Time in my studio

Today I spent a good part of my day working with clay in my studio.

I don't get to do that as often as I'd like, because there's always some other things that

I need to do, like: go to work, do the dishes, feed the dog, make dinner, do the laundry,

get off the computer, or something else that uses up my time.

Anyhow, it was a rainy day today. My favourite weather for working with clay, because

it doesn't dry so fast, and I like to take my time. I wanted to make at least 2 sun faces, and

something to hold all my earrings and whatever else popped up in the process.

I started off with a bucket of left-over clay I had to recondition. (I love using new clay from

the box, but since I had lots of time today, it was a perfect opportunity to dig into the bucket and get dirty.)

Sometimes it's fun to take the slick lumpy clay scraps, and wedge them out into a nice ball .

(It's also hard to take pictures when my hands are covered in clay).

Once it's conditioned enough (doesn't stick to my board or hands) I roll it out onto a board, and make a nice slab. I use an old rolling pin (that never made a pie) to flatten out the clay, draw my sun face outline and then cut it out with a sharp tool!

Once the outline is cut out, I shape little pieces of clay to form the eyes, eyebrows, nose, mouth, then "stick" them on.

I lay the sun face over a round sponge (to support the basic shape), touched up the face,

smoothed and shaped it a bit. Now it's gotta sit overnight so it'll be a bit harder, so I can add the hanger on the back.

I made 3 sun faces and various other simple pieces. The

bird head here is going to be my earring holder.

I'm not sure what the eye is going to be for, but I can never have

enough eyes.

Ok, so it's not a kiln load, but it's a start.

Once these pieces are dry (in a few days), I'll smooth & clean them of dust and

add my initials to the backs, and then they will be ready to fire.

If I do this a few more times, I'll have enough pieces to fill up my "new to me" kiln,

and see how it works.

P.S. ( Hubby was kind enough to barbeque burgers and corn for us, so I didn't have to

make dinner. )

Building my studio- in the garage.

BEFORE photos:

These garage photos were taken Dec 7/08, after we got the furnace hooked up.

That's when Dave started building my studio. He had just built a dividing wall in the garage, so we have a "His" side, and a "Her" side.

This is where it all started... at the beginning.

Jan 25,2009:

Today was one of those lovely, sunny (rare) days, in the Kootenays.

It was great! Dave & I worked on my art studio, all day!

Although we were inside... in the dusty, dirty, garage all day,

we got a lot done.

Dave got the last wall insulated, plastic covered, & plywood covered!

I got it primed, and will paint it tomorrow.

It may not sound like much, but with Dave's back problems,

I'm grateful for productive days like this.

I've been needing my own studio space for many, many years.

Gradually, I've taken-over almost 1/2 the living room, with my

art supplies and projects. (Plus the spare room, and there's clay,

glazes & finished pieces stored in the basement).

It will be so wonderful to have a place for all my "stuff", and

a place to create.

Note: I'll try a different layout next time. Can't figure out how to

do that right now.... please bear with me as I deal with the

learning curve.