New hosta leaf designs

I live somewhere between the pure artist and the production-driven artisan. Unlike an artist, my work doesn’t originate as a concept or idea. I begin, as most artisans, with the intention to make something on my production list, such as “20 hosta plates,” a result of an order I’ve been sitting on for several months until the hosta leaves in my garden were large enough to press into clay and then shape into a plate. Mine are pretty standard, with attention to curling the edges up with graceful curves. In the middle of this process, all these new designs emerged. Really, they just happened so intuitively that I had the thoughts of a spectator in my head… “oh, I like that curl… well, that works really well… I wonder where this one is going..” etc.

 

You’ll be able to see the results in a few weeks at LeeWolfePottery.

Fine Artisan Ceramics vs DIY

I listed this platter on my website and then pinned it on Pinterest .

Where it soon acquired this comment:

@ Savannah Hall cool idea to incorporate lace to make pattern in pottery when you make it.

One of the dilemmas we’ve all encountered as artisans is the perception that images of our works for sale are also DIY projects that any beginner could easily achieve. When, in reality, this piece has been in design production for years. It has evolved out of pressing lace in clay, such as in these ornaments That I made for Grovewood Gallery from 1996-2009

In 2010, I helped my daughter design this tray:

  

and here in one of my own from 2011

By 2012 I was partially obsessed with lace trays, with organic shapes. Here are a few:

 

And here are the lesser quality pieces from the same kiln load; all experiments done on the same day:

and a similar piece:

I want to encourage everyone to play around with clay, as it is a lot of fun. I do, however, want to dispel the impression that what I do is so low-skill and easily replicated that anyone in Ceramics 101 can whip them out. The work on my website represents countless design tweaks.

So here is the reply I posted on my Pinterest Pin:

It's an easy technique, but don't expect to get results like this in your first 1,000 tries!

Cake Stand –works in progress

Here is my first prototype for a woodland cake stand. This project began when a fellow foodie asked if I would make  this woodland planter as a base for a cake stand:

Cake stands are notoriously difficult and temperamental pieces but I just have to try it.

CAUTION: This is not a DIY post. This is a copyright protected original design in progress. Do NOT try this yourself. If you do, or pin it to a DIY board on Pinterest, your left eyeball will ooze green puss and black hairs will emerge from both nostrils. Don’t say you were not warned.

Here are my small prototypes:

The bases were hand built hollow sculptures and the tops were thrown on a wheel.

A coil of clay was added to the base and thrown on the wheel so that the top is perfectly level. Tree branch stumps were added.

The top was joined to the bottom, with slip between. Coils reinforce the joint.

Of these three small scale works, I like the flat top without the skirt the best. I chose this one for my large prototype, but also made 2 more in case this design cracks or warps in the firing. I may have to repeat this design process 2-10 more times if I want a cake stand that I can reliably produce as a small scale production piece. Additionally, the glaze I intend to use may need to be reformulated to work in these varied surfaces.

I have weeks and sometimes years of design hours in most of my work, and that is before I begin messing around with the styling, description, and market testing.

Why would an artisan such as myself, in the middle of Wedding Season with orders on hold, bother to create something new? Why would I not just do what I already know, make what will effortlessly sell?

Sarah-Lambert Cook gave her reasons in this post, which started me thinking about why the idea of a woodland cake stand displaced my love of abundant cash, and trust me, I do love that, too. There is something about having what I see in my mind’s eye emerge into a tangible thing that gives me great joy. So I guess, essentially, I do it for the fun.

Imagine. Dare. Dream. Make it.

“When the soul wishes to experience something, she throws an image of the experience out before her and enters into her own image.’ –Meister Eckhart
When I stare at the chalky grayness of clay,  I use my mind’s eye to give it color. Unlike paint, glaze contains little resemblance to the final fired color, so I have trained myself through the years, to mentally try on my various glazes until I visualize the ones I want. I also choose, first in my imagination, the little embellishments like the wire twig on my Owl House ornament.
This ability to dream, to see in my mind’s eye, to explore what might be, to give birth to possibility, is a skill that serves me well in my art and in my life.
Owl House began with this feeling that this holiday season will be full of joy, magic, and everyday blessings. I shut my eyes and immersed myself in that feeling, and the image of the little owl perched in it’s snug home, staring with curiosity, emerged.

MarciG’s flowers

 

                                              

Marci G

at work

I love Marci’s new flower bowls. They have evolved from a bowl that looks somewhat like a flower to flowers that contain the idea of a bowl.

I started in clay as sculpture and transitioned to functional work. Marci’s path is the reverse.

lOve letters

I was thinking about love letters, and all the sweet things we say in writing, that are typed, handwritten, poured out onto keypads, etc. We put all these passions, desires, wishes to be understood, to be gotten, to be loved, in black and white.

I think that we read them in red- with excitement, arousal, a stirring of our senses.
So I made this Treasury- lOve letters. You can see it by clicking here. And PS- if you like it, or any other Treasury on Etsy, you can make it 'hot' by clicking on every pic in it.

I wonder, would it change anything for you if you got a message of love written in red?