Pond Lily

Every year I try to do a couple of detailed new botanicals. This year I worked on the Pond Lily, a small yellow flower often growing with Lotuses or water lilies but not nearly as famous.

Special Technique that took years to perfect!

 Pond Lily finishes up January........

Full Production in Zero degree weather

 Whew! It is really cold here. All the more reason that we were grateful to have a kiln firing! Here are some peeks at our winter efforts...

The last landscape pot this winter.

A couple of large 'Petal' Vases

A large bottle by Steve

Two larger than life pieces!

Granny waxing

Steve glazing

end result!

The kiln is throwing tantrums. Steve is having to monitor it too much because of the wide discrepancy between the top and bottom. Despite those problems, we only lost two pieces. The rest were fine.

Winter Workshop

Lots of news from our studio too... We have fired a couple of kiln loads to finish up the Spring Metropolitan Museum of Art order and start on a few others. The Stickley exhibition is now moving from the Newark Museum of Art here in New Jersey to the Dallas Museum of Art and we've received an order from them for their museum shop. Yes! That order and getting ready for our display and sale in Baltimore at the American Crafts Council show in February has us pretty busy.

Winter changes the work environment. The cool breezes and artificial heat are hard on controlling the moisture of the clay as we work on it. Everything has to be well wrapped in plastic as it waits for our attention or it dries up. In fact, it has to be monitored more even while we are working on it.

 Here are some snapshots of what's happening now:

Minis for the MET

Love those Classics!

I completed a couple more of the winter tree scenes I wanted to do and am now focusing on making a couple of fanciful landscapes. I love to do these as they are a throw back to very early work when I just doodled on my pots. I haven't made these for a couple of years and look forward to using some of our new glaze combinations on them.

Steve has been working on some larger pieces for Baltimore. As you can tell, trimming the bottoms is always a bit tricky.

Let it Snow!

There he goes.........

and there she goes!!

Finally! after so many so-so winters, we have something to dig our snowshoes into!

Winter Reverie

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday including a great beginning for the New Year... 2011!! OMG!
Here in the Mid Hudson Valley we are focusing on the winter's stark contrasts and search for quiet beauty.  We celebrated the ringing in of the new with a walk along the nearby cliff. Here are a few pics including one of a new pot hopefully reflecting that stark beauty......

 Above is our winter garden... so soft... like a whisper.









 I always get hooked on photographing natural rhythmn.. like this one of the snow on our deck.. basic elements...must be the teacher in me.

 then the walk......










 

Some call it Alligator Rock; others say whale.. both add their little ones.

back in the studio.. attempting to reflect the awesome!