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New Work - Guess the Title
2008-04-05 18:06:00
Hand-built porcelain covered box with slip transfers (green), 6″ x 4.5″ x 4.5″ Alt view of porcelain covered box Last week, I had to sign a permission slip for my 10 year old daughter to attend “Family Life” classes at her elementary school in Denver. I don’t have any problems with the class, ...
More About: Work , Title , Guess

Slip Transfers - Finally Success
2008-04-03 15:44:00
I’ve been in the studio working like a mad woman for the past 2 weeks getting ready for “The Fine Art of Craft Show” at the Center for the Arts Evergreen opening on April 25th. In the meantime, my kid’s clay class started back up and my class is going to be having ...
More About: Success , Transfers , Finally , Slip

Artist?s Date & Thank You
2008-03-31 15:54:00
The Artist ’s Way by Julia Cameron Raise your hand if you’ve ever read or even heard about The Artist’s Way. I finally read the book about a 1 1/2 years ago and actually worked through most of the assignments. It gave me a tremendous boost and pushed me to move forward in making art ...
More About: Creativity

Action Shots in My Studio - I need your help!
2008-03-29 19:08:00
Last week, Alyson had a short blurb on her blog about updating photos of oneself in action in the studio to add to websites or other marketing materials. I personally enjoy seeing photos of other artist’s at work and of their studios and know that this has been on my to do list for ...
More About: Action , Shots , Studio

New Studio Tools & Volume Calculator
2008-03-27 17:52:00
It’s no accident that my new iPod Nano is reminiscent of one of my favorite glazes! Last week, I celebrated my 42nd birthday - and I had been wishing for my very own iPod to use in the studio. I love it and am enjoying loading music and podcasts onto it to listen ...
More About: Tools , Calculator , Studio , Volume

New Family Member?
2008-03-25 15:51:00
Danzig 6 years old If you’ve been around long enough, you may remember that a little over a year ago, we had to lay our elderly diabetic cat, Helper, to rest. It was pretty traumatizing for the whole family, but we knew it was the right thing to do. Since last summer we’ve ...
More About: Family

Bloglines and Can One Retail & Wholesale?
2008-03-22 02:20:00
Hand-built printed stoneware cup Original lino-cut used to print slab of clay for cup Okay, so the two images above are really eye candy for this post. I don’t have the heart to post without adding a photo or two. Really, I’ve want to talk about Bloglines! Frankly, I don’t know how I’ve lived ...
More About: Retail , Wholesale

Pampering Myself and I?d Rather Be in the Studio!
2008-03-16 17:10:00
I spent most of yesterday in the studio and was pretty productive which felt great. So now you might be wondering where I’m going with this post given the title? Slowly, I’ve started adding inventory to my wholesalecrafts.com artist page, and was pleasantly surprised yesterday to receive an inquiry about my work from ...
More About: Studio

Little of this, little of that?
2008-03-14 14:20:00
We helped my husband celebrate his 43 birthday last Monday - his chosen place of celebration was the Cherry Cricket, home to the best burger in town (maybe even the nation). Their tap menu doesn’t stink either. It wasn’t a huge milestone type birthday, but a birthday nonetheless. I’ll let you in ...

Playing with Color & Dreaming
2008-03-12 14:48:00
I spent a good part of last weekend in the studio. It was cleaner than it had been in ages, thanks to the tidying I did before the arrival of my new kiln, and the temperature was pleasant making frost bitten fingers a thing of the past (at least temporarily - it is ...
More About: Color , Dreaming

New Kiln - Finally!
2008-03-09 17:07:00
I experienced a few delays after ordering my new kiln from Mile Hi Ceramics last December - but am happy to report that my new Skutt 1027 with Envirovent was delivered Friday afternoon. Thank you Mike! The Skutt 1027 has a 7 cu. ft. interior - which is almost triple the size of ...
More About: Finally

