January Second Saturday State Of Your Studio...

So I'm a bit late on the state of your studio post for the monthly Beads-of-Clay Blog post…

My creative studio space has been all over the place.

I have been photographing again out in the garden.

I am taking a Drawing class this year (Drawing Lab 2011).

I was not "allowed" to take "art" classes in High School, and was not allowed to take any "foundations" art classes during college because they were "reserved for the art concentration students". Bummer...

So this is something for me. And so far I really like it and it has inspired me to draw on a regular basis as well as to put images into the computer and fiddle with my wacom tablet that I've had for almost 2 years now…

Really I haven't been in my clay studio since sometime in November…

And I want to, but not so bad that I "have" to get in there right now. Soon, but just not right now…

And this area of new shelving and a place to photograph work - well,  after all that crazy jewelry making for the home shows in Dec - all that stuff got packed up and brought back down here and shoved into anywhere there was space. Yes - I NEED that jewelry making area in the back of the studio done ASAP so I can avoid this piling and stacking thing I keep doing - Ugh!

And I've been on the computer a lot. Fiddling with my photographs, Zentangles, and drawings trying to see how to layer them on my clay pieces. It's fun actually having my computer and printer right there next to the studio so I can go back and forth with my notes and resize things and reprint, then go into the studio and use the decals. What gratification!!! Doesn't happen enough, but potential is there!

And here are some of the decal pieces in progress on some glazed pieces that I had sitting around. One of my tangle drawings (I did that on the computer today using the Wacom tablet - yay me!) is to the left and my drawing lab cat is on the tube beads and to the right. I have more on pendants as well…

Thanks for stopping by to see the state of my studio.

Hope to have some new work done soon, and a more organized space next time… 

Make sure to swing by the Beads-of-Clay Blog to see the state of other artists creative spaces (you can add your own link too! Doesn't have to be a clay studio…)

And if you do, grab that BOC button and add it to your blog with a link back to the BOC blog…

Hope you are finding your creative self (even amongst total mess and chaos)!

New Decal Pieces

I have tried to use the decals on a lot of my older glazes - the ones that I have been using for years on my textured pieces, but without much luck with the decals... Until this firing:

Final Pieces Fresh Out Of The Kiln…

Back at NCECA in the spring, I was on the lookout for some new glazes and had ordered some samples from Coyote Clay (was on the lookout for more satin glazes & new colors to experiment with).

Pre-Decal Firing Photo Taken With the Hipstamatic iPhone App...

You see, all of my older glazes were bought for the way they broke over my textured pendants. 

And those runny glazes kept eating the decal image. 

The iron from the decal was absorbed into the glaze and ran - could be a cool technique for the glaze notebook, but not what I was looking for.

Pre-Decal Firing Photo Taken With The Regular Camera iPhone App.

So to use these glazes that were more of a satin finish that don't run so much - well, duh Marsha (hand to forehead) - they should stay in place. 

I have a couple of friends/colleagues that must be using these or something similar for their decal pieces… 

Just had to figure out what was going to work on my clay & techniques.

For you see, I have a bunch of bisque stock built up, and I want to be able to put a decal on the back, smooth side and the other to be the textured design…

But did not have the right glazes that met my standards of "looking good" - until now…

Those decal pieces with the owls, they will be added to the My Mom Pattie Etsy shop mid October…

The others will be added to the Marsha Neal Studio Etsy shop around the same time…

I am going to be visiting with family for a few days, and need some computer down time...

What will these turn out to look like??? Check back to see...

And these are pre-glaze fired "painted" word tiles. I am very curious to see if they come out cool or entirely blah...

I used similar techniques to that glaze tile for the Beads-of-clay monthly cone 6 glaze test pic on the sidebar...

So in my head the words will stand out readable against various translucent glaze painted colors...

We'll see I guess!

