A blue bird and a bear head... finished.

I've just completed two clay pieces that I'm quite proud of. 

An adorable blue bird figure, and a bear head wall hanging.

To see them before painting... click here.

I hope you don't mind if I show them off.

This is my blue bird before I painted a 

glossy finish on him. 

The gloss protects the paint, and enhances the colours,

but makes it hard to get photos without glare.

This is the bear head before the glossy finish.

These are after the glossy finish. 

A quiet Easter weekend

These are the 1st spring flowers, growing at the base of our walnut tree.

This beetle was crawling up my pantleg...on the inside! EWWW!

Had me doing the funky chicken and yanking all my clothes off

in the living room. Thank goodness I wasn't on Skype!

On the bright side, this little bird (pine siskin?) posed on one

of my big garden pots. (No, I didn't make it, but am resisting the urge to paint it.)

I did a bisque firing, and these are all the items I fired.

I can't wait to paint them. (some of the small weird items

are actually press moulds I'm experimenting with).

These 3 birds were in that load, and are ready to paint. The big one is my 2nd big bird, and he's the same, (or slightly bigger) than the 1st one. I haven't decided on what colours to paint him.
Any suggestions??

I started painting the bear and the medium bird, starting with a base-coat.

I hate waiting for paint to dry, so we went to the beach
 to enjoy the sun, the birds and watched the ferry cruise by.

Things I'm working on...Ok, who changed the format?

Has Blogger changed the format? Or did I mess up my settings last time I was here?

I was just going to post some photos of pieces I'm working on... and everything here has changed.
Note: The blog looks the same to view, but the screens for updating and creating the actual blog has changed.

 I've been in my studio for about 10 hours, making a couple of pieces with my new Plainsman clay.
Finally have some photos to add. It's midnight, my eyes feel as gritty as my hands, and I'm too tired to be amused by the totally different look, but will just muddle my way through and hope for the best.
I'm listening to Susan Jacks... in case you're interested.

(I started these birds last weekend)

Made a small bear head, wallhanging...

I love the way his mouth turned out 

When hanging on the wall, this is how he'll look.

And I made a dog vase...

front view

side view

(Update- March 27/12-He's ready for a first firing and 

I've decided on a glaze ... it's called "Dalmation" how fitting.)

Update- May 15/12- see him finished and fired.

 That's how my day off was... fun :)

I'm off again tomorrow too, just not sure what to make next... 

(Update: I like this new format- especially for adding photos, now that I've tried it a couple of times :)

Bye bye Big Blue Bird.

As I write this, Dave's on his way to town, to ship my Big Blue Bird, to Australia.

Here's some final photos.

I can't tell you how stressed I get about packing & shipping,

it's enough to drive both of us crazy.

Anyhow, he's safely packed and on his way

to a much warmer home in no time...

Bon Voyage mon ami.

To see how he was made: from the beginning.

Big bird clay figure- in progress photos. Part 5

To see previous in progress photos. Part 4

Well, it's New Year's eve, and I really wanted to finish this bird, so

after a lot of procrastinating, I set my mind to it.

I added highlights to his feet, wings and tail...then painted his eyes.

It's so hard to get the eyeballs "just right", but I think I got it.

I'll take better photos tomorrow (in natural light), and then give him a

couple of clear coats, to protect the paint job. Not sure if I should give

him a satin, or matt finish...

Here's the underside... I carved my signature on his foot.

What a perfect way to say goodbye to 2011, finishing the details on

one of my best clay pieces, ever. (It also reminded me that I have a horse

that's still waiting to be painted- he's next.)

Big bird clay figure- in progress photos. Part 4

See previous in progress photos (part 3)

Here's a peak inside the kiln as I prepare to fire it up.

After a tiring day at work, I was excited to be going home to open the kiln,

and see how my bird fared in the firing.

As you can see, he's fine :)

I ate a quick soup & sandwich to finish the last of the turkey (thank goodness),

then got down to painting.

I always do the eyes last, so he'll be blind for a little while yet, but he's close to

being complete & ready to fledge...

Big bird clay figure- in progress photos. Part 3

Click here to see Part 1 or Part 2

Now that Christmas is over, and there's lots of turkey leftovers to feed on,

I can focus on my big clay bird. He's dry enough to clean-

(sanding, smoothing, wiping the dust away with a wet sponge, touching up details, .)

I usually fire my kiln once I've got enough greenware to fill it,

but I've used all my clay so I'm going to fire what I've got now: The big bird,

a couple of round bowls, a couple of leaf shaped dishes, and a bunch of tiny sun faces.

I spent a good part of today- Boxing Day "cleaning greenware"

and am ready to fire the kiln tomorrow.

This is a major step in my birds' development, firing it into bisque…

a trial by fire- literally.

May the kiln gods be kind to us.

Big bird clay figure- in progress photos. Part 2

Click here to see part 1.

Day 2.

December 18, 2011

(working In the living room).

Still in leather state, after waiting

4 days in a plastic bag.

One wing attached.

I cut a hole in the body, where I'll attach the

other wing. This way the clay won't be too thick

in those parts.

Wings attached.

Here's a short video where I place his eyes on.

He's ready to dry -slowly in an open plastic bag,

so he doesn't crack.

Ready to dry, so I can give him a fine sanding

to smooth out the unwanted bumps. Then I can

fire him in my electric kiln.