It's official - I've moved!
2008-03-03 00:50:00
Please visit me at my new Wordpress blog hosted on my website(I couldn't let it go ;D) - http://coloradoartstudio.com/blog.I will no longer be posting on this blog from now on - but will leave it up for the next 3 months until my new blog starts generating more traffic.Fondly,~CynthiaSubscribe to Fine Art and More by CMGuajardo
More About: Official

Moving Update...
2008-02-23 17:36:00
Moving anywhere, including somewhere else in cyberspace is hard work. My advice to anyone contemplating the same is to think wisely and be prepared to invest time and patience into the endeavor. I don't want to reveal the link yet to my new blog since I haven't decided whether or not to host my own wordpress blog, or to use the infinitely easier and user friendly one on wordpress.com site. I would hate to have everyone update their links, only to move again.I currently have both types of blogs set up - but am wrestling with all types of code issues on my hosted site trying to make it look just right. I thought I was pretty savvy, but it turns out I have a lot to learn.Having a wordpress.com site is very easy and intuitive - but the obsessive compulsive person inside of me wants to host my own blog. Hmm... what to do, what to do? I have a busy week coming up, so I'm going to delay the reveal until later this week when I can devote more time to the project. Maybe Wordpress f...
More About: Moving , Update

I'm moving!
2008-02-17 18:39:00
My new banner for my website, blog and etsyHi all - I feel so neglectful for not posting in a few days - but, I've been very very busy. I'm not out in the studio, but I am on the computer. Yesterday, I spent almost 12 hours wrestling with Adobe Golive setting up a new site. Nothing like just doing it to learn how to use the software. I built a fairly simple site - nothing flashy and downright minimalist. I wanted a clean look with not a lot of bells and whistles. I hope to tweak it a bit more today and then upload to my new host.In other news, I am also moving my blog to Wordpress from Blogger. I have been meaning to do it for sometime now - in fact I've had an account at Wordpress for over a year, but have done nothing with it. I did check out Vox, Movable Type and Typepad before settling on Wordpress. While Adobe does offer editing for Movable Type in Golive, Wordpress is very easy to use. I was inspired by Heather over at Bad Kitty Art Studio who recently moved to Wo...
More About: Moving

Happy Valentine's Day!
2008-02-14 15:23:00
Photo Credit: nkzs on Stock Xchng Royalty Free Photographs.No huge plans on this Valentine's Day for me, other than attending a party at my daughter's school (can you say sugar high?) and a casual family dinner. I'm making my usual Valentine's fare, shrimp risotto followed by chocolate dipped strawberries for dessert. Yum!Clay extruderThis morning, I'm going to the guild to watch an extruder demo - woohoo - do I know how to party or what? I haven't used one since college so I could use a refresher.Meanwhile, it's snowing again despite 60 degree temps yesterday. I just know that Spring is around the corner somewhere.May romance fill your day,~CynthiaSubscribe to Fine Art and More by CMGuajardo
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Just Working...
2008-02-12 15:35:00
Okay, I've got nothing right now, but, I'm still working. The good news is that I'm not subbing this week and plan on starting on some colored porcelain experiments that I mentioned in my last post. I was listening to a podcast yesterday on my run (the first run in 2 weeks since I got a nasty cold - it's amazing how fast we lose fitness), and the interviewee mentioned that she starts a new project by cleaning her studio. She recalled a prof in grad school telling her that if she was cleaning, she had no ideas and was just filling up time.I thought about that, and I have to disagree. Cleaning, paves the way to productivity. I don't know about you, but after a project comes to a close or even just an extended period of work, my studio is a mess like a tornado came through overnight. Starting fresh, helps pave the way for a new project or period of work. I figured out that that's what I do, I work in spurts. Making, glazing, firing - start over.So, I'm going to take the ...
More About: Working

