Coastal cool octopus

Just creating with a girlfriend, playing together in ceramics 

and working with analogous colors to

create a happy dish design with a watercolor effect!

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Analogous Color Mixing

on a simple square plate using egg shapes 

because Easter is just around the corner.

Numbering and mixing the color on the left

with the color on the right

and having a new color as shown in the middle.

warm colors before firing

 cool colors before firing

and adding specks by flicking a purple glaze 

with the toothbrush over the top becauseI like the look.

Happy Easter!

Paul de Longpré

The self taught artist Paul de Longpré was my inspiration 

to take up watercolor painting.

I fell in love with a large watercolor painting of roses, 

bumblebees and butterflies that I had the joy of viewing 

at the Irvine Museun years ago.

What a pleasure to spy one of his originals 

currently on display just inside the 

entrance to the  Laguna Art museum.

It is the inspiration for my latest ceramic creation currently being fired.

When it comes out of firing any touch up needed will be done and a clear finishing glaze.

Then it becomes the perfect serving piece for the annual 
Art in the Garden Party 

held here each May at Summerland Cottage.

Paul de Longpré (1855–1911), was a French painter of flowers.

He was born in Lyon, France in 1855

 In 1876, at 21, he first exhibited at the Paris Salon. 

De Longpré arrived in Southern California with his family in 1899. He found inspiration in the 4,000 rose bushes he planted on his 3 acre Hollywood estate.

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Color wheels

I love color wheels and lots of color choices!

I also enjoy experimenting and making my own colors.

So I pulled out all my Stroke and Coat glazes

 and created this cool dish so I could see what I had,

 and to see what I could get with combining colors.

FUN, FUN, FUN!

This makes me so happy, I ate dinner off of it last night.

Inspired by Anthropologies new ceramic dish designs,

       shown here...

I pull out a piece of bisque and some glazes to create

my own version in a turquoise color scheme.

I begin with a quick pencil sketch then begin mixing

 and layering colors and use a darker blue for the outline

 on the fish before putting it in for the final firing.

My fish has his own little personality and was fun to create! 

How cool is that to make your own dishware?

...and the creative roll continues!

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Just out of firing...

my latest creation

inspired by where I live 

   and by the William Morris quote,

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”

It measures 10" X 3" and is replacing my old colander 

that is seriously dented and rather unattractive.

Creative fun, using barbecue skewers, chopsticks and drinking straws 
to create the holes in the clay form before firing!


And another one created to donate to this worthy cause
World Hunger Bowl

Margarita salt dish design

Here is one of my fun ceramic creations, 

just in time to celebrate the end of summer

and the holiday weekend with friends!

I created this little number because I couldn't find anything on the market to hold the margarita salt that was both beautiful and useful.

I created the lime mold and used it to attach a half lime shape to the center of a simple plate design to keep the salt in place.

I had help creating the rhyme.

original margarita recipe

Here is my version...

Pour the Diamond Crystal kosher salt into the cool dish with the lime in the center.

Rub the lime wedge on the outside of the cocktail glass.

Holding the glass at a 45 degree angle, dip the outside rim in the salt, rotating as you do.

Fill the glass with crushed ice and place it in the freezer to chill.

Add the tequila, triple sec, a splash of Grand Marnier with the lime juice to a cocktail shaker and fill the shaker 1/2 way with ice. 

Shake well until the outside turns frosty.

Strain the margarita into the chilled glass and garnish with a lime slice.

SALUD! 

The latest dish!

... a creative new challenge for me,

working with china paints.

Many of us have our collections of china with beautiful roses 
hand painted on vintage vases and dishes. 

Being inspired by painters of the past I wanted to experiment and put my own twist on it by creating a local dish with a map of my little seaside town of Laguna Beach.

I recently had the opportunity to be inspired by some amazing pieces created by Franz A. Bischoff at the Joan Irvine Art museum.

Here is a brief history on the artist...

Franz A. Bischoff (1864-1929) began his artistic training at a craft school in Bohemia at the age of 12. He trained in ceramic decoration. In 1882, he came to the United States and worked as a painter in a ceramic factory in New York City. He moved to Pittsburgh, then to Fostoria, Ohio, and finally to Dearborn, Michigan, continuing to work as a porcelain painter.

      Bischoff became one of the foremost porcelain painters of his day and is still regarded today as the greatest American porcelain painter. His porcelain works were exhibited at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago and at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis. He founded the Bischoff School of Ceramic Art in Detroit and in New York City. Additionally, he formulated and manufactured many of his own colors, participated in exhibitions and won several awards, earning a reputation as "King of the Rose Painters."

He first visited California in 1900, and finding the climate and scenery appealing, made plans to move his family, arriving in Pasadena in 1906. In 1908, he built a studio-home along the Arroyo Seco in South Pasadena, which included a gallery, ceramic workshop, and painting studio. In 1912, he took an extended tour of Europe where he studied the works of the Old Masters and the Impressionists.

    On his return to California, Bischoff turned to landscape painting and gradually abandoned porcelain decoration. Through the 1920s, he painted the coastal areas of Monterey and Laguna Beach, the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and the desert near Palm Springs. Some of his most charming works were painted in the small central California village of Cambria. In 1928, he and his friend, the artist John Christopher Smith, traveled to Utah, where they painted in Zion National Park. He died at home, on February 5, 1929.

Bischoff exhibited with the California Art Club and the Laguna Beach Art Association. In 1924, he received the Huntington Prize, an annual award given for the most popular painting at the California Art Club exhibition.

I miss drawing...

I've been craving a pencil and subject matter for some time now.

Late last night the muse arrived in the form of a seahorse.

So I dug through my cluttered studio and pulled out a bisque dish, 

a high fire marker and a stump

and satisfied my soul...

 In this case 

the best way to satisfy a craving 

is to give into it!

Painting on bisque

continues...

I am experimenting with Golden Gel Mediums

with acrylic paints for a raised effect in this design.

This is the sample piece,

the goal is to create this look on a large piece of ceramic bisque

and have it be mistaken for a vintage french vase!

Caprese Salad serving platter

A new ceramic serving dish design was

created by experimenting with a flat square brush and glazes

to see how the effect would turn out on round objects.

Yay, beautiful and useful!

Insalata Caprese Salad - Mozzarella, Tomato and Basil Plate

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced 1/4-inch thick

2 large vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick

1 cup fresh basil leaves

Sea salt to taste

Freshly-ground black pepper to taste

sweet onion slivers optional

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

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