A Handful Of Clay

New Year, New Photos

2012-01-18T13:58:00.001-08:00

I am working
with a new camera. Here are some images of my pitchers.

This is a tea set. It measures 6" (not the handle) tall by 4" by 3" wide.
Tea pots that follow the Asian tradition are small. This one has a capacity
of 16 oz.

The back side of a gravy boat. This expressive design measures
8" X 8" X 4" wide.

This gravy boat holds 24 oz.

This whimsical pitcher has a thumb rest at the top of the handle.
The capacity is 58 oz.

Front view of thumb pitcher.

The back side of the blue four footed pitcher.
The bowl is
6" tall X 6" width X 5" deep capacity is 40 oz.

Ready for Christmas

2011-12-18T19:00:00.001-08:00

This summer I decided that I wanted to get my daughter a set of kitchen chairs. Hers belonged to her husband before marriage, and they were in awful shape. I thought if I found a few odd chairs that I would paint each one a different color and present them to the couple. I saw these at an estate sale 2 weeks ago.

The chairs were grimey and I cleaned them up. That is when I realized that these chairs must have fallen off a pick up truck, at a high rate of speed, like on the freeway. We took them apart and added missing spindles and glued them back together.

We sanded all the varnish off of them and applied a new coat of color and shine. Here they are waiting for their beauty treatment.

When they were dry, we put foam in the holes for the seat and covered them with faux leather (vinyl).

They were pretty different looking when we started, but we tried to add enough detail to make them look like a set. We think they turned out pretty nice!

Mantel piece

2011-11-06T14:08:00.001-08:00

If you remember in the previous post, these are the unglazed pieces for the mantel pieces. The bottoms where in the kiln, so I used other pieces that I had on hand, to get an idea of the arrangement.

The colors that I used are taken from the fabric that is part of the decor in the room with the mantel.

Finished product! Some of the glazes are glossy and some are not, which is interesting. Gives the pieces a less predictable look. It has taken me a while to be comfortable mixing the matte and glossy finishes. Sizes 21" height, 28" height, with a base that is 7" diameter.

Mantel Design

2011-10-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

This is a new design for a fireplace mantel. The request was for two pieces to set on the mantel. They are to differ in height. Glazes are already chosen. Pink, gold, dark blue, berry wine, and speckled white.

The colors are chosen from decorative fabric used in the draperies. Next post will show finished pieces.

2011-09-22T13:43:00.000-07:00

Getting ready for Thousand Springs this weekend at Hagerman Idaho. I thought it would be fun to make pieces that denote the address number of a house. Of course, it would be customized!
This is a free form sculpture of flowers.

New Sculpture

2011-09-03T12:23:00.001-07:00

A new sculpture that I made to be ready for our next show. I am an alternate for vender space in Boise Art in the Park.

Finished Shaving Skuttle

2011-07-04T15:19:00.001-07:00

The finished skuttle, glazed. Made of red clay, the glaze is a beautiful black as it breaks over the ridges of the texture.

The bowl that sits inside. I decided to use a green matte glaze to contrast with the shiny blue.

The holes in the bowl allows water to enter the bowl to make foam with the soap.

Shaving Scuttle

2011-05-20T15:50:00.000-07:00

I was contacted to make a shaving shuttle. It is a two piece set. The bottom cup is filled with hot water. The top cup holds the shave cream and it gets frothy as it is warmed up. It is stirred with a thick bristled brush. Then the cream is applied to the face of the shavee.

Goblets for Earth Day

2011-04-20T12:43:00.000-07:00

These are goblets that I made and showed at the Ogden Nature Center Earth Day Celebration. The weather was very good, cloudy and warm when the sun could pass between the clouds that scudded across the sky. Snow was thick on the mountains around us. It was a great day!

Tripod bowl

2011-03-01T17:02:00.001-08:00

This is a salad/pasta bowl I made. It sits on 3 cones.

Coffee Urn

2011-01-27T08:54:00.001-08:00

This is a coffee urn that was a special order. It features under glaze decoration. The customer has several mugs with similar design patterns and colors.

Coffee Mugs

2011-01-19T10:28:00.000-08:00

The year 2010 was a good year for mug sales. This tripod mug was made from slab construction.

The mugs I have at the Jolts and Juice Co. store in Caldwell Idaho are a way to bring interested viewers to my web site, tmbceramics.com.

Some of the mugs are small, holding about 8 ounces of coffee or tea. I prefer to use small mugs. The beverage tends to be warmer, since it is refilled more often, and I like the light weight feel in my hands.

I like the texture on the mugs. I like to feature fun shapes that breaks up the texture with under glaze decoration.

..

Hawaii - Day Ten

2010-10-24T22:58:00.000-07:00

This is on Likelike Hwy. We were headed for the other side of the island again.

I love this garden sculpture. Carved stone!

So much green everywhere!

This plant is a shefflera. I had one of these for a house plant for several years. I got tired of the plant and it was getting big. I didn't know it was going to get these cool beans on it!!

Banana tree.

We pulled into this nursery. It was not a traditional nursery. The manager showed us his project. He was working on a system for raising Talapia. He has to desalinate the water, then the water is used to hold fish at different stages in growth. When the water needs to be filtered it is fed into a system that takes the "dirty" water and it is used for Hydroponic plantings. The nursery will have tomatoes and other plants, plus will sell the mature talapia. The water will be filtered and recycled! We really enjoyed the tour.

