My creative space

I had to clean my worktable before I could show you my creative space today.
I love working on a clean table when I start with new things. Earlier this week, I made three tableaus for wall art feelings and now I can decorate them! Yay!
I have the first ones I made in the kiln right now & I made some colorsamples too so I'm eagerly waiting for the kiln to be done.
I love making these as I can just make up things as I go along. I think it's the same feeling like when you get new yarn as a crocheter, a new color paint as a painter or new fabric as a quilter,...And yesterday I went supply shopping - oh joy! I bought something which I will use in two future projects. And I'm going to make you guess what it is... and the one who gets closest can win a happy package. Happy packages are always a surprise, I never say beforehand what's in there! :)
So, this is for two different projects. I want to know from you what I'll be making with these.
And if you all guess it right from the start, it will be hard to pick a winner, so I also want to know how many of these plastic things are in both jars....
Good luck! I'll be announcing a winner next thursday around the same time! :)

OMG, give-away update: it's way too confusing I think!
There are lots of people who know the right answer but haven't written how many plastic thingies there are in the jars. There are also people wo are very close to the right number of how many plastic thingies there are in the jar but haven't told what they are for.
THEREFOR: everyone who leaves a comment will automatically enter the happy package give-away! :)

Want to show your creative space? Hop over to Kootoyoo's, it's fun! :)

Karl Blossfeldt

The other day, Elisa from Peskycatdesigns on Etsy, mentioned one of my very favorite artists in her comment on my blog: Karl Blossfeldt. So time to let you meet him in case you don't know his work. His work is extremely inspriring to a texture addict as myself. The details of his photographs are breathtaking and invite to translate it into 3D.
I've always been fascinated by nature in it's pure form and believe me, it can't get more pure then this. Want to have a look at the book I got from the library yesterday?

Dream in progress...

Call me ambitious or crazy but I bought the pattern to this blanket yesterday.
I have been inspired by the brown owls who started to crochet a granny square each day to have a blanket in no time!
I do want to make a granny square blanket too one day but I so fell in love with this happy, colorful blanket that this just has be made first! Ha! :)
Now I need to decide on what yarn I'll use. The original blanket is made of merino wool yarn but I'm thinking of making it in cotton 'cause the colors are just so bright and happy.
As soon as I have decided I'll keep you updated on the progress!

Infinity

This work is something I made in 2004. I have been wanting to show it for ages now but because it's kind of big (65cm or 25,5inches), it is not easy to photograph and I kept postponing buying more backgroundpaper for taking pictures. Yesterday, it was kind of cloudy and the ferns and garden looked so pretty that I tried to shoot it outside.
The reason I want to show you now is because of the structure of this work. I put so many marks and bumps and structures in there and then washed it with oxydes. I kind of like the 'rough' effect of it.
This is also what I will do with the wall art feelings. However, the marks are not that prominent so it will show a lot lighter depending on how much oxyde I leave on the piece.Anyway, this work was an assignment at the academy of fine arts.
The assignment was called 'infinity'. Translate this into shape. Design a shape, starting from a full block of clay, finish this thight, sloping or angular. Mould this form and repeat it into a spacious concept.

Moulding is not my piece of cake but the theme infinity fascinated me. When I started thinking about infinity, the universe was what I came up with. But how can you translate that into shape without the typical moon and stars?

For me it was clear that the work had to have a horizon, what on itself is also infinite.
At the same time, the work had to be in motion.
As a child, I used to have a kind of ball where in the middle of the ball was a plastic disc and one could stand on it. You could clasp the ball between your feet and jump a few centimetres away. One could jump on top of the world.
That's why I decided to make a flat disc which I put on top of a half ball so that the disc could move around. On top of the disc I made a moon landscape to characterize the universe.

Work in progress

I'm still catching up on things but of course I couldn't resist trying out some new stuff. The idea to make mini art wall feelings has been in my head for a while now. However, it started out as a completely different idea to what I made now. These are little ceramic 'tableaux' or a canvas with a feeling 'painted' on them. They are 20x20cm or 8x8inches.I'm a bit reluctant to show as these will look completely different once they are finished. They won't have the whiteness of ceramic but will be colored with oxydes or stains. I made scratches all over the pieces so that when I add oxydes to the fired piece, the oxyde or stain will remain in the scratches leaving a darker mark. This is still very much in the experimenting phase so it might turn out to be something completely different. I thought I would show you these anyway so I could get some feedback on them! :) Thanks in advance for giving your opinion.
Oh, and these will be one of a kind. Won't make the same one as it's too much fun to come up with different designs! :)

My creative space

Today's creative space is my outside office. The weather has been so wonderful here the past weeks that I just make my workspace outside. I just put on lots of sunscreen, put something on my head and clay till my heart's content. :)

Want to show your creative space? Hop over theo Kootoyoo's, it's fun! :)

Mitsy's crocheted babuschka

Another post about crocheting but this one is superspecial. A while ago, I asked Tara from Mamachee to design me a Babuschka crochet pattern so that I could crochet little, colorful feelings.
I love the pattern she made for me so I crocheted them in rainbow colors, took some fun pictures for her and now she listed the pattern in her Etsy shop. Yay! :)
Haha, she actually called the pattern 'Mitsy's crocheted babuschka'. We'll the ones in the pictures are mine but don't hesitate to make your own.
They are easy and fun to make and they are fun to play with. You can easily tweak the pattern yourself so that you can actually make 'em larger or smaller so that they would look like real nesting dolls. :)