Charlie's first Triathlon

We are in Savannah, here for Charlie's big triathlon debut. When we got here, we found out that they cancelled the swim portion, as the quality of the lake was too poor due to all the birds!! And birds were truly everywhere. And not just cute little chickadees either. We are talking geese, ducks, egrits, and vultures. Ugh. But anyway, here is Charlie going into his last lap! Go Charlie!!


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iPhone Damage!

Marley's two favorite things in the world: her pacifier and my iPhone. But then she had to go and drop my phone on the concrete and cracked the hell out of the face. It still works for the most part, but you can feel the cracks and I'm afraid someone is going to get cut. Lucky for me, Charlie gave me a gift card to the Apple store here in Charleston for my birthday and voila! A new iPhone 3GS, with video even! I haven't had a chance to really play with it yet, but I have a feeling I will be posting videos on here, now that it is so easy. Thank you Marley and Charlie! As for things in the studio, I've been making some small-ish bird sculptures and I guess that will be my next post. Not quite sure how I want to glaze them, but I think I will try some different finishes. My gift to myself for my birthday was a propane torch, and I cannot WAIT to "fire" that thing up! I'm thinking melted wax finishes, or maybe melted crayons..... There is no telling what the future holds!

Munchkin!

I have been taking a couple of days off from the studio since the completion of the big address pot, so I thought I'd take an opportunity to write about the munchkin of this house. Yesterday we went to Gymboree, which is a kid's class/activity gym for those of you who don't know. Marley was just so cute and sweet all day; it leaves me feeling all warm and fuzzy towards her! Today is supposed to be a bit chilly here and probably a bit rainy, so I think we will go to the gym (for me) and then on to the mall for her, to buy some bits of her Halloween costume. Marley is going to be a triathlete for Halloween, just like her daddy. So we need to get some sneakers and a jersey of some kind. But I have included pics of Marley from yesterday, just because she's so damn cute.

Delayed Nesting??

Over the past 6 weeks or so, I have been in the strangest mood. I have been feeling a real NEED to get organized and settled. This is very much not like me! A year ago, when we moved in, we didn't really ever get a chance to really finish unpacking and decorating. Up until a month ago, my studio office still had quite a few boxes of things that I actually needed. I would just dig around in the box until I found whatever it was I was searching for. So something happened about 2 months ago, and I started unpacking and organizing! And cleaning, because you know wherever there is clay, there is clay dust! Here is a photo of my studio office, and it has gotten cleaner since that photo. I have hung some more stuff on the wall, like magazine racks to hold my many magazines that I'm addicted to, and another ribbon holder too. I didn't know I had so much ribbon! But I love ribbon, because when I ship to individuals, I like to wrap and decorate the package. Not to mention when friends have birthdays and things... Here I sit at 5:00 in the morning, listening to my baby girl on the monitor playing music. And I'm thinking of ways to organize our laundry room! Our laundry room is a combo playroom/laundry/mail room and it needs some serious help. I started on it last night. Now I think I need to head to Target later today for some inboxes and things of that sort. How weird! I normally hate going through stuff and organizing. It usually seems like a waste of time. There is always something more fun I could be doing with my time. The only reason I can come up with is that I never got to "nest" when I was pregnant due to an upcoming move (why organize and decorate when you will be moving in 4 months??) and a very sick mother. I didn't know that the nesting instinct would come back and hit me! I better enjoy it while it lasts!

Completion of Address Pot

Yay! This morning I got up early, before anyone else in the house. I made a cup of java and headed out to the studio to work on the Address Pot. I knew I was close to being done, and yesterday was frustrating since I only had 25 minutes in the clay studio to work. I seem to be a little obsessive about leaving some projects unfinished. I like to stop at a good place, and when the completion of a project is near, it is ALL I want to work on! I'll let dishes pile up and bills go unopened, just so I can get some work done. That is how I was feeling yesterday! So this morning, when I woke, I thought "Carpe Diem!" So off to the studio I went, and I was able to finish my birds and thus the address pot is complete! I need better lighting for the final shot, but you can get an idea here. There are detail shots in previous posts.. The finished height is right at 6' tall. There are 5 sections, not including the three birds. I think I will epoxy them on after firing. I think that bond will be stronger, and I won't have to worry about accidentally snapping them off. Let me know what you think! This is the tallest project I've ever made and it took me over a month just to build it. It will be a while before it gets fired....

