Katie's Porcelain Studio

Progress on the urn!

2012-02-09T17:12:00.002+13:00

Well, the urn is finally finished. I am just waiting for my blog maker to get the glue out and attach the base to the body . Hopefully it will be by the beginning of next week so watch this space!

A memory from our 10 day cruise in January 2012

2012-01-24T17:46:00.002+13:00

We had a most wonderful cruise amongst some of the Pacific Ocean Islands with absolutely perfect weather. I snorkelled for the first time in my life and loved the experience of seeing so many brightly coloured fish swimming around underneath me.
This photo was taken one night at dinner . . . . I am still trying to find a suitable place to hang the calendar up so it will be useful, and also be a reminder of our trip!

By the way . . . no more progress on the urn!

Work in Progress

2012-01-03T11:41:00.003+13:00

As the title indicates, this is a work in progress. It has a lovely slim plinth to sit on, and a delightful lid with a knob on top. This is the bowl of the urn ..... the plinth, neck of the urn and the lid will be ground laid in ruby colours with gold work in places.
'twill be a lot of work but I will enjoy doing it.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU!

2012-01-03T11:35:00.001+13:00

I sincerely wish my blog followers a Happy 2012.

Sarah Jane with her Christmas Tree!

2011-12-21T16:02:00.001+13:00

Sarah Jane came to visit the other day after she had been to kindergarten, and gave me the tree she made that morning. Wasn't I fortunate?
She has an eye for colour as you can see . . . . . I love that, as I love colour also.

Christmas dish

2011-12-02T11:09:00.003+13:00

Each year our club has a Christmas Exchange, and this is what I did for our 2011 exchange.
The edging is called "Fools Gold" which was applied with a holey sponge. The outside of the dish has the same edge. I purchased a small candy cane which I will pop in the dish just for a surprise when the person opens the little parcel.

I hope they like it!

Heart Shaped Dish

2011-11-07T12:02:00.002+13:00

I painted this 4" dish after I came home from Queensland, and had purchased some matt black powder . . . . so what to do with it? !

The edge of the dish is carmine lustre, the black is my new matt black powder, and the burnishing gold has black pen work on it to take the plain-ness off it.

I really like this piece!

Daisy Box

2011-11-06T23:07:00.004+13:00

This 3" box has a rather heavy lid doesn't it?>

This 3" box has a rather heavy lid doesn't it?

It was a class project at the club I belong to - most of the girls did much smaller boxes but as I had this one unpainted in my cupboard decided to use it.

The lid has heavy enamel put on it with a spatula and when fired was covered with a product called Fools Gold.

The base and lid of the box was covered with copper lustre and after firing covered with weeping opal around the daisies. After firing this is the result . . . . quite pretty really although I tend to think the lustre looks like it has run and is a bit of a mess! I am hoping someone will want to buy it . . . . or I might find someone I can give it away to. Is this you?

Basket with weeping opal

2011-10-20T21:21:00.003+13:00

This is the first time I have used weeping opal. I like the look on the finished piece!
The basket has had 2 coats of carmine lustre, fired in between of course. Then I covered the lustre with liquid bright gold and when it was "tacky" I brushed on the weeping opal and let it run how it wanted to. After it was fired at 800 degrees, the liquid bright gold was applied to the I-Relief and fired at 780. This makes a nice edge around the painted squares.

Bird with raised paste border

2011-10-15T16:00:00.004+13:00

At last I have finished the plate I began at the Nerang, Australia school in class with Louise Hopping as tutor.

I needed a magnifying glass sitting on my chest to see clearly to cover the tiny dots with a fine line of burnishing gold. Before the gold work was dry I applied gold powder over it, which gave the paste a lovely rich gold look.

But remind me not to use such small dots in future!

Watch this space!

2011-10-02T09:59:00.003+13:00

The last 4 or 5 weeks have gone by so very fast! I have just come back from Australia where I attended an exhibition of Australasian Porcelain Art Teachers' work. The work was stunning and I saw so many things that I want to paint adapting to my own style.

Following the exhibition I attended a school, and the class I took with Australian Louise Hopping was great. We painted a small fluffy bird in the middle of the plate and then surrounding it with raised paste (our own designs) and also many hundreds of dots around the edge of the plate.
I am no where near finished the plate; it needs at least another 2 fires. As soon as it is finished I will post it on my blog for you to see.

