Sheep dip

Hi, everyone. There have been so many different things I had to deal with in recent months. I am finally on top of it. Such a nice feeling! Come to think of it, since March I have been buried in paper works, enquiries and all other administrative works that I was not quite able to finish. None of them was a fun, but important. They were not stressful but tedious. Now I can focus on my work and ceramics. That's much nicer! 


Yesterday evening and this evening, I glazed my bisque in the garage (it was chilly today). This time, I have several sheep to glaze. Sheep? You might wonder. If you know my ceramics, I have made all sort of animals but not sheep. 

They are some of the sheep I glazed today. 

There are three reasons for this. First, I want to make a Sheep woman. There is a model for this idea. A lady and her friend were always next to each other in ceramics course. They chatted all of the time of ceramics course for 10 weeks. When one does something the other followed and they did same thing. I was lightly amused by them. Last summer when I happened to see her in a supermarket, I got a vision. Sheep woman. After that, I frequently took our dogs to a small field of sheep. I have digested images over the winter, and made several of them as practice this spring. I have experimented the texture of clay to express fleece. But, I haven't found how to glaze it with the effect. I sent my first one to firing. But its glaze was a bit too thick. So, this time, I varied the thickness of glaze for each sheep to see which would look best. My ceramics are always experimental. 


Sheep are so British to me, and they are everywhere in UK. I feel it is good subject for me to observe and express them. That is the second reason. The third reason is that I have a friend whose son has a kanji  翔, that is Japanese character, which means to fly, in his name. The composition of this kanji is interesting. It has sheep on the left and wing on the right. This also inspired me.      


For these reasons, you might see more sheep on my blog. I am also very keen to glaze the other chameleons I made. But, alas, the Oribe green glaze ran out. We will head out to the a ceramics supply shop this weekend to get all material we will need to make more of it.  

I am going to be a student again this autumn!

Hello, everyone! It has been a long time since my last post. Lots of things happened to me since then. Last Wednesday, Mike and I went on a day trip to Lille in France. The main purpose was to visit Palais des Beaux Arts de Lille. We enjoyed our time there. But I couldn't come home on that day. I finally came home next day, about 25 hours later than initially planned.

Since then, I have had to catch up with two days' work, to fill several forms, to write up a couple of proposals and to make a portfolio of my ceramics work and in the meantime I kept an eye on new developments in Euroland. Yesterday I went to an interview for a part-time MA course in Fine and Applied Arts in Canterbury Christ Church University where Mike and I had done ceramics with Kent Adult Education for the last three years.

Interview was an enjoyable. I was offered a place. So, I am going to be a student again next autumn. It's awesome! There are lots of things I would like to explore. I feel excited by just thinking about them.

My favourite piece

In the interview, I was asked which piece is my favourite. I pointed at this piece. Yes, this is the one you can see on my banner. Bob, the interviewer said that he likes it too.


 

The last sheep from this bag of clay

Hello everyone. Today is the first normal day after four days of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee holiday in UK. I guess we have still felt somewhat tipsy with the celebration. During the holiday, Mike and I went to one street party in the neighbourhood and another lovely tea party. Despite the weather, (we had a really miserable cold and wet days) our spirits were high to celebrate the Queen's 60 year's reign. It was really nice.

Today, I went back to work. Yes, I am in the middle of my one-month break, but the market moved a lot today, and my holdings needed my attention. I don't mind working like this. Somehow I can concentrate even better when I return to work during my break.


I returned one of the lambs I made about one week ago to clay. I just didn't feel right or special about him. It was the last crank clay I had, so I wanted to make something I am really satisfied with.

This evening, I made a sheep. When I made the head, I realised that the clay left wouldn't be enough to make a four legged sheep. After a bit of trial and error, this is what I made this evening.

He looks cute from front.

He looks cute from front. I made several lambs and this one doesn't look too dissimilar to others I had made.

A bit funny from this angle.

When you saw him from this angle, you might start wonder ??? Does he look a bit strange?

I started giggling when I saw him from side!

