From North Carolina to Alaska With Love

Look who just arrived on my doorstep! When I first saw this little guy Tracey Broome made I was smitten and left a comment on her post that I wanted to buy him –unfortunately, Tracey said sorry but “he is already off to his new home.” Little did I know that IT WAS MY HOME she was gifting him to!! I even left another post that said “OK, Tracey -I took a poll and the results were that you need to make a whole FLOCK OF THOSE darn cute sheep and sell me the first new one ;o)” I know a few of you are giggling right now at my post because you were in on her generosity plot! I just want to thank Tracey again because I know how hard it was to part with this guy and when I opened the box I was all teary eyed and so touched that I want to carry him in my pocket all day. He’s been moved around throughout the house and studio but for now he’s in a place of honor on our mantel. Tracey also sent me a beautiful white Raku bird ornament as part of the generosity chain –I’ll post more about that later and continue the giving.

As predicted, I was able to snap out of my little lack-o-inspiration-funk and started creating. I finished another art quilt successfully using some transfers and original art.

I made a 21” w x 14” h “Laundry Line” Wall Art Quilt. With the help of my friend Ann C., she taught me how to sew my own mitered edge binding –and make it neat as well as fit! No more hot glue gun, taped or cut and paste fused bindings for me. This week’s mail was also exciting because I ordered Lesley Riley’s TAP sheets (Transfer Artist Paper) and they arrived, so I am excited to come up with some new imagery to try it out. Supposedly used with an ink jet printer “it “transfers with a hot iron to virtually any surface –fabric,

paper, wood, glass, canvas, metal & more.” And I’ve said before how transfer crazy I am. I’m also adding another collection to my Art Quilt Patterns, these will be some of my favorite subjects –dogs & cats. This little guy is called “Here Kitty, Kitty” for now. I'm still in the editing the design and selecting the colors phase. I've always thought Black & white animals are so cool –especially sweep little sheep from North Carolina!

Wanting to feel the creative heat

Primarily as a metal artist working in steel, it was exactly a year ago I dreaded layering up in my Carhartt’s, slinging the frigid 4x8 sheets of steel up onto the cutting table, firing up my welder and plasma cutter and create some art. The concrete floor was as cold as the metal and I could see my breath, even in the heated shop. My creative mind romanced new thoughts of working in warmer “indoor” mediums when the North winds blew and the temps dipped below zero. I had been wanting to work in clay again, especially after an incredible Raku experience I had with Gina last Fall.

Combined with Alaska’s weather challenges that exist in my artmaking and wanting to add some sculptural elements to my steel pieces has lead me back to the medium of clay. I admit, working with a red-hot kiln and feeling warm clay from the earth has always appealed to me. Though it has taken a year to get set-up for the new medium addition to my studio, it has been worth it. I purchased a slab roller this last summer, a kiln this last fall and miscellaneous glazes and clay along the way. With the recent addition of an electric kiln being hard wired with an electronic temperature controller, additional exterior power and professional wiring in the shop I’m ready for the new creative HEAT!

One of the first loads in the kiln will be the clay fish sculptures I made from the press molds created this summer with Bill Sabo. The clay fish and tiles have been on the drying racks for over a month waiting for the kiln install. I’ve included some images from the Sabo-Shake mold making project. Bill is dad to the famous and talented Agnes Barton-Sabo or better known as The New Adventures of BettyTurbo at Etsy. Bill and I made molds using potters plaster and semi-frozen fish. I went on to make various seascape themed tile molds from starfish and sand dollars I have collected over the years and shells I found beach combing in Homer.

I will probably wait until after the New Year holiday when I’m back in the studio full time to have a couple of uninterrupted days for my first firing.