I am also working on a couple of smaller things, and will post those too.

So watch this space! And I am sorry for the length of time with no new postings.

8" Bone China Plate

2011-08-27T14:02:00.002+12:00

This 8" bone china plate was a gift to me from Christine Bennett, U.K. Bone is a lovely surface to paint on . . . .and of course I couldn't resist painting roses on it!
I have marked on the back of the plate that it has been supplied by Christine. It is always nice to acknowledge people, and it is always nice to have a little history on the back of a piece. Perhaps people will be interested to read things like this in decades to come.
I hope so!

8" Slim Rose Vase

2011-08-17T15:17:00.003+12:00

Another view of the vase below!

8" Slim Rose Vase

2011-08-17T15:12:00.002+12:00

I love the shape and feel of this piece of porcelain! The last vase of roses I did on this shape was sold at the New Plymouth Exhibition in April 2011.
My last vase of this shape called for roses again, so here it is.

There is a decal of lace at the top of the roses which has been covered with Rembrandt lustre, and there is a band of burnishing gold at the top of the vase and also inside th neck of the vase, as well as the base. There are small paste dots on the inside and the base of the vase which you may be able to see if you enlarge the pic by clicking on it.

Looking Through Trees!

2011-08-12T16:56:00.002+12:00

I purchased this plain white plate about 20 years ago in Singapore - from C.K. Tang's department store. They were such nice plates that I purchased 12 of them and carried them carefully all the way back to New Zealand. Jim (my husband of 53 years) thought I was crazy!
I found this last plate in my cupboard the other day, and what nicer way to paint it than using lustre, dark brown paint sponged on, and various techniques around the 8 sides. I love it, and I hope you enjoy looking it!

Lustre and Trees!

2011-08-01T15:16:00.002+12:00

Here is something quite different that all our club members painted as a project.
I swirled on the lustre and fired it, then sponged on black paint mixed with water based medium and fired again. 'twas difficult to photograph the plate and vase together . . . . the vase looks as though it is on a lean, but it isn't!
Maybe I should have photographed the vase by itself. Oh well, too late now.

Red Verigated Canary

2011-07-25T16:04:00.003+12:00

This Verigated Red Canary (I painted him from a Bird Book) is hanging in my lounge and I have always enjoyed him. He was painted a few years' ago now and as I was researching my photo files for some birds which were to be posted on another site, I thought I would post this one here.

Close up of Red Canary

2011-07-25T16:03:00.002+12:00

A "close up" of the bird.

Cat on a Brick Wall

2011-07-20T09:44:00.000+12:00

This cute little fantasy cat is sitting on top of a brick wall.
He has a gold collar on, but maybe it doesn't show up in the small photograph.
I have just learned how to do the brick work - and found it fun to do!
The edge of the tile is ground in bronze metallic.

Lotus Plate

2011-07-13T11:20:00.002+12:00

Love this piece of art! I originally did a class with Tatiana from Switzerland, but unfortunately my plate broke in the kiln during the very first fire. It is something I have always wanted to paint again . . . . . so here it is, 4 years later!
The background is bronze lustre, with a band of blue iris on the next fire.

The gold leaf in the middle has been undercoated with acid etch and then the veins scratched out. It was then covered with liquid bright gold.

Chipping Off powder was applied to the bottom left leaf, which is also covered with lbg. The swirls are lbg over the top of I-Relief. Hope you can see the enamel embellishments on this piece.

Bisque Egg

2011-06-30T13:48:00.001+12:00

This little bisque egg is just 2 and 1/2 in length . . . . it was poured by my china painting friend in Seattle, U.S.A. The gold work separating the ruby bottom from the pale pink top (painted with ruby roses) is texture paste from Jean Beebe (also from the U.S.A.)
When fired, the texture paste separates and forms sort of nuggets, and after it is covered with liquid bright gold is quite effective in certain places on certain pieces!

