Whatever...

Finally brothers:








I love this idea and am going to do it again. Only better next time. Unfortunately I think this series falls under the "you lose some" category. But I think it has potential.

I did this as a way to deal with my frustration with certain teachers who seemed to think that art dealt with mainly lewd, crude ideas. I had a very bad week that week and Philippians 4:8 really spoke to me during that time. It's funny because I remember reading that verse at the beginning of that rough week and then it came back up during a Campus Crusade for Christ meeting. So that weekend I started these guys.

Even though they're really rough around the edges I am going to push this idea farther and keep working with it.

I love handmade!

My roommate painted this picture of a Newfoundland for me as a birthday gift last year. I love it! I love the colors and am in awe that she was able to actually paint dog hair. Painting seems like such a mystery to me. How she was able to paint things as intricate as the hair and whiskers is beyond me. I think she did a beautiful job.
We don't have our newfies anymore. This picture is a nice reminder of those sweet doggies. And a sweet reminder that I have uber-talented friends! I love getting a handmade gift. It's so special. :)

PS: I'm sure she'd take custom orders if you want a lovely painting. ;)

Journaling

So since I started blogging I've pretty much given up writing in books. Sad isn't it? I found my old journal from when I was 16 (talk about sad...hee hee...I think I mostly wrote about what was bothering me) and read through it. I love the convenience of the internet. Blogging is such a fun and easy way to document photos and ideas and memories and emails and facebook are such a quick and easy way to communicate. But I miss writing letters. I love getting mail and rarely do anymore (I don't consider bills to be real mail). Anyhow, this book combines my long-lost love of snail mail and hand journaling. I've begun to glue all my letters and some pictures into a journal instead of keeping them in a box. They're much more accessible and portable. This book can be thrown in a suitcase. You can't really do that with a shoebox full of letters. Plus this is a prettier way to keep all your letters available and tidy.
This would be much easier with a spiral bound book. This is leather bound so it doesn't close all the way. Luckily it has an elastic strap to help keep it closed. Next time I do this I'll use a spiral bound book but for now this works fine. Plus it gives it an older look which some find appealing.
I don't just keep letters in here. I also keep pictures, poems, song lyrics, Bible verses and memorabilia. This is a picture I took at the park and a poem by Robert Frost. Below are two bumper stickers. One is a Pro-Life sticker and the other is one I got while in Austin. I know...they're supposed to be on a car, not in a book. I use my parent's car so I don't feel free to put stickers all over it.

These are notes from friends...

This is a Christmas card my roommate sent me. She designed it herself. I'm going to blog about something else she made for me in a different post!

I have lots more to put in this book. I think it would be a great idea for a gift for someone in college, a friend or family member who is moving away, or a loved one in the military. Have people write letters and then glue the envelopes with the cards or letters inside and pictures of everyone who loves them into a book and give it away. It's nice to see pictures and read handwritten notes (I love people's handwriting...it makes things so personal) from people. It can help with homesickness. I am planning to bring my book to China with me to look through when I miss home.

Watching an Olive

This past weekend I watched my niece, Olive, while her mom and dad (my sister and brother-in-law) went out on a date. We had lots of fun eating her parents out of house and home while they were gone (don't tell me I'm allowed to raid the fridge...lol...just kidding). We did actually share some homemade blackberry cobbler (when did my sister turn into Martha Stewart? That girl can cook!) and homemade whole wheat oatmeal bread. We played with toys. We listened to the Dean Martin station on Pandora (I love the way he sings Sway). We sang songs and snuggled. And we played with water in the bathtub. Olive just LOVES playing with water. Seriously, put her in the tub with a couple of containers of water and some spoons and she has a ball.

She also loves cell phones. She accidentally dialed 911 with one of her parent's phones. She is such a little genius. I let her play with my phone while I was eating my dinner and she loved it. She got mad when I took it away.

This is where I took the phone away.

I'm pretty sure she is signing and saying "please" here. My sister is teaching her sign language and she can say "please," "more," "all gone," and "ice cream." She is walking around now and saying more words. She calls the cows next door to us dogs and when they moo she will moo back at them. She likes to pretend she's a puppy. She plays patty cake. She is snuggly and blows kisses.
I can't imagine how we ever got along without her.

And you lose some...quite a lot actually.

As you can see not all projects turn out according to plan...

Most don't. To be honest I don't really have a definite plan for many of my pieces. I just experiment and see what happens.

salt-fired...not good...I'm very sloppy.

sloppy again...gotta work on that...

