Mary Richmond Design

Perfect Raku Day

For the last few weeks I have marked a day on my calendar to go do a Raku firing with my friend, Diane Heart of Diane Heart Pottery in Brewster. One day we even got so far as to get everything glazed and ready to go into the kiln but when we went out to the kiln enclosure it was just too windy. If you are wondering why wind would matter just think fire and how quickly wind can move it along....

Today dawned bright and sunny and the forecast was for a mild day with little wind until afternoon so we decided to go for it.

Diane and I discovered a few years ago that we are very compatible doing raku firings for my tiles don't take up a lot of shelf space and her vessels fill out the firing for my tiles. We get an amazing number of pieces out of each firing. This shot is of the kiln loaded up with glazed pieces just before the cover was put on.

Raku is an ancient form of firing pottery and is very dynamic. It is somewhat predictable but the real fun is in the unpredictable results that sometimes conspire and mingle and create a truly memorable piece.

We got our share of wonderful pieces today. We got a few duds, too, but for the most part it was an incredibly productive and fun day. Not only did we get some great work out of the day but had a chance to catch up with each other and hang out in the sun on the first really nice day we've been able to get outside and enjoy.

This is one of my favorite pieces from today. I posted a lot of photos from the day over on my Flickr site, including pictures of work we made and pictures documenting the process. You can see the photos by clicking here.

Sometimes Things Just Happen

Sometimes things just happen....or Mercury goes retrograde...or....whatever....

If you've been reading here the last few days you know I've been working almost around the clock getting these little sculptures done. Because of the rush I dried them in an open kiln for about 15 hours and they felt totally dry and ready to go.

Last night I painted them with underglaze and put several coats of clear glaze on them before putting them back in the kiln. I brought the kiln up to temperature really, really slowly. I left the lid open until the last switch was thrown.

I held my breath, crossed my fingers, hoped and said a little ditty for the kiln goddess...

and when I got up this morning I opened the kiln and found....

these....

Two of the sculptures came through the firing fine but these two....well, not so much.

I emailed the man who ordered them, complete with the sad picture attached and he decided to come get them all anyway. We agreed I would redo the two...unfortunate ones but he wanted his wife to see them all. I glued as many pieces back on their little heads as I could but they were still very sad looking.

I'm not really sure why two blew their tops and the other two did not. The dog was done several days after the others and should have been the one to explode first, if any were going to do so. It was the top layer of clay that blew off so there must have been air in there....but I'm pretty sure there was air in the other one, too. I fire a lot of kids stuff made with this clay and can usually fire even the funniest, most suspect pieces without incident but well, this time I didn't get away with it.

Too bad, they came out pretty well after all that. This time, we'll allow plenty of drying time....and I worry that they'll lose some of the spontaneity that happened as I worked to meet the deadline. Time will tell!

Studio Projects, Kiln firing and Grammy's

Busy weekend in the studio. I had a few pet ornaments and tiles to do for people who wanted them as Valentine's gifts, such as these. I think my total contribution for the MSPCA through the sale of these is now at about $1400.

This little spaniel apparently always has this blue ball in its mouth and the owners wanted it painted this way. Dogs are so funny with the things they do. My dog likes to growl when she walks around with her treat ball in her mouth. It's a "I think you should play with me right now," sort of growl and she's pretty funny about it.

I finished the little portrait heads I've been working on. I am really not a portrait artist and don't think these look exactly like the kids but I think they each have enough of an essence to be ok. I did the family dog, too.

In order to have these ready to be glazed today I had to dry them out in a warm kiln last night, which was a bit stressful. We watched the Grammy Awards while I was going back and forth to the studio to check on their progress. The pieces are so uneven and undoubtedly full of air bubbles that I was nervous one or more might blow up, as ceramic pieces can do if they are fired too quickly.

I'm a Dixie Chick fan and bought this latest CD the day it came out so had a great time watching them win their awards. I'm not big on award shows but the Grammy's are always fun because of all the music performances. By the time the show was over, the pieces were pretty dry and I left them with the timer set for another 2 hours before I went to bed. This morning they are intact and dry and ready to be glazed and fired. Hopefully all will go well and they will be ready for delivery tomorrow. I am posting more pictures of the individual pieces over on Flickr.

Watercolors, Hand painted Glasses and Clay Portraits all in a Day's Work

Busy day in the studio today. I warmed up with this quick watercolor study in my new moleskine watercolor sketchbook. I am thinking I'll make it a book of bird heads or just birds. I'll see how it develops. I've always liked working in series and I love making and putting together books so we'll see how this goes.

I've been thinking of adding some hand painted glasses, dishes and mugs to my repertoire and today I bought and painted these flutes and wine glasses. I am also looking at some bisque ware to hand paint. There's a part of me that thinks I should make the pottery I paint but I am not a potter. I make tiles, it's true, but I'm really not interested in making plates, cups, bowls, etc. I love to paint and decorate and so why not paint and decorate some dishwares?