-- Pictures Taken With & Posted From My iPhone

September Second Saturday BOC State of Your Studio 2010

Beads-of-Clay Blog is hosting the 2nd Saturday State of Your Studio Monthly Event…

So here is my blog contribution:

We all have places where we create…

My creative space is undergoing a massive gutting, organization (re-organization implies that it was once organized), and "flow" improvement…

I have almost the entire basement to myself (5 years now) and it looks like this:

Well, technically, this cluttered area is my "upstairs office" from the extra bedroom, which is now being used as a bedroom - so I moved it to the extra space in the basement that will one day become Chloe & Riley's "basement hangout area" or something like that… We'll see about that!

This area in the back part of the basement "the clay studio part" will also be changed.

The litter boxes used to be under that table. 

But they have been moved! 

Thank Dave for that brilliant but simple idea (after me complaining that I wanted to vomit every time I walked into the studio).

The busy side of things. This actually has a bit of a flow to it right now.

It has to really… 

Something does - right?!

Ah, my clay tool area.

I used to know what play things I had here, but it's been years since I just sat and had fun with clay…

It's always working on some pieces for orders.

We'll have to change all that (find time to play with clay - see what happens!)

The bead storage, potential jewelry making area.

Also functions as Silk storage area, packing & shipping area…

Home to the water heater & house air flow unit as well.

This area needs serious re-organization for flow.

Then maybe I can start to use those bazillion beads in those shoe box bins…

This is the main side garden hill where I go to "weed the garden" and find my thoughts.

It is second on my list of "find my thoughts" places only to when I am sitting, glazing beads for hours on end (which happens in the basement clay studio), with "relaxing" music playing.

This is often how I find my hands these days…

A little dirty from wiping the soil off of them after weeding, planting or watering my garden…

And sometimes, inspiration from the ground below (acorns fallen from my friend Anne's tree).

Thanks for stopping by my studio today.

Don't forget about my Honoring September chance at a giveaways this month…

My Marsha Neal Studio FaceBook Fans get an extra 20% off their items in the Marsha Neal Studio Etsy shop and the Marsha Neal Studio website shopping cart through Sunday, Sept. 12th (become a fan for details if you want in on the sale).

And new pieces are in the Etsy Shop…

Not sure if they would spark any inspiration for the Art Bead Scene's September Challenge since they are a little more Art Nouveau than Art Deco…

Wish I was a little better at jewelry making.

Maybe I'll get into that jewelry area before the end of the month and will whip something up...

Busy As Ever...

I have been busy making new decal pieces, glazing, glaze testing (SO excited to share my results next Friday on the BOC blog)...

Here is a batch of my new decal pieces drying, getting ready for the kiln firing (they will be more sepia toned vs dark black)...

Even though "I" will not be selling my pieces at BeadFest next weekend (my friend Darlene of D7Studio in booth #408 will be...), I am planning on being there for a bit. And there will be lots of my new work there for you all to see...

In the picture above, see that tray up top of the decal tray... Those are a lot of the new pieces I got from Bisque Bead Supply, waiting to be glaze fired then to have decals applied… Hopefully I'll get some of them finished for BeadFest!

At least I don't have to stress about manning the booth this year! Although I probably will on Saturday for a bit so Darlene can shop a bit. Kelly Russell of BeadFuddled will be there selling her work too in the D7Studio booth… 

There are FREE admission passes available to the show if you plan on going. 

See, more money to spend on beads now… 

Those Interweave Press people are super smart!

Hope to see you there!

Or if you can't make it, check out this blog and the D7Studio blog for pictures I hope to upload live from the show floor on Friday and Saturday...

-- Pictures Taken With & Posted From My iPhone

New Decal Beads... Yes - Beads!

Here are some of the new beads I've been working on this week...

Lentil Beads:

I've been working on this idea for a while for these lentils...

Have had them glazed since like March...

But finally just sat down and put some of my decals on them...

Oval Tube Beads:

And these oval tube beads...

Well, I thought they were interesting, but didn't have too much in mind for them...

Until I started playing with the lentils...

Then there was no stopping...

