Kat the hat lady

Hey Kat. Thanks for coming on in. I love all your sites and I think you're talent is huge. Welcome!

Welcome

Sheryl has joined the ongoing tales of another day on earth. Thank you Sheryl and welcome. You are appreciated.

hello Amy

Hello Amy and thanks for coming on board. I love meeting new folks and I try to keep busy with interesting things. I appreciate your interest.

Tuesday

Tuesday turned out to be a good day in the mountains. There is nothing like the big beautiful trees, running rivers, and huge beautiful rocks to make me feel really good. This pic was taken at the Cades Cove Picnic area where 4 deer were having their lunch while the rest of us gawked and savored the moments. I find my spirit refreshed every time I go to the mountains. Sometimes I wish I could live there. The Cades Cove area is part of the Great Smoky Mountains national park and includes many original churches with burial grounds, original log cabins and large numbers of beautiful animals. If you can make it to Knoxville, Tn, the Smokies are less than an hour away. Anytime you want to have your spirit uplifted, the mountains are waiting.

Misty

Welcome to Misty from MISTY'S CREATIONS and ART GEKKO STUDIO. I appreciate your interest and I welcome such an artist. I love Sketch. But I think he would like Tennessee better than New York. Thanks for joining.

Nothing Like It

The artist from Nothing Like It has joined the blog much to my great pleasure. Her site is cram packed with funny and interesting things and is a great joy to visit. Thank you Robin for your support. I must admit your ideas are very stimulating and I love your site.

Tallulah-Belle

Thanks for joining my blog. I am very new to the blog scene but isn't it fun. I am glad you chose to move to the US. I have noticed that the miniature world is quite popular in England. You have both worlds to look to. Aren't you lucky? Anyway, the sculpting I am doing is pretty new. More will be posted later. Again thanks.

Katy

Katy has joined my small army of followers. Buenos dias Katerina y bienvenidos a mi blog. No hablo Espanol pero yo entiendo un poco. Gracias a usted por su tiempo.

Did it again

http://www.backgroundfairy.com

I love the wonderful backgrounds available here. This is a totally terrific site.

Photo, need practice

On Sunday I had put enough clay on Winifred to take photos. I am not, I repeat Not, a photographer. Guess I'll have to learn. Anyway, I had a ball working on the piece so far. Her name is Winifred Wombleford. And I have even concocted a short rhyme about her which I will show when she is finished. One of my problems magically disappeared and it is all due to the wonderful tutorials I have found online. I am so grateful not to have to go out and buy a $20 book everytime I can't figure out how to do something. For much of the piece I have been winging it. Since I don't have Jodi here, I just went for it myself. I wish Jodi lived here. Anyway, she started to take on a life. Then it was hard to put down. So I worked till I started making mistakes and quit for the night.

Yesterday I took a mental health day. Actually some sort of flu I think. Dizzy and not hungry, rare for me. Hot and cold in turn. Today I am recovered with a few chores and then back to the clay. Hallelujah! I have trouble doing anything else when I am working with the clay. Such as hearing when someone asks a question. Oh well! Too bad!

I am also organizing my STUDIO. I say it that way because I want to begin to think of myself as an artist, not just a crafter. The room has always been a craft room. Well, If I am going to be an artist, I need a studio. I am even planning to make a plaque that says studio. One of the things that holds me back from doing things is not being able to do them as well as I would like. But, being in touch with some master artists such as my fellow bloggers has gotten me to take more chances and I have a much better attitude now.

I want to thank all of the artists who commented on my blog. Each of the comments is taken to heart and treasured. You have made me feel wonderful.

I am posting 2 pics, not so good ones, with first the wire and foil and then the clay. I would love to have you see what I am working on. Someday I will have a backlog of items, a store, a website, and followers as you all do. But for now I am satisfied that I have a figure to work on.

This is why

I have been trying to become better at my art for a number of reasons. One is so that I don't become insane. Another is pictured here. Her name is Marlee. She is my youngest daughter's daughter. I really want to give her and the other grandchildren a Grammy that they can point to with pride. And by becoming the best artist I can be, maybe I can achieve that goal.

Easter is coming soon and Happy Easter to EVERYONE. I see it as a time of beginnings as well as endings. The beauty that is our world is becoming more obvious with each day. And looking outside is such a joy when Spring comes. The beginning of the growing season is an age old happy time. I have mentioned gratitude before but at this time it is more important than ever. There are so many problems being dealt with in our world today that gratitude is a needed option for everyone. The wonderful things life has given me make me ever more open to input from the world and all of the artists I see. I don't believe just putting pretty things on canvas or paper makes an artist. Some people are artists at life. They are able to create joy and give to others without a pencil or brush. Since that is another form of art in my estimation, I would like to give thanks for all of the art in the world, including those who make life so special. Again--HAPPY EASTER

Today, I will

Today I will finally do all of the things I have promised myself to do.

Now that you have stopped laughing, we will get down to reality. I have been so impressed by blogs such as that by Joyce Stahl, Mealy Monster Land, Pumpkinrot.com, and of course the Creagers, that I am anxious to make some figures in clay. I have done a couple of switchplates, brooches and other flat things. They have helped me know a bit about how to handle the clay itself. And of course, I have had to learn the baking technique. How to handle baking without burning. I admit to having burned one guy's butt badly enough that I had to amputate. Not having a butt makes sitting difficult so I pitched him.

One of the things I have found is that some of the clays I have are quite hard and I don't like working with them. Some are soft and I am not sure I like them either. So I am trying to learn to mix them or at least not fingerprint the soft ones. Also I finally figured out that I need work on the eyeballs. I can't afford glass eyes at this point and many artists paint eyes beautifully so I will work on that with any creatures I can make. But today is armatures.

About 10 or more years ago I was doing a bit of clay work using Maureen Carlson's book about wee folk. I loved the figures and enjoyed the work. But I have not gotten as good at faces and digits as before. It is amazing how it's possible to forget. By the way, I don't think I could ride a bicycle now either. But anyway, I am going to take inspiration from all of the wonderful artists I have seen and try to do some faces that reflect my own vision. That is the problem with using another artist's work as inspiration. It is hard to know where their vision ends and mine begins. As I would eventually like to get good enough to sell my work, I will try not to overtly copy anyone else's style. It I do, any artist may feel free to contact me about it and I will withdraw any work which offends. In the meantime, please send good thoughts to me for my learning process.

Since I and my honey still have no income, I will be trying to improvise on things I would normally buy to work with my clay things. I have decided that, rather than complaining about it, I will take this as a challenge. At night when I am waiting to sleep, I find myself designing and figuring out how to make things. And in the morning I sometimes remember some of the ideas. Now I have a notebook for those ideas and sketches. Alas, I am also quite rusty on sketching. Another thing to work on. But whooptidoo. I will enjoy practicing. Anyway, thanks to all of you wonderful artists who have posted beautiful and interesting work to inspire all of the rest of us.