Merry Christmas to My Blog Readers

I was going to post a photo of the beads I am going to give away and then I thought, "Where's the surprise in THAT?" ... and then I realized that the last day before shipping would arrive for Christmas was yesterday.

Oh well .... (Shrug!) ... we are all busy busy busy this time of year so I'm going to give myself a break.  However,  I still want to share some Christmas fun with y'all!


SO ... leave a comment on this blog with a link to one of your favorite blogs (your gift to me) and I'll randomly choose a name and send that lucky winner some of my handmade ceramic beads worth $20. This contest is open through January 1, 2011 and the winner will be announced on this blog January 2, 2011, so write yourself a note and check back.

Show Beads

These are just some of the beads I will be bringing to the 2010 Open House and Christmas Sale show this weekend.  I have some loose beads that I am bringing as well as the Heart and Soul mugs I have been making. To see photos of those, jump over to my flickr page.

I am also bringing whistles, whistles that are in fancy boxes, some that are in porcelain eggs, others in little pinch pots I have made, and some that are free-hanging. I am bringing about 30 whistles in total. I haven't checked the exact figure as of yet.

I will probably bring a few pots as well. If you want more info about the show, all you need to know can be found here: click here

This is the last show I'll be doing this year. I did more shows this year than I have in years past, and enjoyed doing them very much. It is nice to meet customers, although selling online affords lots of chances to get to know customers too.

I have to say that all of my customers have been incredible to get to know, whether online or in person. It means a lot to an artist to have somebody like my work enough to say, "I want that for my very own!" Many times I make something and I am the only one who likes it. It is great though because that means I get to keep and look at it for a long time. However, eventually someone else likes it, usually about the time I'm ready to stop looking at it and look at something else. That's a good thing!

Right now in my pottery etsy store I have marked down quite a bit of merchandise to $10 and under. After December I am going to put them back to their regular prices. With this economy, especially during Christmas, I want people to own a bit of handmade, affordably! These are not pottery which I am ashamed of or do not like, these are items I felt would make great gifts.

I have quite a bit in the $20 and under category too. Go take a look if you have time.

Etsy Catalog

I feel like Oprah when I sing out, "NOW EVERYONE CAN HAVE AN ETSYYYYYYYYYYYY CATALOOOOOOOOOOOOG!"

So how cool is this?  Go to http://etsycatalog.com and set yours up today. It looks like you can add up to 100 listings.  Maybe more can be added, I don't know. It seems like it is set to about 100. You can choose in which order each item comes in, you can exclude listings, you can choose which photo(s) are included AND you can edit what the listing describes.  So if you have links inside your listing (like "Click here to visit the rest of my store http://nkpbeads.etsy.com", it is easily taken out of your catalog.

I am going to be doing a show next week and I'm going to be playing with this option. The expensive part will be printing it out, so I may only do one for my whistles.  Or focal beads. I'm not sure exactly.  It will be great to show my physical presence because after they flip through the catalog and have my business card, it will be a natural progression to my website.

Brown Sprig Beads with Beadcaps

This also is a simple sprig leaf design with a simple brown glaze.  This rich neutral color will enhance any jewelry design.

It was a bright sunshiny day and so I did not bother with lights as I took these pictures which have appeared in my blog this last week. 

In case anyone was wondering about the location, they are on top of the kiln, outside in the shade of my porch.

The sun is so shiny that I did not need a flash.  Even in the shade. 

Victorian or Venetian Red?

I have been doing a lot of serious whinning about Venetian Red being discontinued by Mayco and the othr day when I was glazing these I looked at the jar and lo and behold the glaze is actually named "VICTORIAN RED".

My bad ...

I regret I did not apply a black underglaze to these before applying the newly discontinued VICTORIAN red Mayco glaze.

Next time ...

Spiral Sprigs with Beadcaps

I had the hardest time deciding what to glaze these.  Now, if I had made 4 or 5 sets maybe it would not have been half as hard, but as it is, I only made this one set.

I glazed with a blue underglaze on top of the sprigs, and then put a Mayco Crystalites glaze (Monsoon Seas) on top of that.  I'm writing this down so I do not forget.  Because I will forget! 

Pink and Purple Sprig Wrapped Beads

These have wrapped textured sprigs and non-textured bead caps. They have been glazed with a purple underglaze, which was subsequently wiped off, and reglazed with pink.