Colored Clay
2008-02-08 17:51:00
Colour in Clay by Jane WallerLast summer, I started some experiments using mason stains to color porcelain to use in my work. I was inspired by an article in Pottery Making Illustrated featuring the work of Chris Campbell, a few years ago. My colored porcelain pendant experimentsI didn't get far and became distracted by other techniques I wanted to try and life itself. I still have a few blocks of colored clay, but at this point, they probably need to be reconstituted. I was reminded of my experiment the other day, when the green pendant on the right sold. I was quite pleased that someone bought it, and had recently been considering removing one of these from my Etsy Shop for my own use.My "agate" ware thrown pots from 2005 using 2 different stoneware bodiesI checked out some books from the Colorado Potters Guild the other night when I attended new member orientation, including Colour in Clay by Jane Waller. As I glanced through the book, the section on "agate" ware caught my...

Wholesalecrafts.com & Cool Flickr Toy
2008-02-06 21:40:00
I've spend entirely too much time online recently, and can't seem to sign off when I mentally tell myself to. So, the other day, I uploaded some new photos to flickr and started messing around with some widgets and such while I was there. I came across Big Huge Labs, that nabs some of your photos to create this cool little mini banner.Meanwhile, I spent the better part of 2 hours applying to wholesalecrafts.com this morning. A rep called me this am to follow up with an inquiry that I had sent them. I sort of forgot about it, but then, thought, "What the heck, let's see what she has to say!" She gave me temporary access to the site for me to peruse, and answered all my questions. It's $395.00 a year, if I am accepted. That's a lot of dough, but, I asked a few people who are represented by wholesale crafts and they're doing great - so it could be worth the investment. One artist I know even closed her Etsy shop because of the amount of business coming her way.In other new...
More About: Cool , Flickr

New Jewelry & Inspiration
2008-02-04 15:49:00
New Porcelain Necklace with Sterling Chain now available in my Etsy Shop.I have worn the prototype of this necklace for about the last 6 months now, and get a ton of compliments and requests for duplication. I have a problem though, I have a high amount of breakage during the making and firing of the piece since it's so delicate. Anyway, 2 survived my last firing and I may have figured out the secret to making these successfully.The original necklace was inspired by this sculpture that I made in college my last semester. I love the organic shape and have been meaning to do more work in this direction but wince when I recall the cracking and baby sitting of this piece during the drying process. I never did glaze it, because I couldn't decide how to do so - but have some ideas now. I just need to do a little sanding and will most likely glaze it the next time I fire to ^6. I don't know about any of you other ceramic people out there, but glazing doesn't come easy for me. So...
More About: Jewelry , Inspiration

New Bowls
2008-02-03 02:48:00
I've been working on some new bowls made from slabs - an alternative to wheel thrown work. I'm getting better at making them, and really like their organic shape and feel. They're really light weight and each one is truly different. The only problem I'm experiencing - though one I'm working on remedying - is a high level of warpage. If I take the time to dry them slowly, and by slowly I'm talking about 3-4 weeks, I have good success. There's something charming about my really warped bowls, but they're not so practical for stacking purposes.These are made from B-mix, a ^6 stoneware, and glazed with a celadon glaze. The celadon takes on a more yellowish cast when applied to the b-mix vs. a more blue/green color when applied to white porcelain. They look quite lovely stacked up - almost like a head of lettuce or a flower.Thank you so much to everyone who left congratulation wishes on my acceptance to the guild. I'm very humbled and also really excited about becoming a...

