Sunday, October 25, 2009

Marsha Neal Studio Open Studio Welcome...

Welcome to the Marsha Neal Studio Blog Open Studio!
Part of Beads-of-Clay Blog Fall Open Studio Event...

All day today I will be running a 40% off sale through my
All of the prices have been reduced already so the price you see will be the price you pay.
Shipping will happen on Tuesday, October 27 so I can have time to combine multiple items.

There will also be 2 commenters giveaways today through this blog
(and via the other participating artists: Click Here for a list).
On the giveaway blog posts, just comment and you will be entered to win the item pictured on that blog post.
The first at 1:45 pm EST.
The second at 3 pm EST.
The winners will be announced 15 minutes later.
If you are a winner, contact the artist with your address via email.

Ok, enough with those details...
On with the show... Part 1:
INTRODUCTION OF THE ARTIST

I've been working with ceramic clay since 1997 when I took a beginning ceramics class at the University of Delaware. After graduation in 2001 I spent some time trying to figure out how I could continue to work with clay, pay off school loan debt, and where the heck my life was going...

Here are some pictures of my work from my time at the University:

Studio space and early works (underwater sea scape tile and Raku box):
MA thesis work:
Basically small alien and organic forms that I created by throwing clay on a potters wheel and texturing press mold pieces, then joining them...
I felt pretty uncomfortable in the "art world" at the University coming from a background in Entomology as an undergraduate. I felt at home in the ceramics studio itself and spent most of my time there making things. But having to put meaning to those things... that was where I myself felt alien...
Installation at the Urban Environmental Center in Wilmington, DE


Since graduation in 2001, I started to work on smaller scale pieces, concentrating on mainly pendants and beads made from Porcelain clay (and recently, a chocolate clay as well).

To view my current line of porcelain pendants, you can visit my website:

On a personal note about me, and not my work...
Since graduation I have gotten married, had a baby, and currently am expecting baby #2 in January 2010. We've got 2 cats: Stinker and Peeves. And we just love spending time together as a family...

We moved into a larger house a few years ago which had a bit more room for my studio which had been taking over almost every inch of the townhouse from before and in preparation for the family we knew we wanted to have...

I've got lots of garden space, and we back up to a small patch of woods, right in the middle of a suburban setting. We have lots of critters around us from White Tailed Deer, Red Foxes, Racoons, Opossums, many, many birds, garter snakes, and so on... It's a great place to raise kids and expose them to nature...

Check out my garden blog for more on that...

OPEN STUDIO UP NEXT:
1:45 pm EST: Blog Commenters Giveaway #1
2 pm EST: Winner Announced
2:15 pm EST: Step Into My Studio
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Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Peek At Fall Open Studio Blog Inspirations...

Here is a sneak peek into some of the stuff I've been working on as I am pulling together information and pictures to share with you all on Sunday, Oct. 25 (1-4pm EST) during the Beads-Of-Clay Bloggers Open Studio Event.

First there are some inspirational photos to look at that I've taken from my garden...
These first two are from late summer, the latter are quite recent...


There is something about the way flower petals open and close that captivate me...
The way that they delicately fold and curl...
The way that they are held in place,
On their "plant pedestal" to be held so delicately while growing and blooming...


Seed pods and flower petals...
Something I've always enjoyed...
Something I've always wanted to incorporate into my work - somehow...
And now that I am taking some time to refocus on my work...

And really draw from my inspirations...
To recreate not exactly what I see,
But to make my own components from what I see...


And from what my friend Laina of Artful Bead Studio & Workshop did with one of my shards...
And other artists as well (see Flickr site and add your own pictures)
I can see that I'm on the right path...

Wonder how they will look glazed...
And within other finished pieces too...
I'm thinking more beads...
And materials such as felt...

Make sure to stop back in a few days to see more...
I will be uploading new stuff to my Etsy shop for the open house as well!
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Saturday, October 17, 2009

Blogging Events and Open House...

