Moon Plates Finished

Finished! With a clear glaze, I like the moon bowl the best, what do you think?

Children are the moon and the sea

Children ARE the moon and the sea, and so you see, you will also see the sea floating with the moon

This is custom pottery that I have been influenced to do. The moon has always followed me so why not make moon plates and bowls! The perfect solution, having useful and functional art that is also quirky and fun. 

I just made this bowl and plate on the potters wheel. I use Hagi Porcelain from Laguna Clay. The white clay looks so good white and the moon just called out for me to start making this.

I like the way the swirls are on the plate; it becomes more subtle after the glaze. This is done on once fired or bisque ware. Then the drawing begins.

I love to draw, just with minimal materials, and then the potting. I enjoy being in both worlds. 

 I know you could take a picture, fiddle with it in photoshop, which takes a long time, then print it out as a decal.  And, which goes over the glaze and will wear off eventually if given time.

This will last indefinitely on the clay.  Even if broken the drawing will stand the test of time. The drawing is done with an underglaze pencil. Then I glaze it to a stoneware/porcelain temperature called cone 5. Stay tuned for the finished results.

That's the other thing about pottery, after the glaze firing, the piece can be absolutely beautiful and just what I wanted or.... something can go a little to a lot wrong. So, wish me luck, as I love how this looks so far. I have learned not to like it until it is done, but this part looks so good that I had to share.

I have been busy catching up and having shows and making moon bowls. The question is craters of no craters, I can't decide. You can find these in my Etsy Shop. The link is to your right.

I am making seashell bowls and rock bowls, (stay tuned for the pic) even though people seem to like this moon bowl idea. I will do some lady bowls before I stop, and some lady face plates. Then let's see what happens.

Jade green , emerald green, asian influences

Jade green and emerald green are colors the remind me of asia. Bamboo, tendershoots, those are the influences. Lush gems, green gardens, tidepools of koi are some of the things that come to mind.

Reinventing the handle. I love the jade green glaze with this cup. I am continuously trying to find more and more ways to use the brown slate glaze.

Four Cups for an Order of One

I am making these cups, for an order of one. The kiln is finished and now I am just waiting to look at the outcome when the kiln cools down.

I talked to the lady that ordered a cup and told her it took a little extra time because of the delicate vines going up the handle. She emailed back and said that is one of the reasons she purchased the cup.

Then, the next morning I saw this beautiful intricate bowl by Isabelle Abramson, here is her link. Isabelle Abramson And you can see the delicate nature of her bowl. A work of love indeed. 

Anyway, it got me to thinking about how, the more effort and work you put into something, the more rewarding it can become. Yes, sure there are failures, but we just keep trying over and over, hence all the cups for just one, to get that perfect, cup, bowl, or whatever thing you are trying to achieve. You can never give up, the reward is just around the corner. And the profit is in the detail. 

Lesson for the Day.

Crazy Heart Moon, Loves the Super Bowl

My new moon bowl.

I draw the face with my ceramic pencils, and I love what happens after the glaze firing.

The black works well if you are going to just do black and white pottery. I haven't quite got the hang of the color, but the black, ooooh, I am loving it.

I am in love with my cups that have my unique handle. I am getting pretty good at making them now. The clay is porcelain, and it is Frost6 from Laguna Clay. Every body on the site was raving about it so I had to try it, I love it. It looks alot more creamy, airy and soft than the Hagi Porcelain that I use. The Moon Bowl is made from Hagi. You can't see in the pictures, but there is a difference.

Do you think Moon Bowls will be good for the Super Bowl?? Well I am hiding them from my husband. He takes over all my pottery, and with the super bowl coming up, well   I didn't make them for that, sorry guys. But, maybe somebody's wife will be nice enough to get some for the next Super Bowl. It would be great for popcorn, don't you think. The moon shines when you're all out of popcorn, lol.

Ceramics, A Lesson in Crazing

                       You can see the cracks in the glaze here. They are subtle.

                                   Looks great here but when you get closer...

The closer you get to the piece the more evident it becomes. I know you are supposed to do a test when you use a glaze that you have never used but I was in a hurry to see the pieces finished. NEVER HURRY!!! Always test untried glazes. This glaze was thin and it still did this. Back to the tried and true clear glaze. Now I have some seconds to give away. Anybody want one or two??

tjCervantesArt

Green and Brown Bird jewelry bowl Ideas in Home Decor

Black and White Backgrounds, Twitter and Trading Wholesale

So, as you can see, I am experimenting. Should it be a black background or a white background? By the way, Happy New Year!!! I haven't been here for about a month because I have discovered how to twitter with gusto! I am learning marketing and how to sale on the internet and I am meeting so many nice people through virtual social networking.

