Suffering for my art

I keep making! I did bisque-firing last Tuesday. The rabbit was too tall, so he had to be on side.

Lower shelf

Top shelf

 Once I make a large one, I like to make more! This wolf fills the kiln itself.

Wolf

Tuesday night, I fell from a chair. I was holding a mask I was working on, and sat down on the chair backward. I thought there was chairback. There wasn't. I fell backward and I heard my head hit the hard floor.

Next time I noticed, Mike and two dogs were crowding around me. My leg got stuck between chair legs, and I was unable to get up. Mike said 'You must let it go!' and removed the mask I was holding from my hands. It was my precious baby, I was protecting it!

I'm ok. Don't worry! I have whiplash, a big bruise to show off and a bump, but I'm ok. Also I have looked after myself, and didn't overdo it. Having said that, I had to carry on working on the mask with an ice pack on my head that night! But since then, I have worked in a more comfortable position, I didn't dance like no tomorrow, and walked dogs for such short walks that they complained!

I was given good advice on that night. I should tell Mike to check on me through the night. I told him, but he slept through! (I knew!) But I woke up several times and kept checking on myself to see if I was still with me. I was! I kept thinking 'Good, I'm still alive!'. When I told this to Mike next morning, he said when he woke up early in the morning he checked if I was still breathing! (what if I wasn't?)

So ladies and gentlemen, this is the mask I was protecting. Alison Deegan, print maker friend, said 'that is truly suffering for your art?' Yes, it was!

He will be fired soon.

Despite all of this, Pumpkin the chicken is peacefully shielding herself from the strong wind in the garden. This is the view from my studio. She makes me happy!

Pumpkin's favourite place. 

Tapir line-up vs whippet line-up.

Hello! Wintry weather has set in. It is not too cold in comparison with other parts of the world, but the grey days have continued. Yet, I feel spring is not very far off. Daytime is getting longer; I can now walk the dogs one hour later in the afternoon than I did in December.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to do a bisque-firing. All those little ones in the previous post as well as several masks would be fired. I am also making tapir test pieces. I have made them in different ways to see which is the best method,

Are you in Tapir waiting list 2015? Once I have finished a few of them, I will make announcement of details, so please be patient.

A line-up for Tapirs! 

   This one has all toes. Sculpting toes was difficult.

They have a cute and funny round body shape without much distinction. Ears look spirited, though! I remade the ears several times to get them right. These unmatching pairs were discarded.  

In the meantime, whippets are also ready for firing! I used grogged semi-porcelain for them to get the most beautiful crackles on them. Oh, it was difficult! It was more like carving than building. You can see the right bottom one being carved.  

'We are also doing a line-up!' 

Did you notice the mini one? It's for fun! :D 

Pumpkin is not amused with the cold weather. One day she decided to 'dust' bath in fallen leaves as the ground has been saturated. 

'I like to keep my hygiene standard high!'

Everyone is waiting for spring! 

Did you know Angels chat inside the kiln?

Hello everyone! I have just loaded the kiln. Phew!

Mike helped me to carry the shelf to the kiln room, the garage, this evening. 

I have been slowly working to prepare for the firing over the last three days. I am eager and relatively quick to make, but after that I suddenly become hesitant. I usually paint porcelain slip and underglaze before bisque-firing. I tend to undo and try another things/colours. Suddenly productivity and efficiency go low and I get frustrated.

For the last three days, the kiln shelf had remained 75% empty. Anytime I saw it I felt a bit of pressure.

The shelf had remained same for last 3 days!

So, I am feeling a relief now. Inside the kiln, Angels seem to be having a chat. These shots remind me of commuter trains in Tokyo! :D

I have heard that we are going to be fired! Really?

Will it be hot?  I guess so! 

I have made a pair of hands for a commissioned work and they are also in the kiln now.

I need to get a few admin job done as I haven't done much last few days. So that's tomorrow's job! 

*****

In the meantime, our dogs, Topaz and Pearl are completely crazy about squirrels stealing our hazel nuts from the garden. Topaz, especially, seems to be possessed by the squirrels! She watches the garden without eating her food. This morning, I gave her a halo, sellotape one! 

Topaz with a halo

   Pumpkin lost her last tail feather. She became a quail!

Quail style Pumpkin

Storm, Oracle and EarthBoundWomen

Imagine my delight when I saw this photo sent by a wonderful lady, ceramic artist, in Germany. She kindly sent me a message that the chameleon had arrived safely. She says the chameleon would stay there. How funny! I just imagine guests' surprises!

Now she lives in a beautiful loving home in Germany

I have been busily working everyday. 'What is the weekend?' is the world I live in. I prepared the work for bisque firing, and started this evening.  On of of my target this year is to improve efficiency of firings. To load the kiln as full as possible, and to start preparing work in advance while they are greenware are two things I particularly had in my mind.    