Round Beads:

The picture of the round beads is a bit blurry...

But right now I'm itching to start to make some jewelry with them...

Ok - truthfully, I'm torn between keep on making more new pieces with the many drawings and textures I've got (which means lots of time on the computer adjusting images to proper size and saturation, printing out, then refining...) or making jewelry with them.

I've got a few deadlines upon myself for the jewelry with wanting to get some stuff up into the My Mom Pattie Etsy shop I've set up as well as for the actual Gala held in a week and a half at Tri-State Bird Rescue...

Well, let's see what I can get done shall we???

Let me know what you think of the new pieces will ya?

Am I going in a good direction with them?

Oh, and of course...

Gotta give a shout out to Marla & Vlad over at Bisque Bead Supply for making such wonderful porcelain pieces for me to use as little blank canvases for these decal pieces!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

Blogging About Ceramic Decals

***See bottom of this post on how to win one of my pendants***

I was thrilled to be asked by Mary Harding via the Beads-of-Clay Blog about the process I use to create my Porcelain Decal pieces.

There are two other Beads of Clay artists that also contributed to the blog post through Mary, so check it out for all the details.

I wanted to post some additional pictures about the actual process here to give you a visual insight into how I make the pieces (to compliment what the BOC blog has on it)...

The following picture is of my normal work space when applying the decals to my already glazed (to Cone 6) pieces. Decals are cut out, pieces are laid out, and extras are on stand by in baggies. I dry fit the decals before putting them into the water bath. The towel on the table is there because I like to be able to get a little messy when working and not worry about dripping all over the place...

This picture is a close up of the warm water bath that the cut out decal pieces sit in to remove the paper backing and moisten the "glue" on actual decal. You can see one of the paper backings towards the top right of the picture.

Here are some of my Chickadee and Dark Eyed Junco, and a few abstract designs once they are in their final place. Notice how dark the image is before the Decal Firing (Cone 1).

And here is a bunch of my flower pieces. I liked having the images a bit smaller and off center so charms and other dangles can be hung from the hole without covering the image entirely.

A close up of some of my flower drawings as decals before they are fired in the kiln...

Here is a quick shot of the pieces in the kiln before the Cone 1 firing...

And after the firing... Notice the color change?

Here are some pieces out of one of my very first decal firings. And like anything, you keep testing to see how to make the pieces come out as you visualize. For me it was figuring out to put a very thin coat of glaze (not my normal 2-4 coats of glaze as pictured here) and firing to Cone 1 for the decals...

If you want to give this a try, you will have to be ready to run tests to see what will work best for you (well, really, what works best for the materials you are using).

For blank beads, check out my friend Marla's company:

Bisque Bead Supply

Early in the year when I realized that I wanted to work more on the layout of the design on the piece rather than on the actual making of the plain porcelain pendants, I asked Marla if she could have my entire line (and then some) of my standard shapes and sizes made for me - and for her to be able to sell through her company (why reinvent the wheel right? and why not help support another artist and small business - especially when the quality of the pieces are out of this world!!!)

So that's what we're working on... well, I sent the sizes and shapes and she's working on it, I'm buying them...

And you can benefit by being able to just click and buy the same pieces that I use by going to her website and shopping. And she offers various clay bodies with different firing temperatures. Amazing!!! Lots more to come as the pieces are finalized...

Oh and check out the Bisque Bead Supply Blog as well. She's got news and contests on there!

For other suppliers, check out the Beads of Clay Blog link (for info and for where to get the laser-jet water slide decal paper)

And for those of you who have gotten to the bottom of this blog - a contest (2 actually)...

If you comment on this blog, you will be entered to win this:

My daisy flower on my large round porcelain pendant - on a black silky ribbon.

If you have a blog or website and post a link to this blog, then comment here with a link, I'll put you in a 2nd drawing to win the above pendant and some additional surprise goodies.

Chloe will be pulling the winners (from a box or hat of sorts) on Friday, August 7th.