I get twitter now.

Off the subject of the pictures, I will get back to them. I just have to say that I am trying to avoid doing craft shows. They are so hard to do and take so much equipment to do them. Especially pottery. I am trying to just have my virtual shop and make it happen. I try not to be too spammy, but Hey, I want to get the word of my work out. Share my progress and get some some criticism. I am on my own. I need the input and help. Because of searching for some help, I have met some friends along the way.

I found a shop on Etsy, Eureka Guides, and took the plunge and paid for some criticism and help selling through the internet market. I am not a business person, I am an artist that wants just to do art. I know, but most artist would do it just for the pleasure if they could. But we must sell to sustain ourselves in this dog eat dog world.


What a lot of work. But, not as much physical work as doing a craft show. Still, I am thinking of doing trade shows. Selling wholesale. I will be posting as I look into that.

Back to those pictures. I am always experimenting, I love my ceramic pencils, I love sea shells. So of course I want to see what happens drawing sea shells on porcelain. I am liking the progress. And learning to take better pictures. Now to get to the black and white of things, which should I choose??

Ocarina clay whistle, Snails in Your Home

I have been making ocarinas for the past couple of years now. Never sharing what they look like, I figured it was about time.

I followed many how to's on the internet, and watched a few you tube videos. I found the best directions were the ones that you hand written as opposed to a video.This website on how to make a clay whistle is great! It even gave me an insight to what was going wrong when my whistle didn't whistle right.

I started doing the whistles as a challenge when I took a ceramic class just because. I used to be a potter by trade many moons ago and just wanted a refresher course to get my juices flowing. Making clay whistles isn't for everyone, but I get a kick out of making them. It is challenging as you have to get the main hole just right.

My snail whistle is now selling on Etsy. Just click on "snail whistle" that is highlighted and it will take you to my shop. And just so you can enjoy it here, here is a few of the pictures of my little ocarina here.

You can always visit my shop for more silly whimsical useful ceramics.

tjCervantesArt

My New Canon T3

I'm taking pictures with my new Canon T3, isn't the Audi have a car like that? Well, this camera should go with the car. It is AWESOME!

So I already have decided that this is my new hobby, taking pictures. What fun!!

Not just of my stuff either, I am taking pictures of anything, so here is a beautiful sunrise too

this is out my backyard balcony, don't you just love the desert?

This is in Sedona when I went to see my Grandsons 

I am learning. tlhe Sedona picture was taken at my Grandsons Football field. Sedona is one of the most beautiful places in America I am in love with that place. 

There not the best shots but I am learning. Went over to my son's friends house to learn some and took a three hour class on how to operate the camera. Is there such a thing as a self taught photography. That would be me. I think I might need to hunt for a blog that talks about how to use a Canon T3. Enjoy the day.......................................................

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5A0sMC5olxI&feature=colike


This is so amazing, I forgot to tell you....you need to always listen to music when yu do art. Listen to Art to do Art. When I am listening to this I think that , yes there is God and we are his children. Amazing, simply amazing.

New Potter in Training

My new potter in training. He was loving it as much as me. He sat in that chair for almost an hour. Wow, if you know anything about kids that's a long time. Kids just love working in ceramics, doing art for that matter. I love teaching them arts and crafts. I have their undivided attention with so little effort.

If you look in the past postings you can see that I do my ceramics in my garage. Looking at this you would think it was cluttered. But I have everything organized to grab all from my chair. The kiln is on the other side of the room. All the shelves are in front of my Grandson and me. And best of all it is a three car garage so I use two car spaces and have my drawing and painting studio upstairs. Always in a state of organized chaos but I love it. I listen to music and all my worries go away. I love making art and pots.

Here is the post with some pics of my shop
http://tjcervants.blogspot.com/2012/05/well-here-i-am-again.html

Moon man plate, A great find for the table

Moon Man plate, a great find. I am always drawing faces, and I love the moon. I was amazed to find that quite a few people love the crazy moon like me. His old and wizened face is there to .... hold your cheese and crackers, and cookies and any meal with a style that is simple but crazy elegant. I am on my way of making a series of these plates. And I am making face bowls too.

