spring

It is perfectly beautiful in Asheville right now, so much that we've spent most of our time outside. This was taken at the Bird Sanctuary, a few minutes north of where we live. It was a nice adventure, Max and Azalea were in manageable moods and allowed me to sketch for awhile.

My girl looking lovely under a flowering tree, the name of which has escaped me.

Here's a peek of my outdoor studio, the back porch. Its a high vantage point overlooking dogwoods and in the distance, mountains. Its really pleasant to work outside here, with a nice breeze and all the birds singing away (we have the usual crowd of chickadees, finches, sparrows and crows, along with more unusual broadwing hawks, pileated woodpeckers and eastern bluebirds).

This is a shot of the new bronze, silver and shibuichi pieces that finally made it onto the website. Some items have been around for awhile, but never make it to the site because they get snatched up too quickly at the shows. Greg put up about 30 pieces that haven't made it to the shop before. We celebrated by enjoying a fire on the porch and sipping wine.

In my efforts to discover the mysteries of porcelain, I was, yet again, set back. Our local shop was all out of it! Can you believe my luck? I've attempted to try this clay out for years - since high school, but was always intimidated away. Anyway, I bought white stoneware, so I could make something until I got the real stuff. These little faces have holes on the sides so they can be attached to doll bodies. They are about an 1 1/2" across and will shrink a little more after firing. I can't wait to paint them. *I recieved a package from Melanie today! It contained underglazes and porcelain! Yay! Thwarted no more!

This is my new 'necklace of power' as I like to call them. Basically, its a piece made with my favorite beads, chosen very carefully. This one was inspired by the treasures of earth and sky, carved birds and suns, opalized ammonites and star sapphires. I made the chain from fine silver and carved the ruby, labradorite (next to the fossil) and the moldavite dangle with a lapidary grinder. The three silvery beads at the top are made by Basha (and available in my brother Andrew's store). The carved crow and two star sapphires are from Pat Jordan. The tiny rainbow sapphires dangling on the chain and the tourmaline points are from Beads Forever. I'm pretty happy with how this necklace is coming along, although its not quite done, as I like to keep adding or changing it, to get it just right.