Drumroll Please....
2008-02-01 15:10:00
I received a phone call yesterday from the membership chair of the Colorado Potter's Guild that....I've been juried in as one of their newest members! Woo hooooooLet it be known that this is my shortest blog post ever,~CynthiaSubscribe to Fine Art and More by CMGuajardo

Clay & Underglaze Monotype Experiment
2008-01-30 17:44:00
My very rudimentary clay monotypeIn preparation for a kid's art workshop that I'm going to be teaching at the Art Student's League this coming summer, I decided to attempt making a clay and underglaze monotype outlined in Paul Wandless' book, Image Transfer on Clay , pg.72. I had limited success, but, to be honest, I didn't really follow his instructions to a "T". I didn't have time to make any slip to transfer my drawing, so I tried using a very wet slab. The results? Not all the image transferred - so I filled in the blanks by directly painting the underglaze onto the printed slab. I will try again next time using either a plaster slab, or a slip applique as outlined in his book. I do think, that by taking the short cut and seeing the results, I learned a lot - sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. You just never know until you try.Meanwhile, I'm not impressed with my image and am going to add some interest to the piece after it's bisqued. Maybe I'll stamp ...
More About: Experiment

Ceramic Buttons & Handmade Purses
2008-01-28 15:31:00
Purse by designer, Eileen SchurerSometimes, when I have a little extra clay leftover from a slab type project, I make a few pendants or buttons so that I don't waste the clay. I participated in a mini craft fair at my daughter's elementary school last October and met a talented seamstress and designer, Eileen Schurer who promptly bought some of my buttons that I had brought with me. Eileen commissioned me to make about 24 more buttons in various colors to coordinate with some of the fabric that she was using for her gorgeous purses.Purse by designer, Eileen SchurerUnfortunately, Eileen doesn't yet have a website, but she's working on it. It sort of sounds like she's plenty busy without the added exposure.Purse by designer, Eileen SchurerMeanwhile, I made more buttons to bring with me to the Fancy Tiger Holiday Handmade show last December and almost sold out. I had no idea that there was such a market for buttons - knitters, sewers, scrap book/altered artists and collectors ...
More About: Purses , Buttons

Soup Can Textured Mugs: Clay project for grades 2-5
2008-01-24 15:38:00
Every week, I try to either borrow a published lesson plan or make one of my own for my kid's clay classes. This week the idea came to me from some tumblers I had made in the past few months. I asked each child to bring an empty can with them to class - though it's wise to bring extras since there's always a few who forget. I pre-rolled 15 1.5 pound slabs of low fire earthenware clay and brought them to class with me in the interest of saving time since our class time is only 2 hours long. To make the mug a little more interesting, I used one of my special textured rolling pins to add a little design to the slab. Click here to read about how I made the rolling pin.I also pre-cut 20 4" x 11" pieces of paper to use as a template to cut out the body for the mug. One 8.5" x 11" piece of paper will make 2 templates and 1 - .5" handle template. Using a needle tool and the paper template, gently cut out the 4" x 11" slab of clay for the body being careful to leave enough room to...
More About: Project , Mugs , Soup , Grades , Clay

Pulling Handles for Handmade Pottery Mugs
2008-01-22 14:50:00
One of my least favorite tasks to do in the studio is to pull handles for mugs. If you're not a clay person and have never done it before, it's a bit like I would imagine milking a cow would be like. To start the process, I generally make a "carrot" sized length of clay. I also make more than I will actually use since it normally takes me 1 or 2 tries before I get into the swing of things.Sunday evening, I ventured into the garagio since it was relatively warm inside (the kiln was running) and my 4 thrown mug bodies were drying to the point where it was now or never. For motivation, I took a little nip with me (in a handmade tumbler of course) and turned on the radio.Voilà! After maybe 30 minutes of carrot making and pulling, I have 7 freshly pulled handles that I attached to a cement board to set up. In the mean time, I began trimming the bottom of the mugs.After all was said and done, I breathed a sigh of relief after all the handles are chosen and attached to the mug bodi...
More About: Mugs , Pottery