These mountains look primative.

This is called China man's Hat.

We went to Wainimai Bay which is famous for surfing.

There is a sharp incline of the sand.

I saw this picture in the paper. It shows a princess with tatoos. I have seen a lot of young guys with similar tatoo patterns, on one side of their chest and back and arm.

These young surfers didn't know that I photoed them.

We drove back to our hotel through the Pineapple Ranch. Miles of fields!

Hawaii - Day Nine

2010-10-24T22:36:00.001-07:00

This is our Pre-Hawaiian celebration picture. The story of the dress is that I wore this dress 23 years ago when we first came to Hawaii. I found it way in the back of my closet. I was so excited that I still had it. To me, the style is a classic. Ed bought three Hawaii shirts! He looked really good in them!

We went to China Town for the day. The few blocks were very busy as it was the weekend. We heard a lot of tongues that we were unfamiliar with. The shops had flowers in one area, clothing, restaurants, and a large area of produce and meats.

See if you can find Ed?

This is one view of the outdoor market.

Some of the clothing. They had silk suits for babies. They were adorable! We went back to our room, and after the sun set, we went to the Hawaiian Celebration for Ed's meeting.

Hawaii - Days Seven and Eight

2010-10-23T20:20:00.000-07:00

Ed had meetings in the AM. We didn't tour this day.
Thursday I took a free bus into Waikiki by myself and found a cute dress, after trying on very many dresses. I discovered that having pancakes for breakfast Every Day is not a good diet to live on.

After Ed's meeting were done we went for the opening of the meeting for NPMA. We were treated to a performance of a young lady who plays the Ukulele in a very unusual way. Her style is playful and she melts different melodies together. Her music was played with a lot of energy. I thought it was interesting that her Uke had 8 strings and made me think of a mandolin, but the two instruments are tuned differently.

Then we went to our room for our afternoon glass of wine. All our dinners will be discussed on my cooking blog.

Hawaii - Day Six

2010-10-23T19:47:00.000-07:00

We went to the Hawaii's Plantation Village. I didn't take any photos. However, we were guided on a tour of the plantation. There were buildings there that represented the housing styles of the different ethnic groups that came to work there.

1. The Chinese were first to arrive in 1852. They had a Chinese Society building for their worship, and had tiny one room houses.
2. In 1868 the Japanese came, lived in a duplex style house, cooked over a fire and added a communal building for making Tofu-Ya. The Japanese adopted Christianity.
3. The Portuguese came in 1878, were already Christian and had a house for cooking with a stove, and house one for sleeping.
4. The Puerto Ricans in 1900, small house.
5. Okinawans came in 1919
6. Koreans in 1919 about this time there was a popular meeting place, the Barber shop. There people would learn what was newsworthy from each other. There was also a communal bath house. It was a large concrete tub that was divided in the middle by a wooden wall, and was housed in a room that was also divided into two spaces, one side for men, and the other for women.

Add later was a dormitory for male filipino workers. There was also a Sumo ring, and a plantation store. The families would earn $9 to $14 per month. They would spend all their earnings at the local store. An infirmary was made about 1915, to care for dental as well as medical problems. Must have been a hard life.

Our guide was very enjoyable and spoke about the variety of cultures that have come to make up the Hawaiian society today.

This was a pretty long tour. We called it a day after the tour.

Hawaii - Fifth day

2010-10-23T17:43:00.000-07:00

We went to Foster's Gardens.
There is a small lizard in this picture.

There were many exotic flowers and plants.

Angel's Trumpet

This colorful bark is the smooth bark of Bagras Eucalyptus tree.

This very strange tree is a cannon ball tree. Sprouts flowers and fruit right from the trunk. The balls are filled with a foul smelling blue pulp that attracts peccaries, pigs, and chickens.

Bread fruit tree that was part of the story of "Mutany on the Bounty" about Captain Cooke. Breadfruit was an important part of the Polynesian Islands diet, and was introduced to Hawaii, not a native species. A carbohydrate, the starchy fruit tastes like fresh baked bread when cooked.

This plant looks like it has huge grapefruit growing in clusters. It has the look and taste of a grapefruit.

This is an Indian Mulberry tree aka Noni, which there is a popular concoction made of this fruit that is said to cure all maladies!

There was a green house full of orchids and related plants that don't have traditional roots, like ferns, staghorn ferns, and bromiliads.

More plants in the green house. I wanted to see the yellow flowers.

After we looked at the plants we got in the car and drove to Pali Highway, that goes over the summit of the mountains that divide the island north and south.
There are always clouds on the mountain. The street names were challenging for us. We had to reference streets like Kalalakua andKanekapolei, Nohonani and Namahana.

This is at Pali Lookout

We went down to the east shore. We drove until we came to Sea Life Park. They had aquariums that you can view from above water, and down under through windows.

This is a sting ray that swam around the perimeter every 10 minutes or so. There was also a small shark that would swim by with the fin out of the water.

This is a pic of Ed photographing the shark! We stayed for the dolphin show. It was enjoyable. Then we hopped in the car and went to watch the water while we ate a snack lunch.

There were lots of tidepools. We tried to find some wild life in the shallow pools, but they were very shy animals.

This is a not so wild surfer near by. They had to surf toward the rocks. I thought they were brave.

Ed did manage to get a quick shot of this crab before it scurried away.

In some areas, the water was pretty rough.

This is near the area called the Blow Hole.