Yes, he is a bit strange! lol I just keep giggling whilst assembling his head to the body. He looks like a tired elderly man! I like him! He has got such a strong character. I like the models which start moving and talking in my head when I finish making them. Then they leave my control, and become their own masters. This is the reason why I keep making my creatures.  

New models from kiln - sheep, chameleons and a fat bunny

Hello everyone. It was our first kiln opening day today. Since this is our first firing, everything is new to us. I was calm so that I wouldn't get too disappointed if anythings went wrong, but Mike was a bit like a child waiting for opening presents on Christmas day. Mikes thinks that firing used most of the energy from solar power, so it probably costs us some tens pence. Not bad.

Gladly it was a success. Nothing was exploded.

No causality!

Grogged white stoneware became pale biscuit colour. They look almost good enough to eat. 

Two of chameleons need a rest after being cooked.

We have frequently visited a small field of sheep last summer. There are lots of sheep in UK, although not as many as in NZ. I observed them, and took photos of them. So the images were burnt inside my brain. I digested them and now I am making my own interpretation of sheep. Mike insisted that I should make tufted ones. So one of them has a tuft on the head.

Since last Friday, I spent several hours making models everyday. I have a strong urge to create. I am oblivious to what's going on around me for sevral hours.I could hear MIke talking, but doesn't understand what he says. he still talks though! lol

Our first bisque firing, gorgeous lemon pie and Mike's socks

Hello, everyone. We have had a fabulous long weekend. Last Friday we went to Grove ferry to do birdwatching in the morning. Water looked blue; it is rare for the water there to look that blue! In the afternoon, Mike threw some pots on a wheel, and I made some chameleons. In the early evening, we went to private view for Canterbury Christ Church University Art department graduate show. It was such a fun day!

On both Saturday and Sunday, I was busy making chameleons and sheep. I was on a roll. I could not stop making them. 

I will write about them later in the week, because today I like to tell you about our first real firing. This morning, Mike switched on our kiln at 5:30.

Parts of our ceramics to be bisque fired

Ready for firing.

We are going to open the kiln tomorrow morning. Mike says it is like opening Christmas presents. I thought I would rather unload it in a daylight, as our kiln is in a garage. I hope everyone is safe and there is no casualty. Our fingers and paws crossed!



Mike baked a fabulous lemon meringue pie Sunday morning while I was asleep. So when I finally woke up, our house was filled with lovely lemon smell! Ahhhh! I love the citrus smell! I love a lemon meringue pie! This is my most favourite pie in the world. It goes very well with Darjeeling tea.  

Mike's lemon meringue pie with Pumpkin's egg

Sadly, we can't eat it until it becomes cool. We usually cheat with other types of cakes, but not this one. It MUST be cool.

We had it at lunch time.

I was patient. So, reward was 100 times better. I have already finished all, by the way. LOL I am waiting for the next one to be baked!

At lunch time, Mike came to me with an amused look in his face. ??? He pointed at his socks. He had spent a half day with these unmatched socks. Bless him!

Yes, they are grey, but....

 

Chameleon, rabbit and faces; New items I have listed today.

Hello everyone! It has been a glorious day again here in Canterbury. I saw a young mother in a sundress with straps with flip flops during a dog walk. We still have three days left in March. We are having a great time in this very unusual warm weather.

I have listed new things on eBay and Etsy today after work. He is on eBay now. I was not going to sell him online initially, because I thought that his long ears and feet would be damaged in transit. But I got confidence in packing, this morning.

I am the second biggest rabbit Midori ever made, Uhm, and the cutest.

 
 Reason? It's this. This morning, I packed a delicate rabbit girl to be posted. I found a box which came with its own foam fitted in. On top of this, another black foam sits. So, I thought I could make a padded box like this by myself for this rabbit.

I took our loyal Topaz to the post office again, to post this packet.

I also listed a brooch and a pendant.

Lovers who came in from the cold

Charlene

  On Etsy, my chameleon is back! It is a little one this time. He will sit in the palm of your hand. Small and Perfect!

Small and perfect!

I was not taken to a post office, again.

My new pots from a kiln

Hello from sunny Canterbury! It is not very often to be able to say the words 'sunny' and 'Canterbury' in a sentence. But this year, we have just had loads of sunshine. We have been lucky!