Gift dishes

2011-06-24T18:39:00.002+12:00

I hope this picture comes out clear enough to view! It is presently evening, and I took a chance in taking the picture and posting it on my blog. These little 3" dishes I painted for a hostess gift for a "Guess who is coming to dinner" event tomorrow night. (25th June, 2011)
I am thinking there could be 3 ladies at the dinner - hence a wee gift for each of them!
(Of course, if you click on the pic it will enlarged a little)

Bone China Vase

2011-06-16T11:29:00.002+12:00

Here is my lovely Bone China Vase which was fashioned by my USA friend Walt, and which I purchased from him at the Nashville IPAT Show in 2008 and have just now finished painting it.
I wanted to show off the lovely side handles and also the lovely design top and bottom of the vase, without making the vase too busy. I painted just a simple design of roses as an elongated design on the front of the vase . . . . and only a simple bud on the back of the vase. When I went to outline the rose design on the edges it spoilt the whole elegant look of the vase so I decided to leave the edges plain, but with a small amount of enamel to embellish the roses.

Close up of vase

2011-06-16T11:28:00.000+12:00

This is a close up of the roses!

Ginger Jar

2011-06-12T11:19:00.002+12:00

I painted this for an exhibition in Blenheim last year . . . but am posting it again especially for those who have just recently found my blog!

I like the design on the jar . . . I love the gold work on it and I love the raised dots on the lower part of the jar.

PINK PARTY !

2011-06-11T17:32:00.004+12:00

Sarah Jane has just turned three, and had a Pink Party to celebrate. Great Poppa (Jim) joined in the fun of the pink theme . . . . . Sarah Jane thought it was wonderful that Great Poppa had pink hair for the occasion. (sorry that Sarah Jane is not quite in focus on the photo)

I am presently painting a bone china vase and as soon as I have finished applying the Roman Gold and it is fired, I will post it here so you can see it.

Antique Porcelain Vase

2011-05-11T22:21:00.003+12:00

On our way to New Plymouth for the Porcelain Exhibition, we stopped in Te Awamutu for a coffee. Right over the road from the coffee shop was an Antique Shop and sitting in the front window, in pride of place, was this vase.

It had been badly damaged and the owner of the shop let me take it home for just a few dollars. His loss that it had been damaged, but my gain!

I shall use it as an inspiration to paint an 18" vase I have that is a similar shape to this 24" vase. Meantime it dominates our lounge, taking pride of place on a coffee table!

National Exhibition in New Plymouth, North Island, New Zealand

2011-05-11T22:16:00.002+12:00

Click on this address, and it will show a 3 minute photo clip of some of the porcelain
pieces displayed at the exhibition.
I entered 3 pieces, and all of them sold. So I was glad, and sad!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xDtZpxwcno

Enjoy!

Test Tile!

2011-05-04T10:12:00.001+12:00

This is the first fire of the tile, and below you will see how it looks after two more firings.

I thought you might be interested to see the stages. :-)

Grape tile

2011-05-04T09:59:00.003+12:00

I used this 8" tile for a test as I wanted to check what violet of iron monochrome with added washes would look like. I like it!
I added the lustre and grapes on the sides as I wanted the main design to sit on an oblong shape and not a square, and this was one way to frame up the sides of the tile.
One of the next things I want to paint is a matching pair of ginger jars with a similar design on them. (hence the trial run!)

Cute Cat !

2011-04-26T10:31:00.003+12:00

I saw a picture in a magazine that inspired me to paint the cat on this 3" dish.
The colours used are Meissen Red, rich brown and black, tan and a lighter yellow, and with the Meissen around the rim.
Cute eh?

Close up of the art work below!

2011-04-13T12:22:00.002+12:00

I don't know if you can see in this picture, but I added a little bit of texture paste around the centres of all the flowerettes which sit on the top of each hydrangea head.

Blue Hydrangeas

2011-04-13T11:52:00.005+12:00

These blue hydrangeas are painted on a 12" bone china plate. It was a joy to paint and I loved adding the little bits of pink to enhance the flowers and leaves. I like the uneven-ness but balance of the blue rim!

The design was adapted from a Grace Moss study.

Bisque set of three!

2011-03-22T16:09:00.003+13:00

This bisque set has been sitting in my cupboard for years, waiting to be painted. Last week I suddenly had an idea of what to paint on it ........ I wanted to paint it as a set, and not as 3 individual items with different designs. There is enamel work on a few of the flowers, and the white penwork around the rim of each of the 3 pieces is done to look like lace.

Bisque Egg

2011-03-21T16:36:00.003+13:00

This bisque egg has been painted for an exchange with someone who lives on the other side of the world from me. I sure hope she likes it, for I sure enjoyed painting it for her!
The egg is 3" long and was poured by my friend Bev Stone who lives in Seattle, U.S.A.

