Dogs

Lately the dogs have been getting larger and larger. The problem with this is the fitting them in the kiln around other work! I have decided to work smaller for a wee while...use up lots of left over clay...and my friend Marita Green who is also a mixed media artist....and I have a few clay graffiti projects in mind! Watch this space!

Originally I started on dogs as a theme due to a quote I heard, when I was in a 'down' patch, by Winston Churchill. It was about being 'chased by the black dog' of depression. So I decided to make my own black dogs...easier to control. 

Wonky bowls... continued

Some time ago I decided to make 100 bowls of about the same size. Some of them are in earlier posts. I have difficulty with repetitive tasks and I hoped I would break through the 'pain' barrier and become a better potter for sticking at the repetition (with minor variations). After about 30 pots I got interested in the next project and left the 100 wonky bowls unfinished. So fickle! Anyway...I have returned to the bowls and am now using the new ones I am doing as 'proto types' for ideas for larger birdbaths. The ones below are early ones from when I last started this project. It was interesting how much better I did get due to repeating the task and how I could look back and clearly see progress.

Fish drypoint

I have been making a new series of prints around fish and beetles and other creatures. Some I have been hand coloring later.

Reworking prints

I have had a great time lately reworking prints...adding bits and pieces to the print..hand and machine sewing on them..collaging old documents into parts and even using sandpaper to sand large areas back to build up with layers of paint. They do not photograph very well but I love all the subtle layers showing through.

0pen studio

Ahh...that old fish eye lens again. I am beginning to regret the day I discovered that setting on the camera. It is time for me to step away from the fish eye photos...it is getting compulsive. Here are some photos from the studio tidy up for the open weekend.

Open studio

The first Oakura arts trail is on this weekend. I have tried to resist tidying up and leave the studio as a 'working' space for people to visit...but today I ended up having a spruce up and setting up a table of stuff to sell. I hate the selling part of making art. I become very emotional attached to what I make. The trail has made me rethink/ analyse what the current 'themes' are in my work. I am noticing a shift of direction. I am not yet able to fluently verbalize it.....but by golly I better get my head around it before visitors turn up at the studio this weekend!