Cheers Loves!
looking forward to my trip to the Fatherland this year!
The color and the shape
Facinating article on trees at wired.com here
yes, yes, yess-a-roonie; we can officially call this an obsession. I have a thing for trees, not necessarily a hugging thing. LOOK at the Rainbow Eucalyptus tree (first pic) isn't it out of control?
It got me started on a tree binge ...
Rainblow Eucalyptus
Temoku Tree (mine)
Dan Merriam painting in progress
Local trees
African Boabob
Philippa Lawrence
Tree of life
unknown
unknown
unknown
Liz Tran
unknown
unknown
wrapped tree - Philippa Lawrence
Trees of Socotra in Yemen
covered trees - unknown
socotra - unknown
coastal cypress - unkown
Banyan - unknown
silk cotton tree - unknown
bamboo - unknown
Art Mercado
Jay Mercado is super talented. He also has a ridiculously fabulous studio space in San Francisco at 4754 California Street. The studio is light filled, spacious, has an easy and inviting feel and tall tall ceilings. I met up with him and his ever beautiful and lovely Teresa for a visit. We talked about art, the sea, neighborhoods, people, beautiful places, donuts, the future, optimism in art, and an octopus.
I had a wonderful time sitting outside with the two of them in the sun on such a bright spring morning enjoying blue bottle coffee and having one of the best conversations I've had in a long time.
I came away feeling energized, excited and very inspired by Jay's plans for his work and his newly refreshed studio space. I'll certainly post about it in the future.
in the meantime...
Jay also has a blog I highly recommend.
Keep him on your radar.
today is about ocean life
I thought I'd leave today with this gorgeous photo by brian skerry.
brian skerry photography HERE
thanks Swallowtail Society
hard to take
The Cove - won an oscar and I'm happy about that! I am glad it's getting some wide press; but we've all known about this to some extent, that it is happening even if in the back of our minds.
I can't believe the world allows this (and whaling) to continue (and yes, among many other atrocities). Heartbreaking, ALL!
Just do this for me: Text "dolphin" to 44144 and join the campaign to stop the slaughter of dolphins.
thanks.
courtesy of BrokenStitch
decal roundup
Here's what happened; sorry for no pics...you'll have to trust me on this one!
All of these pieces were bisque - the glaze and decal applied for a single firing.
1. Top Left Purple: Decal OVER low fire clear matte glaze - black images (this is important) fired to 06.
Result - 5 stars! The image came out great - the black creates a perfectly clear iron ox sepia toned image. This is over unfired glaze. So, you can't move it around a lot - basically you get it on there and that's that.
2. Right Middle: Decal OVER low fire matte white glaze - fired to 06 - black image.
Result: 5 STARS! Great result over the glaze - which also means you may be able to eliminate a firing - uh, yay!
3. Bottom Left: Decal OVER low fire clear glaze - fired to 06. This image was a little washed out; the glaze pulled out a lot of the detail but it did not disappear; just a faded image. Again, sorry, no pics; I'll have to take them this weekend.
*also note that I put a grey toned decal image (you can see the compass) and it all but disappeared in the firing. So, black is the new black! Stick with black images to get a clear result.
All of these pieces were previously glaze fired to 06. We applied the decals and then low-fired to 08 on a fast fire schedule: again good results on all these pieces - barring the grey images; they were ghosts of their former selves. The black images worked perfectly.
All of these are low fire glazes; the top left a clear low fire glaze - the blue vase is underglaze with clear glaze over it and the red a low fire glaze.
I will say that the decal image on the red piece was a little faint - but strong enough. On the blue vase it looked almost orange!
The decals were from computer images and printed on decal paper.
If anyone has any suggestions or has experience - I would LOVE to hear from you. Please comment. This process is not full proof - I've talked with other folks and there seems to be a wide variety of results - I wouldn't run off and put decals on a piece you love - we have just begun the testing process - I will continue to report experiences with this process.
testing 1 2
Yes, it appears that the decal situation is a fairly straightforward one; but all clay people know the will of fire, where everything should theoretically come out perfect.
ha!
we have done a fair round of decal test scenarios; it will be interesting to see what happens. Stay tuned for tomorrow's report in full...
Barbara Vanderbeck
Barbara Vanderbeck is a friend of mine and an inspiration to me in so many ways; yet another great working artist of Ruby's Clay Studio in San Francisco. It's always fabulous fun waiting for the next little bird to come to life in Barb's studio.
Barb has a much anticipated show coming up at Ruby's of her new work - I have only seen one of her new piece in process. I'm excited to see the full collection of her new work. I do know she's been working hard in her studio because I haven't had a peep out of her for some time!
The Show is called: "Two Steps off the Grid"
showcasing Barb's new ceramics and many of her new endeavors in collage painting!
Check out Barb's new website with more pictures and information here & here
Thanks to Coquette & Dove
thank you, for mentioning "we swim with the fishes" in a post!
we think it's so lovely of you.
we have to 'follow you' - keepin' an eye on all the good stuff you've got goin on!
Coquette & Dove - because, it's good for you.
Weekend action
Going to Cartier & America Exhibit at the Legion.
Will check out Diana Fayt's show CARBON & CLAY at Modern Relics in SF. Must see Modern Relics - holy crapola - Look's like Alix bluh has created THEE perfect environment just for me - I may get lost in her shop forever.
Modern Relics has a show up of Diana Fayt's work.
Diana is a nice gal, so much fun! We love her and her work!
also, going to stop by David Wilson's show "the Great Beach & Father Sky" at Mollusk SF too!
much sights to see, friends to visit and feasting to endulge in.
My favorite kind of weekend...
Happy Weekending!
Recent Obsessions #3
Archipelago is a beautiful book.
David Liittschwager & Susan Middleton info (bottom pic-book)
look into it, really.
*all other pics unknown and randomly collected.
Recent Obsessions #2
History on the High Seas! I confess this is much more than a recent obsession, I have a deep love for all things oceanic, the age of discovery history, ancient mariners, lore and myth; but I have recently found some new figurehead images from various places - even Ebay. Only I can't afford the $20,000ish price tag. If I could - I think I would...have to!
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