Come Shop in Person

Click on this photo if you are having trouble reading the text.  I will be participating at a show hosted by Ron and Janel Hollister at 8304 Llano Ave., Benbrook, TX, 76116 on December 11 from 10 am to 6 pm.  Please stop by and say hi and admire at all the beautiful pottery!

There will be four artists total.  Ron Hollister, Stormie Parker, Barbara Throne, and myself.  There will be lots to eat and drink so bring lots of friends.  It's going to be a fun day!  Mark the date on your calenders!

Circles

These rounds all have round bead caps, and I impressed the circles via the help of the tip of a broken pen. I rubbed in a black underglaze and coated with pink.

One of the smaller beads has a small chip in the bead cap, so I won't be selling it.  I'll make it into a personal necklace for myself.  Eventually.

Wrapped Sprigs Rounds in Light Blue

I rolled clay into a strip, applied over a round, then textured it. The texture helps it not to fall off as the clay shrinks and dries during the bisque firing.

This was glazed with a light blue, the new light blue from Mayco, the foundation glaze that is named simply "Light Blue". 

I'm thinking that I am going to attempt to put other foundation colors on top of each other to see how they fire. Do they move around and melt together?  I think they will not.  At least that's the impression I get when reading the back of the jar.

Leaf Sprigs

These are four rounds, approx 16 mm (I'm guessing, I haven't measured them yet), with a simple leaf sprig design.  One of these beads has a 'bead cap', which has been textured for interest.

The clay is a iron speckled stoneware from Texas Pottery in Bluemound, Texas (www.texaspottery.com).

Alan and Debra Bray sold this company a few months ago and the new owners are also kind and helpful.  I have long been a fan of Texas Pottery's clay, so go in and say howdy if you are a potter and haven't been there lately.

Alan and Debra were extremely helpful to me when I first got into pottery. Debra practically held my hand as she urged me to apply for a business license so I wouldn't have to pay tax for supplies.  Alan fixed my little kiln on more than one occasion and refused to take the money I offered.  One time there was about 100 lbs of hard clay that he offered me for absolutely free (I took it and watered it down and it was perfect).  I have great memories of the two of them and am always thankful for their cheerfulness and willingness.  When I first decided to fire beads, it was Alan who showed me how I could balance the rods on the kiln stilts.  I, and all my bead customers, are especially grateful for that!

Newbie Beads

I remembered to snap a quick photo of these after they came out of the first initial bisque firing.   I tried to do sets this time, 4 smaller beads with one focal bead.  That's about how long my attention span lasted until I got bored and thought of something different to do.  Over the next week I'll be trotting out finished beads from this batch.   Click on this photo to see these up close.

Whistles

These whistles are whimsical, playful, and playable, too.  They sport a hole for stringing a leather or fabric cord through.  I don't recommend wire for stringing because it could chip the ceramic glaze.

For Days and Days

...for days and days I've been rephotographing everything in the pottery store.  I'm still not finished but I have decided to put it away for a few weeks.  I'm trying to get a few more beads and mugs glazed before a show I'm doing on December 11th.  When I have a flyer, I will post it here.

White Ceramic Beadcaps on Black Melons

I have for a long time been fascinated with metal beads.  Which is why a few years ago I took a workshop on wheel-thrown, altered and assembled pottery with Leah Leitson who is fascinated with silver teapots and serving vessels.   

I don't know why it took me so long to make the connection that I should try to make ceramic beads in the style of what I like best about silver beads: the addition of metal to metal.  It is no simple thing to add clay to clay.  I often have the added clay fall off in an initial bisque firing, usually while taking them out of the kiln. Or sometimes, they are drying and a sprig falls off ... fail!

These additions are so little it is hard to slip and score the way one might do with larger pieces.  But when it works, it works nicely.

Black Textured Waffles with Red Ceramic Beadcaps

Here's more 'brass' that is black.  Should I call it 'brassy black'? 

These would be fun in a bracelet.  The red ceramic beadcaps give these somewhat of a whimsical attitude.

The texture is from a large antique button.

White Rounds with Ceramic Black Beadcaps

This is another example of the brass glaze coming out more of a black.  It is a stark (and lovely) contrast to the whiteness.