These people were looking down into the area called Blow Hole and there were many people who walked down there to get a closer look. We decided to call it a day.

Hawaii - Sunday, day four

2010-10-21T23:11:00.001-07:00

We had one place to go today. That was the Harbor to catch a boat ride. The boat had a glass bottom, and we were excited to go over the rocky areas to see all the animal life around the reefs. It was a cloudy day, and when we got out to a good turtle feeding area, the Cap'n lifted the wooden cover over the glass bottom. Sadly, the water was turbid, and so we really couldn't see anything out in the water.

We were lucky to see a small group of dolphins. They were a small breed, and they were pretty close to the shore. They didn't stay long around us.

The boat ride was fun, in that it is just kind of fun to be in a boat, with the water rolling the boat.

The Cap'n lost credibility with me when he said that Sea Turtles are Mammals! That was because they breath air and could stay under water a long time. Honestly, I started looking for Gilligan!

From our hotel room we can see (barely) an entertainment program. Near the end of the show, the men come out to dance with the fire. I tried to get some pics of the fire.

These would be fun to see close up. I have a feeling we will see that kind of entertainment.

Hawaii - day three

2010-10-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

My blisters were killing me, so I opted to do more sitting around close to our hotel.

We still had some walking to do though. We had seen a borders book store and wanted to go see what kind of plant and fish books they had. Ed got this shot near our hotel. On our way back from Borders, we scheduled a glass bottom boat ride for Sunday afternoon.

This is one that we took on our way from here to there. We spent the rest of the day on the patio sipping mai tai's and looking at our books.

Hawaii Day 2

2010-10-21T09:56:00.001-07:00

Well, these pics are on the way to the aquarium at the far end of Waikiki. We walked along the beach and took shots of interesting things we saw. We stood on a pier and got these. Then we walked to the Aquarium.

The fish were in a nice cool building. they are so colorful. I like viewing them this way than going under water to see them!

I thought of Paul and his aquarium. It is much easier (I assume) to get the environment for the fish here due to the light and available sea water to exchange.

There were many more interesting fish that we saw.

Outside the aquarium, there were a few sculptures. This one is by Jun Kaneko. It was a thrill for me to put my hand on it, which I couldn't have done at an art museum!

People were surfing and pole surfing, which I had never seen before. They just stand on the boards and paddle around. It looks fun to me, except that if you fall in the water, there will be various fish swimming around you.

This is a canopy of a monkey tree. There are many huge trees.

Rubber tree.

Local bird nest. It was easy to find. I just found the dirty side of a park bench and looked up!

Another sausage tree. Ed and I are so fascinated with all the amazing plants, that we bought a small book to take around so we can identify them.

You know, those house plants that we find so difficult to grow in Idaho.

A look at Hawaii - The first day

2010-10-20T14:26:00.000-07:00

Ed and I are at Waikiki for a Pest Management conference. We are staying at the Ilikai Hotel, which was slated for demolition until the new Hawaii 50 series was proposed for television. It has been remodeled and I guess some scenes are to be filmed there. The Ilikai is a 25 story building that has three wings. You can see them in this pic. There are blue panels on the balconies. We are on the 24th floor.

Here is the view from our room. We can see the artificial lagoon that is part of the Hilton Hotel. We stayed at the Hilton Rainbow tower 23 years ago. The Hilton workers called a strike the day we left Idaho, so the morning of our first day, we were awakened with noisemakers and chanting. Since they were between our building and the Hilton, we heard all the noise. This went on for 5 days. The strike was settled yesterday.

Our first day, we walked to the historical section of down town Honolulu. We saw a lot of interesting trees and plants on the way. Many of the houseplants that we try hard to grow in Idaho, thrive here, and get to be huge specimens. I liked the trunk of this tree.

Many of the plants here are not natives, but thrive because they came from a similar climate, like So. America and Africa.

This is fruit on a huge tree that has flowers that bloom at night and are pollinated by bats. They are Sausage Trees.

This is a Boabab tree. Has similar features as the Sausage.

We walked to the Museum of Modern art. Wow! What a great show they had. Most of the paintings were large and abstract. They had sculpture in stone and metal, and ceramic. It was a treat to spend a couple hours there. My brain reached a level of stimulus overload.

This is a mausoleum. We went to the historic museum of the early missionaries. They brought their Westernized ideas about life, and built traditional houses meant to keep the cold weather out. The structures were not designed for good air flow. It must have bee difficult living in the hot stuffy buildings with layers of long dresses and petticoats! The fire hearth for the kitchen must have made the small kitchen unbearable!
I had blisters on my toes by the end of the first day! Every step became unpleasant! And of course we had more places to walk to, so I spent money on Bandaids and Blister pads!

Thousand Springs Art Festival

2010-09-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

We had wonderful weather at Thousand Springs this weekend! We could get anything from wind, cold blowing rain, to sunny and warm. We were lucky!

We brought sculptures, "build your own" sculptures, garden charms. We also brought saki sets so people could be reminded that I also make functional pottery.

Ed thought we should display the garden charms on the mug tree. He had a good idea, since the couple of charms we hung from the tent frame were harder to see. There was a good turnout to the event, despite the many events scheduled in the Boise area. The women's "race for the cure" was Saturday AM, as well as many pregame events for Boise State Broncos. We talked to many artists who said their sales were down 50% from 2 years ago, due to the economy. Even though we went there to sell and make money, going to an event that raises money (from booth fees) to preserve the historical land around the Snake River. is worth the trouble of going.

