Getting Back in the Swing of Things

 I was in a pretty bad funk for the last couple of months, what with being laid off from my job at the end of October, and even though I have found a job since, that experience really put me out of the creative mode for a while.

I did manage to finish this little acrylic painting. It doesn't look nearly as vibrant and lovely on the blog as in person. I loved painting those poppies,though. Whenever I just don't know what to paint, I paint a poppy, and that seems to put me in just the right mood.

I also have a ton of porcelain pendant and earring pieces sitting around, waiting to be fired. I know, shame on me! I should absolutely get these into the kiln. I don't have an excuse. I just keep getting sidetracked.  I think there may be something like 40 pairs of earrings here. 

I used a really fun technique on these porcelain pieces called monoprinting.  It's easy, but sounds complicated.  I painted colored slips and underglazes on newsprint, then laid the newsprint on top of a rolled out slab of porcelain. I lift the newsprint after the clay  becomes leather hard, and the colored slips have transfered to the slab.



I had a bug on to get my watercolors out and this little pirate popped up.

I think it would be a fun addition to a kids room, or maybe a birthday card. I have aspirations for making prints, but honestly, I love making the originals, and fussing around with making prints seems boring. I do need to make good use of my Epson printer, so I suppose prints will soon be in my future.

Here's a closeup of the little monkey. I think he came out cute!

I had a wonderful opportunity present itself to me. I , along with several other artists, was invited to participate in a new book coming out about creating soft dolls.  I'm really excited to be a part of it and especially since one of my favorite doll makers , Mimi Kirchner, is also participating.

It won't come out until next year, but there's a lot to do in the next few weeks, so I'll be super busy.