Olson House

Here is a funny little black and white album of photos I took at the Olson House in Cushing, Maine. You know how I love that place. I took a visiting friend down there last week. She got me hooked on Instagram...uh oh. So I took these with my iPhone and then monkeyed around with various apps, and here is what I got. The amazing thing about Instagram and all these apps is that it's like having photoshop in your phone...and not having to really learn it to use it! Can you say "time suck"?

Sketchbooks

Jeffrey DeCoster

Craig Atkinson

Vincent Griffin

Netali Ron-Raz

Laurent Moreau

Jon MacNair (?) via sweetsound/Tumblr

You know my love of sketchbooks. Here are a few found through Pinterest and Tumblr. Go over to my Pinterest board Sketchbooks & Journals, here, to see lots more. There is something about the way artists work in a sketchbook that brings out a natural, playful freedom. I always have a sketchbook handy, and it's where I really explore what is developing in my work.

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!