Fence Art - Garden Charms

2010-09-18T11:07:00.000-07:00

Charm no. 1
Another way to use sculpture beads.

Charm number 2
Like little sculptures you can hang.

Charm number 3
Some people have said they like my sculptures, but don't have garden space. This gives them another option.

Charm number 4
Looks like a little lantern

Charm number 5
The copper wire will turn brown after a season to contrast with the fence material

Charm number 6
Copper wire implies movement

Fence Art

2010-09-13T09:43:00.001-07:00

My sculptural garden art is also presented two-dimensionally. I call these pieces fence buttons. They hang on a fence or wall, for people who don't have garden space. I have an idea for another
style of art to hang on a fence.

I made large beads that are about 3-4 inches wide and about that tall.

More beads, a more basic shape.

Much smaller beads. The holes in them are for a wire to be passed through them.

These beads are glazed and waiting to be fired.

This is the beginning of a design. The beads are strung on copper wire and curled to keep the beads in place. I will publish the end product in 1 week.

Stellar Rust

2010-09-01T15:26:00.001-07:00

I use an electric kiln for all my work. What that means is that the "fire" won't change the glaze, except to melt it. In contrast, a gas or wood fire kiln can cause serendipitous spots of color on the clay and glaze that the artist has no control of due to the smoky atmosphere in the kiln. In the ceramics lab, we counted on the fire to "save" a not very interesting pot, and sometimes it did. With an electric, what goes wrong is the kiln getting too hot or too cool (a relative term)! These mugs were over fired and the tan glaze became clear and dark brown. Ugh! I experimented with the temperature in the kiln by placing pieces on low shelves and high shelves to find the best temperature to make the glaze look good.

I found that the bottom shelf is the best position for this glaze. This is a sake set I hand built. I can make nice textures when I make pieces from a slab of clay.

This is a canister set that I made and used the same glaze. I am really excited about the finished product!

I made this torso a few years ago but hadn't fired it, because I didn't have a glaze that I thought would compliment the shape. I try not to make figures tan or white, but usually use a color. The glaze effect on this piece is perfect. When I poured the glaze on the piece, the glaze was thicker where it over lapped. The glaze is darker brown where it is thin, and whiter where it was thick. It is the perfect glaze for this sculpture.

Hailey's Antique and Art Show

2010-08-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

I will be bringing functional pieces to the Hailey show. I think they will be a
good compliment to the antiques and other art. This piece is a spoon holder,
or a vase.

Saki Set

Tea set

Underglazes

2010-07-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

2010 Teresa Burnett - Garden Sculpture

This is a glazing technique that I have been using lately. I "print" the texture and patterns on the clay in the slab stage of the process. Then I build each piece from the slab. The colors are put on with a brush and is called underglazing. The colors are vibrant. After I paint on the underglaze and the clay is dry, I bisque fire. Then the final coat of clear glaze is put on and the fire is done to cone 6.

Ketchum Art Festival

2010-07-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

This is a view of our booth at Hailey May 31 weekend. We decided to put our small sculptures on tables, and the larger ones we set on the ground at the corner of the tent. It worked out well. We decided to set our booth up similarly for Ketchum, which was last weekend, July 9-11.
I don't have a photo of the sky at Ketchum, but it gave us very exciting weather. On Friday about 4 pm. it rained hard for about 45 minutes. Many artists art work was at risk of damage from the rain, so many closed up their booths until the water subsided. Saturday was the same at about 2 pm, rain and hail. It was a deluge! We had visitors and so we snacked and had a fun visit. I am very lucky that my art work is weather proof!
I decided to bring less tall sculptures, and more small sculptures to this event due to the economy. I reasoned that people would be more inclined to spend small amounts. However, I sold more tall ones!
Despite the weather, we made a few sales. Two couples each bought two sculptures. One couple took their pieces home and set them up right away. They will get some kind of container to set them in, to hide the bricks. Usually the sculptures are set in a garden and the bricks are put in the ground.
They brought us the photos! It is very gratifying when someone buys my work. It really completes the exercise of art-making!

Boise Flower and Garden Show

2010-04-05T17:19:00.000-07:00

I couldn't attend the Flower and Garden Show without becoming attached to the exotics. What an amazing show by the Orchid Society, and also the Bonsai. I found a tiny oncidium than I hope will survive this dry climate. I also found some cymbidiums, and purchased two tiny ones. We'll see what I can do with them!

These are the taller sculptures that I make. The supports you see are only for display. The sculptures are supported with rebar that is cemented into a 6" concrete half brick with goes in the ground, so the support system is not visible at all.

This is our booth at the Boise Flower and Garden Show. It was fun to meet lots of gardeners. Gave away lots of business cards! Made a few sales. These small sculptures are my "Bread and Butter" of my business, because they are a small investment for someone who is not sure how much or how big an item for their garden.

Pottery in January

2010-01-24T10:38:00.000-08:00

These are my inventory of beads from last year. I have to give my accountant my inventory this year, for tax purposes. The black fabric on the wall is a twin sized sheet that I attached to the wall. I spread the bottom of it out on the floor to do my photography. When I have a small piece, like a tray with goblets, I set them on a small table with a black cloth covering. It is a very good way to make a black background.

These are beads that will stack on a rebar/conduit set up. I will fire these when I am done with the bisque fire today.

Yes I have been working on pottery. I made some trays, wall flower hangings, and sculptures. I am anxious to finish new pieces to take to the gallery.

