Special custom order

While the past few months I've been struggling to get back to work in the studio, I was a bit hesitatnt to accept a custom request. After mom passed away, it's just been really difficult to get back into my studio work. The impact of losing a loved one  has proven to be more difficult then I ever anticipated.
And while I did make feelings, anything else failed because I was feeling too tired or just without energy. I do have inspiration and I do want to create but somehow I fail because my mind isn't set on it...

The other day, I got a really sweet e-mail from J.  She told me that she loved my work and was curious if she could have something custom made. I sighed at reading the word 'custom' as anything out of the ordinary feels just too much to handle at the moment. But I read on and I was intrigued and touched by what she wrote me. She and her partner are in a long distance relationship in war-torn countries and she wanted me to portrait two people living apart but also looking forward to that moment when they have a door to share together.

The way J. described how difficult it is to be seperated from her loved one, made me realize that I'm not alone in this and that how hard a situation is, we should never give up loving, hoping, believing. So, with much confidence and pleasure, I was back in my studio. My mom would have been proud for sure.

I do think that it's amazing how Etsy brings people around the globe together and that this can be the result of brainstorming ... Trying to portrait someone else feelings can be daunting and challenging but as long as the person on the other side of the globe is willing to let me have a look into their world, magic things can happen...

J. wanted me to inscribe the quote above. It translates: "Let's go home and close the door, because otherwise, people could hear our happiness"
I think that's such a beautiful quote to finish off this work. I wish them both courage and happiness.
May they live long and happy after...

Free

Last week I had a very good work week in my studio. I had a few days off work and worked in the feeling factory.

When I have a list of feelings to make, I usually make a few feelings of the most popular ones. It's easier to make a few of the same feelings then switch from one feeling to another.

I also had a request to make 2 large free feelings so lots of free feelings will fill the kiln this time...
It's great to feel free, isn't it?

Updating my stock

Every now and then I do a stock update and make a list of feelings that I need to make in the feeling factory. The list is never empty and it usually grows while I'm making.
However, I always dream that it would be empty so that I would have time to start making new things. For now I'm just grateful that I'm able to make and enjoy. It also means that feelings are flying out of my studio and are lovingly adopted by many new owners. Thank you for supporting my work as it enables me to do what I love most. 

BEMINE

We're only one month away from Valentine's day and I thought it would be a good moment to discontinue my entire Heart-ART section.

Since Ikea decided to discontinue the frames I used for the porcelein hearts, I decided to not only sell the last frames at 50% but also sell the hearts that I already made to make up the frames.
There are bigger frames that are available at IKEA to put 'em in or you can use 'em for another creative project.

And while I'm at it, I'm also discontinuing some other Valentine related items.

So, if you are into Valentine's and want to give something unique and different, feel free to check out the Heart-ART section in my shop. Perhaps you see the perfect gift for your loved one.

Back in the studio

Last Tuesday I started working again in my part-time job so I thought it was about time to set up my studio again too. The maternity leave passed by superquick and I thoroughy enjoyed every minute of it. The past months, I had lots of broken nights (and I still have) and busy days that I spent with baby Julie. We get to know each other so much better and every day we have new adventures ahead of us.
The good thing about working at home part-time is that I don't have to miss out too much on seeing our little girl grow up. I'm very happy about that as she grows superfast like all kids do I suppose.

Anyway, I started out with some porcelain work as that doesn't take up too much space on my table so there is still place for Julie and her play blanket & baby gym. It makes the transition to 'back to work' a little easier... :)

The making of... invincible

 

Invincible was the first mini-art-feeling I made. As I mentioned in Etsy's Handmade Portrait, it is something I would love to be & feel always. It's such a strong feeling that encourages you to  go for it & face just about anything. Making the feeling is a complete different story. It's not as easy as it looks unfortunately and I must admit that I do swear and curse sometimes! :)
I start out by cutting the tail from a slab of clay. Then I place it on the base and trace where it should go. I make sure I add enough roughness and clayslib for it to be stuck really well. Sometimes, when I want to place the tail back, it breaks and then I curse. I roll out a very thin slice of clay and place it to the side to finish off the sides smoothly. I do this with a blunt, wooden tool. Then the magic with the wet paintbrush starts. I use a lot of paintbrushes to make things smooth and nice. And last but not least, the clay rib makes sure to smoothen out all the last bits. 
Ready to conquer the world now!

