I just finished this Little Bird Mama sculpture

Hi there!

The kiln has been running and it's nice to see some finished products coming out, finally.  All of my sculptures go in the kiln at least three times, to build up the layers of colors I like to have on the surface.  My kiln has good, thick walls, so I usually fire for 9-12 hours, and then it takes about 24 hours for it to cool.  I have to crack open the door once the kiln hits 500-600 degrees, or the darn thing just never cools down.  It constantly reminds me to just "Have Patience"!

This little Mama I built before our trip to San Francisco, but I never got a chance to work on her glazing before we left, because I was finishing up the bronze piece.  I love how she turned out, and the little birdies under her wing.  And then there's the other bird on the base... what do you think he's all about? Is he a sibling of the other birds, or is he an outsider?

In other news, I've been sketching quite a lot over the holiday, and I've been working on three different sketches that I cannot wait to finish.  I hope I like the finished project and can share them here!  One is a bit personal, so I may not share that one quite yet. :)

I have also just added Feedburner to this blog so that you can follow me through an RSS reader, or you can follow me through email if that is more comfortable for you.  I appreciate you taking the time to visit my little space, here in BlogLand!

As I am writing this post, I am listening to Sting.  One line that sticks out to me is:
"Let your soul guide you, guide you the way."  Be quiet, Mind, and listen to that Soul.  It won't steer you in the wrong direction.

Wishing you a happy week~
Kelly

This One is Near and Dear To Me

I just finished this little sculpture. I actually made it several months ago, but just last week, I finally finished glazing it. This little piece is very personal to me; it represents myself and my mother, as she lay so very sick with cancer just before her death. I'm not even sure I can sell this piece; I don't believe I can part with it yet, but I wanted to share it with you. I'm wishing you love and happiness this Thanksgiving, and I hope that you are able to spend the holiday with loved ones. Thinking of you~ Kelly

Art Buzz, Collection 2011

Good evening!

For all my friends on Facebook, I posted a little while back that I had applied to an art book for possible publication of my sculptures. Well, I found out that they have accepted me! In fact, I won the First Place award in the clay catagory, and that means I get a 2 page spread in the book! The only higher award would be the Grand Winner, which gets the cover of the book, so needless to say, I was quite excited!

Here is an excerpt from the email they sent me:

First of all, congratulations on your acceptance into Art Buzz, The 2011 Collection! Your work has been awarded 1st Place in clay! Choosing the winners was a very tough job and we are proud to include your work in this premier, contemporary visual arts publication. (for a complete list of the winning artists, log on to www.artbuzz.org/book.html) You will also be given a complementary Standard Plus listing on ArtBuzz.org, if you don't already have one.

Cover for the 2010 book

So I'm quite excited by this and I am really looking forward to getting one of the books!

In other news, I've been firing and glazing, and trying to finish 2 pieces for the upcoming exhibit starting in January for the Cabarrus Arts Council.  I wrote about it in a previous blog post you can find here.  I won't be able to show the finished pieces, but I think a detail shot or two would be safe. :) Once they are completely finished, I'll be sure to post a little something here!

I hope you are having a great week! What have you been working on? I'd love to see some of your beautiful new work!

~Kelly

Blogger Love from Kim Henkel

You know, I just love the connection between all the creative souls I have met online, here in Blogland. Everyday, I am so happy to hear from each of you through your blogs/facebook/twitter, or emails back and forth, or comments on my blog. If I start to feel lonely or isolated, all I have to do is remember all of my e-friends. It's always that way, you know how it goes, you feel a little down one day or unsure about things, and then BAM! you get an email from one of your blogger friends and it lifts you up and makes you smile.

This happened to me not long ago. One night I was feeling all lovey-dovey about my online friends, and I decided to send a little clay piece to a fellow clay artist, Elizabeth Gonzalez. She is always so sweet with her comments and offers so much support, and I was thrilled that she liked my work. So I packaged up a little birdie, and shipped it off to Puerto Rico. And then two days later, an interesting thing happened. I received an email from Kim Henkel, another blogger I follow, and she wanted to send me a little something to thank me for my support! I was floored!!! Her generosity just amazed me and I was so excited to get this email!! It totally put in me the greatest mood and gave me a huge smile. If you don't know Kim or her work, you need to follow that link and check her out. Everything she does is just fantastic, whether it is her paper, her cards, or her jewelry. I got my little package from her last week, and these are the surprises I found inside!

Everything was so well-designed and thought out. A handwritten note on one of her handmade cards, an envelope made from a cookbook glossary (I think) then stitched together, all tied with a lovely ribbon. Now let's talk about that awesome necklace! I feel just terrible about this next photo, since it really does not do the necklace justice, but the necklace is so fantastic. It has the sliding type of tie for the clasp, so that you can adjust the length of the necklace, and get it on and off over your head. The pendant is a beautiful bezel with a image of a vintage clock face in it, with the word BELIEVE in it too. So beautiful and so special and I am so very thankful to Kim! I wore it the first day I got it, and I will give it much love for the rest of my days. Thank you, Kim!

I hope you all have a great week this week and thanks for stopping by my little blog!

~Kelly

Journal Sketch turns into a Painting

Okay, here it is! My little sketch that I just turned into a 12"x 12" painting on a birch panel. I did some collage first, then added some background color with Golden acrylic paints. After that came the face with Shiva oil sticks (which I absolutely adore), and then her flowers and leaves in the hair were done with watercolor pencils (again, love them!). I finished off the painting with some more collage, and used various pens and markers to make some more marks. Oh - and then I also used Stabilo pencils in black and graphite to outline and/or add some shading to her face. I love my pencils too much to let them go entirely. The colors in this photo are a little off, and I lost some of the tones in her skin in this jpeg, but that's okay. I still like it, and I hope you do too! :)

The next photo is a little detail shot of the birdie and a few of the words. I just thought that it was so cute!


This was done as a donation for a fundraiser for the South Carolina Aquarium. I hope that it brings in some money for them, as I love the aquarium and used to volunteer there, several years ago. Here is the flyer for the fundraiser:
It looks like it will be a great time, so if you are in the area, head over to the event and bid on my piece, if you like it, or just have a cocktail and help out the aquarium.

Doing this painting was a huge amount of fun for me and I am really looking forward to doing some more in the future! This has also gotten my brain turning and I'm thinking about doing some more drawing into my clay sculptures... but we will see. That will take a little experimenting to get it just right. Let me know what you think! :)

So Excited!

HI everyone!

It has been a crazy, crazy two weeks! I have been pushing and pushing to get some work in the studio completed. I've finished building two sculptures, and was working feverishly on a new piece... a mixed media painting! It is for a fundraiser, here in Charleston for the South Carolina Aquarium, and I have had an absolute ball working on it. I can't wait to take a couple of good photos and share them with you. Maybe tomorrow or Saturday I'll have them and I will be certain to post them here.

It's funny, this whole sketching thing. I used to sketch all the time in college, and got a little out of the habit in recent years. I still enjoyed sitting down sometimes, if I was in the mood, and working on a piece, but I didn't do it regularly. Ever since our trip to San Francisco, I have been really, really enjoying working in my journal and my sketchbook. I think that it will be the lasting influence from those weeks in San Francisco - the drawing and the sketching. And I am so thankful to have rediscovered it! What a joy!

And so this piece that I have been working on came from my sketchbook. I did it while in SF and as soon as I heard about the fundraiser, I knew it was the sketch to turn into a painting. I love how it turned out and I cannot wait to share it with you!! Stay tuned!