Paper work

2009-12-17T14:23:00.000-08:00

I hope this season of giving, eating, laughing
brings you much joy!

Two Old People Wrestle Dog!
Every year at Christmas we receive newsletters from our
friends. I love to read them, and this year, as we got our
letter composed, I thought it would be fun to take a picture
with our dog. She is afraid of cameras (who knows why) so
it is a struggle to get her in a picture unless she is asleep.
This is our attempt at coolness!
Our news letters will go out late this year because daughter
April still has our address book. She took it last summer to
copy addresses for wedding invitations.

I have been experiencing an obsession with making Origami
boxes! Once I figured out how to make them, I can't stop!
These are made from gift wrapping paper. I just found some
handmade paper at COST PLUS, and am excited to make
more of them.

Beauty As a Function

2009-12-01T09:02:00.000-08:00

These pieces are going to Brown's Gallery today. I make functional pottery that is unique in its beauty. It is not supposed to look like mass produced pottery that is found in department stores. This Sake/Brandy set is pleasurable to hold, as well as having visual beauty.

This is a wine goblet set that is also going to be in Brown's Gallery for sale.

Post Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T13:06:00.000-08:00

Images Out of Sequence! After Thanksgiving day Paul took these images for me that I can use to sent with my entries for art shows this year. There was discussion about if the photograph is confusing with a grey background or a black. Some organizations prefer a format with black backgrounds only. I don't agree there will be confusion of what is object and what is background, but I'm not the judge!

On Thanksgiving Day, and the day prior, I was busy in the kitchen with preparations for the meal. I didn't take any photos. These are a couple of Paul's of Cooper and Kelly (AKA "the vehicle") Cooper did all the driving!

Cooper is working hard to master balance. Until he can do it himself, an adult has to walk him around! A few times he actually stepped 4-5 steps before his daddy caught him. Cooper was so excited that he screamed and clapped, as did his audience of Mom, Dad, Grammy T and Grampa Ed. Jabez followed him around too. She is anxious for him to be big enough to play. She has played with some neighbor kids, and she knows the potential for fun is in this tiny package of a little boy!

Cooper also enjoys any electronic gadget that has buttons to push. Here, he was writing his Autobiography. In it he tells about how wonderful his Grammys and Grandpas are. His other favorite gadgets include cell phones, tv remote controls, and laptop computers. This is the new generation learning "computer logic" in his infancy!

Cooper is also trying to master feeding himself. I'm sure he'll get better, but for now, even Jabez our dog, got tired of eating Cheerios! There was quite a collection under the table.

At Jolts and Juice in Caldwell on 10th street near Linden, April makes me a white chocolate with mint, soy milk, sugar free and decafe! She always says I take all the good stuff out of the coffee drinks.

Presentation is everything, as they say. Who wouldn't be happy to receive coffee from this smiling face!?

The saga of the 70 mugs to Sidney Australia continues! April allowed me to put up a display in her store to sell the mugs. I am selling them at $10 each. I should at least be able to get a return on my supplies. It was a labor of love regardless of the results. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving too!

70 handbuilt mugs to go to Australia! Just kidding!

2009-11-23T06:48:00.000-08:00

I had an order for 70 mugs. The order came from Sydney Australia.
As emails were sent back and forth I became wary and eventually realized the
order was a scam. A call to the Better Business Bureau of Boise confirmed my
suspicions!

Meanwhile, I have 70 mugs waiting for the final glaze! They will be displayed
and will be for sale through the holidays at Jolts and Juice in Caldwell.
Thanks, April!

This mosaic is for auction in Sun Valley for the yearly
National Alliance on Mental Illness fundraiser.
The closing Gala Reception will be on Sunday, December 13th from 4:00-7:00

This is Bad!!!

2009-10-26T18:59:00.000-07:00

Okay, the leaves lost their green color!!! Doh! This is bad!?!

My mother came to visit. We planned a trip to Utah for Cooper's 1st birthday and his Baptism. Before we went, we had a couple of days to visit. We made these place mats with some fabric I had for some pillows I never made. We put the fabric to good use.

Daughters Erin and April came to Utah with my Mom and I, for Cooper's B-day.

The Birthday Boy and his daddy. Sorry, I was so excited, that all my photos are blurry. You can see more pics of Cooper's big day on his parents blog.

Ed went out of town Saturday, (Oct. 24) for a whole week, and I went shopping! I found this cast iron tea pot (with enamel coating inside) at Ross, for $2.99!!! I don't drink much tea, but at that price, how could I not? When I got home I re-examined the sales slip, to congratulate my great deal. OMG, the sales slip said "$21.99!!!?" Wait that's funny,(WTF)!

As you can see, I have been trying to find the right tea. I'm committed now! I must find a use for this new tea pot! Oh, and I MUST have my glasses on my nose so I can correctly read the fine print. Sucks to get old.

2009-09-18T17:55:00.000-07:00

This is our winter garden that we planted 10 days ago. We planted seeds of Arugula, Spinach, lettuce,White and red Raddishes and Swiss chard. I know that the lettuce will be okay for most of the winter. We hope to harvest some raddishes before it gets too cold for them to grow.

Raddishes

I have entered a local art show in October, and will finally get to show my sculpture, "a boxful of pre-memories.

These are some beads for my "build your own" sculptures for Thousand Springs Art Festival Sept 26-27. This will be our last show this year. We went to two other shows this year, but I had 15 sculptures at the Initial Point Gallery in Meridian City Hall building in June.