Top shelf

Although the kiln doesn't look full in the photo, it actually is. The arm of the body is very close to the lid. The lower shelf is also fullish. I forgot to take photos!   

Loading the kiln is sometimes tiring. This evening it was very much so because of this, Storm. It has been a headache to dry, handle and carry.  Literally I held my breath so many times, so I feel exhausted. The hair may not surviving firing. We will see!  

Storm

Oracle was finished yesterday. Her head is being fired, and her body is drying slowly. She is a large girl.   

Oracle

 She has a bird spirit on her head.

Oracle- details

Talking about bird spirit, Pumpkin the queen chicken, looks beautiful with shiny feathers. She rarely digs the soil now. She is 10, and she is definitely slowing down.  So Mike (main pig)  and I (assistant pig) dig for her once a while so that she could pick juicy white grubs! She thinks we are her pigs. 'My pigs came, and dug the soil for me. Find tasty grubs for me! Work, work! '

Pumpkin, the queen chicken. 

Mid-afternoon, we went to a PV of EarthBound Women exhibition at Horsebridge in Whitstable. Six female artists are showing their works; painting, ceramics and prints. They are diverse and so interesting to see them together. It will be on the show until the 18th. You should pop in and take a look if you are in Whitstable!

The Horsebridge in Whitstable

We had a good chat with the ever chirpy Harriet there. Glad to hear that she got rid of flu. She is geared up for her presentation next week! : )

That's it today.  They say it will be another warm day tomorrow. I might be able to work in the garden. That would be wonderful! Have great rest of the weekend, everyone!

Safe delivery and Pumpkin, the robin's little piggy

Just after posting the guinomi last week

Hello everyone. Let me share this lovely news with you today. The porcelain Guinomi I sent last week has arrived at a nice lady's house in Scandinavia on Tuesday. Thank you so much! This is the happiest moment for online shop owner. I usually mark the dates of posting and of expected delivery on my calendar. I always wonder if it has arrived safely. So when there are nice messages like this, I feel so happy!

Guinomi has been safely delivered.

Last couple afternoons I glazed my rabbits and whippets. Glazing is one of  the messiest things in ceramics. Today I had to sieve a glaze in the garage. Sieving glazes by hand is a long job which requires patience. Even though it was mild outside, I caught cold. Too late to think I should have worn a jacket. Perhaps, I had better improve our working conditions.

Although I had planned to do finishing 'Wind' for glaze-firing tonight, I will give it a miss, and will go to bed early. Cold is the last thing I want right now.

Misty morning

One funny thing we have noticed recently is that a robin follows Pumpkin, our chicken, around the garden. As soon as we let Pumpkin out of the greenhouse in the morning, the robin appears from nowhere and stalks her. Mike says the robin was thinking 'My little piggy came out. Do dig the soil more to give me yummy worms.'  I think he is right. She often harasses poor sparrows who have bread in their beaks, but ignores the robin who perches on a lower branch or the rim of a flower pot just above where Pumpkin digs. It's hilarious!

Robin's little piggy

Last night Mike finally fixed the problem with comments, which I mentioned in the previous entry. He found 'a magic code', very technical term in IT world, to put right the corrupted blogger template. Now we are back to normal.

If you have a similar problem, you can find the magic code here.

You can't believe it is Whitstable!

Hello everyone. I finally returned to my day work today! I had neglected it for a long time; the longest in record! I am in a lucky situation as I work for myself. I also went through about 200 business emails. I feel better now that it's all sorted.

This evening, I went to hear a talk by Naiza Khan at the Sidney Cooper. She has flown from Pakistan for the show. I happened to sit behind her parents. They looked proud and delighted to see her. How nice! My mother doesn't know that I showed my work in MA show let alone that my new show is going to start. I have been too busy to send her detailed email for a long time. But I will tell her this week.

Sunday, we went to Whitstable to see Invisible Cities exhibition organised by a friend, Sandra. Mike was still struggling with virus, but weather was nice and it was quite warm, so we took our dogs to the beach before visiting it. We were glad we did.

Look at this! You can't believe this is Whitstable in October!

 

Whitstable beach

We noticed that it has our dog's name on it! 

Topaz

Sky is blue and water is blue! 

Whitstable

We couldn't believe that it was so blue everywhere! But don't be fooled. This is rare. We have seen blue water only twice in our 20 years! Usually it's grey, both sky and water!

Everything looks prettier against blue sky!

The exhibition was interesting. In the room there were about 20 painted muslin sheets hung from the ceiling. They were made by people with mental disability. Sandra organises the show every year.

Invisible cities

This morning, we found dinosaurs foot prints on the doorstep.

 

Dino!

The owner of the feet is this lady.

Pumpkin lost her tail.

She is moulting; she has lost her perky self. She is out of sorts. She is also a bit clingy. She follows us everywhere. I am also a bit out of sorts. My head is puffy from allergy. I have drunk lots of water to detox. Still puffy.  Now I want to make another sculpture based on my puffy head.

