Posy Vases

This two posy vases were an experiment than turned out very well. They are fired cone 10 and painted with comercial glazes. Before these vases I didn't like that my clay always turned light gray when fired cone 10. I discover that if I want my clay to remain white, I have two options: fired cone 10 electric or change Loafers Glory (my clay) to porcelain.

At the studio they don't fired electric or work with porcelain, so if I want to have the background really white, I have to go somewhere else. Which is not the end of the world, but I am used to fire my pieces in one place, plus it will required me to transport pieces, etc.

So, i made this two small vases, and use different colors to paint them. As you can see, the background is not white, but the light gray is not disturbing either. I asked my classmates and no one were even thinking that the background must be white. I believe I over think way to much and make big problems were there are none.

This two little vases are helping me in more ways than just testing colors.

Juguemos Mundo! / Le's play Hopscotch!

Here they are, the tiles are ready, and I like them a lot. The colors turned out just as I wanted, the sized of the tiles reduced a little more than I expected, but overall, they look great.

The next step was to decided how to display them, I run out of time and went to Michaels and let them framed them individually. I was not happy with their solution of gluing them on cardboard. I have been doing a lot of research on how to frame them and or how to display them.

The best display for me, the one I would like is out of my budget. Arts and Craft frame design, beautiful! I  had also found some ideas, tiles on metal slabs attached to a piece of wood, tiles just attached to wood. Oh my! there are a lot of ideas out there, the bad thing is that I am not good cutting wood or metal, even more, I look at those tools and run on the opposite direction, hahaha, they terrified me.

Anyway, if you have any other idea, let me know.

 

oh, and, I am trying to have more Likes on my Facebook Page, Barro y Arena by Monica Guerreroso if you like my work, please consider go to my page and like the page. Thank you!

Juguemos Mundo! Let's play Hopscotch!

This is my latest project, it is still and idea and don't know exactly how it will turn out. Hopefully they will look just like the cups, with a lot of colors and like a cartoon. I still have to figure it out how to frame it once is done. The ladies at the studio gave a lot of ideas, now I just have to pick one, easier to say than do.

The idea of this design is as you can imagine my beautiful niece Bella, she just learn to play hopscotch, she is 3 years old and she can not quite jump as it supposed to be, she jumps with 2 feet, but I can see her playing this game a lot in the future. The dog is Reyna, my ant's rat terrier,  she looooves to play with Bella, well, she looooves to be the center of attention, hahaha.

A have been told that these tiles look like a children book, maybe there is an idea right there, the only problem is that I am terrible with Photoshop, how will I do it without it? I can add more traditional games in the story, jacks, rope, Chinese rope... hummm, so many ideas, so little time.

What do you think? did you play these games?

More cups

Here are the cups, they are finally ready. It took me forever, probably because I can only work on them at the studio. I don't have really anything here at my house. Just a table and a chair. No wheel, no kiln, no glazes. Hopefully my husband will work on the patio sometime soon and have a wheel there, we need electricity and a screen. If you have live in Florida, you will know that a screen is a must if you want to spend hours outside. The mosquito here are the vicious, and even when they don't like me as much as they like my mom, cousin and sister still bother me way to much.

Anyway here are the new cups, I made two cups for lovers and two for mothers. I hope people will like them.

Florida Summer Cups

Wow! I just noticed that my last post was in August, time really flies, I keep saying that but it is so true. I always feel behind, so much to do, so little time. I think is me, that I don't organize my time they way I should.
Anyway, news, I have been busy making cups, actually I have sold some, a complete record for me, that I don't usually sell my pieces so fast. Apparently everybody loves the Florida Summer cups, and I can't keep up, I work really slow, but I am trying my best. I made four more because I sold the previous two and again, just taking them out of the kiln I sold another one, so I only had three to photograph, then I sold another cup. Now of course, I am making more. 

 

The latest four are being to be ready to glaze on Monday, here they are in greenware. I made two birds in love, and two parents and baby birds, to see how is the response. What do you think?

 

Conejitos / Bunnies

I tried some new design on my last 2 cups, bunnies! I used blue underglaze instead of black and once they were fired I just covered completely with blue celadon glaze. Which was much more faster than coloring every single thing of the cup and then glazing it. However, i do enjoy the bright colors of the birds, I will try some new design with colors.

Also I have to say that I am still learning with this mishima technique, I had learn in the past that if I add a little of slip to the underglazes they will not run or bleed on the cone 6 kiln. However the color will not be as bright as it were without the slip. I have also learned just a couple days ago thanks to Diana Feyt video on Creativebug is that if I water down the glaze it will not run either, I should have know that since I water down the underglazes when I colored my birds, I was thinking only on a watercolor effect though.

The second thing I have leaned is that she recommended to use a natural sponge, I have yet to try that, I have to buy one first. I will tell you if I feel a big difference or not.

Anyhow, here they are, tell me what do you think, any suggestions and comments are very welcome.

Vermillion Flycatcher Cup 2 / Taza Turtupilin 2

Here is the second cup. What do you think?  Maybe I should also do a Teapot...