Note to self...make more of these.  Next time, though fire them to cone 1 instead of cone 04.  It doesn't seem to make a difference on the color and will make the beads a bit more durable.

Iron Oxide Decals Bowl

This bowl is a terracotta stoneware with white slip applied to the inside and the outside. It was fired to maturity at cone 6 in an electric kiln. 

Iron oxide handmade decals were added at another firing at cone 05.  The spirals were made via a spirograph toy, the paisleys were hand drawn by myself, and the double bandaid type decals at the top are copyright free patterns that I altered.

It's Not Brass

This was supposed to be a specialty brass glaze, cone 04, put out by Duncan. I do like it, but it's not brass. I have a couple of bead sets done in this same glaze that I'll blog about tomorrow and later this week.

This is a sprig bead which I also pierced holes into and added sprig bead caps. 

Simple Vase

This is a very simple vase. I'll be adding it to my pottery store sometime today.  This is a vase that I pulled to 10".  After bisque and glaze firing it ended up at a cool  8.5". It's perfect for a bouquet of cut flowers, and its neutral golden tan color means it goes with most any color scheme.

Porcelain Cup

This is one of those things that I put on a shelf at home and simply stared at for a number of months. It's small, and dainty, but the handle is comfortable to hold.

I had made quite a few beads with this pattern and had decided to try on a cup, too.  This is porcelain, gas fired to cone 10.  The black underglaze survived the firing just fine.

The clear turned a bit a blue celadon  color and there is a flush of red around the rim where it began to reduce or maybe it picked up the red of another vessel nearby.

Red Vase

This is a porcelain vase that I've had sitting on a shelf in my studio waiting until I had the time and patience to add all these transfer iron oxide drawings of my doodlings.

It didn't take as long as I thought it would and because I waited so long I had a plan in which to figure out how to get the drawings on evenly. I started at the middle and worked my way toward the handle.

The inside of this pitcher is red, too, but white at the rim.   

More Sprig Beads

Here are some sprig beads that are in their greenware form. They have not yet been bisque fired.

I plan to glaze two of these with Venetian Red and two of them with Sapphire Green.

Simple Bead

This is a simple stoneware bead I rolled on a stamp and applied underglaze on.  It looks almost black but it's actually a dark green. It is covered with a clear gloss glaze and has been fired to cone 1.

It is a simple bead which has been simply made.  Look how the underglaze shows up the small crevices and patterns of the intricate stamp.

Color Variations in Separate Firings

In my descriptions of my beads I have this line that is in all of my listings: "I have discovered over time that each batch of beads fires in the kiln differently depending on the season, temperature, and humidity, and barometric pressure."

While these beads were fired about a week apart and the temperature was about the same, the shades of their glazes, which before appying the iron oxide laser decals, once exactly the same, now are different. Even the shade of the decals are a bit different.

SO on one hand, if you are looking for very unique beads, ceramic bead artists really are the way to go, because even under similar conditions, re-duplications rarely happen.  But if I were looking for two beads to put into the same necklace, these two certainly would be hard to work into the same color scheme.  Individually they are each lovely, though.

Venetian Red Sprig Bead

Here is a porcelain bead which I applied stoneware sprigs and covered with the now (sadly) discontinued Venetian Red by Mayco.

I know I know, I have to get a grip on myself! Or just start making my own glazes, of which I am more than capable.  With beads, it is so easy just to open the jar.

When I was painting in watercolors I would never just use a pigment the way I will a glaze.  I would always alter it a bit so it was my pigment.   I suppose I do this by varying the clay bodies of the beads. Each clay makes for a dramatically different background upon which the glazes drapes itself around.

I have fallen in love with this glaze and this look of a bead and I am not sure how long I will continue exploring this concept.  But it sure has been fun to explore!  And there are lots of different colors of glazes. I do not have to be so stuck on this particular color, no matter how much I happen to be drawn to it.  I bet it would look great in green or blue or purple.  But probably not yellow.

Teal Dingbats

I am such a fan of these little star shaped patterns. I never can remember if they are called dingbats or wingdings.  When I googled it, I saw they are called 'dingbats'.  Weirdly enough, Microsoft Word calls them wingdings. So I dunno .... either way, I love them! 

