Adding to the Painting

Here is the latest progress on my painting.

As you can see, I am now putting the second layer over my under painting.

I use the photos that I took and the chocolates that I made as reference.

My guinea pig slept on blankets on my lap.

College Open House

This weekend, Jerry and I set up a table at the College Open House. We are trying to encourage students to sign up for Art Club and trying to let future students know that college can be fun. Our table had my pottery on it. My icecream sunday painiting was on an easil behind it. The art club sign was in front of the table. We had panflets on the table.

For these Open Houses, Jerry and I always do some kind of art.

Mat Moore pretending to paint Dana's painting.

We talk with people who come to our table.

Photography Show

Here I am, on Wednesday the 14th, preparing to be part of a photography show. I looked through thousands of my photos to choose five. Choosing was really hard. Here are some that I liked.

This is a bison.

This is a medical helicopter.

The Treasury of Atreus, in Greece.

I did this one in sepia tone for the show.

Family Life

Bath time for our Guinea Pig.

(And you thought that all we do is art!)
I am giving this bath at 5:00 in the morning after getting home from the Art Building.

Owl sculpture

A school ordered a sculpture of their mascot: an owl.

A mold of this sculpture will be made, and then lots and lots of sculptures will be made from that mold.

Making Blue Clay

One of the unique things that I make is blue clay. Here, I am weighing dry clay. The amounts must me precise. I will put blue coloring and water with the clay in a bucket and let it sit for a while.

Now, I can mix up the ingredients.

I love power tools!!!! Try using this mixer in your kitchen. You could make a lot of pancakes!

The clay must be put through a fine screen to get out large peaces of grit and to break down clumps.

I press it through the sifter.

You're allowed to get dirty when your an artist.

The clay is poured onto a cloth that has been stretched over a frame. It will dry for one or two weeks.

It must be mixed every day, so that it will dry evenly. I will put it in a plastic bag when it is firm enough to be made into pots.

Making pottery

Lately, I have been enjoying making very small pots. Here I am making a small pot at the wheel.

You can see that I throw off the hump, that is, I put a big lump of clay on the wheel and then make the pot from a small piece of it.

After making the pot, the pot is allowed to dry. Then, extra clay is cleaned away. I am wearing earphones, here, because I recorder myself reading my class notes and then listen to them as I work.

Here, I am carving on a bigger pot. This is something else that I like to do. By the way, this pot is made from the blue clay that I make.

Pots ready for the kiln.

Here, my pots have been placed in the kiln along with pots from other students.



Now that the pots have been fired and taken out of the kiln, you can see that some of them are made from blue clay.

Jerry pretends to drink from a dish.

The post are washed and allowed to dry.

Now, I can paint the pot bottom with clear wax and paint the rest of the pot with glaze.