CERAMICS 101

I thought I would share with the
ones I love my artistic flare in Ceramics.

Now, please notice that this blog is for the ones I love

and the ones that love ME!

I am laying myself wide open for critique as I show you

my wonderful

(and maybe one awful)

creations!

SOOOOO! Be gentle!

I must warn you that I have taken

photographic licence here in order to show

my artistic flare in Ceramics in the best possible light.

YES....

I have paired my creations with the Great Creator's creations

in order to maximize the beauty of the photograph!

This is a photo of my first project......I call it.......

"The Bowl"

This is a tear drop inspired designer bowl. When I saw it, I was drawn to it's shape. It seemed to lend itself well to a St. Patrick's Day theme, so I used the shades of that day to apply my well thought out design to it's plain unadorned surface.

Alright!....the gal, Sandy, that let's me come to Ceramics gave me two shades of green paint, a toothbrush and a shamrock sponge and said, "Spatter the green paint as you want and then do some sponge painting." It was my idea where to place the sponge and how much to spatter...or is it splatter!! Nevertheless, it was rather tricky to run your thumb over the toothbrush and get the desired look you wanted. I must tell you that my shirt and vest that I wore that night had a very St. Patrick's Day theme too!

This shows "The Bowl" from another angle...kinda! You will see I added a painted rim around the edge to personalize it. That was my idea!

Now for my second finished project which I actually started first! I lovingly call it...

"The Bud Vase"

pictured here on Ron's tractor seat,(which is, in itself, a work of art)

with "The Bowl"

I am quite enjoying this as it holds something that I am very fond of

...a flower...

made by the Master Artist!

But...back to "The Bowl". I find this piece to be functional as well. It is a perfect size for a 7 point breakfast (that's Weight Watchers talk)...2 cups of cereal, usually Cheerios, 2 T. raisons and 1 cup of skim milk...that gets me through to about 10am.

And finally, my very favourite, very functional, and first ceramic projects together!

Now...you might think that this is the end...but I have saved the worst for last....remember the "awful" I mentioned at the beginning...well, here it is. But even VanGo {sp?} made some awful, hideous artwork, and you know the rest of that story!

This is my latest project. It was almost my last! But I have decided that whenever you learn something new, you should always end it on a good note. What I saw in my mind is not quite how this turned out. Although the gone wrong plate is growing on me. I think with some well placed cookies it would be functional...but only for serving cookies to people who love me, as eventually those cookies will be gone and the plate laid bare for everyone to see.

I do have some more projects in mind. It will probably involve a toothbrush and a shaped sponge.

I am taking orders. I only do vases and bowls, so put in your orders loved ones.

LET THE ARTISTRY BEGIN!

RDR Critters

You would think with a few head of cattle named Angus,

and a couple horses named Zane and Bucko,

and two dogs named Sam and Ty

and a cat named Oi-ringe

(spelled correctly, pronounced as it reads)

that Pam would have enough animals on the place,

but...

NO WAY!

Let's get some more!

Pam has added to the critter population around here.

I thought you would like to meet them.

I will introduce from largest to smallest!

We were over to Hermiston last month to visit the bulls at the feedlot and took a side trip to visit Shelley's(a friend) family ranch. They had all kinds of critters there...sheep, cattle, dogs,

and HORSES!

Lots of horses.

Shelley's Dad said to back up the trailer and he would load it up with

colts and fillies for us to take home...no problem...no charge!

I think he was tired of feeding all these about 2 year olds!

When Pam caught a glimpse of this gelding,

she thought maybe this was the one she had been seeking!

Then after visiting with Shelley's Mom about the price, she definitely thought this was the horsey for her! Pam went back to the corral and discussed it with the colt and he said...

"Yeah! Get me outta of this joint!

Take me where the grass is always green and plentiful,

the sun is warm upon my back,

and the rains falls gently!"

So, with that said, we loaded him up and brought him home to the valley! I named him "Harley"...just because I have always thought somewhere in my head, that it was a good name for a horse! Now Pam can tell folks that she bought a "Harley", and their eyeballs almost pop out of their heads..."YOU WHAT?"

While we were on this trip to Hermiston, Shelley told us that her dog, a border collie like Sam and Ty, had just that morning given birth to 4 puppies...she named them Martin, Luther, King, and Junior. The puppies were born on his birthday.

Pam and I went and visited the puppies two weeks ago.

We liked "Junior" best...plus he was an available male! So yesterday, on Bull Session day, the little puppy was delivered to us.

Now, about his name! We wanted to pick our own name.

So, being the creative thinker that I am, and thinking long and creatively I came up with the name.

Since he was born on Martin Luther King Junior day, and every city in America has a street named after him with "Boulevard" after it, I decided that "Boulevard" would be a great name for this new little guy. Then, I decided that "Boulie" would be a great nickname for him. AND THEN...he was delivered to a "boule" ranch on "boule" session day...SSSOOOO! "Boulie" it is!

And here he is!

He is a rolly polly cute as can be, little guy, but we know how quickly that will change. Sam has already let him know that Boulie is not to bother him in any way at all! Ty is like the big brother, standing proudly over the pup! I am sure he will teach all his bad habits to the new pup on the block.

Now, I am sure you have noticed that this pup is mainly white with two black patches over his eyes. White anything on a ranch can be high maintenance. But, since he is Pam's dog, that is not really my problem. I have been told that Boulie is Pam's dog and I am not to bond with him, breathe into his nostrels, touch him, talk to him in puppy talk, and generally not be a "Mommy" surrogate to him. This is very difficult indeed! Everyone knows how loveable a puppy is.

There are good points to that.

Pam must clean up after her puppy,

discipline her puppy,

wash her puppy,

and feed her puppy!

Aaahhh! You gotta love a baby!

You gotta love a puppy!

You gotta love it when it is someone else's puppy!

Just what we needed here on the ranch...more critters!