Hello Everyone...

During this event, 16+ Earth Clay Bead Makers will be hosting an open studio through their blogs to give you a bit of an insight into their creative, and often messy (we work with clay!) lives. During the event, they will be present to answer questions as time allows...

You will see pictures of their spaces,
Works in progress,
Their inspirations,
Something "fall" related from traditions, events, a recipe, or whatever comes to mind.

They have been asked to participate in two giveaways for blog commenters during the event, and to consider hosting some sort of "special" through their Etsy shops for that day as well.

That means that there will be chances to get your hands on over 32 different treasures that day if you stop by during 1-4pm EST and comment on the appropriate posting on each blog.

If you can't stop by that day, make sure to catch up that night. Many of the Artists will be hosting their Etsy shop specials through Midnight that night... And the blog postings will remain, so you will have a lot of time to go back and spend some time in cyberspace, in their studios.

I thought I would take some time to quick post some links to some other Blogging Events and Studio Open House Blogging Events to help give the participating artists and the visitors a little insight into what to expect. Not saying the blogs will duplicate these, but talk about being inspired by the creativity of these Artists Blogging Events...





Artists, you've got a week to go now to pull this all together. I would highly suggest having everything ready to go before the open house so you can sit with a warm cup of cocoa and a fall treat of your own while viewing the other blogs and responding to comments and giveaways on your own blog...

Don't be overwhelmed... Have Fun!!!

Short checklist:
1. BOC recommended guidelines for open studio?
Contact Mary Harding if you need a copy

2. Are you advertising for the open studio on your blog right now?
I've created some images for you to copy and paste for use on your side bar of your blog or in a blog posting or your website... If you have a newsletter, have you sent any info out about this event?

3. Have pictures taken, and blogs written, ready to be uploaded during the event.

4. Decide what your giveaways are going to be, and maybe post some pictures ahead of time to entice viewers to comment so they can have a chance to win the little treasures...

5. Decide on what your Etsy shop special will be for that day, and please run through midnight so people that can't make it to the open house will still have a chance to participate by purchasing your wonderful items...

6. Have links in each blog posting for the following
(for ease of visitor navigation):

Beads-of-Clay.Blogspot.com
(so visitors can click to other participating artists blogs)

Your Etsy Shop
(which should also have a link back to your blog)


If this event goes well, we will plan on doing more of them in the future...

So don't stress about having everything done and perfect for this one event.

People want to see into the lives of artists - and we know that often artist studios are in shambles during our most creative times.

Be yourself, be interesting, and add a touch of humor...
Everyone likes to be entertained and feel human once and a while...

Email me if you feel overwhelmed or have questions...
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Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Beads-of-Clay Bloggers Open Studio Event Pictures

Bloggers Fall Open Studio Event
On Sunday, October 25, 2009
1-4pm EST

Keep checking out the Beads-of-Clay Blog for a list of participating artists (deadline for signing up is Wednesday, Oct. 14) and a schedule of events for the Open Studio...

I spent some time this evening trying to figure out how to put some images together for this event to make it stand out a bit...
And so some of the participating artists can easily create their own to help promote the event on their blogs...

Here is one "mosaic" version...
Which I discovered how to do it by coming across a post on one of my garden blog links:
This particular link is to her tutorial on how to make a photo mosaic - and it's WONDERFUL!!!

I took 2 recent pictures of my new glaze fall glaze colored pieces, then used one of my photograph images of something "fall-ish"...

I quick created this info block, and with those 4 images, created the mosaic...

Before figuring out the mosaic technique, I used my fall photo to add this block of orange and black type to make a small floating ad for the side of my blog...

If you are a participating Beads-of-Clay Blog, Fall Open Studio Artist, you are welcome to use these pictures to help promote the event on your blog. And please, add pictures of your own beads! Hopefully this will help you save some time and get you excited about the event...