Everybody has them in their word processing programs.  I think they come in the loveliest shapes and as far as size goes, they can be as little or big as I want them to be.  Best of all, they are all copyright free. Yay!

This is just another bead to showcase how versatile iron oxide laser decals can be.

Multi-Colored Beads

These are some beads I blogged about earlier before they were fired.  The decals are some that I drew and created on a spirograph.  Others are simple free copyright dingbats from the computer keyboard.

It seems as though ceramic artists all over the world are now utilizing iron oxide laser decals.  When I was at Gruene, Texas this year for the clay festival, I noticed several artists who had incorporated them onto their forms.  It was exciting to recognize it in potters whose work I very much admire.

Sapphire Sprig Bead

This is an ironstone clay wrapped with three porcelain sprigs. I covered it with Sapphire Green, a newly discontinued glaze from Mayco and fired to cone 1. 

Mayco has is pretty much discontinued all of its gloss series, in favor of the Foundation series.

According to the Mayco website, the Foundation series has some exciting colors to choose from.  They sport normal, yet bland, names like "blue" "red", "green" and the ever popular "purple".

Perhaps that is why I strolled over to the Duncan side of the aisle and ended up buying 6 new colors to play with?

Bead Experiment

  I have fallen in love with putting sprigs on beads and on the stringing holes ( bead caps).  I think it is because I have had a longing to work with metal beads and not had the opportunity.

That is why I decided to begin treating beads as though I were working with silver beads, or silver clay.  I have some silver clay that I have experimented with here and there, but it is expensive. Even though a small amount goes a long way, I have not utilized it in all the ways I've thought about doing. 

One day I just decided to pretend my regular clay was silver. What would I do with this clay if it were silver clay?  


 I thought, "I would put bead caps on my ceramic beads of course!" 

Here is but one result of my experimenting. 

Last week I was buying glazes and ran across a 'brass' glaze.  I have not yet fired it to cone 04, which is what the directions say.

  However, I did apply that brass glaze to the sprig and beadcaps of this particular bead and fired it to cone 1. 

The piercings were made with the same tool I use to make the stringing hole: my aluminum sock size knitting needle.

The 'brass' glaze did not come out like brass because I did not fire it to the cone 04 temperature. But I do like the way it turned out at a higher temperature, a black brown that is a bit shiny.  The 'shiny' doesn't come through well in these photos, however.

The Venetian Red is supposed to be fired to cone 06, but like many of the glazes I use, I have pushed it to a higher temperature.  Most of the low fire glazes can be pushed to a higher temperature. Some may lose a bit of color, but sometimes they will surprise you in a marvelous way.
When the inevitable day comes when you discover your 'new' favorite glaze has been discontinued, hopefully you'll have moved on to a different technique or glaze experiment and it will be no big deal.

That's what I thought to myself as I gazed at the half filled (or is it half empty?) jar I have left of the newly discontinued Venetian Red.

Textured Pink Rounds

I do not know why these beads came out with this funky texture, but it happened and I like it.

I have some small golden decals that will fit in in the small areas and I think they would provide a lovely contrast to the ruggedness of this bead.  Pretty in Pink, glamorous, and rugged ... what a combination!

These beads were being fired to cone 1. The kiln malfunctioned and shut itself off.  I restarted it minutes after it shut off.  It went up another 50 degrees and shut off again.  Again I restarted it. It went up another 25 degrees and shut off a third time. I gave up and a day later fired the entire batch in a different kiln, this time successfully.  These are the only three that ended up with this interesting texture.  Any glaze chemistry experts out there who know why this happened and only to this color?  Did the change in temperature begin to grow crystals?  And why didn't the others grow crystals as well? Is it because they were all different colors of glazes?  I'm left wondering why once again.

I probably should be wondering why the kiln malfunctioned but I'm more concerned about the beads at this point.  Actually I think I need a new thermocouple.   I have one on a different kiln that I have in a box in my studio.  The digital controller is shot and needs to be replaced (several hundred dollars), but the thermocouple is just fine.  I will have to take care of that this week (or next week).

Heart Mugs

I was asked to make these and I am happy they are now finished.  I came up with the design of simple red hearts on a mug after one of my instructors at TCC, Karmien (Sweetie) Bowman, gave me a wonderful critique after seeing some of my beads. She said that I should start thinking of my pottery forms in the same way I think about beads.

