The Ugly Duckling

I was trying a new glazing technique on some pottery peices today. A few people were in the studio wandering and/or painting and they all shared the same look on their faces... something that combined wonder and disgust, lol. You see, they were not familiar with pottery glazes and didn't realize that what comes out to be a brilliant, luminous blue can start out as ugly, dull brown. "interesting color choices" they would say, as they saw my hidious brown beside a rusty brown. "that foam you have there.... uh is that normal?... and what about those chunks?... are you doing that right?" "Just wait till you see..." I replied, "...this ugly duckling will turn into a beatiful swan" I explained I was trying out a new glaze technique that incorporated shaving cream, and 'the chunks' were glass bits, that would melt and explode into a neat pattern. It's true, pottery glazes really turn from ugly and wicked to gorgeous from within the amazing chamber of the kiln, but I ask you this.... since when are ducklings ugly? I happen to love those little fuzzy things.


ugly ducking 1

ugly ducking 2



ugly ducking 3

paralyzed

It's Sunday - my true day off - nobody is home - I have the car - I am totally free to do as I please. I want to go the beach, but I'm still here. I want to work on my art, but I'm not. I want to go clean my studio from the mess I left last night, but I'm online. I want to go do my hair - but it sits like a little brown helmet upon my head. I want to go get groceries and make some delicious food for the week - BUT I AM PARALYZED. Unable to move, leave, motivate myself. I wait all week for Sundays, so I can do all the things I want to do, instead of being at work, but when it comes down to it - I feel depressed on Sundays. I'm thinking back and sure enough, every week this is the same thing. I have grand plans to wake up and enjoy a leisurely coffee, do a quick tidy of the house, plan meals for the week and then head to the beach. All week long, that's my plan. When Sunday actually comes, I am lucky if I manage the coffee part, and then boom - I shut down, like a heavy weight that makes me sink to the bottom of a pond. It's almost 4:30, I just got dressed, it's sunny out, someone - please, push me out the door and point me in the direction of the beach.

she who eats: different looks, same tastes

Check out this neat blog entry about Haagen-Dazs made into sushi...

she who eats: different looks, same tastes

Yahoo! Groups : artsquared

OK - I know we all belong to million yahoo groups, BUT if you are into making & selling small works - this Art Squared group is great! We work strictly in a 4 x 4 inch format. You can do any medium your heart desires, as long its 4x4, and sell it on eBay using great pre-designed templates that band our Art Squared artists together. Check it out.

New Baby

We have a new baby in the family... of the terrapin kind... a little red ear slider turtle. Her name is Mataio and she's the cutest thing ever. I'm fixed up her tank with nice river rocks and agates, a plant (fake cuz she eats them too fast), and some ledges to bask on. She never comes out to of the water to bask though... she only comes up for air then goes back under. I've made sure she can easily climb out on them, but nope, she won't. I'm going to get a turtle dock on Tuesday, and hopefully that will help. I wanted something more natural looking, so I used the stone ledges, but they don't seem to be enticing her to climb up on.
Any tips for getting her out of the water to bask?
I ordered a snazzy UVA/UVB light for her, which should be here any day now. In the mean time I've been using a 'daylight' in the hood. Maybe once the special bulb comes she'll be into basking more.
She's eating very well. I feed her floating turtle pellets (sticks) as her staple, and supplement her with veggies. I've trained her to come to me when I wiggle my finger in the water (that only took 2 weeks) and now I'm trying to get her to trust me to pop the food in her mouth, so I can hand feed her. She's pretty close. She stares at my fingers holding her food, but she won't take it from me quite yet.
My camera is at the studio, so I'll bring it home and post some pics of her soon.