I feel like I'm getting a lot done today...
And all while having allergies and a slight sinus infection which means I'm walking around feeling like my head is in a bubble...
I've glazed pieces...
I've loaded and am firing a kiln...
Taken pictures of the garden, cropped and posted them on my garden blog...
Updated Etsy with some of my Chickadee and Dark Eyed Junco Pendants...
Updated my FaceBook page, which has been "glitchy" today...
Eaten a Bobbie from Capriotti's along with a small bag of Salt and Vinegar Kettle Cooked Chips (oh, am I regretting those chips now - pregnancy indigestion is not fun!)
And now Riley is happy and fed and he is beckoning me to take a nap...
It's a lot of work to digest that thanksgiving meal on a roll...
So here are some images I've taken recently...
The above picture is when I was measuring and mixing 2 glazes to come up with a new glaze color palette for this fall.
I love that stuff like this just happens...
It's like a natural flow in the studio...
When you are in the zone...
My little drawing of a Chickadee (front side)...
on one of my porcelain decal pendants
(new porcelain blank from Bisque Bead Supply!!!)
And of course, the back side...
Can't leave off it's tail, poor thing!
This back side always makes the bead ladies giggle with delight...
And yes, all of the larger pendants with these birds have a back side tail...
Smaller ones may not (I usually double side the small ones with one of each bird).
And the Dark Eyed Junco...
We should be seeing them arrive at our feeders sometime in the next month or so...
They arrive just before the cold weather starts to settle in...
And the Chickadee again on a round pendant.
And with that...
I'm off for an afternoon nap before picking up Chloe from school...
I think we are going to have some outdoor activities this afternoon including filling up our bird feeders, collecting seeds, blowing bubbles, sidewalk chalk, and visits from the neighborhood kids (they like to hang out with us for some reason... must be fun or something!)
Yay for productive days, cool glaze reactions, fun Junco pendants and naps! I'm envious of your day (minus the kettle chips indigestion, of course!) :)
ReplyDeleteMarsha, your hand drawn decals are a perfect fit on our handmade Bisque Pendants. :-) We are very excited to see what other Marsha Neal Studio Original decals, you grace our bisque with! And thanks for the plug. :-D
ReplyDeleteHi Marsha,
ReplyDeleteI don't think we have juncos here but we do have those cheerful chickadees. They are always there in the woods to greet us and pop around the trees and feeder so happily. Your birds are great--you capture their aliveness. Aren't afternoon naps the best sleep?!!
Hi Marsha,
ReplyDeleteJust dropping in to say hello, love your beadwork, it's quality of uniqueness and naturally inspired concepts really raise the bar.
I'm relocating from central Il. to the Maine woods in a month and have played around with the idea of clay work. Nope- haven't done a thing, but am so inspired. My long winters might be filled with the task of learning by experience different techniques. Any books that might have really helped you out along the way you might recommend to a first-time-newbie-naturalist-organic-farmer who just tries a bit of everything that intrigues her?! Thanks for any input, I don't want to bite off more than I can chew at this point- but now is the time for this old dog to learn new tricks.(I am an etsy shopper almost solely, clay and stoneware being some of my favorite pieces.) Take care-
Hi Truewonder (missed any first names...),
ReplyDeleteThere are a few books out and about pertaining to clay bead making, along with a few really good blogs - amost too many to list here.
However, if you are interested in learning about working with earth clays, I would start in the ceramics and pottery end of things to cover your basics (Lark publishers hold my heart to favorite clay books).
I started out with pottery and moved more specifically into tile making. Then into the pendants and beads. Broad to a narrow focus is a good starting path to take.
Check out Beads-of-Clay.org too for a good place to start for ideas of other artists working with earth clays for bead making.
Happy to have you in the blog family! Good luck with your move and keep in touch...
~Marsha