Painting a Handmade Tile

Hello Beautiful,

While playing around and uploading some stuff onto Vimeo for my blogging e-course, I came across this video I made a couple of years ago of me painting a hand-made tile with slips and underglazes. I thought it might be a fun thing to share here on a Sunday, for artistic inspiration... so here it is.


 This video shows me working on a 6" tile with a rustic songbird motif. This motif was inspired by the frescoes of Pompeii which I visited in 2001. I especially loved the garden murals in the Villa of Venus, with their worn surfaces and naive, charming songbirds and flowers. I wanted to capture that naive charm and something of that mysterious, aged surface in my hand painted, hand made songbird tiles. These hand cut tiles are rustic red earthenware. In the video, I have already covered the unfired tile with a coat of pale yellow slip, and worked back into the slip to create an antiqued, distressed surface. The colours in the paintbox are not watercolours as they appear, but specially prepared underglazes. After painting, the tile will be fired, then glazed with a clear crackle glaze, and fired again. You can visit our studio and see more art tile at linguaterratile.com

new creations

I'm having so much fun creating these pendants from porcelain and antique buttons. Those Victorians sure loved their pretty buttons. Each one is a little work of art. I set them into these pretty glazed porcelain pieces that I make from casts of 1940's bakelite buttons. Buttons on buttons. What do you think?

There's a craft fair coming up this weekend and I'll have a chance to show them off. There is the nicest article about my art and busines here, and more jewelery pics at my friend's flickr here. Enjoy!

mixed media monday - 'memories'

This week's challenge over at Mixed Media Monday is 'memories.' Here is a piece I created a few years ago during an artist's retreat at Hacienda Mosaico, using my favourite photo of myself as a child, running in a little grove of birch saplings on an early spring day. This piece reminds me that I still have access to that young girl who felt so lean and strong, who lived to be out of doors and at one with the elements, who was grounded in joy and a sense of belonging in the world.

My next "7 Keys to an Artful Life e-Course" begins October 10th!
Start your autumn season with 7 weeks of creativity, life-balance, self-care, and fun. Read about it here.

cherry blossoms - new from my tile studio

This just came out of the kiln this morning, the very first one of this new design. I was over there as soon as the kiln could be opened, in my pajamas, with my dust mask pulled on over my bed-head!! My inspirations for this piece were antique Chinese stoneware ginger jars, Japanese woodblock prints, and the mineral jade. I love the liveliness of the cherry blossoms, and the antique feel of the glaze. Read more about it over here at my studio.

collage, visual memory and unconscious influences

I am still reflecting on the learning and inspiration from this weekend's collage workshop with Dorothy Field. I spent some time today documenting the pieces I created over the weekend, and found one I felt was good enough to mount - it fit beautifully into a black shadowbox I've been hoarding in my studio for a while. Other pieces may not be worthy of framing, but are still worth looking at and learning from, and I've posted a few here.

Dorothy articulated the process of collage really well, I thought. It is an artform that is loose, intuitive, playful, and unconscious, yes; but there comes a point in the process when careful observation, a tight modulation of visual energy, and a rational, focused approach to composition become very important. It's all about relationships, and finding a reason for the various visual elements, the bits and pieces, to converse and conspire together. It may be about harmony or dissonance, connection or contrast, but it is always, primarily, about relationship.

In this exercise I was exploring visual weight and contrast.

I've also been reflecting on the fact that collage as an artform did not emerge until the 20th Century - which makes complete sense, really, when we consider the nature of the modern world. We have so much STUFF. More than we have ever had before. We have so much waste, so many scraps and bits and pieces. Imagine the value of things like paper, ink, glue, and pigment, not to mention print and photographs, in pre-industrial or early-industrial society, then imagine our own mountains of scraps and packaging and print and paper... the human imagination, and the artmaking urge, play on whatever is available, from bone and mud to newspapers and packaging. Collage is the timeless artmaking urge playing on modern materials.

I'm thinking of it as visual composting now. From a pile of messy, disparate scraps, comes this rich loam of visual art, right? (Please forgive me, I've been gardening a lot lately, and am especially proud of my newly acquired composting skills!!)

This little collage (top) is a good example of visual composting. This was done as a warm up exercise in the workshop. I adore Chinoiserie wallpaper and Toile (examples, bottom) and have spent lots of time looking at various specimens of them, but they were the farthest things from my mind when I did this little exercise. You see what my visual memory, collaborating with my unconscious mind, did?

Here's another bit of wisdom I got from Dorothy, and it applies not only to the physical elements of collage, but to the bits and pieces of ourselves that we bring to our artmaking. It falls into the simple-and-obvious yet pithy-and-profound category: Everything you know you gotta use. That means don't hide from the stuff (in yourself) that you happen to think is ugly, or boring, or irrelevant. Use all the juice of your life. Do you want to be making art with your ego, or with your whole, authentic self?

one woman's trash...

