sticking it to the inside of the holes - this made a clay paper thin layer & has given  this beautiful light effect after the glaze firing.

The teardrop shape inspired me to create this piece - to paint rain clouds & landscape onto my form with almost see-through raindrops.

I Love Fridays

I really really really love Fridays since I started working with clay. Before that, Fridays were just another work day & I never spent time being actively 'artistic' - So Friday became Clay-Day & I've been learning & making amazing things...but most of all, I've been making gifts & experimenting with different clays & colouring / decorating methods etc

These hearts are made of porcelain & are items to experiment with different treatments with:

I plan on decorating them to match & then make a mobile or something out of them when they are done with their glaze firing.

I've made all sorts of other beautiful things, but cannot post pictures of them yet (they are being made for gifts & the recipients may not see them!!) ;)

I had a lovely drive past Long Beach, Kommetjie at midday after my Kommetjie pottery class. When the day is as beautiful as today is, I'm so pleased that this will be such a close beach! Pity the water is so cold.

Wedding Gift

These cups are my first attempt at working with porcelain! I've been working with a clay called Fenix for the past 3 months but I wanted to make a very special, fine porcelian wedding gift for Gill & Vincent's wedding on Saturday past: Porcelain cups with knitted & felted mug-cozies!

I made the cups at home...had them bisque fired at CPS...got them back...decorated them with a black underglaze pencil...got them into a friend's glaze firing (matt glaze)...I can hardly believe I managed to finish these on time!


Decorations:

I wrote snips of poems by ee cummings:

"Tomorrow is our permanent address"

"I carry your heart (I carry it in my heart)"

"Love is more thicker than forget"

"Nothing except the impossible shall occur"

As well as a little illustration of the relative words...and some leafy twigs.

The cozies are knitted from 100% merino solids & lightly felted (I didn't make handles as I wanted to rather knit cozies)

This is how I packaged them:

The styrofoam container was wrapped in black and white polka dot tissue paper...tied with a thick black satin ribbon. It was a great way to finish this project :)