We have collected our freshly fired ceramics from the kiln yesterday evening. As I wrote yesterday, I felt a great relief to see my busts were successfully fired. These two go to two competitions, so I will not be able to show them here yet.


The rabbit mug I showed you two weeks ago was fired. I decorated it with our own white glaze. Rabbit looks cute, and it is already on Etsy.

The figure I smashed when I got up from a swivel chair in my studio was rescued from a rubbish bin! She had stayed in a bin for five days, then I changed my mind, and decided to repair her. I had sent her to bisque firing again, and she looks OK.  Although I can't enter her into a competition which was my initial intention, I will finish her to the end. 
 

Before  smashing

Half decorated and half fired.

My semi-porcelain rabbit bowl looks cute, but some bits have fallen into it during firing. So I have to send it fpr re-firing. When we have no control over firing, and we use kilns in an art school, sadly this does happen. We are considering buying a small kiln, and powering it with our solar panels. This is still at an early stage, but we both are keen on it.

A bit fat? Can he jump?

Over the weekend I made friends via Etsy and Twitter. I found twitter fun especially because I work alone, so it is relaxing to look at other people's photos and read info at coffee breaks. I am naturally chatty so this might help, too!

Our dogs are having a great time under the Sun, too.

Topaz found a spot to rub against!

 

Whilst waiting for Topaz rubbing, Pearl looks for small animals!

      

My new works from a kiln

'Malta Kano'

Hello everyone! Here are a couple of my new freshly fired pottery. It was getting dark, so I only took two of our new works. Do you remember her? The red colour looks very similar to the Camellia that just opened in the garden. I call her 'Malta Kano' who is a mysterious character in the book I recently read, 'The Wind-Bird Chronicle'. Apparently I was not aware of her 'existence' when I made her in the first place, but when I decorated her, I realised that she is Malta!

Camellia Japonica in the garden

She was intended to be a sample, but I still  disappointed that her pupils and iris were disappeared. I bet oxide was too strong. I will add some details in her eyes by enamelling later.

Whippet detail

Whippet

Whippet maquette has had hardship. First, after bisque firing, a student must have touched her, and she lost a tail. I tried to repair it, but it was not possible. I decorated her the way I wanted. The result was wonderful. But while she was waiting for me, she was knocked down a bit, and lost her ear. So she came home less that what she was. Mike will glue her ear; he is an expert on gluing! But she has to live with a docked tail, sadly.

I will show you Mike's and my tableware tomorrow.

Oh yes, it was Pancake Day today. We have had pancakes with cooked pear filling and the lovely desert wine we opened about Christmas. We had better finish it. 

Warming gifts from Etsuko

I finally slept well last night. But I feel still sleepy! I need a couple of more good night sleep to get over the tiredness.

Earlier this month, Etsuko, my Japanese friend who used to live near here, sent me a really warming gift. 

Uniqro heat tech, disposal heat pads, and my favourite, green tea leaves. Because of the radiation following the Tsunami in the northern east of Japan, she chose green tea produced in the southern west part of Japan. Thank you, Etsuko.

She has a son whose name includes a kanji(Chinese character) meaning 'fly'. The character consists of 'sheep' and 'wing'. So I had made this little sheep head for her in late 2010. Unfortunately, it was broken after bisque firing. I would love to try to make the sheep with wings again with the new porcelain paper clay.

Remake of Topaz

I had a hectic day at office yesterday. I glued myself to my trading screens for several hours. Tesco issued a profit warning and its share price fell 16%. I haven't seen such a large fall in FTSE 100 for a while. So it was a kind of a shock to the system. I made a buy on a competitor that fell together.

So, when I had a busy day at office, I usually do two things. First I drink wine at dinner although I drink wine quite often anyway. LOL Second, I do modelling; I make my DoGoo. It is the winding down process to give me a good night sleep.

After dinner, I tweaked 'Topaz', the dog. Hibiki gave me a comment saying that it would be a shame to recycle her. I knew that the head is too large for the body. So I made her neck narrower, and head smaller. So here she is. My new Topaz.

First head was severed.

