blue bird of happiness

something light today: a little blue bird of happiness!

recently i got a tattoo on my forearm of a barn swallow holding a love letter in its' mouth... it is in shades of teal and turquoise (with a red heart on the letter of course). more often than not, when people see it, they ask, "is that a Bluebird of Happiness"? i love the thought, but as i am a stickler for details i often end up saying "well, no, it has a forked tail, this is a swallow.."

so, when i made this recent batch of little birds, i knew exactly what i wanted to call them.. of course, i don't think they are Bluebirds either.. but they are blue birds.. and i think they are happy.

open kiln with new techniques!

(how do you like this photo? every time i would try to photograph these plates the light would reflect, and if i tried somewhere else it was too dark.. so i just tried to make this look like the most recent anthropologie catologue i got)

it's so hard to find time to go out to the ceramics studio..let alone make the most of my time when i am there.. when i was out there recently i must have had something in my coffee because i ended up having an extremely productive day. i tried something new that i have been longing to experiment with for some time~ slip trailing!

i made a batch of lotus leaf plates--porcelain pressed onto a plaster mold i made of a lotus leaf, and then made a batch of porcelain slip (which was kinda like melting chocolate..but with a sieve) and then carefully drew vines and patterns on the leaves with the slip. i am so very pleased with the results, and especially the way my floating blue glaze pools and breaks over the raised areas!

Chartres Star House

A little something lovely from the kiln... Inspired by my trips to Chartres France. There is a lovely church there with spires of different heights, too cool.

peace houses

New design from the ceramic studio: little houses. I had such a great day making a whole village of these recently. I am also kicking off my new etsy page VespertineCafe. Maybe check it out in a few days when I get more things listed, hah!

Between all the craft shows I did and the holiday season, I majorly burned out on jewelry.. this page reflects my changing gears this year. I got a commission to paint some rocks for a customer and it was my favorite thing of the holiday season... Upon reflection, I decided to focus on that aspect of my creative mind a bit more.. Let's see what I come up with!