This went into the wrong kiln. It went into salt instead of reduction. And it's sloppy. But I think the idea of it is cool. It was inspired by Banksy. I am going to try this again sometime. In the meantime I think I'll go destroy these. lol. Actually, Adam (my brother) has decided that he's claiming all my ugly mugs (which I collectively refer to as my "ugly muglings.") and keeping them. So I think he claimed the middle one.

Tea Pot

Here is one of the finished "Alice in Wonderland" teapots. I didn't turn this one in for my critique. I ended up making 3. I gave one away already and my sister has the actual set that I turned in. I am going to photograph it sometime soon. Anyway...this set was just a teapot, creamer and a sugar. Where is the creamer pitcher? Well...it was loaded next to a sculpture in the kiln and during the firing that sculpture fell over and fused to my creamer pitcher. So this is all that is left. I like the color. It is a tenmoku over celadon, but our celadon was messed up so it's not typical of regular celadons (so I'm told...I'm so new at this I really don't know what it's supposed to look like.). It was a very fun set. Each piece was wheel thrown. The lids were wheel thrown and so was the spout. Only the handle was hand built. I fired the lid separately from the teapot and it warped a little bit so now it doesn't fit inside properly. I'm going to have to take away some of the rim to make room for it. I like them better than the very first teapot I made, but I am excited to continue experimenting with teapots. I'm hoping when I get to China to try throwing with porcelain. I can't wait to be good at what I do. It's nice to see improvements, but I'm nowhere near where I want to be. It's good though. It's always a challenge and that is part of what keeps me coming back. I love it.

I miss it SO much! As wonderful as it is to see my family I miss working with my hands on the wheel and at hand-building. I don't have access to a wheel at home. This summer is already going by so quickly though. I've been home for 4 weeks and 1 day now. I'm going back to school to visit my friend this coming weekend. I can't wait! I'm also going to get some paperwork taken care of for China, but I'll get to stay for three nights and maybe visit a Bible study or church service while I'm there. It will be fun to go see the folks who are still in town.

From this...

to this...

(excuse very poor picture quality)

One of the most time consuming and frustrating projects I've ever done. It got a bit messed up during my trip home so I need to retouch it in a few places. I'm glad I finished it. My teacher said the skin looked scaly. :P I'm hoping to get it retouched and take a better photograph of it since I need it for my portfolio in school eventually.

one last piece for tonight...

I forgot to put this piece with my favorite pieces in the last post. It's okay though because this one is glazed with colored glazes, unlike the others. This mug makes me smile. It is kind of a misunderstood little mug. Not everyone likes it. Although someone did offer to buy it from me, so it is appreciated too by a few people (I said no...we're not allowed to sell our work). It reminds me of a Ken Ferguson slump pot. I was throwing with a very soft clay and the middle got too thin and collapsed. I really loved the way it collapsed though so I saved it anyway and put a handle on it and dipped it in either 3D matte or Eustes and then in tenmoku. I had it fired in oxidation which I really like. It seems like colors are much more vibrant in oxidation than in reduction. Oddly enough, it's probably my very favorite mug I've made. I think it was a happy accident and I'm going to try to recreate it.

My favorite pieces from the semester.

The funny thing about these pieces is that I didn't use colored glazes on any of them. For the bowl I did a wax resist design (I'm not sure how visible it is in this photo) over a shino glaze and had it salt fired. The inside is glazed with Eustes (I think). I think it looks kind of natural and minimal. I like it.
This was one of my first pieces this semester. It was wheel-thrown and then altered so that the bottom is square while the top is round. It is painted with blue slip. I mixed some of the blue slip with a white slip to make it a lighter shade and it worked out really well. After painting it I carved designs in it. I think that concept is sgraffito, but I'm not sure if what I did can really be considered that. I really liked the colors. I played around with that pattern in the dark blue on a few of my pieces and someone started copying me towards the end of the semester! I was sort of flattered. :) I used it as a cup, but it could also be a pencil holder or toothbrush holder.
Another wheel-thrown/altered piece. This one I used different colored slips on to paint designs. It was then glazed in a clear glaze and fired in oxidation. I liked how bright it came out. Not sure why, but this screams "toothbrush holder" to me. I guess working for my dentist again this summer has me thinking of teeth a lot. Oh, bad news: I have another cavity! It's only my third. Oddly enough I never got cavities until I became a dental assistant. Hee hee. I know it's just a coincidence, but I think it's funny.