2009 Garden

2009-08-31T18:43:00.000-07:00

This is a blossom on the butterfly bush. The flowers are really a little bluer. I love the orange center with the light purple. And I wish you could smell these flowers...So sweet!

I've heard a lot about "square foot gardening" this year. You make small manageable 1 foot square plots and plant them with different seeds. We are looking forward to next year's season and we are going to plant vegetables in each of these tubs that we had left after April and Zach's wedding. Ed started to rearrange some plantings that we already had there and found a large bone in one of the tubs.

This is Jabez with her bone.

When my mom was here in July, we made chokecherry jelly from the trees in my yard. That really gave me incentive to make more jam. I made plum jam, and plum/pineapple jam.

We planted two Asian Pear trees last year (2008) in the Spring. This year they set fruit which was a surprize to us. They are sweet, crisp, and juicy!

This tree had to be propped up because the fruit is too heavy for the thin branches. Below is an experiment. We planted fennel seeds. I have a lot of recipes that call for fennel bulbs. I know you can get them at the store, but these are easily grown.

Last Fling of the Summer

2009-08-23T15:05:00.001-07:00

These are out of sequence, but I wanted to have one picture showing that the firewood I tried to pick up was "too much attached"!

Fly fisherman, Ed and his gear, which includes a custom made fish net that my son Paul and I gave Ed for Xmas last year.

Well, Ed and Jabez (dog) and I went camping this weekend for one last fling of the summer. Ed needed to get in some premium float tube time. This photo was to show the lake we stayed near, and the many mountain ranges behind it.

Jabez and I wandered the hillsides exploring. There are many tall, bare trees where we go camping, and also many mossy covered trees.

The fall colors were out, as well as the usual summer annuals, mostly lupine.

There is a dragonfly in the center of this shot, but I was really interested in the pattern of light in the water.

Here is Jabez content. She had at least 5 walks a day!

This is what one looks like after fly fishing!

The danger of mistaking a cooking aid for bug repellant is shown here. After a while we just got used to saying things like, "Are the eggs sticking to the pan? Just put a little bug spray on it!

We were on top of the world. We were at the crests of all the mountains. It was a beautiful weekend.

The lake, as viewed from our camp spot.

2009-08-13T17:21:00.000-07:00

I am getting pieces ready for the 1000 Springs art festival the last weekend in September. The process starts with making slabs of clay and texturing them. Then shapes are cut from patterns that are made from plastic containers.

The cut shapes are made three dimensional by joining the sides. For these conical shapes, a circle was cut, then in half. Joining the sides gives the pieces strength to stand up. In this position the pieces can dry a little before putting two pieces together.

When the pieces are pretty firm, but not quite "leather hard," I cut a hole in the top and bottom of each piece, and I adjust the top and bottom where it was cut, to make it level so the pieces will stack straight.

When the pieces are dry, they are loaded into the kiln. The purple flower you see is a white clay that has a lavender underglaze on it.

These pieces have been bisque fired already. The final phase is glazing the pieces and putting them in the kiln for the final fire. Then the pieces will be packed up and set up at the art fest in September!

Corn Tomato Salsa

2009-08-09T16:18:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe that I found in the newspaper. It is a recipe for corn and tomato salsa and is really good. I hope you can click on the image to see it better. If you don't have a grill going, you can by pass the roasting of the corn and tomatoes. What I did is cut the corn off the cob, and stir it in a skillet with olive oil. Then I added the other ingredients. I used scallions instead of an onion.

My mom was here for April and Zach's wedding, and we made choke cherry jam. It was good! Today I made a very small batch of apricot, pineapple, cantalope jam. I put all the fruit in the food processor and added about 3.5 cups of sugar, because I had about 5 cups of blended fruit. It is so good! I hope you are inspired!

Chinook: Information from Answers.com

2009-08-08T19:57:00.001-07:00

Chinook: Information from Answers.com

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We just watched the movie "The truth about cats and dogs" We thought the dog looked just like Jabez, only 20 lbs heavier/bigger. We went on line to find a breed like Jabez. Here is what we found!

2009-08-05T09:03:00.000-07:00

This summer flower has tiny purple blossoms and wide thick leaves. I'm not sure what it is called but it reminds me of a lavender straw flower, but those are actually much different.
Yes, you can see one moon vine (weed) blossom. Nothing kills those!

Summer flowers in the perennial garden -bove, Gloriosa daisies
below hardy hibiscus

What is faster than a hummingbird? watch the video and imagine a hummingbird trying to feed on the trumpet vine. We sat outside and watched the high, dark clouds in the sky two nights ago. We have been having hot dry weather with heat lightening. There are several grass fires around as a result of lightening strikes.

Jabez is my camera shy dog. It is hard to get a picture of her!

Bathroom done, Wedding done, Web site done!

2009-07-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

4th of July weekend was family time. Paul came to scope out the wedding venue for good photo ops. In these pics, Cooper (the exceptional grand child) woke from a nap but didn't seem finished with it. So Dad rocked him for a little longer.

Turns out that Cooper broke out in a fine rash a couple days after they went home. So he wasn't feeling his best when he was here.

You remember the bathroom project that had the deadline of July 27 (wedding date)? Well, here is the finished product. The first image is the floor. The floor is small and I wanted to show off the feature tiles. This is what we came up with. Outlined the 20" floor tiles with the detail tiles. Looks great!