Not long after that critique I made a mug similar to the ones on the left.  It's fantastic how a few simple words of encouragement can change the way a person creates.  Since then I have not been able to throw or hand build a pottery form without her words coming to mind.

I haven't as of yet put sprig hearts on a bead, but someday ...

Glazed but Unfired

Here are some beads which I have glazed but not fired. They are in the process of drying. Tomorrow they will go in the kiln and fire to cone 1. These rounds have a simple underglaze (blue, teal, pink, green, tomato red, etc ...) with a gloss overglaze that will turn clear.  Simple simple.  After they have been fired, I will be applying some of my hand-drawn Iron Oxide Laser decals. They will go back into the kiln and fire at cone 05.  I'll post a pic here when they are finished.

Brass Beads

There are a couple of antique stores in Gruene, Texas and I couldn't help but poke around them to see what I could find. These are some beads that I found in a bag labeled "as is" ... which was fine with me because I am the type who takes apart things anyway so the fact that this was a broken necklace didn't bother me in the least.

I recently found a glaze that fired at cone 04 will give an appearance of brass. It's a new specialty glaze from Duncan: sy1026 "Modern Brass" is the name. 

That is why I could not help but fall in love with these bass beads on the left. I am hoping to glaze some porcelain beads this week and combine them with these.  A few gemstones would be nice... maybe jasper?  Any suggestions?

Lest One Think...

Lest one think I have given up pottery in favor of beads, let me dispel that idea.  I have been working steadily on pottery and at the moment have several bowls slowly drying waiting to be trimmed and decorated with sprigs or perhaps sgraffito. To decide, I found a youtube artist interview video on this subject. If you have an extra 9 or so minutes, this is worth your time if you are interested in this technique.

Bisque Spig Bead with Piercings

This is a combination of adding small bits of clay to a bead (sprigging) and a bit of piercing, too.

I have been working steadily on this (on the left) and these (pictured below) in my spare time for about the last two weeks.   I start off with a ball of clay, apply the sprigs, texture some of the sprigs, then begin poking.  I add the threading hole and last I add the small 'bead cap' sprigs to each opening of the threading hole, and poke through again.  It seems to tear if I try to do it all in one step.

I have no idea how I am going to glaze this. I am tempted to glaze the sprigs and leave the other part unglazed.  The next minute I'm like, "I'M GONNA GLAZE THE WHOLE THING... RED!!! NO BLUE! Wait ... purple?"

There is a certain satisfaction looking at a bisque bead and thinking, "I like it just the way it is."  That is probably why I have so many bisque beads in my studio laying around in various sized bags.  I have beads from 3-4 years ago, perfectly good beads but I look at them and can't decide how to glaze them so back into the bag they go.  I don't know what that says about me.  Sometimes I delude myself into thinking I must stop making beads until I get them all glazed.  A few days later I'm itching to make a small round thing and put a hole in it and before I know it, there I am with a lump of clay. Oh my!

Texas Clay Festival

I went to the Texas Clay Festival this year and, of course, got the tee-shirt, which is quite yummy and comfortable.  It was so warm it felt like spring. Back in Fort Worth it was acting like spring in that a tornado touched down a few miles away. It was an F zero, so it wasn't a big tornado. But in Gruene, Texas, the weather was fine, so fine.

On the way there and on the way back, I made small beads, sprigging and texturing them. It was something to do in the car, a bit hard a times because the road was jostling, but it was do-able.  Obviously I wasn't driving. ha ha

Today I am getting a bisque load of pottery ready to fire and the beads I formed will be dry enough to go in there as well. The photo of the bead I am sharing is one I made a while ago. On one side it is a bee, the other a flower. It reminds me of spring, which is what it feels like again this week.

Straw Bead

I was tempted to call this a "straw berry" bead, because it is round like a berry and I used the end of a small straw to indent this bead with circles.  I utilized an underglaze to further emphasize the circles and coated with a clear gloss glaze to fully bring out the texture.

This was one of those "I'm Bored I Wonder What This Will Do?" moments.  I only have this one bead of this type, but I think it would be fun to make more.

Red Glaze over Stoneware makes a Luscious Coral!

