Friday, June 30, 2006

Imagination Postcards

It has been a long time since I worked with Photoshop and the program in my PC is so different from the one I used to have in the Mac...so many things are not working correctly...Ohh well it is just an experiment.
I started with a couple of images from my trip to Oregon of a farm house, combined with others I had taken in Thailand of a lake merging them with my garden roses and an a couple of vintage postcards.

This was a wonderful experience



I do believe in an everyday sort of magic—the inexplicable connectedness we sometimes experience with places, people, works of art and the like... the eerie appropriateness of moments of syncronicity; the whispered voice, the hidden presence, when we think we're alone.
Charles de Lint







Raku, magnets, and more...

It's been a busy week here. I have been painting, doing raku, making small things like magnets, and doing some design work for a friend.

Here is one of the raku pendants I made, which is currentlt available in my etsy store:



I enjoy working on smaller projects, like making magnets, in between working on sculptures and paintings. Here are examples of a couple types of art magnets I've been making:





These will be available in my etsy store, along with lots of other things I've made.

I've also been doing some design work for a friend of mine who does custom metalworking and makes jewelry. When I have scans of a couple of the drawings, I'll share them here.

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Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Numina Art Dolls

In ancient religions, the numen was a divine spirit or force which was anonymous. Although it was not known as a person, its power and presence were felt. Usually, it was regarded as being attached to some place or object.

I have been working on finishing five small dolls from my "numinous" series.

I just love the sound of these words...numinous, numen and numina; a presiding divinity or spirit of a place, a spirit believed by animists to inhabit certain natural phenomena or objects, a creative energy; genius. By the way, you will find all kinds of references to numina/spirits in a wonderful book written by Charles DeLint, "Dream and Memory"

compassion

  • Numina of Compassion for sale on eBay auction


  • 7 day eBay auctions

  • I am listing 4 dolls with .99 to start, I want to see how this works, eBay has been like fishing, I feel sunburned and ready to quit, then someone picks up something from the store and I relax again...interesting situation.

    Please click on the images to enlarge
    sea_goddesslove
    lunacompassion

    By the way, the forms for my numina dolls were created by my friend Monica Magness, if you feel like doing lots of beading she sells them in eBay for a very reasonable price.

  • Monica's eBay Auctions


  • Save yourself the trouble of making a form, Monica's are not only colorful, they are firm and finished to perfection.

    These are some of the dolls I made with her forms:



  • FOR SALE AT MY EBAY STORE
  • Sunday, June 25, 2006

    "Clouds Above and Below" from Laura Iverson

    "Clouds Above and Below":


    Item 180001680307

    The white, fluffy clouds roll across the blue sky, over the golden California hills. A single live oak tree rises above the fog rolling in. This Impressionist Northern California landscape, with a zen feeling, is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" staple-free sides are finished off in brown acrylic) and can be hung with just a nail--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. Note that the copyright watermark does not appear on the original painting.

    Saturday, June 24, 2006

    New Goth Dollie


    Here is a new doll I finished a couple of weeks ago. Where do I list her? Esty, ABU or Ebay? Thanks!
    Lisa

    I posted her on esty Etsy.

    Wednesday, June 21, 2006

    Miniature raku pieces

    I did the initial firing for these yesterday, then this morning I did the glazing, and I did a couple of glaze firings this afternoon.

    Firing raku is always a bit like Christmas morning to me...you know it's going to be fun, but you never quite know what you're going to get. Here are a couple of pics of the finished pieces. These pics have miniature vases and jars, all of which are under 1 inch in size:




    This shows the scale of one piece:


    I also made some raku beads, pendants, and other small things. (My kiln is quite small.) I have the feeling if I were doing large raku pieces here, it would alarm the neighbors, so it's just as well that I'm limited to small pieces right now. :)

    It's very challenging to do raku pieces on this scale. I challenged myself to make these as small as I could, and this is the result! It can be very difficult to remove something the size of a pea from the kiln and not drop it. It may be small, but it's still at 2,000 degrees F and will ignite anything it lands on! The lid for the smallest jar is about the size of a lentil, to give you an idea just how tiny these are.

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    Tuesday, June 20, 2006

    Firing day for my kiln!

    Today was firing day for my kiln. I had planned to fire the past couple of days, but we've been having thunderstorms here. Today I was able to fire it though, and I'm still waiting for it to cool. Tomorrow (weather permitting) I'll be glazing and doing some raku, which I love to do!!