Under the egg I have written the name of the recipient, together with the date . . . . and my name as the artist.

Bisque egg

2011-03-21T16:33:00.002+13:00

This is the top of the egg!

4" oval pansy dish

2011-03-13T15:59:00.003+13:00

I painted this little dish for a sales table. Our club is taking part of an art and craft day to be held in the centre of our city . . . . . roads will be closed during the day and stalls will be set up with space for walking traffic only. I edged the little dish with blue, applying it with my finger the same way I apply gold around the edge of a plate.

Actually, I quite like the blue edge!

A border of lustre over acid etch

2011-02-18T09:28:00.003+13:00

With this border, I marked off the squares and then lightly sponged acid etch on alternative spaces. After it was fired I sponged lustre over the whole border and fired again. On the last fire I penned grey paint to make the squares more pronounced.

More Roses!

2011-02-18T09:26:00.002+13:00

I love the yellow sunshine behind these roses, and the way it reflects on some of the petals. The border is lustre (with a rim of gold), over penned acid etch.

Ellie's Box

2011-02-18T09:01:00.004+13:00

This is the birth box I painted for Ellie, who is now just over 3 months old and (of course) beautiful.
Her birth record is on the bottom of the box, and my name is inside the lid.
One very good thing about recording history information on porcelain, is that it will last for ever. It will never fade or wear out, and it will even survive a fire . Of course it could break but then it could be mended also.
I wonder what it will look like, and where it will be in a hundred years time?

Christmas Greetings!

2010-12-23T10:14:00.002+13:00

I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you Christmas Greetings, and thank you for taking time to look at my blog.

Please don't become so busy you forget the One who we are celebrating! December 25th is the date we set aside each year to remember the birth of Jesus and to reflect on the importance of it.

May you know Him as your Saviour and Friend, and know God has a perfect plan for your life. 'tis true!

Ballet Shoe

2010-12-12T16:58:00.002+13:00

Some one purchased this ballet shoe as soon as I finished painting it! I love it . . . and would have liked it on my shelf to enjoy for a while.

However the buyer purchased it for their little grand daughter who had just begun to learn ballet ...... I know that both the buyer and the grand daughter will appreciate it and enjoy it.

Santa Bear

2010-12-10T15:21:00.002+13:00

This little porcelain Santa Bear was painted by myself as a gift to Dottie Cosgrove in the U.S.A. as an exchange over the Christmas period. He's cute eh?

Tauranga Porcelain Artist Assn club "Leaf Project" 2010.

2010-11-30T21:56:00.002+13:00

This photo shows some of the plates painted by club members who participated in the Leaf Project some weeks' back. An explanation of the project is in a post just below Ellie's photograph.

It was a fun project with many designs and ways of painting the plates.

Ellie Fowler

2010-11-30T21:49:00.004+13:00

Let me introduce you to our latest Great Grand

Daughter, Ellie Fowler. She was born 8 days ago and weighed only 6lb 30z so she is a tiny! Tiny and beautiful.

Her sister Sarah Jane (2 yrs 4 months) and her brother Jakob (14 months) think Ellie is wonderful and want to touch and kiss her all the time.

Leaf Project

2010-11-05T14:30:00.004+13:00

Recently at our club, we had a project to make a disign from leaves people had picked out of their garden. We then transferred the design to an 8" plate and painted it using lustres, metallics and paint. There were a number of china painting products we could use . . . ie . . . chipping off powder, enamel, texture paste and gold.

This was my plate. And of course I loved exercising the brain to design and paint it. But I would rather paint roses!!

Pretty little dish

2010-10-23T16:33:00.002+13:00

I painted this 4" dish last week for fun!

I like to have a few little things on hand for "thank you's" ......

Ball rose vase

2010-10-20T22:18:00.003+13:00

When I was shopping the other day I saw 2 little ball vases about 4 - 5" across, and (of course!) could picture roses on them!
They are not porcelain - the material seems to be a sort of stone ware, and was lovely to paint on.

I fired them only to 740 degrees, and took the heat up slowly in the kiln.

This vase has coloured roses on the top, and the bottom half of the vase is covered in irridescent blue lustre. Super!