I fashioned a stamp out of clay to make these textures.  After rubbing in and wiping off a black underglaze, I coated these stoneware rounds with a red glaze.  It is a most interesting combination, one I'm not quite finished exploring as of yet.

Dark Green Sculpture Bird Bead

This is a dark green glaze on a dark brown clay, which makes it doubly dark.  The bird is hand formed, wings added with the sprig technique.  It is a small sculpture, one of a kind of course.

The hole is situated to be from the top of the back to through the belly.  This birdie needs to fly away to a good home! You might be able to find it in my etsy store in the Bead Sculpture section.

Sprigging Technique

The 'sprigging' technique is when a small bit of clay is added to another piece of clay. In this case I formed a round bead and added small dots of clay, then textured it with a special tool to get this effect.

These cobalt blue textured beads are great for the casual yet whimsical design.  These are approx 14 mm and 15 mm at their widest.

I am planning on making more of this design, but in other colors and sizes. Right now these two are all I have in this particular design.   Here's the link if you are interested in purchasing these: Cobalt Blue Sprig Rounds

Frost clay vs other White Clay

I have not yet settled down into one body of clay. I like all of them, porcelain, stoneware, earthenware.  This particular bead is made from a mid-fire clay called "Frost" from Leguna Clay company.  It is very different than the other white clay I use called "B-Mix" which also from Leguna Clay company.  Both of the Pendants I featured in two earlier blog posts this week were each made with the "B-Mix" Leguna Clay.

The Frost clay is has a very different sheen than the B-Mix clay.

If you are trying to match a certain bead with a certain color, it can work, but the clay bodies all have such different qualities it is like mixing two different styles. Sometimes it works, other times it does not.  And of course, please do ask if you have any questions about the clay body of a certain bead.

Paintbrush Texture

I used a grape purple underglaze to bring out this texture. It's kind of a strange shape so I thought I would explain where it came from.  I had a couple of very old paintbrushes and the bristles finally fell out. I was left with these oval empty shapes on a stick. I got to thinking they might be fun to play with.

This is what I ended up doing, pressing them into this round bead. If you really really like it, ask me and I'll make more.  Of course, it won't be exactly the same, but I can make it in a bunch of different colors. Just let me know what you'd like and I'll do my best to accommodate. 

This bead is approx. 15 mm from hole to hole and is made from a very white Leguna clay named 'frost'.

Another Lavender Pendant

I had this lavender glaze out and liked it so much that I made quite a few things with this color.  I was thinking Jewelry Designers would appreciate having some similar, but unique, items to choose from.

This was made a portion of a commercial stamp. The stamp is quite big and only part of it covered this pendant, but I like how the design turned out.  I can see a daisy and a scroll, part of a paisley, and a lovely wavy line.

Never Noticed!

I didn't notice until I photographed this pendant that there is a small splash of grape purple glaze near the bottom right hand side.  It is just a small little spot. I am hardly able to spot it with my naked eye. Nonetheless it is there, glaringly obvious thanks to my camera's macro lens.

When I do add this one to my Etsy store, it will be discounted appropriately.  It goes nicely with those Lavender Textured Tablets in the previous post.

I added small round beads to this hand shaped rectangle and used a drill tool bit to imprint a screwdriver like pattern.  This was one of those impulse things I do every now and then.  It's not large, only 24 mm from top to bottom and 16 mm wide.  It's dainty for a pendant.

Underglazes are Fun!

I have lately been enjoying applying underglazes into various textures.  I like how it brings out aspects of the bead which might not be noticed otherwise.

I didn't make many of these. This is it.  But if you find yourself in love with this texture and would like to see them in a different color, just send me an email (nkp@nkpdesigns.com) with Textured Tablets in the subject header.

I also have a couple of pendants in this same clay body and glaze color that will show up on Etsy the next few days as well.

Other Popular Bead Designs

This is a dot and line pattern that I acquired from the back of one of my favorite earrings.  Typically I make these at 20 mm because the design looks best on this size. I have tried to make them smaller, but they just don't look the same.  The smallest size of bead that this pattern looks nice is approx. 15 mm.

These beads were coated with a black underglaze and the excess wiped off. Then I covered each bead with a light blue gloss glaze.  In the sunlight these just have lots of depth and value.  Indoors, they are muted and wonderful as well.