New small head with thinner neck

Topaz and Pearl

Ummm, she seems to have a more curved chest in this photo. I also forgot to add flaps at the joints between hind tighs and the body. Oh well. I will correct these parts tomorrow.  

To be continued.

My clay works during holiday

I usually get low between October and December. It is a seasonal thing, so I know it coming. Every year I try to prevent it. In some years it is successful. In other years not so. Important things for me is to keep doing something, so I won't sink into a deep cold dark bottom. This yeas was 50% success. I didn't fall into abyss, but I didn't stay float neither.   

So, over the holiday, I did some clay works. I wanted to test several types of sample clay I obtained during summer. I wanted to compare plasticity and smoothness as well as suitability for my modelling.

Porcelain white stoneware grog

Started on the 23rd of December

How about bob cut?

Finished yesterday.

I made this as a test. I have got inspiration from ladies in 1930's.

Topaz

I also made Topaz. Not quite right with balance.... probably this will go back to recycling

Yunomi

I also threw several pots. This yunomi is for Anne. I have got an order from her before Christmas. She said she is going to drink sake in it.

On the third of January, before going back to work, Mike took decoration down whilst I was watching Narnia film, Prince Caspian. Despite I don't like this film because the story is so much changed, I still managed to cry three times....

Oh yes, we have watched lots of children's films on TV. Narnia, Ice ages, Shrek, Harry Potter etc. I am very much still child at heart, or actually I reverted to childhood after marrying wonderful Mike.

But the most interesting programme I saw on TV was Royal Institution’s Christmas Lectures by Prof. Bruce Hood. He has talked on brains for three nights. I would love to read his new book, too.

Moomin sheep! and 10 minutes pasta sauce from scratch.

I changed him again! I wanted to make his tummy rounder, and neck slimmer. So I severed his head! and removed arms, and adjusted his waist line and neck line. How about that? Do you like him? I like him better. Then I made his arms lifted, just because he looks chirpier this way. Compare with yesterday's.

Sheep side

This paper flax porcelain clay is doing what it says it does. I attached bone dry to moist parts yesterday, and they seem ok. Today I reattached his head to body, that seemed fine, too. So far I am happy with it.

Sheep front

Next one is this. It stared something cute, and ended up with something, which Mike called 'spooky' lol! Oh well.

Penguin? Bird?

Spooky thing!

---Midori's very quick cooking corner----

Mike comes home and prepares lunch for both of us, although I work form home. Yes, I know I am very lucky. But today, the beginning of my holiday, I cooked lunch for a change. My cooking is very quick. It is pasta with bacon, garlic and cherry tomatoes fried in olive oil. There are two points you should follow, then you can't fail. First, buy very good quality bacon. Dry cured lightly smoked from outdoor raised pigs is our one. Second fry garlic until it becomes light brown. Well, if you could get ripe tomatoes, that makes a big difference, but in UK in December, we can't expect that.... Yummy!

Midori's 10 minutes sauce for pasta

Paper flax porcelain clay experiment

The last Sunday before Christmas was spent mostly cleaning parrot cages and house. We have three large cages, so it was a whole morning job, even though I started before breakfast.

After dinner, I tried to make a whippet, and failed. But I was eager to make something, so I added a body to 'Moomin whippet' I made last week 

Mooomin whippet found fleece body

Back side

This clay is called paper flax porcelain clay. According to Jane who recommend 'paper clay' to me, even bone dry parts can be attached to moist parts. So here is my experiment. As you can see from the image, the head part was bone dry; it is white. I attached the body to the head this evening to see what will happen. It felt to me fine. There was no peeling off, which happened when I used ordinary clay when it was too dry to be worked.  

Mike baked polenta muffins with Italian twist. Ingredients are ground almonds, polenta as well as other usual things.

Polenta, ground almonds and egg yokes

A bit gritty (intended) and they didn't rise much (because of heavy ingredients?), but taste was good. They remind me Madelaines. I ate three, and Mike tried to appear to be shocked for the third one, but he also ate three!

Our tree. Christmas is coming. Beaper the grey parrot, stopped whistling 'I wish your merry Christmas', even though that tune is his favourite. Typical! He usually starts after February.  

Our tree