Rose Vase

2010-10-20T10:56:00.002+13:00

Here is the second stone ware ball vase, with torquoise metallic ground on the base.

Santa Bear

2010-10-20T10:38:00.003+13:00

This is a cute little bisque (means without glaze) Santa Bear I painted for a Christmas ornament exchange with some internet friends from www.ppio

The exchange isn't until end of November, but I painted him early so I didn't have to rush.

He is just 3" high - the fur on his hat and coat are painted with silver metallic which gives the fur a nice sheen. This is in contrast with his nose area which is just plain white bisque.

Ellie's Tile

2010-10-01T17:13:00.004+13:00

Ellie was conceived 31 weeks ago, and is due to be born end of November. This tile of the angel holding Ellie's heart is really for her sister Sarah-Jane who is just over two years old, as something tangible while she waits for her sister Ellie to arrive.

So cute!

Lustre box with squares

2010-09-24T09:32:00.002+12:00

This was a fiddly (for me) box to paint, using different colour lustres plus gold. The 4 blocks of gold are visible if you look and in "real" life they stand out nicely. The bottom of the box has been painted the same as the lid and looks quite stunning on a low table in my lounge.
After the lustre had been applied, I outlined the lustre colours with black pen work and also with a fine brush to make a thicker line in places for variety. There is gold around the edge of the top of the box, and around the edge of the top of the bottom of the box.
Does that make sense?
I have a square sort of unpainted box that is about 4" by 4" which would look stunning using this method.

Grapes on a matte finished tile

2010-09-24T09:17:00.005+12:00

I was just in the mood to paint grapes last week . . . . I have a project I want to do, but was in the mood to first paint at random on a tile. Murphy's Law came into operation - when you are painting for fun, the work turns out wonderful. When you are serious and want a great painting everything seems to go wrong. This tile was just a bit of fun and it turned out great!

There is pale blue lustre on the background, and I achieved the streaky casual look I wanted.
Unfortunately though, hair cracks in the glaze appeared on the bottom leaf at the last fire.
Urgh! I don't know why this happened - I find floor or wall tiles unreliable to fire. Sometimes they fire well, other times they crack. If you look closely (enlarge the pic first by clicking on it) you will see the tiny lines on the bottom leaf.

Twig Vase back

2010-09-21T21:55:00.003+12:00

This is the back of the twig vase .... read below!

Of course I loved painting the vase, although I strained my neck and shoulders painting it.

It was heavy to hold - a challenge to paint!

I think it is 14" high, and unless it sells at the exhibition it will grace a shelf in my lounge.

Twig Vase, front

2010-09-21T21:46:00.004+12:00

This vase is traditionally called a Twig Vase because the handles at the sides are like twigs or branches. The photograph was taken at the gallery, where our club is holding their exhibition until the end of September, 2010. (see further below) The little white box on the left of the vase is below too .... and I understand it has just sold.

Round Box with roses

2010-09-20T22:18:00.001+12:00

This is a better view of the box I painted last week especially for our exhibition. (read below)

Round Box with Roses

2010-09-20T22:09:00.003+12:00

I painted this box last week for the exhibition our club is holding right now in Creative Tauranga Gallery. Someone came in to the gallery today and purchased the box ...... in a way I was a little sad, 'cos I love it!

Profile face with single rose

2010-09-20T21:37:00.005+12:00

This tile, together with the Silhouette tile and the 2 boxes just below are presently in our club's exhibition being held in the Creative Tauranga Gallery in the city where I live - Tauranga.

The two tiles are sitting back to back on a metal candelabra which I purchased in an antique shop in Texas 2 years ago. The stand has been spray painted in gold, and I have tied matching ribbons where the candels would normally go.

The edges of the two tiles have copper metallic sponged on to them - the metallic was a gift from my friend in Sydney, Sandra Greacen.

The silhouette tile sold on the opening night of the exhibition. Perhaps this lovely profile will sell before the exhibition is finished Oct 1st.

Silhouette face with roses

2010-09-20T21:32:00.004+12:00

This lovely silhouette is sitting on the front side of a metal candelabra which I sprayed with gold paint. I tied matching narrow ribbon over where the candels would normally go. This is the second half of the candelabra; the profile face is on the other side of it. Does that make sense? !!

