Drawing and painting on ceramics

Inspired by Danielle Donaldson's, 

The art of creative watercolor book,  

I chose to experiment on ceramics.

I used a vintage wooden handled tracing wheel 

with dark glaze on it to freehand draw the shapes,

then filled in with color and details.

I made a large vase shape to play on.

And a large bowl shape.

Just a little creative fun at the cottage by the sea!

Now available at Haven, Laguna Beach.

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Little ceramic dishes created for bits and bobs

It started with being a small design 

that I could use to test different glazes on, 

but I found they are great for loose change

 or jewelry.

I like using them for earrings, 

and grouping bangles bracelets together.

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Ruffled edge flower vase

Created in clay using a pencil rolled across the petals 

to create the ruffles!

I started with a basic shape and then began embellishing all along the top.

A little feminine creative fun with clay!

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Doodling another dinnerware dish design

just because I can!

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Mermaid Vase

A sweet mermaid vase created for holding garden clippings!

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The editor of Somerset home recently asked their readers to send in samples of sand from some of their favorite places, 

wanting to showcase a variety of different sands. 

This photo showcases a charming array of presentations from their latest magazine.

I am continually grateful to live in a historic cottage across the 

street from the sparkling Pacific Ocean.

The little seaside town is Laguna Beach, California. 

It is about halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego.

It is well known as an artists colony. It has a mild year-round climate with lots of scenic coves and is surrounded by a wilderness park. It is also a marine protected area so the sea life is abundant!

This bottle of treasures came from a cove across the street from the cottage.

I layered the sand then all the tiny seashells, found at low tide that just happened to be exposed the day I found the fun bottle to present them in. There are also bits of colored sea glass and tumbled pebbles all washing ashore together included.

This is a little bit of Divers Cove captured in a bottle.

Grateful to have it included in Somerset Life Magazine!

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Fabric covered hanger

Feminine fun with scrap fabric

I have a wonderful stash of favorite discontinued drapery fabric sample swatches that I've stacked in my art studio.

I chose to pull out a favorite white linen with a blue rose floral to create a hanger cover for my new blue blouse with a wide collar so that it wouldn't slip off the hanger.

It was super easy. I just laid the hanger on the backside of the fabric and traced the outline of the top of the hanger 3/4 of an inch above it. Then I copied that creating a second and cut them both out.

With right sides pinned together, I sewed them together leaving the opening at the top center and doing a basic hem along the bottom.

Putting the right side out I tucked the top center opening in and pressed the piece flat.

The ruffle of the same fabric I added just for fun and to jazz up the bottom.

I'm thrilled to have it included in Greencraft 

magazines summer issue!

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Blue Hydrangeas

I'm always inspired by mother nature.

Here is my latest creative venture.

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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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Mermaid necklace

Inspired by the cool coral mushrooms found in the sea

I've created my own version in clay!

Then fired them and punched holes to create buttons.

After firing using a little craft twine created this fun necklace!

They are called Corallimorph mushroom corals.

 I think they make the perfect mermaid necklace!

Grateful to have it them published in Jewelry Affaire magazine!

Fire glass samples to original art

My girlfriend Karen found a salesmen's sample kit of fireplace glass at a local thrift shop and shared it with me not really knowing what she was going to do with it.

It's difficult to explain how my imagination works but she gifted me with whatever colors I wanted and I chose varying shades of blues not certain at the time what I was going to create with the bits of jagged glass bits. 

Here is the finished artwork created with them.

After putting them in a tumbler to soften all the edges

I laid them out from dark to light on a heavy craft paper and gave

 myself margins to work within according to the double matting 

I purchased with a white shadow box frame.

Then meticulously glued each one down with E6000 glue

and let dry overnight before putting the frame together. 

I'm pleased with how it came out and love that it resembles the sea!

Seashell ceramic tree for holiday decorating

My latest clay creation completed just in time to decorate with.

Shown here with a collection of my previous concoctions

on my cocktail table to add a little holiday cheer!

and a snap of it before firing as it was still wet clay and

just out of firing showing it with the stand I made to accompany it.

Merry everything and happy always!

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Appliquéd vest

My latest creative venture is using a discontinued drapery swatch 

with fabulous embroidery to embellish a simple vest.

I especially like the layout on the back!

I carefully cut out all the beautiful embroidery 

and laid it out on the vest

then hand stitched it in place before sewing all the pieces down.

A little creative fun at the cottage studio today.

Grateful to have it featured in the latest issue of 

Altered Couture Magazine.

Sparkle and shine!

I got together with girlfriends last week

for some creative fun and jewelry making.

I had this wonderful sparkly crystal necklace with me 

and decided that instead of repairing the vintage crystal lovely

I would pull off a few of the beads 

and create a completely new look in my favorite color scheme.

I'm pleased how it has a whole new look with the vintage

 baubles and the display with my ceramic creations!

Thrilled to have it shared in Jewelry Affaire Magazine!

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Donating to a good cause

This creative vase/urn was created and donated 

to an auction to raise funds for the local veterans.



(the front)


I love that artists are given the opportunity to help the community with their art!

(the back)

(and when it is open)

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And so appreciative of the high bidder.

Mosaic vest

Remnants laid out for design ideas in my art journal.

From being in the design industry for so many years, I have 

amassed an amazing stash of discontinued upholstery and drapery 

fabrics all sorted, folded and stacked by colorway in my art studio.

While adding to and pilfering through the stack of indigo blue 

swatches I had the inspiration to create a vest to wear with blue 

jeans. My favorite fabric was a costly crewel floral fabric

 in multi-tones of blue on a cream background and I chose to use it

 to create a large shawl collar and part of the front panels. Cutting it

 out can be challenging as many of the swatches loaned to interior

 designers have a large grommet placed in the center of the sample. 

I created my own pattern out of an old cotton sheet and used a 

mannequin for fitting as I had created it with ten separate pieces so 

that I could incorporate some of the smaller swatches of fabrics into

 it. I selected a solid cotton blue to trim the collar with, creating a

 half inch border around the edge to set it apart from all the other 

fabrics that were chosen. I selected a two-tone blue lattice effect with a cream 

background for the upper back and found a fun border fabric with

 large indigo blue X's on it for creating a wide waist panel on the back

 and a found a heavy cotton with uneven stripes for the lower 

portion and intentionally left the hem with the unraveled selvage

 edge. I chose to put pleats in it and sewed the tops down for a more 

flattering look below the waist.

Dark colors on the side panels always create a slimmer profile so I

cut up an old Levis jackets' sleeves and used them with the existing

 slit opening at the bottom for a better fit and then cut out the two 

pockets for the lower half of the front panels and found some cool 

vintage buttons to replace the ones that were missing. I attached 

them to the top portion at an angle just for design fun. I chose blue

striped pillow ticking and cut it on the bias to finish the armholes

and inside the collar. 

Grateful to have it included in the latest 

Altered Couture Magazine on newsstands now!

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