I have loaded three kilns today!

Hello everyone. There was a nice surprise this morning. The polar bear I listed on my shop last night was already sold. It was one of the quickest records on my shop. I carefully packed him. He is on the way to Australia.  When Topaz, the posting dog, and I walked to the post office, I noticed that other side of the hill was blocked because of construction. That's why our road was congested yesterday. A mystery was solved!

I was finally able to go to the studio this afternoon. It was only two and a half hour, but solid session without break. I did some finishing and loaded two kilns. One for bisque-firing and another for glaze-firing.

This is glaze-firing. I usually fire my work about three times, but sometimes five times until the colours become the way I like.  I am still working on the large test chicken, but I like to see how the little chicken in this kiln comes out first.

Glaze-firing. Lightly loaded.

Then I forgot to take photos of the bisque firing kiln. I painted white slip on one of masks, as experiment. It didn't become bone dry before I had to leave. So I set the speed of heating up very slowly. Only 30 C per hour. The slowest ever bisque firing for me! I hope the mask will survive. (If there were moisture in clay, it could explode inside a kiln!) There are six grey clay pots for reduction firing, two middle-size masks and one cat head.

Then, after dinner at home I loaded the third kiln of the day. This is our own kiln. We are going to do bisque-firing.
 

The lower shelf

The top shelf

The middle space is for this chicken! She is still not completely dry, so I will add her just before going to bed, tonight. People on Twitter are doing #DrawingAugust; they tweet what they drew on the day. I have enjoyed seeing other people's drawings! I was admiring lots of them. Drawings are interesting because they show how the drawers see the world and their interests in the world. It is like borrowing their eyes to see their worlds. I don't draw in a conventional method, but I 'sketch' with clay. So this is what I did just after breakfast this morning, while I watched Pumpkin preening herself. It is hollow. I liked spontaneous nature of this one, so I will fire her.

Pumpkin 

 If you have noticed something on top of saucers in previous picture, and wonder what they are....

Two little feet

 they are two little feet for this one! My little earlier sketch of Pumpkin.

While we were loading the kiln in the garage, Pumpkin was curiously peeking inside the garage to see what we were doing. But when we finished and came out, she became happy and went back to the garden. Here she is! What a beautiful chicken!

Our lovely Pumpkin

One down, one to go.

Hello everyone. My assessment went well. I don't know about marking, but it went in peace. The atmosphere was just like you would expect in higher education. That's a relief!

Tomorrow I will proof-read the essay one last time, and probably change the titles! Two copies to be printed, and then I will submit them either tomorrow or Friday. Then, back to normal. Luckily June is the quiet month for my day job. So I have a chance to catch up before it will get busier in July.

I packed this one in the large basket. Mike said it looks like a fish basket! Topaz checks it if it is edible.

Topaz is wondering if she could eat it. 

I spotted this green butterfly, Brimstone shielding from light rain on the rose.

My favourite Japanese acer. Gorgeous lime green!

Pumpkin comes out every day, She has stopped laying eggs now. She potters around, and sleeps under the raspberry bushes.

All her feathers are beautiful now.

Water on the leaves. Mike shot this one. I would have removed the weed leaf!

The world looks much more beautiful once I have finished assessment!

Bank holiday weekend

Hello everyone. We have had a busy and lovely three-day weekend. Mike kept himself busy with throwing, and I also made one large sushi plate. We are working for a lovely lady in the U.S.. After making the plate, I started an experiment with an idea I have brooded.  I made a wall hanging with high reliefs.

Red riding hood and a wolf

Initially I was going to make a large wolf alone, but added the little girl. This was not intended to be fired, but after my spending about 7 hours, it might get fired after all.

Between throwing, Mike was attending the garden. Throwing causes back pain, so it is a good idea to do something else for a break

 

Mike's veg seedlings.

 Pumpkin is hopefully looking up the fork pushed into the soil. She is wondering if somebody is going to cultivate her land so that she could find some delicious grubs.

Is somebody there?

Of course, Mike came and did some weeding for her.

Where are my grubs?

Hurry up!

I came out to put the laundry (dog beds!) in, but couldn't help joining these two. So I started looking for Cave art in the place Mike dug. I looked at several flint stones, but there wasn't any, probably because there is no cave around here!

Lilly flowered tulips opened. 

Left one is has a virus. 

Flowers in the garden look fabulous. Spring has sprung. Warm and bright. We are so delighted. I thought we will not have spring this year.

The cherry blossom in the garden.

Once I had taken photos, I went back to pack my orders; I will go to the main post office by bus tomorrow. Topaz, the post office dog, would be left behind.

Topaz pretends to be dead. : )

After dinner, we popped out to the library of the University of Kent. I got more books on primitive art. They look interesting!