Three Little Birds Sitting on some Foam

Three little birdies sitting on some foam. I made these birds to go on my address pot. I am a bit obsessed with birds right now, and so I expect they will be showing up in my new work. And now I can get started on new work, now that I have this monster of a project complete. Whew! I don't think I have ever spent over a month working on a single project. I'm usually looking for the end, already thinking of the next piece I want to make. But anyway... these little guys kinda made me smile, all sitting there together on the foam. Or laying on the foam...they DO look a little like three dead birds on foam don't they?? :)

Work in Progress

Finally! I have finished building the main body of the address pot and now I'm just making birds to attach to it. One big bird on top and a few on the ledge of the pot. I was working on the birds today in the rather warm studio (my AC is out!) I am having a blast sculpting the birds. I can't wait for the next project, so I can do more bird-related stuff. I've been thinking about that... I seem hooked on birds and all things birds recently, but that is a whole 'nother post. I will put some photos on when my camera and my computer begin to play nicely again.

Address Pot - Work In Progress

I am finally nearing the end of the column part of this piece. It has been slow going, but it has also been a good lesson for me. Don't stop, just keep going!! I have never taken so long to work on one piece. Usually my attention span (or lack thereof!) prevents me from working this way, but since I am getting so little time in the studio these days, it is the only way I can work. On the photo on the left, you can see the three different sections of the column, separated by toilet paper. It keeps the clay from one section sticking to the next section. It just fires away, no need to remove it! The photo on the right shows that I had to switch out my stool for a ladder to work on the top portion of the column. I couldn't see what I was doing. I'm just a short thing, only 5'1", so a ladder is a must in my studio. So the next step I'm working on now is finishing the column and then I'm on to forming birds to attach. I am looking forward to that- something different to work on! Yay!

Studio Dog #2 - the Original Studio Dog

This is Kendo. He's the Original Studio pup. I think of him as my first born child. He is always in the studio with me, and as you can see, he has a bed under my slab roller. I even keep chew bones in there for him! He's so funny - if I make even the tiniest squeak of surprise, he comes running like, "What is it? I'm here to save you, Mom!" And he's Guard Dog Extraordinaire. Let's just say I wouldn't want to be a burglar sneaking into our house some night. LuLu is just scary looking, Kendo can be just plain scary when he wants to be!

Studio Dog #1

This is one of two studio dogs that I have. This is LuLu. She came to live with us after my mom died in February. All of my family was so worried about LuLu. They'd ask in a sad tone, "How's LuLu - is she okay??" And I'd respond that LuLu was just fine, fitting in quite well at our house. As you can see, she really suffers here. This is her perch when I'm in the studio. On my little futon couch. But it is nice to have company in the studio. Sometimes, I don't even play music, I just work quietly, and I can hear LuLu breathing as she sleeps. It's rather comforting! Now I need to show you Studio Dog #1. He's the Original Studio Dog. But you will have to wait until another time. I need to get a good photo of him!

A VERY Early Morning

Well, I had an interesting night last night. Recently, I have been waking up easily around 6:00 am, feeling great and energized. So I've been sliding out of bed and enjoying the peace that the early hour gives me. Last night, I woke up, feeling pretty good even though my eyes were a bit tired. I quietly grabbed my clothes and shoes and crept downstairs. I was already starting to think about coffee, toast, and then out to the studio. But then I came around the corner and saw the clock on the oven - and it was 1:05 am! Oh no! I knew I was in trouble then because I was feeling wide awake. As someone who has had a lot of insomnia over the past couple of years, I am all too familiar with being up in the middle of the night. Its not fun, ESPECIALLY when you have a baby or toddler that will wake up early and be ready to play all the next day! So I read some blogs and tried to go back to sleep, which probably ended up being around...4:00 maybe. Ugh. And here I am again at 7:30 am, wide awake! Today I will leave you with a little pic of Marley and Charlie on the pier here at Folly Beach just the other day. We were killing time before dinner and she loves birds, so we walked the Pier.