The next wonderful transformation is the tub surround. I am very happy with the end product! We have shelves, 13" tiles set vertical/horizontal with a band of vertically set smaller tiles and featuring the detail tiles. It is beautiful!

The vanity has a marble top, three drawers and the little shelves on the side. I didn't want a large boxy vanity. It makes it appear that the bathroom is larger than it is. The base board is 4"x13" tiles (not shown). All this done to accomodate out of town guests for the wedding.

The wedding went of with out a hitch, thanks to many volunteers. No kidding, there were at least 40 volunteers that helped to pull this event off. More pictures on that next blog!
Finally, the www.tmbceramics.com web site is up and running. take a look, it is wonderful!

Another Remodel Project

2009-06-20T13:25:00.001-07:00

4.5 weeks until the wedding. The colors are olive, champagne, and ivory. The bride will carry red roses. This is one of the bridesmaid's dresses.

These tiles are feature pieces that will be worked into the design of larger tiles to finish the tub surround and the floor. We are sprucing up the bathroom and also painting the doors in the hallway since we expect company for the wedding. Our future Son-in-law, Zach Heim, will do the construction and the tile work. His specialty is tile.

The bathtub was Harvest Gold. Remember that? I painted it white 8 years ago, and finally it is time redo the whole bathroom. This tub is white. The new sink will be white also and the counter top of the vanity will be a yellow-cream stone. It looks like a sedimentary stone material.

This is a new vanity for our bathroom. Zach removed the old tub, and vanity/sink and patched the walls, filled the holes, and re-textured. I always tell my family that I'm not a painter, but they still ask me to do it. I painted the room. When I was done I realized that the color is the same as my bedroom!
I hope on the next post that I will be giving you my new web address. It is almost ready!

New Sculptures

2009-05-27T18:54:00.001-07:00

This is a sculpture about pre-memory. It is about babies earliest experiences that teaches them about their bodies and environment, and experiences that shape one's life even in adulthood. But there is no memory of the actual experiences that have had a huge impact on their lives. There are 47 shoes, the laces represent the memories not grasped. The box is also made of ceramic.

These sculptures are "Wild Flowers." I know these are not the best way to get photos of these, but at the installation, I discovered my camera had no memory card in it.

Some of the 15 sculptures I made for the Initial Point Gallery on the 3rd floor of Meridian City Hall.

These are bases that I made to support the sculptures I took to the Meridian City Hall. The sculptures will be on display for the month of June.

These are some new sculptures that I made.

May was a busy month!

2009-05-27T18:04:00.001-07:00

I cleaned my studio last week and found this sculpture that I made in school. Circa 1997

Russell Lupine

Colombine

Geum (red)

Pyrethrum Daisies

All in a day's work

2009-04-29T17:13:00.000-07:00

Apple Pita sandwiches are my favorite meal when Ed is out of town. I had to make my own pita bread, as the store didn't have whole wheat pocket bread.
Great pocket to fill!
The ingredients are easy. Provalone, sliced apples, lettuce, and a spread with mayo, mustard, and honey.
Dessert - fresh sliced pineapple - MM!
I also made oatmeal cookies today, but didn't photograph them.

Work inProgress

2009-04-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

I have been working most days in my studio. These are pieces ready to fire inside my kiln. The blocks laying on their sides are to support the pieces that are top heavy.

These are drying and will be put in the kiln on shelves stacked on top of the other pieces.

These are parts of a project I am working on. They have been through the final fire.

We planted two Asian pears last year. This year looks like we could get some fruit.

We had two days of 85 degree weather here. The warm air beckoned us outdoors. We did quite a bit of gardening, mostly clearing out the quack grass that wants to grow on what was previously our lawn.

The blossoms on this plum are sweetly fragrant.

Getting The Work Done

2009-03-25T06:45:00.000-07:00

It is pre-season for art shows. What I do this time of year is get ready. That includes applying for art shows, and photographing artwork. Since this is tax time, my husband/grunt/manager did a study that showed us which events are the most beneficial to my business. We discovered that the weekly market that we have attended for 5 years, may not be time that well spent. I am required to be away from the studio for one day, which affects production. We decided that this year I would be better prepared at shows if I have one more day in the studio. Getting ready also includes some things that I don't enjoy that much, like computer-time to complete on-line applications and reviewing articles that I subscribe to.

I also exercise before I start working in clay. I am walking three miles a day on the treadmill. It helps my back and shoulders, and I follow that regimin with exercises designed to strengthen my upper back. This helps prevent stiffness and achiness after a day in the studio.

2009-03-04T11:10:00.000-08:00

Back to Work!

Here it is, first of March. I am just now getting back into the studio. I don't work in the studio during the holidays, and we have been out of town a few weekends to see the most beautiful baby in Utah.
Our favorite grandson's name is Cooper Edward Burnett, 1st son of Paul and Kelly Burnett. He is a sweet little baby whose parents take very good care of him.

I have three goals for this Spring. Get ready for an installation in Meridian at the Initial Point Gallery at the City Hall at the end of May, and through June. Then we begin Saturday Market in Eagle the beginning of May through October. Our first show is in Haily Idaho on Memorial day weekend.

And in July, my daughter April's wedding to Zach Heim. I am making her party favors,at her request, I'm not trying to take control of the wedding! There will be 300 espresso cups, which will hold chocolate covered coffee beans.

