ABOVE: 1. 30 min in, roughing it out. 2. 1 hour in: starting to carve it out 3. 1.5 hr in: I cut off wings to more fully develop them on a separate surface board. 4. 2 hr in, I add the wings back to carve the feathers in. Creature Comforts, group show of artists' pets in March 2025 Pepper the Swan goose will be showing at Childhood's End Gallery in March of 2025. He is one of my 4 geese residing on Mystic Glen studio and farm. Swan geese tend to be a smaller goose, with a loud call and an upturned tail. They are often compared to swans due to their long necks and a pronounced knob on their bill. Pepper is the only goose of my gaggle who seems to like being petted and held. He also likes to bite, thus the name 'Pepper'. I hope to breed him this year to his mate, popcorn, my Pomeranian goose. 
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'BIRD SCULPTURES, winter 2024 After dabbling in ravens and crows I skipped right to birds of prey. Song birds are still in the works, but the raptors present greater challenges. How big can you go with unpoured porcelain? And how to sculpt large copper feet? In preparation of the 2026 show and hoping for some exhibit action in 2025, I am designing several works that include small owls and falcons. If I can sculpt successfully in the (excellent vitrification at cone 06) NZ Porcelain, and if it doesn't crack under the stress of 'larger works' shrinking....then I can continue to china paint instead of switching to cold finishes. When I approach a subject matter, immersion is the way to go. I sketch many ideas, most that will never be used. I study bits of the natural worlds that include that future clay plant or animal. Below is one of the books I am reading now. Check it out!
Sometimes I just fool around in the studio. I was just expressing, no worries about shows, or sales or pleasing others aesthetic. This year I finished the above sculpture. I call it Womenpause....need I say more ladies?
 Painting moths is a laborious but often delightful trancing work. Here are a Spanish moon moth, lime hawk moth, a crecopia and death head moths.... DO I need to mention AGAIN, how much sanding is needed in this kind of work?? While sculpting porcelain I sand it in its dry state just before bisque fire. Its tricky delicate work. I use a dry brush on tiny items and a dremel with various grit bits for others- grit #120 ...Then after the bisque I sand again with the Dremel grit# 300 ...Then after high fire I sand again at #400 After china painting each layer and its fired to cone 018, I sand it AGAIN! with a #600 dremel bit. That is a lot of sanding. And you have to be patient and very careful with such intricate pieces like the moths above. You can't catch the edges with the bits or you drop it. I usually use a foam pad to work on or below me while handling.  That time of year, mushrooms everywhere in the northwest. These porcelain versions sell well, so I make a batch for Christmas. This is the second firing in. Some will receive three layers of color-as it makes for a rich saturated look. They feel soft and precious after their final sanding.
My mini 120v kiln is up and running off the generator (center pic). I plug it in at the 20amp outdoor plug and run my big 7000w generator. This fill my solar battery while firing the cone 018 load for 1.5 hours. If I ran it just off my off grid 1000w system, the little kiln drains the battery ASAP.
I love taking shots of pieces as they come out of the kiln. It's like christmas over and over! Though china paints are usually true to their paint-on color, they do smooth out and look slighlly different after a firing. So its always a pleasure to see work in its next colored stage.  After a long pause, I come back to the studio eager to begin again. It's been since January that I spent much time here. But it's time to prep for Christmas sales and a new piece for next Olympia Spring Artwalk. So much has happened this year. Maybe I have said it before, but I spent 7 years traveling thousands of miles helping my cousin take care of my grandparents while they journeyed into dementia and alzheimers. After they passed last year I found myself recovering, but joyous too. I could go back home again and stay for good. After my cousin and I closed up my grandparent's house I loaded my old van with a lot of my grandfather's tools and things no one wanted. After getting home, I found myself using so much of what-reminds-me-of. I donned my grandpa's old apron to work in the garden. I used wrenches in the plumbing remodel and odd drill bits in wooden boxes. It seemed every day I was using things that celebrated my connection to my grandparents. More laughter than tears..... They were thrifty and would have loved to see those useful things get a second life. A pent up energy was waiting in reserve to move forward, to be at home. Even before spring sprung, I remodeled my tiny house. I ripped up the floor, put in bamboo. I ripped out smelly osb steps and made pine and redwood stairs, next I built new cabinets. And It didn't end there, I made and bought all new furniture, remodeled the bathroom. AND finally added hot water to the INSIDE of my house. In almost a frenzy as a result of all that waiting come to an end.... Then summer came: I built more gardens-food and flower. I invented a greywater system (more about that in my off grid blog-click). I cleared a big piece of land to extend my 9 vine vineyard to 40. I made a goose coop and a chicken tractor. I built a bee house! AND yes I drank a lot of coffee.
New birds came to the mini farm.......big chickens joined my dutch bantams......and beautiful GEESE! Like a Grimm's fairy tale, the geese chitter chatter, chase raccoons, do goose yoga and gaurd me and the chickens. They travel in a gang roving the land for fresh grass and fallen fruit-watch out!  Can a giant French Toulousse goose be made under a tiny bantam chicken??? YES!  The gaggle....Sweet Pea, Honey (her mate) and the rogue 'Pepper' a biter and protector of all. Staying at home, letting the world pass me by I came out of a cocoon of sorts. Chaotic and organized creative energy sparking all year. So now as the leaves fall it's a good time to start back to work in the studio. In addition to getting a sculpture ready for Spring Artwork at Childhood's End Gallery in Olympia, I have mushroom ornaments, moths and bird sculptures to finish for the Holidays. Also looking forward to 2026, as I will participate in a show with three artists....owls....hawks and many fabulous pieces are in the sketchbook already....Boxes of clay waiting to be used. Today I crank up 'Chilltrax' on the computer....set up the worktable.....then I open the amazing array of sparkling china paint colors. I unscrew bottles of medium that smell of cloves and lavender. The cat door flips open and Werewolf comes in, joins me on the workbench and we begin again.  New year, New making! I am upgrading the studio while I have no shows lined up. If you are like me, you like to make things. Even building and organizing are creative!
 click on pic to go to my off grid blog post about restoring a vintage cowgirl tub.... Hey there web guest.... When showing step by step how I made a Raven sculpture, I received some good feedback from readers. So I thought to include a little photo shoot of the next piece in the works, an orchid/flower wall piece. So far it contains about 40 flowers and approx. 80 copper pieces.
 So she is almost done. Months of preparation, multiple stages of construction and a huge amount of patience. This piece included over 200 pieces- 40 flowers alone! She is called 'Mature Raven with Floral Halo'. Get it? There is young raven, raven and mature raven.... She will be delivered soon! You can see her at Childhood's End Gallery as of october 2 most likely. The opening is Oct. 6. so come on down to Downtown Olympia Fall Artwalk! I will post pics on the Oscines page as soon as I can. Thanks for visiting! If you like to know more about Ravens..... 
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