They put me in a good mood. I was thinking and thinking all summer, what could I come up with that people would love to see. I went over the moon, haha for the plate.

I made this same face in an illustration I made, and I love making things useful. I have a hard time justifying a large expenditure on things that sit on the wall. And I know the amount of energy that goes into a painting or drawing, but there is something about useful. I guess my Mom put that idea into my head. She was always saying I can't get a job as an artist but then she would admire art so much.

 Confused for so long, I just gave in and became an artist, and a potter. I could always make money at pottery. Just never at painting and drawing. Maybe the tide is turning

Organized Chaos Can bring Creative Inspiration

If you look at some of the other pictures in my blog you will find these covered jars sitting on the shelf in my shop unfinished. I love that such elegance can come from such chaos. Organized Chaos that is.

Indigo Blue and White Plates, Pottery for your Home

More indigo blue plates. I am enjoying using this glaze I made from The Mastering Cone 6 Glaze book by John Hesselberth and Ron Roy. I found this book by reading Studio Ones Blog that I also follow. Thanks for the heads up on such a cool book. It Even tells if the glaze is food safe or not and shows the test results. A handy book indeed.

Man Caves and Koi Fish

Well here I am again. haven't given up yet. Wondering about me? Well I am about to take off. Just finished out the spring. I am not giving up, although, it is a struggle starting out as a full fledged artist at sixty. Why did I just teach art. I was in learning mode for so many years. I am so much more confident.  I love doing my art and since my retirement (forced out of employment) I have been more at peace with myself. Guess so, since I worked in a jail teaching art. It feels so good when you stop banging your head on the wall.

Still I am so nervous about not having that proverbial job. When you are an artist trying to make a living you feel like your out on a limb all the time. My husband is a conventional person who believes in 9 to 5. Trying to make him understand this is my job is quite daunting at times. He is giving up part of his man cave so that I can do pottery. As he sees me make more money, he gives me more space. I just got an order for, you are not going to believe a sixty year old woman that makes pottery does this, hookah pipes. You know the top part of the hookah. I turned it down at first. But the interesting part is he wants a standing order, for now, of 100 per month. He wanted more, but that's why I turned him down. I told him it would ruin my creativity as a potter. He calls back and offers me more money and only a 100 per....I just couldn't turn that down. It will be good to make a little profit and xtra cash for my supplies and experiments.

 I can't believe such a beautiful plate can come out of this.

 You see, I am carving a space out of the middle of a three car garage, my husband's man cave. He has never seen me making production pottery. I did that before I met him so this is all new to him.

You can see that I need to talk him into selling his little Dune buggy. Even though he never uses it, he just can't seem to part with it, yet. I am working on it. The more I sell the more space I get. I have learned to be quite frugal with my space. And clean up constantly. That makes him happy.

Speaking of experiments, I am about to journey on to painting my art on my ceramics. I just realized that the plate, cup, jar, whatever I make on the wheel is just the canvas. I am making new canvases for summer. Just can't wait to share what I see in my head by putting on the pot. I absolutely love doing my art. And I love doing pottery. Since I am such a perfectionist when it comes to my drawing and painting it's a breath of fresh air doing ceramics. I do more free form designs. Pottery is from the heart. At least for me.

Dusty Ash white...

Maybe using this white porcelain with clear glaze.

Just saw this on Etsy.com

http://www.etsy.com/blog/en/2012/swept-away-the-art-of-dust-dirt-and-ash/?ref=fp_blog_image

I like this one the best. Thinking I could incorporate it with my ceramics. Although this is a plant with dust and ash on it, I can see it as some of the petals I make. Inspiration.

Since there are all types of different ways to talk to the public you can get carried away with one of the ways. For instance, me on Facebook. I am currently updated, but for how long I have no idea. Really go take a look, but come back. Here I am for now letting my fellow bloggers, not too many but hopefully more to come, know what I have been doing.

Very rare photo of me, getting out of my studio, which can be dark and not a lot of light. 

Just a few pieces that are now finished and in my Etsy shop. I am fascinated by nature of the color spring green, which Laguna Clay calls their glaze. I am working on developing my own glazes, as I should be doing right now. So off I go. I am making a black glossy glaze too, hopefully. There are so many variables to glazing.