Working on Ceramics

I've been working with ceramicist Ingrid Bathe for a few months now on learning more about ceramics, and I will eventually learn how to work in porcelain, which is Ingrid's specialty. The lighting is not great on these since they were taken under studio florescent. I've spent quite a bit of time experimenting on how my drip and squeeze techniques translate to clay. And on how underglazes and glazes work. So you see some glaze samples at the top, then some glazed work and some fired work that has not been glazed. The bottom two shots show underglaze on fired pieces. I have long loved ceramics, but now I'm devoting real time to it and beginning to "get it". The process is soooooooooo slowed down compared to painting and drawing. There is such a lag time between doing something and seeing the result. I think that's a good thing to experience for me!

Paola and Lyle

Lyle Carbajal

Paola Gaviria Silguero

I love the intuitive nature of the work of both these artists. Paola Gaviria Silguero (from Argentina) is also known as PowerPaola, and you can see lots of her work on her Flickr stream, here. Lyle Carbajal is American and you can go to his website here.

Kumi Obata

Yes, I've been away. But only away from my computer. I wish I had been somewhere fun gathering beautiful photographs or making art, but instead I've been cleaning my attic for the last 6 days. Oh my goodness. I never thought I had that much stuff. And it's been a resolution to get this job done since January of 2011. Impending guests got me motivated. You see I really do have to offer more than that scruffy (sort of) finished attic room to the unlucky guest who draws the short straw. So I pitched in and got rid of things, organized things and cleaned things. Now please understand that my house in OLD. I was probably cleaning up 200 year old dust. My husband is now calling me "the attic rat" because of my intrepid exploits crawling into corners where no woman should go. I even found 4 rolls of wallpaper wrapped in a newspaper from 1907! But it is done! And done well. And now I can offer a very nice, fresh room to that second guest. Yay! 

The above work is by Kumi Obata, a Japanese illustrator. These are etchings, and I love their simplicity and graphic beauty. If you would like to see more of her work, go over here.