Whoosh!

There are times where days vanish…
But I try to capture the silliness of each day.

Sometimes it’s just taking a picture of a jolly rancher blue tongue to show it to dad later when he gets home from work…

Sometimes it is taking photos of the wild child as he refuses to listen to anything I have to say (No! Indoor hotel fountains are not for splashing in…)

And sometimes I get little escapes to see good friends (Lisa Goodman at the May 3 Art Opening at Bellefonte Arts).

Then it’s back to running around crazy fun kid times outside…

And inside (that energy just goes non-stop!)

But I would not wish any of it away…

My today was spent with kids, pulling and packing orders, swim lessons for Riley then nap, pull & pack more orders, soccer with Chloe & Riley, shipping orders, dinner, chill out time, shower, then bed. Thankfully tomorrow is supposed to be a Marsha work day after getting them off to school.

After finishing up orders in the morning, I pray for some studio time (and that I am not forgetting something important or get an emergency call).

Deep breath…
Looking forward to tomorrow!

Art Loop Friday

It’s here! First Friday, and I’m excited to get out if the studio and hang with real, live people!!! And see awesome art of course!

Here is a peek at what I’ve got to show off at Bellefonte Arts this month!

And a nice little write up in The News Journal (thanks Karen for grabbing an image for me!)

And some little accent pieces for your garden made of steel and ceramic. Outdoor use may need regular sealing of steel to prevent rusting.

Now to go make up additional signage and grab some snacks for the opening!

Look for pics on Instagram with #FirstFridayEtsy and #DelawareEtsy to see what is going on this weekend with art related – whatever…

Terrarium Pieces for May 3 Art Loop

This Friday I will have my new little terrarium sculptures on display for the Wilmington Art Loop at Bellefonte Arts in Wilmington, DE. The opening is Friday evening from 6-9pm and my work will be on display for the remainder of the month.

Here is a little insight into how I create these little sculptural landscapes…

Floral foam is cut to the right thickness and shape.

I spritz the moss with some water (just because it has been sitting in the bag from the garden center for a while). And I easily pull it into shapes to fit the vessels.

This is an extremely messy process.

And each piece is tended to and cleaned up.

Working on a bunch of these together is pretty fun and allows for that feeling if creativity to settle in.

Then I pull out my trays of little terrarium pieces and create these little interactive environments.

Then when done, I get to pack them up and get them up to Bellefonte Arts. They will be displayed on the gallery coffee table (it’s a hip gallery!)

So that is the next step – display…
I’m pretty psyched for this Art Loop. It’s always just exciting to be out and around people that like art too!

Squirt Bottle Floor Cleaning

Silence or giddy laughter from both children usually means they are up to something they probably should not be doing…

Like grabbing my water bottle (Riley is obsessed with water bottles!) and spraying it at his sister!

Then she grabs the mop we use when we get heavy rains and water in the basement (she gets that from me – loves to sweep or mop – it’s relaxing and you get results fast) and starts making clean areas on the floor.

Who wouldn’t be giddy getting squirted with a water sprayer inside the house?!

And that they are not getting in trouble (they know I have limits though)…

Like when the spraying water starts to get close to my slab roller – hold up!
Too crazy!
That may get rusty in the inner working part areas…

Thank you for cleaning the floor and being silly about it…

Now give it back!
And don’t even think about squirting your mother – lol…

Terrarium Vessel Creation

I gave myself an afternoon in the clay studio to make some new work for the upcoming Wilmington (DE) art loop where I will have my small terrarium sculptures on display at Bellefonte Arts for May. The opening is May 3, 2013 from 6-9pm.

I have carved all my texture plates and work the clay into them to create the parts for these terrarium containers.

I use a similar texture to create the walls.

The feet are made from textured coils cut in half.

These are fine just as they are sitting flat. But my eyes wanted to see under the piece.

So just as beveling the underside of a pot on the wheel makes a thrown pot look lighter, so does adding feet to these pieces.

See how the piece with feet looks like it is up and ready to go?

And by dinner time I was done this batch. I think I am going to leave some of these without the addition of flowers.

When I made my first batch, I had intended to add a little something to the flowers and holes – but have not decided entirely on that yet.

So with picking up the kids and meal time upon me, they were covered and put to rest to dry slowly…

And this kiln load of beads and small bud vases (which are tests) fired yesterday & should be ready to open today around noon.