A little bird told me

[smkie]

A little bird told me that these didn't turn out bad at all. I am most pleased. Learning more and more each time.







done

[Moth]

Awesome...

...I totally want one of your little birds

[smkie]

WHen I have the right group I will have a good donation for ARt Unleashed next year.
THese are for the most part taller than an old fashioned milk bottle. Imo a good size. Bigger is harder and has it's own set of issues. I cracked the biggest one of all because of one of those construction issues I think. I don't know for sure.

[SarahHound]

They are amazing!

[Moth]

I think the size is great...

If you sent them to auction I may have to bid

[smkie]

I have one idea I really want to do. Nanny dog with a heart of gold. I hope to have a nice set of birds and a good owl for this year to go with it. I am not sure I have to count back but I should be close to 10 years in succession for donating. I have made the live auction twice, and would like to do that again.

I have a third Idea but I am not skill wise yet ready I think to pull it off. My mind let go of it however so fingers crossed to one day.

[Barb04]

Gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[smkie]

I had hoped to make an updraft barrel kiln out of a drum and some stove pipe. You fill it with wood and let it burn down but that didnt' happen, this year anyway. I have thought about sagar firing them too. I really love when the smoke makes it's own art, like the bowls, I am only half the artist, fire is the rest, or the clay speaks it's own mind. Glazing that last cracked surface bowl with one glaze and over spraying it with another opens a whole new path for me to go down. The very best part of being an artist for me is when you get to follow like Alice in Wonderland to see what is going to happen.

I hope to make bigger birds, since I have given up my guild volunteer position I will be more challanged for having larger pieces fired. My itty bitty kiln can surprisingly fit these guys if I put them in at an angle. I wish I had a bigger one, maybe one day but for now, in our apt, I will not complain. This kiln was given to me by a church, it is no bigger than a large microwave and takes household current AND has a pyrometer. YAYAYAYAY. The raku set up I have outside so i can put them in like putting in the laundry and keep an eye from the window. I always spray the ground down good and wet before I start and remove all debris. So far I have not more than singed a little grass and that is after many firings so it is a good set up. Wish it was bigger too...and that I had an extra person to lift it.

I donate to a number of orgs each year. In the the past, the Lung Association for cancer has an art auction, so does Crititon Children's behavioral health, the Kansas CIty Artist Coalition art auction, as well as ART UNLEASHED< my number one cause. If anyone is interested I can let you know where they are. IT is good that my passion has an outlet that can make a difference, and it is silly but it makes me feel like as i tell Jory my grandson "I am using my powers for good". I can't wait until the children grow up like I did when my son and daughter were small. It is now or never, and I have explained to Hyia she just has to share me with it. I don't think that is a bad thing at all for her. I could never make enough to support us, and I am not well enough to push past this point, and less and less of that all the time. So I am going to collect what I can do this year, and see which is best, and then let them all fly away. Except for the cracked one, he can stay on my mantle.

Each bird is burnished, except for the patterned area, some are infused with up to three sizes of mica, fired in a raku kin. All in all it takes about a week for one to be made. That smooth texture is rubbed in with a set of stones, good for my worried mind to do that. Serves two purposes.
THere are no molds.

I have been told the birds are peaceful, my Mama says they are "classy"..all I can say is sometimes what looks simple is just the opposite.

I have had the pleasure of working with and handling a great variety of birds in my life. I am trying to put my favorite impression of them into each one. I can paint a bird like a real bird, that is easy for me, this, is not. But it is not as hard as the dogs, they make my brain need breaks. I can only take them about 10 15 minutes at a time then I have to push it away and do something else coming back fresh. That's when I visit Chazhound. Thanks for viewing, and if you read all this, thanks for that too.
I never get to talk about my work to anyone..they all get that glazed eye look when I try to brainstorm processes. They like the end result but have no interest in the works. To me that is the most interesting part of all. The variations are endless.

In the works right now is retop for the totem. The lady that bought it has sent me a photo of her dog. I am now trying to make the almost finished dog look like her dog, and haven't decided if it would just be easier to start over or not. What was easy 3rd time round just got complicated.

[CharlieDog]

They look like they have a soul.

[Renee750il]

Smkie, when is the auction this year? I need to get you a piece done!