Bead News

The Bead Kitty found a wonderful home in our neighborhood. She will be pampered and loved fully for her entire life. What a great ending! And my allergies have suddenly gone away and that's terrific too.


I hired a very responsible teenager to help me reglaze some beads. She arrived this morning and was a tremenous help. I'm getting ready for a pottery show and so having her help is wonderful. I told her, "You are my Lucky Day!" And she is!




This is a bead that is far prettier in the photo than it is in real life. Because I had such great help I was able to take a lot of time with the lighting before taking some shots. The real bead is much more drab than this photo. So if someone wants to buy it, too bad. It doesn't really exist. But it is a beautiful photo. Gotta love that "I'm Feeling Lucky" button in Picasa, yes?

Time for another You Tube video

Showcasing some of my past and present efforts.

Bead Loving Kitten

Meet Moses (Precious), our newest addition to our household. My daughter was driving down a busy street near our house and found this baby in a mudpuddle in the middle of the road, too scared to move.

She rescued this kitty and named it Moses, for as she said, "I drew her from the water."

I suggested "Mosa" ... but she would have nothing to do with feminizing the name.

Okay.

Moses is bored. I was going to go to the dollar store and get some kitty toys but Moses helped herself to my bowl of beads and I figured ... oh why not.

She is having fun. She's about 7 weeks old. Perfect health. De-flea-ed. This is the third stray to make its way to our house this year. So far we have found all of them homes but this one I want to keep because I'm already attached. You should see her eyes when she looks up in my face. Awwww .... too cute.

Getting Ready

The July Texas Pottery and Sculpture Show (http://tpsg.biz/) is going to be here before I know it. I've been saving up the papers to wrap it all up. Right now I've got the dishwasher running, giving them a wash before putting on sticker prices. I still have to go and get some boxes. I spotted a place that sells them for 3 for 25 cents each. But you can only buy three at a time or the price JUMPS.

Ah ... strategy!

I still have multiple firings to accomplish. I'm fast running out of steam. I love glazing ... while I'm glazing. But when I think about having to glaze it seems like a lot of work. Actually, it is a lot of work with the design I'm focusing on doing this year.

So I best get started.

EVERYONE IS INVITED:

Christmas in July: Friday 6th and 7th (We open 5 pm on Friday ...)

Fort Worth Community Arts Center
1300 Gendy Street
Fort Worth, Texas 76107

---

The Texas Pottery & Sculpture Guild (TPSG) is an organization of three-dimensional artists that range in skill from novice to professional.

TPSG GOALS:

• To raise public awareness of and appreciation for contemporary three-dimensional arts

• To provide regular opportunities for artistic growth for its members

• To create a unique environment in which clay artists enrich each other’s lives and creative impulses through friendship

New Webpage for my Handmade Beads

Finally I am buckling down and taking photos of some friends I've had in storage for far too long.

While I will be showcasing some of these on ETSY in my Etsy Store I'll be putting the majority of them on a page on my own website.

I'm going to keep myself to a proper schedule and add at least 5 a week.


Go here to get a look

Oh the Shrieking!

I got into clay for the tranquility, for the peacefulness of it all. But when there are 22 plates to be trimmed and a couple of them are not as thick as I thought and OPPS there goes the trimming tool right through it ... well I'm sure the groans could be heard far and wide, "No! NOOOOOOO!!!!!"

I only lost three but there are four that haven't popped off their bats yet. I did manage to salvage those three plates, however. I don't know what it is called, but I made rings out of them. If a plate seemed a bit thin, I trimmed the edges and then attached a ring to the bottom. Looks great!

The others with thicker bottoms I was able to trim as normal.

A Pitcher is Worth 1000 Words

Yesterday I threw 22 plates. I would have thrown more but I ran out of bats. So I cleaned up and headed over to Texas Pottery. Alan only had a few in stock but I got to thinking about it and decided that real potters use a cut wire and they bravely run it under whatever it is they have thrown that day: bowls, plates, mugs, etc .... and never, ever, do they run out of bats.

Because I happened to throw all plates with thick heavy bottoms, today they were still on their bats, under plastic. It's gonna take d a y s until they pop off.

Today I grew up. I took the four new bats and carefully, while holding my breath, ran the cut wire underneath each bowl. Amazingly enough I didn't wreck one. I also had plenty of bats!

Because they were off their bats I was able to do something I'd been contemplating for quite a while: cut off their bottoms completely and stack them together to make something bigger.

It was a fun day. Here's a pitcher to prove it!

2007 Spring Blossom Line Slideshow

This is my latest batch of bowls out of the kiln for the 2007 Spring Blossom line which will be at the Texas Pottery and Sculpture Guild show in July. I'm going to be at the wheel the rest of the day making some platters to go with them. Fun fun!

Texas Pottery and Sculpture Guild Sale

The show is scheduled for July 6th and 7th at the Fort Worth Community Art Center.

Meet the Artist reception and sale is on Friday, July 6th from 5-9 pm and the show and sale on Saturday, July 7th, from 10 am to 4 pm.

SPECIAL: For the entire month of July, all artists will have a "special" piece of pottery or sculpture on display. These pieces are also available to purchase. I haven't decided what to put in the gallery yet. I have a couple of weeks to decide on two.

Address 1300 Gendy Street, Fort Worth, TX 76107, right in the heart of the Fort Worth arts district.

Here's the map to find it:

CLICK HERE TO GO TO MAPQUEST

I will be selling my Spring Blossom pattern for my 2007 dinnerware design, a few pendants, and some decorator pots that I've been working on all year. I will have some bead strands, but probably less this year than last.

SEE YOU THERE! :)

Beads of Clay Site Updated and Renovated...

Beads of Clay has redesigned and launched its site. Melanie Brooks Lukacs owner of Earthenwood Studio did a fabulous job! I've been a member of this group for a number of years and highly recommend it to others who are interested in beads made of clay.

Beads-of-clay.org is home to ceramic bead artists who are interested in working together to promote artisan ceramic beads. With members from all over the country and the world, the styles and techniques that we use vary greatly from artist to artist, giving us a rich and imaginative visual library from which we can inspire one another.

Porcelain, stoneware, earthenware, terra cotta, raku, Egyptian paste, and clay slip are among the varied materials our members use to make beads, buttons, and jewelry components.

If you are interested in learning about making or collecting ceramic beads, please check out the Beads of Clay website which is full of information and artwork.

Earth clay is the common ceramic material used by all these beadmakers. The areas of expertise for these ceramic bead artists range from bright colored low fired clay all the way to high fired porcelain. Included in the beadmakers' skills are the handling of earthenware, stoneware, raku, porcelain and Egyptian Paste. The handmade beads and pendants may be glazed, unglazed or tumbled polished. Firing methods used include electric and gas kilns as well as raku and pit fired techniques. The variety and richness of these miniature works of art is a delight for the collector and jeweler.

Please visit the Beads of Clay to learn more about this medium of artwork:

http://beads-of-clay.org

San Diego Inspired Necklace

Our our recent trip to San Diego I fell in love with this particular tree. Upon returning home I googled "Trees in California" until I found it. It is an erythrina coralloides, otherwise known as the Naked Coral Tree. That's because the leaves don't grow until all the flowering is finished.

It's a spectacular tree and I found myself gasping every time we drove or walked by one.

After arriving home I dug out the few precious red nuggets still in my possession and purely by chance happened upon the porcelain rose round. This necklace was the result.

At 36" long, it's a bold necklace! Look for it in my Etsy store in the next day or so!

http://nkpdesigns.etsy.com