Rose Box

2010-09-15T08:11:00.002+12:00

This box is just 3" wide, and is actually white and not cream as shown in the picture. I took the photo in the evening - and I guess lack of light softened the white.

The stripes on the lid are matt white paint fired, and then covered with mother of pearl. You can't quite see the rose inside the box, but you can see the mother of pearl!

Patchwork Box

2010-09-15T08:08:00.002+12:00

I painted this box in 2007 to make it look like patchwork. It was a fun thing to paint.......
you can see my name in one of the squares!

Blackberries 10" with darker darks!

2010-08-14T09:53:00.003+12:00

On reflection I thought I needed to make the leaves darker under the white blossoms, and needed more of a connection between the two bunches of berries and leaves.
I was going to delete the other picture and replace it with this one, but then thought you might like to see the difference the darks and connection has made to the piece!

Blackberries, 10"

2010-08-10T15:02:00.002+12:00

This blackberry dish is just 10" long ........ just the right size to serve a fruit loaf on, or a few cookies/biscuits. (Cookies if you live in the U.S.A. or biscuits if you live in New Zealand).
Oh, you could also serve fresh home made scones or muffins on the tray!

Another blackberry dish

2010-08-10T14:52:00.004+12:00

Here is another blackberry dish ....... I think it is the fifth I have painted within a couple of weeks! All of them are similar designs (but not identical) and similar colour schemes except for the antique looking dish.

Blackberries right side

2010-08-10T14:51:00.000+12:00

Here is a closer look at the right side of the dish.

Blackberries left side

2010-08-10T14:50:00.000+12:00

A closer look at the left side of the dish.

Antique Blackberries

2010-08-07T12:00:00.003+12:00

Actually, this isn't an antique piece of porcelain.
It is a dish I painted last week, and chose the colours and finish to make it look like "antique".
I like the "antique" look at times!
The dish is just 6" long ...... just the right size to use for a few sandwiches or cookies when having coffee with a friend!

Roses and Grapes

2010-08-01T19:52:00.004+12:00

As I was browsing through some of the pieces I painted a few years ago, I came across this set of dishes I painted for an exhibition in 2007. All the pieces were sold - aren't they lovely?
Three different people purchased a piece each - I was sort of glad that they went to three homes and didn't stay together as a set. I love painting roses! And I love painting grapes! Needless to say I loved designing and painting these pieces and was satisfied that someone else loved them also!

If you click on the picture, it will enlarge the work so you can see it clearer.

A fun tile for a club project.

2010-07-21T15:26:00.003+12:00

This tile was just a bit of fun! Each club member was given a line drawing of a basic chrysanthimum, and we could add to it or embellish it and then paint it any way we wanted.
There are about 12 girls doing the project and it will be interesting to see how different they will be! The finished tiles are to be presented next week.
This tile has:
china painted flower, lustre background, I-relief with gold as extra petals, and gold metallic splashed on the dark painted border. Quite a mixture of product in the project!

Blackberry tray

2010-07-15T17:46:00.004+12:00

Hello! For those of you who may be interested, I resisted the chance to sell the blackberry tray and I resisted keeping it for myself. Instead I gave it to a dear friend whose husband had just turned 80; so it was sort of a birthday present for Ferd ........ but really a gift for the wife!

Rose Plate

2010-06-24T17:19:00.003+12:00

I have been wanting to paint another rose plate for ages ....... so decided last week that I would start to paint one straight away. This took 5 days - 5 fires! I love the blue background with the pink and cream showing through which gives lots of atmosphere.

This piece is 10" and I will either frame it in a round 10" frame I have, or hang it on the wall just as it is by a wall hanger.

Blackberries on a 12" tray

2010-06-13T15:16:00.002+12:00

I have just finished painting this tray. It was nice German porcelain to paint on, and I loved painting those berries.
Someone wants to buy the tray .............. I am torn between keeping it for myself, or letting someone else enjoy it. Sometimes it is hard to part with something you have created yourself for surely part of the artist is in the piece. But there is a limit as to what my shelves and display cabinets can hold!!

Caitlin's birth box

2010-06-13T15:06:00.002+12:00

Here is our latest Great Grand Daughter's birth box. Caitlin was born end of April, and is growing like a little mushroom! She is a good baby......drinking and sleeping well.
The box has enamel on the roses, and mother of pearl in places on the lid.