Vermillion Flycatcher Cup 1

As I said before, I am making cups, trying different things with them. . . and of course I like birds. This is cup with two vermillion flycatchers, I am a bit obsessed with them. In Lima we call him "Turtupilin", this bird has many names, it is also called "putilla", "mosquero", "mosquero sangretoro", "mosquero cardenal", and many more, I like turtupilin, sounds good too me. I miss it, there are not vermillion flycatchers or Turtupilines in Florida.

Perhaps the thing that I like most is the black mark around its eyes, is like they are wearing an eye mask, I find the raccoons also  incredible cute. I should draw them as well.

I draw two turtupilines, as a way of practice, I like mishima more and more every time I try it. Someone at the studio said something that make me think, she said she loves the birds but she will love them even more if they would be able to talk like Rodolfo and the cats, and it is true. When I draw them, their train of thoughts are in my head,  for example the fat one is thinking of eating the dragonflies, just waiting for the right time to ZAZ! his behavior is being observed by the other bird, who is also thinking, that that bird needs to be on a diet. However, everything is just in my head, only Rodolfo and the cats have been able to said their thoughts aloud. I wonder how can I make them talk....

What do you think of these birds? So far they have help me to increase the likes on my Facebook page, which makes me very happy. If you want to like it as well click  Barro y Arena. and like my page. It will be very appreciate.

Thank you !

Florida Summer Cups

Lately, I have been making cups, many cups, cups with different decorations, carving, mishima, sgraffito. I am also trying a new handle, something different, something that also will be easy to replicate. I am not there yet. I am trying different things with the mishima technique, thinking what if I have to make many of the same, would I be able to make them in a short period of time or would it take me forever?

The cups below are called "Florida Summer" and they are a colorful version of my "Inca Summer" which are brown with sgraffito. The design is almost the same, but the colors make them look so different.

Why cups you may ask, because I would say, it seems that every gallery is doing a Cup Exhibit, and I want to be part of that, so I am practicing, making as many cups as I can and select later the best ones and apply to those exhibits. So far I have been accepted to one gallery and turned down by another one. Makes me sad to read: "... Unfortunately, we have not selected your cups...." However I think that I should keep trying, someday those galleries, will say yes to me.

Later when the exhibit is open and available to see online, I go and check the selected pieces and compare them with mine, sometimes mine don't look so bad, sometimes they even look similar to some of the accepted ones, and then I wonder why they say no to me. I guess I will never know. Maybe is ok, since on the other hand they didn't tell me why I was accepted either.


Anyway, here are the cups, what do you think?

Rodolfo is learning English

I forgot to post the other cup with Sekmeth, the cat. In this one Rodolfo is speaking in English hahaha!

Rodolfo en Technicolor

Here is Rodolfo, with his friends gatunos, Victoria y Sekmeth. And no, I am not so creative to make up those names, Victoria is the cat of my friend Edith and Sekmeth the cat of my brother. Initially I thought I will represent Gato or Guapo, because of the cool names, perhaps later I do something with them, perhaps a version inspired in "Don Gato y su pandilla"... how is the US name....oh yes, Top Cat!

How the lyric goes... Yes he's a chief, he's a king, But above everything, He's the most tip top, Top Cat. Top Cat!". I loved that cartoon, when I was a kid I did not speak English, so I never knew what they were saying on the intros, I just read made by Hanna Barbera, which you know are the last names of two guys, but back in those days I thought it a girl made the cartoons, first name Hanna last name Barbera. I always wish I could be like her, draw something so beautiful and clever, perhaps one day I will go back to animation or perhaps my pots will help me to fulfill that dream.

Anyway, here is Rodolfo y Victoria. Rodolfo is singing in Spanish, of course Kikirikiiiiiii, and Victoria, who is such a clever cat, notice that he/me has misspelled the word,  I should have wrote Quiquiriqui. (I have been in the states for so long, I can not write correctly in any language any more :S) It is my own joke, but is ok, I have fun making pots and decorating them, so why not, right, as my teacher always said, it is just clay :)

Here is the intro and the credits of Top Cat in case you are trying to sing the tune like me :)

Rodolfo in movement

So, I guess by now, you know me a little bit, and you may have guess that Rodolfo will show up in my pots someway or another. Well, here he is. These cups are on greenware and I use the mishima technique to draw him, the landscape and his friend. Yes! Rodolfo has a friend.

If you are my friend on FB you will have notice that I was asking for photos of cats sleeping, cats are hard to draw! Looking at photos help me with my drawing.

Have you notice that cats sleep all the time? And Rodolfo as well sings the whole day, so in my head, Rodolfo singing would not let the cat to sleep in peace. Kind of silly right? but that's me. Then I made a mistake with the Spanish spelling, so the cat corrected me/Rodolfo. I tried to find a way to solve this problem because once you carved the pot there is no way back, well, almost.

In the first cup Rodolfo sings in Spanish and in the second one in English.

The cats are different because I like this idea and I would repeat it, so I was testing different colors for the cats, if the orange make it will be Rodolfo and Sekmeth or Rodolfo and Gato, if the black cat makes the cut. We will see. I still can not make up my mind.