I found two large zip lock bags of these at the thrift store. There is a UK bag and a Canada bag. They start in the late 50's and go through the late 90's. For forty years, this person clipped or tore and saved the stamps from, apparently, all of her personal correspondence. (I'm assuming it was a "her.." I just picture a woman doing this...) Then at some ending point (death or entry into a home?) someone bagged them up and added them to the donations pile, instead of just throwing them out. Then the person who received the donations at the thrift store deemed them worthy of labeling, pricing, and shelving ($1.75 per bag) instead of just throwing them out. Then I bought them. Then they sat in my studio for two years in a box marked "stamps" which I kept opening excitedly thinking it was a lost stash of rubber stamps, then feeling annoyed, then promptly forgetting them again. The other day I actually pulled them out and opened the bags. Some of them are really beautiful.

They look nice layed out on this vintage book about growing roses.

The patterns on the insides of the security envelopes are graphically interesting and look good all together. Watch for this stuff to start showing up in my art.

Another ALterEd BoOk SHrine

This was an old book I found at the Free Store, a ponderous tome called Foundations of the Nineteenth Century, translated from the German. I think it's much better in it's new incarnation. The gold hand had been sitting around the studio for a long time, waiting for just the right project. The religious medals were saved from trips to Italy and Mexico.

Sacred Text: Mixed Media ALtered Book SHrine

Inspired by the work of Rosemary Broton Boyle, I created this altered book shrine (and two more) in a weekend art binge last weekend. I grew up in a household where books were treated with great respect - books as physical objects were highly valued, and I saw the adults in my life treat these objects with more responsible tender care than they did their own health and bodies at times... interesting. A vivid early memory is of being roundly scolded for drawing inside a book. I clearly remember my fascination with the shapes the words made on the page (this was well before the age of literacy) and carefully using my pencil to follow the maze from the top of the page to the bottom - I also remember my mother's absolutely horrified expression when she discovered me defacing a book. I did grow up to be very literary, and a true bibliophile and collector of books. I do love books as objects - but it has been liberating to engage in the art of altering books ( I must admit that at first I found the idea horrifying.) This one was really a leap, however; in order to create this shrine, I had to absolutely gut this book. The book had been on my shelves for some 20 years, a nice hard cover, but not of any particular value, not antique, and I have another volume which is a better, more readable translation of the same texts. It is a volume of selections from Aristotle. Oh my. I really did feel like a bold iconoclast when I took a craft knife to this one. It was worth it. I'm absolutely infatuated with the result.

Altered Book

Yesterday we had some pretty high winds here on the island, and our power went out. This left me unable to work on the computer, fire my kilns, or do just about everything else productive I do during the day. My sweetie set up our little car-battery generator, so I had one reading lamp, and after grumbling and pacing for a bit, I settled down with some art supplies and created this altered book spread. Remember my fave thrift store, where I found a fantastic set of 1940's kid's encylopaedia? Well, I was there again a few days ago, and found another amazing set of books, five volumes, beautifully bound in red leather and rich marbled paper, printed in Swedish (I think). As far as I can tell, it is a set of manly travel memoirs. There are some great photo plates, and charming line drawings adorn the margins. I decided to take one of the volumes and create an altered book. This piece is the first spread. I am also submitting it for Illustration Friday, whose theme this week (by coincidence) is adrift. Let me know what you think.

Mixed Media Accordian Book

I created this little accordion book to showcase some of my New Year's goals and wishes. I submitted it to the new Cloth Paper Scissors online community, and was really pleased to discover that it is featured among other mixed media New Year's creations! Check it out here!

Mixed Media Monday: Thinking

I practice mindfulness meditation, a deceptively simple and very powerful buddhist mind training practice. In mindfulness meditation we don't attempt to empty our minds, we don't focus on an object, image, or mantra; we don't hold a goal of peace or transcendence or changing the nature of our mind in any way. It's all about noticing and observing. You sit, you notice and observe the breath. And when you notice that you are thinking, instead of judging the stream of thoughts ot attempting to stop or change it, you just notice, and gently remind yourself, "thinking." Just name the thought, "thinking."

When I saw this week's Mixed Media Monday topic, "What Was S/He Thinking," I knew I wanted to submit a piece about the process of mindfulness mediatation - so here are two more ATC's! Happy Monday!

Artful Reminders:


Soulful, artful island RETREATS for women - make art, journal, dance, do yoga, practice deep self care, learn to celebrate the sacred in daily life - all with a group of like minded women in our forest retreat at the heart of our Gulf Island... YUM!!!!!! Read more here, and join the mailing list here.





Seven Keys to an Artful Life - I'm so excited about launching this on-line circle for artful living - begins March 21st! Read more here.

Mixed Media Monday: Games and Play

Here are two ATC's on the theme of "Games People Play" for this week's Mixed Media Monday. For those who may not know, an ATC is an Artist Trading Card, a tiny work of art in any medium, the same size as a standard trading card (like a baseball card.) Some artists like to meet to trade their cards. The only rule for ATC's is they may not be sold - by definition their value is not commercial. ATC's are fun!

a minor obsession with vintage buttons

image from jane's apron

It developed quickly, and kind of out of the blue. I was brainstorming new jewelry ideas. I asked my daughter, a font of knowledge on all things hip and fashionable, what motifs might be good. "Anchors. Vintage anchors." Okay. Some googling revealed that a great source of vintage anchor imagery is vintage buttons. And of course, one thing led to another.

