New Work - In A Way...

These have been hanging out in the studio unglazed for almost 2 years.

I wanted something different than my normal glazes I use on my pendants.

This application of an oxide under the glaze allows for lots of variations from out of the bottle...

And this isn't the final way they are going to look.

What are they?

Ring Holders? Terrarium ornaments?

To me they are just experiments at this early stage - the beginning of a series of new work...

They have a few more stages to go through before they are how I really want them.

While I was fiddling around with these oxides & glazes for the little abstract organic pagoda tops,

I also decided to glaze up some of my porcelain pendants...

In the photo above, they are the same glaze, but the bottom piece underwent an additional step of etching.

This etching solution removes the glossy surface and leaves a matte, more rustic finish to the piece.

I'm hoping to make a few more decisions on these, then photograph them and put them into my Etsy shop later this week.

Here is a peek at the test tiles for these oxides & glazes.

Three tiles narrowed down from twelve - just for this round of testing.

Here you can see the test tile I decided to start with.

Crazy how pastel the glazes are before firing!

And in the studio itself, I'm starting to have a few more constant visitors down there with me.

Making messes & making art!

I finally have some big artwork with lots of color to go up on my white cinderblock walls.

It is currently just SO drab. Especially in the winter...

And look - Chloe is even helping me paint the exterior of my kiln room door.

Never moved past the manufacturer primer.

Can I tell you how delighted she and I are that she is helping me put color in the studio!?

And on Saturday it was 65 degrees here! 

Unbelievable for January...

On a whim, we jumped into the car and drove to the beach for a couple of hours.

Here are some of the treasures that Chloe and I collected.

Notice the crab claws?

This beach is Lewes Beach, DE. 

Estuary where the DE river empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

The place where I learned to swim (for my life - or rather - for my feet - all kinds of things in that water!)

We were barely on the beach when Chloe started finding shells and such & made herself a little pile.

Dad remembered the buckets, so we were able to gather a few more things to bring home.

And Riley was not into taking his shoes & socks off (too cold for his toes - he likes warm sand!)

But he did sit for a while just checking out all the stuff the beach had to offer.

Overall - a pretty good weekend.

I've got a lot on my mind & some pretty big decisions to make for myself & my business.

Dave and I were just talking last week about me looking for a job soon.

So I've got to get things lined up and figured out for how I need to be spending my time...

Wish me luck! I'm going to need it (my brain will - big time!)