Inside Caitlin's box

2010-06-13T14:57:00.001+12:00

Details of Caitlin's birth are underneath the box, and this is a view of inside the little box!

Geraniums painted in class with Andrew Orr

2010-04-19T20:38:00.002+12:00

These pretty geraniums were painted by my friend and ex-student Ming, in Andrew Orr's class. (see post below)

A gift of Geraniums!

2010-04-19T20:32:00.003+12:00

Last week Jim and I had the privilege of hosting Andrew Orr from Vermont, United States of America while he conducted a three day seminar in our city. The ten girls attending his classes painted geraniums on 10" square plates; this round plate was painted by Andrew as a sample of the way he painted his geraniums.

I count myself fortunate to receive this plate as a "thank you" from Andrew, and will hang it in my lounge along with other similar coloured plates.

Roses on oval plaque

2010-04-19T20:29:00.003+12:00

Another rose painting! I enjoyed using the various pinks in this painting, and the gold border has a rich finish by using liquid bright gold and then a good coverage of liquid burnishing gold.

It will hang with the oval plaque with the lace around the edge.

Oval tile with roses and lace

2010-03-15T19:08:00.003+13:00

This tile has a lace decal around the edge of it, and after I fired it I covered it with Rembrandt Lustre and fired it at 800. It was VERY tricky getting the decal cut and to fit the oval!! :-)

I am presently painting another oval almost the same size but with a different border, and they will hang together on the wall in my hallway.

Porcelain Egg Box

2010-03-14T09:21:00.003+13:00

I belong to the "Porcelain Painters International Organisation" on a web site, and linked to hundreds of other porcelain painters around the world. This has resulted in some lovely friendships and I will always be greatful to Marci Blattenburger who had a vision to commence this list so many years ago.
Each year some members exchange Christmas ornaments, eggs and boxes and I painted this egg for the 2010 exchange with a lady in Florida, America. I popped some tiny chocolate cream eggs inside the porcelain egg - I could hear them rattling around when I had the box ready to post, but I am sure they will arrive safe and sound.

Porcelain Canvas

2010-03-14T09:17:00.002+13:00

This is a 5 x 3" piece of porcelain canvas which I painted last week. It is just a bit of fun and I enjoyed doing it. I think I could have made the focal points (the coloured enamel dots) a little more bold, but I still like it!

Large Iris Tile .... first fire ....

2010-02-21T18:43:00.003+13:00

This image is "first fire" on the tile. I used regular china paints, and then it was fired.

For the "second fire" and "third fire" I used lustres and dispersing fluid after masking out the main design of the iris and leaves.

Larger Iris tile

2010-02-21T18:41:00.003+13:00

The finished 14" x 8" tile! Needless to say, I loved doing it!!

Iris Tile .... first fire .....

2010-02-21T18:37:00.004+13:00

These "first fire" iris are painted on a 10 x 8" tile, using ordinary china paints. After firing I resisted the paint work and used lustres for the background. I took two fires to get the depth of colour I wanted.

Iris Tile

2010-02-21T18:34:00.002+13:00

The finished tile!! The photograph hasn't captured the high shine of the lustre and the contrast of the china painted iris and front leaves.

Rose cylinder Vase

2010-02-12T17:18:00.000+13:00

This is a side view of the vase below.

Rose Cylinder

2010-02-12T17:14:00.002+13:00

The cylinder vase is 9" high, and is covered with roses! I used a grey blue in the background. This vase has a matt gold band on the inside of the neck.

I have placed it on the shelf in the lounge . . . . so I can enjoy it until someone comes along to buy it!

Hollyhock Vase

2010-02-12T16:44:00.002+13:00

I started this 11" vase before Christmas, but have only just finished it.
It has a wide band of gold around the inside of the top of the vase which looks very nice. Unfortunately the angle of this picture doesn't show it.

Actually the vase started its life as a cannister, with a domed lid on top. But I decided I like it better as a vase . . . . so here it is!

Art by Bella!

2010-01-28T09:12:00.002+13:00

Hello! Here is a picture by Isabella, our oldest Great Grand Daughter aged 2 and half which she painted for her Grand Father (our middle son) for his Christmas present. You can see that this little girl loves colour ........long may it continue!