Three days later...

Me, at computer: Sweetie, come here, do you think I should buy these buttons? (large lot of vintage buttons on e-bay)

Her: Mom. What are you doing?

Me: Seriously, should I buy these ones?

Her: Mom! No!

Me: But... look! I don't have one like this yet...

Her: Mom! How many buttons have you bought?

Me: ....ummm....

Her: MOM!!!

(But it turns out, as you can see below, that I am not the only one that sees the beauty in this lowly object.)

craftystylish

susan stars

iliveonafarm

bleulune

another little house - ceramic!

Here is a little heart-house I made. It'll be in the shop later today. I'm not sure about the psychology of my current fond feelings for tiny houses. I've also been spending a lot of time looking at beautifully detailed vintage buttons (more on this later!) There's such a sweet quality to tiny, perfect things; they belong to some special section of my imagination, the place where I can fall deliciously into a limitless, untainted world... do you know what I mean? On the same theme, here is a wonderful peek into tiny rooms and childhood vision.

Mixed Media Monday: Wings

I love the theme of wings for this weeks Mixed Media Monday! Each of my Spirit Houses above features wings. The story of the Spirit Houses: I live far away from my female relatives, we don't get to see each other nearly often enough, and I love them and miss them. We are a family of strong, vibrant women, each of us so different, yet with shared qualities... and when we all get together... WOW! One Thanksgiving we were all in the kitchen together, and someone said "It's like a swirl of colourful, tangled skirts!" Ever since then, we have been known as "The Skirts." I made these little Spirit Houses, one for each of my beloved "skirts," so that I can have a little reminder of each woman's special qualities which I can see every day. So far I have seven Spirit Houses, and I am working on two more. Here, I am sharing the three with wings. One of them represents me... can you guess which one?

Artful Reminders:


Soulful, artful island RETREATS for women - make art, journal, dance, do yoga, practice deep self care, learn to celebrate the sacred in daily life - all with a group of like minded women in our forest retreat at the heart of our Gulf Island... YUM!!!!!! Read more here, and join the mailing list here.





Seven Keys to an Artful Life - I'm so excited about launching this on-line circle for artful living - begins February 15th! Read more here.





I'm participating in the Help Haiti Blog Challenge, brainchild of blogger Kelly Diels. Participants offer a product or service and donate the proceeds to helping in Haiti. My pledge: I make these lovely little buddha dishes, which I sell in my Etsy shop. I will donate 100% of the profits from any of my buddha dishes sold in the next 28 days to Medicins sans Frontieres for their efforts in Haiti.

Lotus

The day of this photo, muggy August in Northern Ontario, a wild and private lake, off the road, off the grid, a day of canoeing, calm waters, exploring a tiny island, then drifting through a floating meadow of these perfect pristine white wild fragrant water lilies. That fragrance! So sweet and clean, both earthy and otherworldly, unforgettable. I took this photo with my old 35mm with the broken light metre (my 'intuitive' light settings made for some amazing atmospheres, like this one.) I love the juxtaposition of my husbands strong, wiry hand and those delicate petals. Sexy and spiritual. Sacred and sensual. So much is there, in that image, what I love about the world.

DIY project: pretty pushpins!

I'm cleaning my studio really thoroughly this month. Yesterday, when I started to pin images back on to my freshly painted design wall, I was disappointed with how blah my plain clear plastic push pins looked. I've seen the pretty glass magnets that people make from glass drops and images, so I thought I'd try creating some push pins the same way. It was easy, and I'm really happy with how they turned out! You can try it too.

Things you'll need:

• some pretty magazines
• scissors
• white glue, acrylic medium, or any acrylic adhesive that dries clear
• flat headed metal push pins
• clear glass drops
• 5 minute adhesive, the kind that comes in two tubes
  

1. go through your magazines, and pick some small, pretty images. High contrast, simple, graphic motifs like this one work best.

2. using the glass drop as a template, draw around your images.



3. cut out the images









4. assemble your glue, cut outs, and glass drops.








5. apply a small drop of glue to the back of the glass drop, and spread around, making sure the whole surface is covered. Press the image onto the glue, carefully pressing out all the bubbles.









6. Set aside and let dry.

7. Mix your 5 minute epoxy according to the package directions. Messy and smelly! Use rubber gloves and open the window! Working quickly, cover the back of the pushpin with a big drop of epoxy, and press on to the back of the glass drop. Don't touch it again! Allow it to set - I left mine over night. Done!



I got excited and glued some other things to my push pins, like sea shells, beach glass, and these ceramic "buddha buttons" that I made in December. My new design wall is going to be so pretty!

Artful Reminders:


Soulful, artful island RETREATS for women - make art, journal, dance, do yoga, practice deep self care, learn to celebrate the sacred in daily life - all with a group of like minded women in our forest retreat at the heart of our Gulf Island... YUM!!!!!! Read more here, and join the mailing list here.





Seven Keys to an Artful Life - I'm so excited about launching this on-line circle for artful living - begins February 15th! Read more here.