Ideas beget ideas. Creativity springs forth from a single spark, that single spark that can lead to a forest fire, stokes the flames and fires the engines that keep me going.
A couple weeks ago, I dropped the gauntlets on an Etsian. I asked her to challenge me on an idea. She picked up the gauntlets and threw them back at me: make me a reclining Ganesha bonsai pot!
Whoah! Didn't see that one coming.
I don't have pictures to share at the moment, but I accepted her challenge and made a Ganesha bonsai pot. There was a lot of details that I did, but I also wanted to stick to a more 'primitive' style pot. Not too finished, if you will.
Fast forward to the weekend before last, the 'marathon raku' weekend. I had asked someone at the studio to make me a drinking cup, as Mishy's well water is fantastic! My friend Tori made my son Aaron a chicken whistle! I haven't seen the end results yet, it's still in the kiln, but I was really taken by the chicken whistle.
Fast forward again to this last weekend. Mishy showed me a teapot with a sculpted fairy handle that she was doing for the fairy festival in November. She mentioned something about a fairy dragon idea, but it was somewhat in one ear, out the other.
I went home, straight from the studio to a neighbor's birthday party. I didn't last long before I snuck out, heading back to my house and napping behind my bed. I woke up tired and my hand was aching, so I threw some clay. I made another lion goldfish, but with a HUGE mouth. I did a couple other items. Then I made a drinking mug. To which I added a sculpted dragon with a chicken head and butterfly wings. Yes, the chicken head was a homage to Tori/Aaron's chicken whistle and the butterfly wings were inspired by Mishy's fairy dragon idea.
The chicken dragon fairy mug was a bit short and I wanted something taller. I talked to Mishy via Etsy. She suggested I do some slab work.
Ah! Back to basics! The very same technique we covered WAY back on my first lesson. Thank you, Miyagi, I mean Mishy!
The end result was a taller drinking vessel, to which I added a sculpted dragon on the side. It's in the kiln right now, we'll see how it goes.
First Friday is this weekend! YAY!!!
For First Friday, I made a bunch of pendants. I made a bunch of birdhouse gourds. I'm going to be potting up a few more pots. I've been really busy and I'm really excited! That's all I have for now.