I am working on some small clay sculptures of a family. The work must be done quickly as they are to be gifts for Valentine's Day. (A man is having the sculptures done of his 3 kids for his wife for a gift--how sweet is that?) I told him I'd need front, side and back views of the kids so he posed them all for me. The pictures are great and they feel like wonderful kids. They are fun to be working on. I hope to finish them tomorrow and have them ready to be fired on Sunday. Then I'll paint and glaze them to be refired and ready for delivery on Tuesday. Nothing like a rush job to keep the juices flowing. Just so you don't think I'm a wicked procrastinator, I got the working photos yesterday afternoon....

This one came together quite quickly. I'm not working on the real likeness quite yet, just trying to get the bigger shapes right. I told him I am not really a sculptor or a portrait artist and he just wants them to be fun. I, of course, want them to be as good as I can get them.

I'll post more pictures as I go.

Little Whimsies

Little Whimsies are back in stock at my shop in Mashpee Commons.

Each is hand made of clay, bisque fired, glazed with underglazes and fired again. There are lots of little birds that aren't in this picture.

It's been a busy week and right now I am catching up on painting all the pet ornaments on order. Some are in the kiln tonight and those ordered from far away will be mailed out tomorrow morning.

I have at least another full day of painting ornaments and with all the orders coming in this afternoon I may have at least one more next week. This is great news for the MSPCA! I will post the final pictures and the amount of money raised in the next week.

I will continue to take orders but cannot promise delivery by Christmas as of tomorrow.

Latest Pet Ornaments to Benefit MSPCA

These are the latest pet ornaments painted, packaged and ready to go....I'm running a little behind but hope to catch up with the orders on hand by the weekend. I haven't got a definite count but I think I've raised over $500 so far for the MSPCA.

I glazed some of these white heart ornaments and packaged them for sale in my shop, too. I will post them on  my Etsy Shop tomorrow.

Remember the little clay owls, birds, mice and cats? These white ones were an experiment. Usually I paint them with naturalistic colors and leave them with a matte finish. I like the way these came out, though, and they are a little different. They will be for sale in my shop as well as my Etsy Shop tomorrow.

Thanks to Funky Finds!

A very special thanks to Jessica over at Funky Finds who featured my Pet Onament Benefit for the MSPCA this morning! Hopefully I will be able to reach my goal of raising at least $1000 to give them by Christmas. Thanks, Jessica!

Newest Ornaments for MSPCA Benefit

Here are more pet ornaments, some of which are special orders for the MSPCA benefit I am doing for the holidays. I am mostly caught up with these for the moment. Interestingly most of the people ordering specific ornaments are ordering dogs, not cats. Maybe the cat people are coming this weekend....

I will also be adding some birds. I have a request for a macaw and a cockatiel so far.

These guys haven't had their final glaze coat and you can still see the graphite I used to draw the initial sketch.

Some of my retail neighbors and I began a group today to focus on what one of my buddies calls "success strategies". We will be meeting for about an hour each week, focusing on goal setting and sharing the steps we use to achieve them. 

More Pet Ornaments to Benefit MSPCA

Here are some of the dogs I painted on ornaments today. All of these are special orders for customers asking for either a special breed or who brought me photos of their own pets. I have another pile to do tomorrow.

All ornaments will be fully glazed and strung with a ribbon for hanging. 100% of the proceeds will go to the MSPCA to help homeless animals. Most ornaments are $15 although having a pet painted from your photo can be done for a $25 donation.

December 15 is the last day orders will be accepted.

Holiday Ornament Swap Ornaments in the Mail!

My holiday ornaments for the Holiday Ornament Swap 2006 are in the mail and winging their way around the world. I have swap mates in Canada, Denmark, Australia, Puerto Rico, California, Colorado, Georgia and New York. What fun it's been putting the little packages together. I even made little cards with a painting on the front and a little story about where I live in the package. There's been a group set up over at Flickr.com that we've all been uploading our pictures to and seeing all the different things people have come up with has been fun, too.

Today I was addressing all the envelopes when I realized I sent in the wrong zip code! I sent my old zip code so I must have been on automatic when I wrote it. I double checked the list when it came in but since it was so familiar I guess it didn't register. Wow, a real senior moment....and I didn't think I was THAT senior yet!

I emailed the folks running the swap and they emailed the group. I hope it's in time. Some people have already received some of their ornaments so obviously some folks are more on the ball than I am. Deadline for mailing is December 1. Sheesh.

I can't thank the two women that instigated this project enough. They not only masterminded an international swap but had over 400 participants to match up. Kathleen over at Cake+Pie and Nicole over at Freshly(Blended) are the artists who created this. Check them out!