Hollyhocks painted with the Taiwan girls

2010-01-06T20:58:00.003+13:00

This simple (but effective) design was the basis of what the girls painted in Taiwan during the November seminar. There wasn't time to do the border during the seminar, so each girl painted their own the next time they went to Ming's studio for a lesson. I haven't seen what they did but I guarantee they painted lovely borders. For my plate I chose two shades of green . . . . a lighter green with a darker green over the top. Then I popped some liquid bright gold around the edge to finish the framing!

Jakob Lee Fowler

2009-12-29T17:07:00.004+13:00

Permit me to have a little brag!!

Jakob is now 11 weeks and I thought this pic of him was so delightful I wanted to share it.

I promise I won't be filling my blog with Great Grand Children - this blog is primarily to share my porcelain art which I will continue doing month by month. :-)

CHRISTMAS DAY!

2009-12-25T22:38:00.004+13:00

I can't believe it has been more than a month since I last posted on my blog.
I am sorry about that, as I really wanted to keep my news and my work up to date.

We have had major construction work done on our property to repair a slip on our bank which reaches 80 feet down to the water of the estuary, and I have been to Taiwan to take a seminar there. The preparation for the seminar, and the hot scones for daily morning tea for the contractors working on the bank left me without time to do a lot of things . . . like posting on my blog, housework etc !!

Today is Christmas Day, and it has been a lovely relaxing family day. We remembered the birth of Christ - and for you personally may the true spirit of Christmas bring you Peace.

Watch this space, as over the next few days I am going to post several pictures of interest!

Feathers!

2009-11-03T20:51:00.002+13:00

Just for a change I painted some feathers this week! The line running along the bottom of the feathers is from the light hitting the plate when I took the photograph, but I think you can see what I painted O.K. I also painted feathers on a very small dish which I will give to a male friend soon.

Jakob Lee Fowler

2009-10-28T21:29:00.001+13:00

Let me introduce you to our latest Great Grand Son, Jakob Lee Fowler. This picture was taken when he was 10 days old - he is now 3 weeks and of course absolutely beautiful!
Isn't this a nice pose for a photograph?

Jakob's birth box

2009-10-28T21:26:00.002+13:00

Here is Jakob's birth box. Cute eh?

His full name - Jakob Lee Fowler - is printed on the top, and his birth details are printed under the bottom of the box.

He is the first Great Grand Son in our family, and the third Great Grand Child.

Cobalt Blue Urn

2009-10-05T14:12:00.003+13:00

I was just in the mood to paint an urn - and found I had one sitting in my cupboard waiting to be painted! I ground laid the Special Cobalt Blue, which I love on urns. And decided to put fruit on the front and back - different apples on each side. There is enamel around the edge of the ground lay, but this doesn't show up on the picture posted here.

Cobalt Blue Urn - back

2009-10-05T14:10:00.002+13:00

The back of the urn . . . . Burgundy apples with the blue violet grapes and yellow red cherries!

Pink Trumpet Vines!

2009-10-05T14:05:00.002+13:00

This is the latest of the Trumpet Vine plates!

Colours are yellow red and blood red flowers, with a background of Blue Violet, into Blue and then into Blue Green. I ground laid the blue around the rim, and did a little bit of raised paste covered with Burnishing Gold around the inside and outside edge. Similar design - but different colour scheme!

Burgundy Trumpet Vine

2009-10-05T13:58:00.003+13:00

This is the design I used for the trial run of painting trumpet vines, on the tile below.
This design was from a plate painted by Celeste McCall (www.chatty teachers and artists). I loved the design so much I decided not to add nor delete from that which she had painted. So all credit to Celeste for her eye of design!
My background went from Royal Plum at the top, then into Blue Violet, blue and then the palest of greeens at the bottom. I decided to leave the fancy cut out border white, to give the trumpet vines space to "breathe".

Trumpet Vine Tile

2009-08-17T14:37:00.004+12:00

This is painted on a tile, as a trial to see what the design would look like! I like it, so am going to paint it again on a plate with a pretty cut out edge.
Actually it is difficult to paint the same thing twice ..... but I will try to paint a similar design of the Trumpet Vine flowers with similar colours!

Bisque Boxes

2009-08-10T14:44:00.003+12:00

Here are two little bisque (unglazed) boxes I painted a few weeks' ago. I purchased them from my friend Walt when I was in Nashville last year. Walt has begun to pour slip, and has made some lovely shapes for the china painters to buy and paint!