    The other thing I was working on today (well, a couple of things, actually) was a really tiny jar made from polymer clay. It's a piece a woman on etsy custom ordered from me. I probably could have made it from clay and raku fired it as well, but the problem is, it's so darned tiny, I'm sure I'd never find it in the debris. (Not to mention that glaze firing something that small would be a royal pain in the patootie.)

    Here is the one she ordered, which she wanted to be 1 cm or less in size:

      
    I painted it to look like a raku piece.

    Then I decided to see just how small I could make a lidded jar. I also painted this one the same way:


    Hopefully tomorrow I can do the glaze firing, and have some other pics to share! :)

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    Sunday, June 18, 2006

    New abstract painting from Teresa Turner

    I finally finished the abstract painting I'd been working on:


    TRANSITION
    Original acrylics
    24" x 36"

    I've been working in oils a lot lately, so this is the first acrylic abstract I've done in a while. I enjoy working in both media, as they're very different to work with. Sometimes I enjoy the immediacy of acrylics, being able to apply layers of paint, using washes or glazing, without the drying time oils require.

    This painting has some fun patterned textures in the background sections, which don't really show up in the photo. It's raining here today, so there's not a lot of light coming in to my studio. Hopefully when the weather is better I can take some detail pics to show also. I used the textures and color scheme to add a vintage feel, to contrast with the modern composition of the painting, hence the name "Transition".

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    Friday, June 16, 2006

    Celtic Art from Teresa Turner

    I finished the Celtic cross I've been working on! Here is a pic of the finished piece:

    It's about 3" x 5", created in hydrostone and painted with professional artists' acrylics. Yesterday I added it to my etsy store and it sold within 15 minutes! I have a series of Celtic tree of life drawings, a couple of which I have in my etsy store, and I have more on my web site. Here is one:


    TREE OF LIFE X
    Original India ink on handmade mulberry paper

    I also made some Celtic-inspired fridge magnets this week:

    These are hydrostone too, and are like mini sculptures for a fridge or filing cabinet. I added these to my etsy store, and plan to add them to my web site as well, when I have time.

    I have some ideas for other Celtic pieces I hope to create this summer. If you like Celtic art, please stop in again!

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    Wednesday, June 14, 2006

    "Cloud Shadows" from Laura Iverson

    "Cloud Shadows":


    Item 7422987893

    The white, fluffy clouds roll across the blue sky, over the live oak trees, casting shadows on golden hills. This Impressionist Northern California landscape is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" staple-free sides are finished off in brown acrylic) and can be hung with just a nail--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. Note that the copyright watermark does not appear on the original painting.

    Monday, June 12, 2006

    "Distant Oak Tree on a Golden Hill" from Laura Iverson

    "Distant Oak Tree on a Golden Hill":


    Item 7422621169

    A live oak tree stands on one of the golden hills as white, wispy clouds drift across the blue sky. This summer Northern California landscape, from the Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve in Mountain View, is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" staple-free sides are finished off in brown acrylic) and can be hung with just a nail--no need to frame. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. Note that the copyright watermark does not appear on the original painting.

    Friday, June 09, 2006

    Purple Fantasy Abstract Oil Painting

    This is my latest, another in my Windows of Imagination series....

    PURPLE FANTASY
    Oils on canvas
    8" x 10"

    Tuesday, June 06, 2006

    Gothic Wall Sculpture

    After a couple of weeks, I finally finished this sculpture. It's in hydrostone, with a faux stone finish in acrylics. It measures about 9" high by about 6" wide, and can hold a candle, flower vase, gargoyle, or other small items. Here is a pic I took of it with a votive candle on the shelf:



    I don't have it on my web site yet, but I did put it in my etsy shop.
    Now I'm thinking I need to make one to have here at the house! :)

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    Monday, June 05, 2006

    "Shaman's Gate to Summer" from Laura Iverson

    "Shaman's Gate to Summer":


    Click Here

    As the full moon rises in the purple nighttime sky over the rolling California hills, studded with oak trees, a wooden gate, set in a crumbling adobe wall, opens to another world. Wispy white clouds float in a blue sky, over the distant ocean and the green hills in the magical world. This landscape, inspired by the Rio-Caledonia Adobe in San Miguel (central California), can be described as gothic, visionary, fantasy or surreal. It is an original acrylic painting on a gallery-wrapped stretched canvas (the 3/4" staple-free sides are finished off in purple acrylic) and can be hung with just a nail. It has been lightly varnished to protect the paint and preserve the lustrous colors. The copyright watermark does not appear on the actual painting.

    This piece is also offered as an open edition giclée print.