Have fun!!!

Garden Decal Pendants with Words

I don't have too much time today, so some quick pictures of pieces that I just took out of the kiln and have split to go to two places:

D7 Studio (Marsha Neal Studio's Bead Show Rep)

Marlborough, MA this weekend: May 8-10 at the Innovative Beads Expo Show

Artful Bead Studio and Workshop (Trunk Show)

Pennington, NJ May 8 - 17, 2009.

I have a wandering mind...

Every day when I have time to sit and think about stuff,

I remember some of the things that I talked to my mom about before she passed away...

Some of these sayings are funny things that pop into my head.

Some are conversations I have in my head that I am thinking towards people...

Which I think stem from ALL of the actual conversations I have with people, and are just wondering how they are doing and what they are up to (and how is their garden growing...)

I love to share plants from my garden.

In the next 2 weeks I plan on starting to split up some of the clumps that seem to be doing quite well to share them with my neighbors and friends...

See - my mind wanders...

Here are some pictures that I took this last weekend at Bead Fest Wire in Philly of the "Marsha Neal Studio" booth.

Quote marks because my friend Darlene of D7 Studio has taken the reigns with the bead shows for me so I can try to become the "bead maker" once again (more on that subject later...).

Here are the pics. You can see this cool stuff along with some other artists pieces (Artisan Clay)at the Innovative Beads Expo Show in Marlborough, MA this weekend May 8-10, 2009

Marsha Neal Studio Porcelain Pendants

Marsha Neal Studio Porcelain Pendants

Nollie's Follies Artist made Glass Beads

You've GOT to see these flower beads - the picture does no justice!

Darlene made this necklace with Nolly's beads and some of the Hand Painted Silks

Italian Wire Mesh: 2.5mm, 6mm and some new round mesh!

Silky, Fairy and 2mm Hand Painted Silks (a lot more here than on my website!)

Some examples of the various ceramic artists work including:

Charlene Randolf, Gaea, Mazet Studios, Off Center Productions, Jangles, Earthenwood Studio, Golem Designs + others... (running out of time to make links to everyone - sorry... will fix that later!)

Some of Lisa Kan's Haiku Beads...

There are Lilly Pilly Shell Pendants in there too.

And Lily Studios pressed flower pendants...

And this is Darlene. The owner of D7 Studio. What a great gal!!!

Make sure to stop by and tell her that you saw this on the Marsha Neal Studio Blog.

We're trying to see if it helps to bring in customers to the shows...

See you all later...

Decal Pictures

Here is my favorite picture of the new decal pieces that I'm working on.

I am working on using my actual drawings, photographs and computer altered things. 

The latter being things such as the above round pendant on the left - those things that look like flower heads are actually pictures of small red berries that I played around with in my photo/draw program.

I really enjoy doing stuff on the computer, but feel like I get sucked into it at times, and that my life gets away from me. I've got to learn to limit myself...

Here are some pictures of the decal pieces after the kiln firing. There are grouping of birds (Chickadee and Dark Eyed Junco so far), flowers and other abstract things:

I've been trying hard to keep with my own drawings and altered images. Sometimes it is hard though when I just want something done and don't want to sit and fool with drawing something out (like a line of insects...). Maybe I'll just have the staple lepidoptera, odonata, orthoptera, hymenoptera, coleoptera ... (butterlies/moths, damselflies/dragonflies, grasshoppers, bees, beetles...). I hope I got those names right - it's been a while!

This next picture is a step in the water slide decal process. I've printed and cut out the decal, and put them into water to remove the paper backing. Then I put the decal on to the glazed surface, squeeze out air bubbles, let dry, then fire it in the kiln. 

The iron oxide in the ink from the laser printer transfers to the glazed surface and becomes part of the glaze - so it will never scratch or rub off.

Oh, the possibilities.... So this is where my line of work is heading... Tucson this year will be interesting with all this new stuff!

It's great to be experimenting again!

Happy Holidays!