Friday, December 14, 2012

Gale's Gallery: Christmas 2012, Part Two

Maybe my favorite of all!
Hello,

I hope this finds you enjoying the season and not stressed out!  Many years ago I took ceramics classes as my night out with adults.  Every mom with toddlers needs a few hours a week on their own!  (Not sure it is different with teens... although there are fewer bottles and diaper changes LOL!)

You saw (I assume) the turkey I painted a couple posts ago.  That was done last year and my first piece in 15 years.  I ordered as bisque from an eBay seller (greenware dried out of the mold, then cleaned and fired once.)  That was actually the second turkey as the first one arrived in a dozen pieces.  I don't recommend ordering bisque this way.  It is best to go to a ceramic class or find a dealer in your area.  If one was a purest, they would have their own clay, molds and kiln.  I am not a purest:)

Aside from the breakage (and the current turkey came cracked on the bottom), getting high quality results starts with a well-cleaned piece of greenware.  I paid a little extra to have my greenware professionally cleaned because it saves time and I wasn't fast at that.  I also love instant gratification, so wanted to start painting asap!  BTW, cleaning is etching out the detail work and smoothing out the mold lines.  A bad job is the foundation for a crappy looking finish.  Garbage in, garbage out.  This also means don't expect bisque pieces at craft stores to come out nice.  Most of the time they will have lines, tiny holes and lack detail.

When I say paint, I mean I generally do acrylic painting.  These do not need a second firing and can not be used for food or liquids unless the interior was glazed and fired.  That is the stage after bisque, but before painting.  I finish off acrylic pieces with spray sealant.  I have done a few glazed pieces, but I mostly gave them as gifts, so I can't find any to show you.

Here are some of the pieces that survived moves, children, storage and not getting thrown out with the trees for all these years...  Just this morning I woke up to this carnage:


Anyone who still needs a reason to believe in God needs to see this!  Note Audra's sleigh fell off the tree and the runners broke off, but the angel and her delicate wings remains unharmed!

I only did ceramics for a few years, but each year had a new theme of ornaments.   I can't seem to get this crazy program to let me organize these so I apologize in advance!

This is a candy jar.



"Rudolph"
One of my more "formal" looking ones.  She has pearlized white
wings with an overlay of 14k gold.
My "Fallen" Angel
Stuffed Bear
It took me a whole summer to paint this.  Audra and Taylor both like it, so guess I will be painting another!
Candy Kiss Santa candy jar
This "lucky" Star Santa has survived though Audra thought it
would be fun for him to "dance" on a marble windowsill.
Note his poor cracked beard.  

Here are some ornaments that I would love to have, but since they are expensive, I just let the photos inspire me:  They are from Neiman-Marcus by MacKenzie-Childs.  






I promise to do a non-craft post next.  But lots of folks seem to enjoy my Gale's Gallery from the number of "hits."  

Remember, 
"Jesus Is The Reason For The Season" so don't fret about the small stuff!

Gale

2 comments:

  1. Never did get into ceramics so it's always interesting to see what everyone does. They must not have a Yorkie ornament you could make. :) That would be nice, but I like what you have done. Have a nice Christmas Gale.
    Cher Sunray Gardens
    Goldenray Yorkie Puppies

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