That is significant because April manages the Jolts and Juice Coffee Shop in Caldwell. You can look to a previous blog to view an article about that.

A New Year

2009-01-09T14:05:00.000-08:00

The Holidays are always hectic, and ours is no exception. We had a small remodel project to finish, and we had company over for a Christmas party for Ed's company. On the day of Christmas Eve, I made lefse which is a thin soft griddle-fried bread from Norway. It is similar to tortillas. I learned to make it when I was growing up. As a child, I was interested in my roots. The only tradition I remember about my mother's family is Lefse. My cousins had leutfisk one year for Christmas, and they decided they didn't care that much for Norway's traditions. Anyway, I boiled potatoes, mashed them, and mixed in flour and a few other ingredients, rolled them out till they were very thin and fried them on a dry griddle. No oil. I love this food!

This is the Closet/pantry we put in place of the fireplace that we never used. Why we waited 22 years to do this project, I'm not sure. It was probably the fact that our son Paul, who helped ED had to grow up and learn how to do a little construction, including taking the old fireplace unit out, frame and sheetrock the new room. We also didn't realize how helpful gravity was going to be in removing the chimney pipe! We are very happy with the final result! A new coat of paint and light fixture really made a difference too. Under the table is our best friend Jabez, the dog who adopted our daughter April 4 years ago. You can look at my earlier blog to appreciate the change. Now I can move my "Cooper Shrine" off my refrigerator and onto all that empty wall space. For those of you who don't know, Cooper Edward Burnett, born Oct 12 2008, is our first grand child. More on him later!

The purpose of my blog is to show you my art. I am selling ceramic coffee cups at April's store, Jolts and Juice Company in Caldwell.
My philosophy regarding my mugs is that you should understand that they are not made with any machinery. Each mug has been handled many times in the process of making them, from the slab of clay to the finished product. I like the texture, and I think that when you look at the mugs you are drawn to touch them. I also like the bright colors that I put on them and inside them. I spoke with a woman this summer who was replacing her mug that just broke. This mug she had, she drank coffee from for 20 years! Just think how it becomes part of a daily ritual. I think a mug should feel good in your hands, have a pleasant surface.

Shoji Hamada, named a National Treasure of Japan, was a modern potter in the 1930's and for the rest of his lifetime. He had an idea that bringing back to his country hand made pottery was a way to resurrect the culture of his people. At the time, products for daily use were being stamped out by machines, and were cheap. The potteries across the countrysides in Japan were closing down due to interest in cheaper products, that were all the same. He taught the value of a beautiful object that is used in every day life. That is what I want my art to be. Each piece is an individual, one that can be recognized from the rest, and one that is an intimate part of daily life.

Early Winter

2008-12-19T20:25:00.000-08:00

I took a drive to Caldwell today to see daughter April. Between Nampa and Caldwell I took a few pics of the landscape. We had light snow in the valley which fell mostly in the mountains. The fields are plowed and resting now. The sun is bright when it shines, and only lasts 8 hours now.

This is April's store, Jolts and Juice. They serve coffe and smoothies, as per the sign below. The coffee is roasted by their company, and they are careful to buy beans that have not had chemicals added to them. Some of the Baristas are nationally certified. The coffee shop is very roomy, decorated in a fun way, and is a great place for groups of people to meet, or for an individual to sit and read while sipping a great cup of Joe.

Johannah is the young lady on the left and April is on the right. Above is a cup of latte that had the cream sculpted. On the way home I was able to snap a few shots of Lake Lowell, a man-made reservoir in the Nampa-Caldwell area. There are a variety of wildlife there and it is a refuge for migrating birds such as Canada geese, white pelicans, ducks, eagles and hawks. It is also a recreational area.

At home the gardens are looking tired and cold. We don't visit them now due to the cold temperatures and dampness. Here are a few images of some garden sculptures that I made.

Time to go inside the house now. Sweet Salmon Stirfry for dinner!

A Big Change

2008-12-14T15:04:00.000-08:00

The first project in the house after Christmas, will be to paint a new closet that replaced an old fireplace that sucked all the warm air out of this dining room, off the kitchen. Ed and Paul pulled the old fireplace out the day after Thanksgiving. It was a big dirty project! But this is a very nice addition for kitchen storage. Now I have a place to store my bread maker, roaster, vacuum cleaner and things that I use frequently. Ed and Paul installed a pocket door and we are going to put in shelving on one side and put taller items on the other side. Our house was built back in the 70's when mortgage interests were running 11%+. The builders made a lot of short cuts at that time to save money.

Garden Sculptures

2008-12-10T12:56:00.000-08:00

These are sculptures that I made to be out in a garden setting. They are made of beads that are stacked on top of each other supported by a rebar and conduit. All my a rt work is made from a

slab of clay that I texture and shape by hand.

I became a grandmother on Oct. 12, 2008. Cooper Edward Burnett is a beautiful baby who is welcomed into the world by many loving hands! Cooper is a "project" that I anticipate will take us to Utah pretty often this coming year. I am very happy and satisfied to be a grandmother! Above is the new family, Kelly, Paul and Cooper Burnett.

Clean Hands!

2008-12-10T11:58:00.000-08:00

Until the Holidays are over, I will have clean hands. I have completed all the shows for the year and life has settled down. Presently I have coffee mugs for sale at Jolts and Juice Company in Caldwell Idaho. In January I will be creating a plan for the year 2010, exploring ideas for designing and glazing