And finally this little cup. Even before I majored in ceramics (a loooong time ago...as in 5 months ago, lol) I preferred to drink out of mugs instead of glasses. I like the idea of making ceramic cups to drink out of. That's what this little guy is. It's very similar to the one shown above. It's just painted with slips (my painting skills leave much to be desired...something I definitely need to work on in addition to many many things!) and then glazed with a clear glaze. The only difference is that this cup was fired in reduction instead of oxidation which is why I think the natural clay has a very gray look to it.
This past semester I got to make a couple of different slips and make glaze tests. I also got to help stoke a wood kiln (which was very exiting...every time I pulled out the brick to stoke flames would shoot out...did I mention that I have a little aversion to fire?) and unload several different kilns. I had pieces wood fired, salt fired, reduced and oxidized. I would love to watch a raku firing. Kilns are so exciting! I also got to watch the sculpture students do a bronze pouring which was also very exciting. This may sound silly, but it was almost like watching a ballet...everyone rehearsed their part in the procedure and then performed it perfectly and there was this feeling of excitement and anticipation that I can't quite describe.

Sometimes I just love being an art student. And then sometimes I wonder what on earth I got myself into and why did I do it? But mostly I love it. :)

bobbies with buttons

Remember these? I got them at The Purple Fern (I love that store!) in Winchester, VA. It's such a fun and inspiring little boutique. I love buying the little fabric covered button bobby pins that are sold there. I love digging through the little bucket she has just for these little hair clips.

I have since found out that these are SO simple to make! I bought a fabric covered button kit from Joann's and a bunch of refill packs (and 2 spools of elastic thread, although that's completely unrelated to button bobby pins) for $7.23 cents the other day and this afternoon I made 5 of these little guys. It was super fast and easy...sometimes that's exactly the kind of project I need.
Ta daaa...aren't they cute? I am thinking of putting a couple on a snap-clip for my niece. She can still pull bobby pins out too easily.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial day weekend.

What's a girl to do?

(sigh) School is out. I came home on May 8th or 9th. Any normal person would be jumping for joy shouting "hurray, school is OVER!!!" But me...I miss school. Very much. Yeah, it's lame but it's the honest-to-gosh truth! I miss my friends. I miss my dorm. I miss ceramics terribly! I especially miss the Bible studies and Campus Crusade for Christ. It's strange to come home and not have Cru here. I love seeing my family and friends from home, but to be quite honest I still feel lonely and surprisingly homesick for school. I think a big part of it is that I'm not nearly as busy as I used to be. Now that I'm finished I don't quite know what to do with myself for the summer!

This summer promises to be busy and full of changes. My parents are moving. I'm going to spend the last 6 weeks of summer with my sister and her husband and my niece here in town. I'm getting ready to study abroad in China this fall. It's just a tiny bit overwhelming. Even though I'm less opposed to change than I was when I was younger I still have a hard time embracing it wholeheartedly. I am happy for my parents (my Dad lost his job a year ago and this move is a great opportunity for him and my family) but it seems strange to think that the next time I go visit them it will be in a new city. I won't know my way around. I won't know anyone there. I don't really mind that, it's just weird. I guess it just feels like I don't have a permanent home right now. That must be kind of normal for this stage of my life.

It will be an adventure though. I think this whole year is going to be one crazy adventure. I can't believe I'm planning to be in China for (almost) 4 months! One of my favorite books of all time is The Hobbit. It talks about how hobbits are homebodies who don't like adventures. In the book, the hobbit is roped into going on an adventure with Gandalf the wizard and 12 dwarves to reclaim stolen treasure. Throughout the book the hobbit wishes he was back home waiting for his tea kettle to start singing...however every once in awhile something in him wakes up (something Tookish...since his relatives the Tooks were abnormally adventurous hobbits) and makes him long to see places he's never been and hear songs he's never heard and be a part of stories that will be told for generations...
sometimes I feel just like the hobbit. My natural inclination is to stay where I'm comfortable...where everything is safe and familiar. But every once in awhile...more lately than usual, something inside me wants to go out and have an adventure. To experience what I can only read about. But at the same time I am sure I will be homesick for my family and friends and school. It's only been 3 weeks and I'm very homesick for school. I know when my parents and siblings move I'll be homesick for them. I know I'll be homesick for my sister and brother-in-law and niece. But in a way it is comforting to know I'll miss them. I am blessed to have a family that I love and that loves me. I've been blessed to make dear friends who are like family and to be a part of a ministry that challenges me to make my whole life about serving Jesus. I am blessed beyond measure to be loved and sought after by my saviour, Jesus, who sent his Spirit to be with me wherever I am. So I don't have to be too afraid to go anywhere or do anything because I'm never truly alone.
Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

That's a promise to hang onto!