I welcome comments about the photos and mosaics if you care to leave some input for me...
I am by no means a professional at this kind of thing and am just giving it a try...
Thanks!

HERE IS THE UPDATED LIST OF PARTICIPATING ARTISTS IN THIS EVENT AS OF 10/15/09:

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Monday, October 12, 2009

Round Belly...

I've been offline for over a bit of a week really...
Due to a family visit (my dad and step-mom up from FL) which was quite long overdue...

So for those of you wondering how my round belly is coming along,
I thought I'd post a quick picture that I just took from my photobooth on my Mac:

Here is my round baby belly:


It's funny how once your belly starts to stick out farther than your boobs,
You actually feel like you are looking pregnant, and not just fat...

And so far, this second pregnancy of mine has been so much harder on me than my first with Chloe...

I thought that it was because it's a 2nd pregnancy and that my muscles are different than they were before, and that maybe I've been having such breathing issues because I'm only 5' 1" and everything in there is really pushing up on my lungs (out of breath going up or down a flight of stairs... forget going up 2 flights without taking a break to seriously catch my breath).

It's got me a little freaked out thinking about all this Swine Flu crap and that it's being reported how women in their third trimester are more prone to getting pneumonia and dying (due to compressed lungs because baby is taking up so much room). But really - is it any different with Swine Flu vs the regular Flu. I don't think so... Well, I hope not anyway... I'm just trying to keep my sinuses clear and keep healthy really... I am planning looking into the regular Flu Vaccine and possibly a Pneumonia vaccine before considering the H1N1 Vaccine.

Anyway... Sorry to vent about some things that have been on my brain recently...
Back to what I started to say...

Well, Riley (baby #2) finally gave me a bit of a break in the last couple of days. He must've flipped or rotated into a new position that makes me feel SO much better! I can now feel his swimming antics on both sides of my belly and from top to bottom of my growing belly - not just all on my right side. THANK GOD!!!

Let's just hope that he stays where he is for the next three months, just wiggling around and growing... No more flips in there little boy, or mommy is going to put you in a time out (or just deprive him of the little treats of chocolate he's been getting via mommy)! Not sure yet...

Hope all is well with you all!
Thanks for stopping by...
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Tuesday, October 6, 2009

9 New Glaze Colors for Fall

So here they are...
Some quick pictures of the new glaze colors that I'm planning on adding to the line of Marsha Neal Studio Glaze Colors sometime this fall 2009.

If you like any of these glazes, you can use their numbers and names (the ones that have names) to order them, just make a note of it in the "message" part of the order via Marsha Neal Studio Online Shopping Cart...
The four letter code after the name will be my catalog code for that particular glaze.

#1 New Glaze: Rhubarb "RHUB"
Pinkish Red background breaking Blueish Purple:




#3 New Glaze: Midnight "MIDN"
Black breaking slight Blue and Brown:

#4 New Glaze: Blue Green "BLGR"
Blue puddling of glaze and Green background:

#5 New Glaze: Oceanarium "OCEA"
Metallic Spots of Blue, Green and some Purple
(darker green/blue shade of my older color: ASGR)

#6 New Glaze: Rusty Blue "RUBL"
Foamy Blue/Green glaze that breaks brown:

#7 New Glaze: Green Sea Glass "GRSG"
Pale to mid tones of green, more satin finish:

#8 New Glaze: Dusty Denim "DUDE"
Frothy Blue that breaks brown:
One of my favorites of the new colors!

#9 New Glaze: Pomegranate "POME"
Red/Pink/Purple-ish colors:
*changed PLUM to POME... more pink than purple to me, and just makes more sense...

Hope you like the new colors!!!
They are available now at shows run through D7 Studio (run by my friend Darlene).
Or you can purchase them via my online shopping cart by using the color codes above in the message part of the order. You can always do a follow up email to make sure things are as they should be... Will put them on there sometime soon...
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