A New Trellis for the Garden!

Here's a new trellis I just welded up for the back yard. It's a gift for my wife, Jasmin, and she chose to place it on the east side of our property. A climbing plant of some sort will be creeping up the side in no time. I took a few pictures of the construction along the way...sort of a step-by-step look. Hope you like it.

Cartoons on Sticky Notes

 

http://www.savagechickens.com/

Spring has sprung!

Okay,okay,okay...I'm finally posting something...and not just anything. Tulips! Ahhhh...... Finally a hint of spring. We've had such a horrendously wet and cold winter/spring that a day like today is truly miraculous. Low sixties and sunny! Wow! As a result, I spent the day in the yard helping my lovely wife. I worked on uncovering the dahlias, carefully peeling back their protective layer of straw, edging some beds and mowing the lawn. Here are a few shots of tulips from the yard and a view of our new walkway to the backyard and studio.

Accordionist Plate

Who doesn't like accordion music?

Need a bricklayer?

Really amazing brick sculptures by Michael Morgan. He's featured
in the April/May 2011 issue of American Craft. Check it out!


http://michaelmorgan.net/

My Favorite Catcher, Walter Schang

                                    

Here's Walter Schang (Wally), a distant cousin, long since passed on to baseball heaven. I discovered his existence in junior high as I was reading a book on baseball stories. I noticed his name in a story that included

his well-known teammate, Babe Ruth. I asked my Grandmother about him and she mentioned that I did indeed have a distant cousin that played professional baseball. Years later, after writing to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, I received a nice package of photocopied newspaper clippings and photographs. The image above was one of the photo's as Walter is seen throwing as he models a fantastic old style catcher's mitt(during a practice/pre-game warm-up?). He is in a Philadelphia Athletics uniform here, but also played for the Yankees, Tigers, St. Louis Browns and Red Sox. He was a catcher who actually caught Babe Ruth when he pitched for the Red Sox (think 1918 World Series winners). He also was a member of two other world series winning teams, New York and Philly. His first season in the pros was 1913 and he retired after the 1931 season. Unfortunately, the "genetic flow" never reached me. I still love the game though. Play ball!

"Baseball: The Early Years"

With baseball season fast approaching, 

it's always a good thing to look back at 

the early days of the sport. Did you 

know that a baseball has 108 stitches?

Bird & Bug Tile

Who doesn't like birds and bugs? They're delicious!

Worm-Eater Vase

Protein is an important part of your diet!

Rabbit Tile!

 

In these economically challenging  times he seems happy to have a carrot...

Sheila and the Giant Potato plate

This is a plate I made for Sheila, my friend and Improv teacher. She's NOT the lousiest gardener in the world. Does she have a "green thumb"? No, not really. But she likes potatoes.

McMurdo Station Plate

This plate is pretty random. I like it.

Cool Retro Sculpture!

 We just got back from 5 days in Palm Springs, hoping to catch some sun and warmth during the long President's Day weekend. We had a great time despite the unseasonably cool weather. There were two separate art fairs and the vendors were great. I really enjoyed the artwork/sculpture by Stevo. He makes retro style clocks and various wall hung art. Really neat stuff...kind of like George Jetson  meets Joan Miro. I want to save up and buy one of his clocks. Check out his website.

http://stevotomic.com/

Experiment on a tumbler

This is a recent test of a new decal technique I'm trying. I silk-screened the words 'let me help you' on some waterslide decal paper. I used 2 parts black liquid underglaze + 1 part acrylic gel medium + and 1 part black mason stain (in dry powder form). This created a very acceptable screen medium that worked quite well and I quickly cleaned/washed the screen off after printing to prevent the medium from drying in the screen. I glaze-fired the porcelain tumbler at cone 3 with a clear glaze on the bottom part. I then soaked the dried decal for one minute in a bowl of water (the gel medium prevented the underglaze from melting in the water) and slid the decal on the clear glazed area. I then bisque-fired the piece. PROBLEM. For some reason, the clear glaze bubbled a little bit. Bummer. So I refired the piece at cone 3 and the clear glaze remelted just fine. The only problem was the slight movement of the lettering. The glaze moved just enough to "bend" the lettering just a little. I'll keep experimenting, including applying the decal to the bisque-fired pot and re-bisquing it. Then I'll apply glazes and do the glaze fire last.   

Gabriel Brubacher

This video of Gabriel Brubacher has been around for quite a while but I still love watching it....great music. It's backwards!