Feeling victory

Julie loves sticking my pencils in my jar of clay slib. *sigh*

Summer is in full swing here and I have a few weeks of holiday at the moment. It's been busy with a 2 year old around but today I had an entire day that I could play in my studio. Bliss!

It had been a while that I could work non-stop and it feels good to work on new things and also on a custom feeling. A good friend of mine asked me to create the feeling victory. She came up with the idea of using a ladder that came far above the feeling.
There had to be nine steps for all the obstacles that she had to conquer. I immediately loved the idea and couldn't wait to start making it

And the number nine also has a special meaning to me as it represents completion which complements the feeling victory. I hope she will love how it turned out...

Mould making factory

I finally get to play myself for a bit in my studio. Anna and I are cooking up some new stuff and I love playing around with my toys again. However, the first part of the playing is making moulds, not exactly what I like most but rather a necessity. But once the 'hard' work of mould making is done, I really get to play. Yeah!

Mould making factory...

To be continued...

At work in my studio

 I've had a few people coming to my studio to work with transfers. I love it when I see all the pretty illustrations and color designs. It's a fun workshop and thankfully there hasn't been anyone who hated working with transfers. :)

My absolute favorite piece is the vessel above. I love the girl with her real life goldfish balloon!
The vessel was scored at a local secondhand shop that I visit nearly every week and I wish I had found it first! LOL :)

Work in progress

I worked on some of my favorite feelings today: empty, torn and curious.

It's been a while since I've enjoyed claying again. While my head and heart were elsewhere it was more a matter of 'I have to clay' instead of 'I want to clay'. This didn't feel right and every time I had to start claying because I had to, I was dreading myself into the studio.
Thankfully I have found my mojo back and I've really enjoyed cracking some work in my studio today. :)

More busy hands

The second workshop 'working with transfers' was today and hands couldn't be busier cutting and placing the transfers.The kiln will be steaming hot the next couple of days firing all that has been made! Will show some results when it's been fired...
Soon I'll announce new dates for fall! First I need to get my act together for the ceramic fair this Sunday in Maaseik, Belgium. Still lots to do and so little time! ;)

Busy hands

Today I had the first workshop 'working with transfers' in my studio.
Busy hands working magic.

And they werey extremely productive so I have a few kilns to fire in the coming days... :)

Workshop porcelain

Today I had a few ladies in my studio for a workshop paper porcelain. The studio was clean and tidy yesterday evening.

In the evening it was a mess which made for a happy heart as that means that the participants enjoyed themselves. They were very quietly working and very, very productive.

Can't wait to fire and send them their work and make happy smiles on their faces! :)

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... :)

Workshop results

I had the first workshop in my studio yesterday. I had people come to a workshop before but then I always knew a few of them. So, I was a bit nervous to do a workshop with people I didn't meet before. You never really know what they expect but I did plan to give 'em an awesome day and I think they had...

Apart from nearly burning lunch (grilling + chatting = disaster), all went well and we had a great time. I loved seeing a creative bunch come up with ideas and trying out things that I hadn't even thought off.
I don't show much of any examples when we start as I don't want to impose ideas into anyones head. So I basicly tell people what they can do and let 'em find out the posibilities and limitations of the material themselves. I think that gives fab results and it's great to see that all styles are so different. It's a bit like getting a blank canvas and having to paint onto it: scary in the beginning but once you start, you can't stop...

Some people worked very organic and combined beautiful bold shapes with delicate textures.Others tried painting with pigments and I found that very inspiring as I never tried it myself before.
And another person had a very minimalistic approach and brought and tried lots of textures and stamps. My eyes got bigger everytime she pulled out her little suitcase to bring out another amazing texture - so much fun!This all will look even more beautiful after firing and I can't wait to see the results!

After playing...

... comes cleaning!
Bweurk, definately not my favorite activity...

Dusty footprints & plaster drops in the kitchen.Messy table.

More messy table.Messy pots.

This was my studio yesterday.
Today it's clean and fun to work in again.

Studio happenings

It will be a busy day today. My table is filled with lots of things that need to get done. I'm sure I'm not getting this all done today but putting things in little blocks motivates me to get those 'blocks' out of the way...

Make and package Babushka magnets...Make and package flower magnets...

Assemble ceramic birds so they are ready to Decopatch.

Decopatch a flock of birds...

Think about a custom feeling for a friend.
I asked for some adjectives so I can work from there.

Sand & assemble love birds.

Fill this shelf with porcelain bits and pieces
for my collaboration with Anna from LilaRubyKing

And that's only what fits on my table at the moment... the to do-list however is loooooong and wide! :)

Oh, and if you haven't already, please vote for me for the Poppy Award, here! :)

Studio happenings

Superhappy to be back to my studio after the X-mas days. Here's a peek in my studio on what's happening in there today:

Clean up yesterday's mess from mould making.Sand porcelain pieces for my collaboration with Anna from lilarubyking.Finish piggybanks so they can dry.

Photograph Decopatched singing birds.

Draw happy faces on the happy girls.

That's a lot to get done today, I'm not sure I'll manage but I'll try.
I dread the sanding and there's a lot of it... *sigh*
What are your plans today?