Workshops

I'm back from a lovely trip to Greece and coming home to rainy Belgium is not a very warm welcome. We really enjoyed the time spend in Athens with Anna (LilaRubyKing) and escaped a few days to a lovely coastal town recommended by her. A short get away that gave me lots of energy.
Being back home means that work is calling. I have planned some workshops in the coming weeks as there were quite a few people who told me they wanted to experience working with porcelain. I don't think I'll be doing any more workshops this year so in case you are interested, sign up while you can. You can find the information about them in the workshop button on my blog.

Storytelling

Image: Jonas Lampens

About a month ago I was invited by Conlibrio, a group of consultants, to participate in a story telling event for their customers. I was very hesistant at first because I don't feel confident enough to speak in front of large groups. But they said it would only be small groups and well I gathered it would be a bit like telling my story on a fair so I agreed. I packed up all my 99 feelings and drove to Antwerp. The setting was really pretty and thank goodness I had enough room to spread out my body of work.

It was a lovely experience and all the participants were really interested and taken by my '99 feelings' project. For me, it was also the first time that I told more about the reason how they came to life and that felt really liberating. I will share this with you too but you need to wait just a tad bit longer...

Image: Jonas Lampens

The making of... ambitious

I like making this ambitious feeling. The process involved is straighforward and fun. First I roll a thin slab of clay. Then I place a little paper tie onto it and cut it out. I trace the tie onto the feeling and scratch the surface a bit on the feeling and the back of the tie. Then I apply some clay slib and press the tie onto the feeling. I finish off the edges with a wet paintbrush.
Do you feel ambitious sometimes?

The making of... naughty

Naughty is a fiddly feeling to make. The tiny pigtails are very vulnerable and they break quite easily while applying 'em to the feeling. So I always make a few before I start applying 'em to the bottom of the feeling. I mark the spot where it's supposed to go and then apply some clay slib and stick the tiny tail onto it. I press lightly with a clay tool to make it stay and finish it off with a wet paintbrush. It usually takes me about 4 or 5 tries before the tail is stuck on it's bottom. So naughty is also a bit stubborn...

The making of... comfort

The making of the feeling comfort is quite an ordeal. First I roll out a thin slab of clay and add squares to it. Then I roughen the feeling and put clay slib on it. I wrap a piece of the squared slab around the feeling and try to fit it nicely by cutting away parts. It's tricky to connect the parts together. It looks quite messy and it is in a way. Then I cut away the excessive clay on the bottom. I go over he 'blanket' with my clay rib to get rid of the mess I made while attaching the slab. That does make the lines go away but I go over 'em again with my knife. And then comes the most fun part: applying the 'stitches'. I love doing that.
I think I might crawl underneath my blanket now!
Have a lovely weekend everyone! :)

The making of... free

Free is fun feeling to make although it can be frustrating sometimes. After I have cut the wings via a template, I smooth the edges out with a wooden tool & a wet paintbrush. This takes a while and when I work too slow, the clay dries too quickly. Then it's hard to bend it a bit at the fold and sometimes it cracks which makes me want to scream as that means that I can start all over again. After the wings are totally ready to be put on the feeling, I make scratches on the back of the wings and on the back of the feeling and add some clay slib. Then I stick it together and finish it off with a wet paintbrush.

The making of... relaxed

After last weeks post of the making of the feeling sad, I though it would be fun to share some more images of how I make the feelings.
Feeling 'relaxed' is certainly one of the more tricky ones to make. It's hard to hold the feeling when I move up the layers towards the top and the edges are very vulnerable while I work on it.

Talking about feeling relaxed - ha - just what I've been doing lately. I'm taking things a bit slower and I'm really enjoying the free time I'm allowing myself.
I think it's a good time of the year to relax, don't you?
So don't worry if I'm not posting regularly these days, that means I'm either reading, knitting, sewing or doing nothing at all. I apologize for being lazy! :)