I have had two pieces accepted into the Michigan Ceramics 2014 Exhibition!

tulip holder

hanging landscape platter

The MCAA Biennial Exhibition and Competition is taking place this fall--October 17 to December 31, at the Saginaw Art Museum in Saginaw, MI.  The reception and awards for exhibiting artists will take place on October 17th, and on October 18 there will be a workshop with the juror, Andrea Gill.  The show will then move to the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City from January 25 to May 17, 2015.  More information is available at the Michigan Ceramic Art Association site:   www.michclay.com. (latest news:  I was awarded the Functional category award!)

demi-lune, in progress

I'm finally finishing a demi-lune that has been sitting on my glaze table for about three months (or more).  And because doing landscapes is hard (you don't see exactly what you're going to get), I usually work on several at a time, and get ideas from one to the other.  Here are two photos: one, of how the demi-lune looked for several months, and, another, of how it appeared after more color and structure had been added.  The next blog will show the finished tiles; however---I have to say, my old kiln which needed rewiring finally broke during the glaze firing, yesterday, and never quite reached temperature.  I may have to re-fire.

a landscape tile--a second look

 

 In the early evening, as the sun is going down, and the light through the west windows is warm and encouraging, I sometimes sit in the old chair that my dad used to sit in (with his kitty, Gus, who now lives with Janet Kelman) and share a glass of wine with Bruce, and take a moment to reflect on what I'm doing, and at such a breakneck pace.  I often miss seeing things that I might really like, but for the fact that they didn't sell last season, and are now hanging on the wall just opposite the chair, and, hmmmm.....so I have the chance to take another look.

demi-lune finished in late November, 2013

One of the recently 'twigged' demi-lunes, using cuttings from the wild grapes that are taking over some of the wild crabapples. They are meant to hang over a door, or above a sink , or cooktop  (though I wouldn't keep all the little extensions, so near the stove top).  Customers have sometimes bought the 2 tiles of the demi-lune, without the backing and the twigging, and have set the tiles into the wall, itself:  a more permanent arrangement.