Colorado Potter's Guild Interview
2008-01-20 21:22:00
This morning, I met with three lovely members of the Colorado Potter's Guild for an interview to become a member. I think it went well - but I'm up against 4 other applicants - and judging from the other work that was left by two of them, it's going to be a tough decision. I was treated to a tour of the facility which is, quite frankly, luxurious compared to my humble garagio. I think the guild membership will be making a decision at the end of this month so I'll be sure to share my fate either way. Thank you to the members with whom I had the pleasure of talking this morning! Japanese stab binding bookAs part of my interview, I left some work for the guild membership to look at, along with the book above. I really enjoy making handmade books and have been looking for an excuse to make one recently. I included my resume, images and a sampling of my web and blog pages in the book. The book was constructed using the Japanese style stab binding techniques. If you are at al...
More About: Interview

Chaos Reigns!
2008-01-16 21:16:00
Clay in the living room entranceNormally, I don't mind a little chaos here and there, but things have gotten out of control around my home, purse and brain. Our home is slowly being over taken by clay and work. Luckily, my husband is thus far very tolerant - but woe is me if he ends up tripping over the 350 pounds of clay sitting in the living room. I had to bring my clay inside and I also need to keep work in progress in the heated house as well due to the bitter cold temps we're experiencing. Forget, having my home on the cover of Better Homes and Gardens - it deserves its own publication, maybe something like Decorating on a Clay Budget. My student's work in progress now resides in the dining roomThe temperature is in the teens this afternoon - but it's a damp cold that takes my breath away. Unless I heat my garagio next winter, I think I'm going to have to plan to do most of my production during Spring, Summer and Fall. On the bright side, we really only have about a...
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Thoughts on Creativity, Education and Human Ecology
2008-01-12 22:37:00
Educator and Author, Sir Ken Robinson, talks about our education crisis in this 20 minute video.There was a time in my life when I considered returning to school to get a masters degree in art therapy from Naropa University in Boulder. Instead, I applied to the University of Colorado at Denver for a MLA in Landscape Architecture. I was looking for a creative career with a guaranteed income when I set my sights on Landscape Architecture. While some people are able to compromise their values for money with aplomb, I was not as successful. In fact, I didn't listen to the tap on my shoulder when things weren't going well despite the nagging feeling inside - and didn't change my path until a brick slammed upside my head and knocked me straight.I spent a good part of 2006 feeling sorry for myself after dropping out of the graduate program at UCD. Don't get me wrong, I was a really good student - but at the expense of my family and my health. And, then there was that nagging feel...
More About: Education , Ecology , Human , Thoughts , Creativity

More Pottery Humor and Small Etsy Milestone
2008-01-09 15:10:00
From Mad TV episode - makes me laugh...This was shared courtesy of the Etsy Mud Team. Somehow, I really relate to Antonia - enjoy!Meanwhile, I had a small Etsy milestone. The dawn of 2008 brought my 500th ♥ and my 100th sale. Thank you to everyone!I know it's not really a popularity contest - but it just means I have to keep on keepin' on to continue to build my business. I'm doing something right, albeit slowly. :DAfter spending all day in the studio yesterday, I have to switch gears today - I'm subbing for the special ed department at school. Although, it's still a creative endeavor, it doesn't involve making anything with my hands.Happy Wednesday,CynthiaSubscribe to Fine Art and More by CMGuajardo
More About: Humor , Small , Milestone , Pottery

Magic Ponies
2008-01-07 17:06:00
Self Portrait, computer generated. You too can make your own self portrait by visiting Mr. Picasso Head.One might say, I've had entirely too much time on my hands the past 2.5 weeks during my daughter's winter break from school. I stumbled for about an hour one day and came across this fun little website. Surprisingly, I had a lot of busy work to do during the break and blissfully managed to avoid a good bit of it. Sometimes it's good to have no plan or require anything of yourself in order to recharge the old batteries. Now, I'm playing catch up. Tomorrow brings my family back to some sort of a routine, which is necessary for me to be more productive.Meanwhile, I was reading my copy of Sierra - the Sierra Club's, bi-monthly publication, yesterday and came across a little article by Paul Rauber, titled Magic Ponies : Everyone wants an easy solution that really stuck out given my last couple of week's rants, here, here and here.I want a Magic Pony, but know they don't e...