That's about all I have to write about tonight. I'm in the middle of packing and organizing...it's a lengthy process and I keep stopping to check facebook and blogs! The internet is not conducive to productivity sometimes. :)

Ch..ch..changes...

I thought I would give my blog a make-over. It's been kind of ho-hum these past couple of years so I thought I'd paint the walls. :) Shabbyblogs.com has some very cute layouts for blogs which is where I got mine. I want to get back to making things and posting about them here. I know that my summer is going to be a bit difficult though (will talk more about that later) as far as finding time to get involved in a project goes, but I miss making things and want to get back into the habit of trying to be creative and putting my thoughts into words.

Hopefully I'll be able to put more time into this blog this summer. Regardless of what I accomplish this summer I have rather grand plans for it this fall!

:)

in love...

I found a new blog. Help me...I may fail my critiques (or crits as the folks at school call them) because instead of working I just want to read blogs. Go check out ~Ruffles and Stuff~. It's so fun! I seriously can't wait to get home in a month so I can sew sew sew...I love it when inspiration hits!

xo~
Gracie

Sneak Peek

of my final project! I'm making a tea service based off the tea party from Disney's Alice in Wonderland (the cartoon). So far it's been fun, but I've only made two teapots in about a week's time. I have until Tuesday to make tea cups, saucers, a creamer and sugar and tray...wish me luck! I'm going to be busy! But, oh, it's going to be so much fun!

new and improved...

From the mugs I made last year. I think these look much better! They're taller and thinner and glazed better...when I first saw them when they came out of the kiln I was SO excited because they looked SO much better than my mugs from last semester (which were really awful). Then the next day I went to the pre-NCECA show and thought to myself, "my mugs are really awful." And they are. But compared to last semester, they're much better! It's nice to see some progress but it's motivating to know you have a long way to go before you're good at what you do. I'm really enjoying slip-work and wax-resists and putting texture on my stuff. It makes glazing more fun.

That pitcher on the top right side of the shelf is not something I made, but everything else is mine.

Landscape art....or at least let's call it that...

My 2D design teacher gave us an extra-credit opportunity. We had to do landscape art and the only rules were that it had to involve the landscape, wool, and bright colors not normally found in the landscape.
This is what my group came up with. We used several colored yarns to tie a tree to a rail. I think our teacher liked it. We gave it a really pro-environmental interpretation and I think that my teacher liked that. It seems like all people want to make art about the environment these days. I believe we should take care of the environment, but to be honest I'm getting bored of everyone making art about it. So to me this project wasn't as much about making a statement about the environment as it was about getting extra credit, but it was pretty fun anyway.

Scenes from Spring Break...

Just a few pictures from my break a couple weeks ago.I did quite a bit of driving, but the weather was perfect for traveling!
I spent HOURS on this project. It took forever!!! It made me hate my life. For real!

A very special baby turned 1 YEARS OLD!!! I cannot believe how quickly one year went by!

This year's ceramics...I think they're definitely better than last semester's mugs and bowls!

photo from my little jaunt to Harper's Ferry...

My cereal bowl with a handle...I love having a bowl with a handle! :)

Flowers just make the whole house seem so cheerful.

When I got back to school I was surprised to see that everything had bloomed while I was away. It was gorgeous! My roommate and my friend and I all went down to a local trail by the river to walk around. It was such a nice way to end the week.
I still have pictures from the Pre-NCECA conference that was held at my school that I'm waiting to get my hands on! Can't wait to post about it. :)

Photos from our silhouette project

Silhouette...it's a fun word to write and say....anyway, here are photos of the finished product. They're better than the video I posted.(photo credit goes to Jason Lee)

(photo credit by Jason Lee)

We individually made A- grades on the project, but overall we made a B+. I'm not really sure how that works. I'm kind of disappointed because we did everything we could to communicate with our teacher and get feedback along the way and she told us we would get an A for it, but the overall grade was still a B. Grrr!!! The teacher who is in charge of the entire foundations department for the art school came in to photograph them and told the whole class that ours was the best. I wish my teacher thought so too. Only 3.5 more weeks of class! Hurray!

I like

* sunny days
* pretty rain boots
* flowers
* playing my iPod while driving
* going for walks
* puppies
* watching my favorite one-year-old eat her first birthday cupcake (she loved it!)
* having conversations with people
* cameras (trying to figure my brother's camera out)
* spring
* silence
* thinking about how much Jesus loves us
* letters from people
* paper
* singing when no one can hear me


Just a few things I am liking this week. I have lots of pictures to post from this past week. Once I figure Adam's camera out I'll be posting! In the meantime, Happy Easter!