Garden inspiration

I love spring !

New growth, new beginnings...

lovely surprises to find popping their heads up in the garden!

I am in awe of natures beauty,

and enjoy capturing it with my art.

"Just living is not enough...
One must have sunshine, freedom and a little flower."
Hans Christian Andersen

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Vintage doilies and clay creations

I've been collecting vintage doilies for some time now and love using them for embellishing clothing, tablecloths and yes, even ceramic creations.

When they are covered in liquid clay and attached to a clay form the cotton burns away in firing and you are left with the beautiful  lace pattern. 

before firing

Here is an example of how I am using the doily as the pattern to cut varying size holes in the clay forming a flower frog.

This is a great way to repurpose damaged doilies.

These pieces had stains and the two small ones were ripped in the center.

When it came out of firing,

 I liked the white matte finish so well that I chose to leave it and only glazed the insides and bottom to make the pieces water tight.

This is a creative way for repurposing someones handcrafted pieces beautifully 

and preserving the past.

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

It's a girly girl thing,

a sweet little tussie-mussie

created with eyelet lace and clay.

This tussie-mussie was fashioned as a bottle stopper for a small bud vase,

so when there are no fresh flowers, it is still filled beautifully.

And since several friends that were with me 

when I was fashioning it, had never heard the term before,

here is a brief description.

A tussie-mussie is a small flower bouquet, 

typically given as a gift.

The term tussie-mussie comes from the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901),

when the small bouquets became a popular fashion accessory.

Often they would include floral symbolism from the language of flowers,

and be used to send a message.

Sending floral fun your way…

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! 

Seahorse Vase

Celebrating summer at the seashore with another hand built clay vase.

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Layering seashells on top of seashells and the seahorse as the focal point, 

and adding a little luster glaze for interest.

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Little works in progress...

working in my little sketch book

on new designs

 

doodleliciousness

and then playing with the designs on a bisque vase

just a little weekend fun!

To be continued...

HERE

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!

Everything is coming up Roses

Thank you Romantic Home Magazine for including my 

yellow roses in your yearly Rose Issue.

It is such a thrill and honor!

It is a little article showing how this piece is created.

This sweet pink vase was created with the demo.

Celebrating Spring

with a May Day Basket...

{ or ceramic wall vase }

created with cotton lace and clay.

and filled with special garden treats to surprise my neighbor.

Happy May Day!

Seashell sconce shelf

created out of clay 

with a simple shape

and lots of seashell add ons 

then a soft satin glaze

and a subtle touch of color

 close up details

...just a little fun hand building with sweet results!

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Mermaid Vase

Happy Summer!

It has been super busy around here for the past 2 1/2 months,

working on new interior design jobs for clients.

Thank you dear friends for the sweet emails missing my blog posts.

My heart is touched by all the kind thoughts.

Here is one of my fun ceramic creations to celebrate summer at the seashore.

Yarn Vase

...another ceramic creation,

actually mixed media.

It is a new design, and it is like nothing I have seen before,

I am making up the name "yarn vase" it seems to work.

Using a scrap of fabric dipped in clay to embellish the vase

and twisting it about to create the leaf and stem,

next a small cotton doily also dipped into clay for the flower,

then a vintage button mold pressed with clay for the center.

( Here is the photo before firing. )

The inside and bottom are glazed so that

it can be used for a fresh flower arrangement also.

For the exterior, I chose to use acrylic paint for the pale turquoise blue

background and added pink paint on the ceramic flower.

The design was done with a creative cut out

of the clay around the flower petals, before firing,

for the yarn to be pulled through,

and keep it from running amok,

as I am pulling at the yarn while teaching myself to crochet.

Happy Saturday!

You are LoVed

Here is the latest project I am working on,

a pillow shaped ceramic vase I made and glazed on the inside.

After painting the background I began decoupaging with paper and lace,

paint and marking pens.

It is not quite finished yet,

I am looking for small alphabet stamps to add along the ankle line

"you are loved" in walnut colored ink.

This is created for a sweet little girl in the hospital battling cancer.

{ Please keep her in your prayers }

( even better, I found a press on alphabet in chocolate by Fiskars! )

Homage to and inspiration from Julie Nutting's wonderful book!