Colorado Art StudioColorado Art StudioA pottery blog by artist Cynthia Guajardo who makes functional pottery, sculptural wall pieces and ceramic jewelry Articles
Working on Cups, Boxes and Platters
2008-06-26 11:41:00 Hand built stoneware cup with square base I’m continuing to work on the lessons I learned in the workshop that I took last weekend in an effort to make the work my own. This cup is one of the results and one I’m going to continue developing. I like the square base and the round top. ... More About: Cups , Working , Platters
Earth to Annie Workshop
2008-06-23 13:46:00 Me, Lillian, Annie, Cindy, Diane and Kathi On Saturday, I took a one day hand-building workshop with 5 other people taught by Annie Chrietzberg at her studio. In addition to being an accomplished artist, Annie has been writing articles for Pottery Making Illustrated and graciously shared her hand-building techniques and templates with us. If you visit ... More About: Earth , Workshop
Hitting the Jackpot!
2008-06-06 17:42:00 Shipping pottery and other clay items isn’t the most environmentally friendly endeavor. Bubble wrap and styrofoam peanuts are both used, along with double boxing items. It’s sort of the bane of my existence - a necessary evil. With that in mind, I scour my neighborhood when walking my dogs for packing material and who knows what else I might be able to reuse. My neighbors must think I’m nuts! Last week one of them happened upon me leaning into one of the dumpsters, my behind in the air, dogs loosely held in one hand in the alley behind my house reaching for some perfectly clean bubble wrap that had been thrown away. Plastic gold is what I call it! I think I need to put a flyer out to all my neighbors reminding them that I collect and recycle bubble wrap and styro-foam peanuts. It makes sense to reuse that stuff and I really hate buying it. Meanwhile I was gifted with a healthy supply of packing peanuts and bubble wrap from a dear friend of mine! ... More About: Jackpot
A Couple of Thank Yous and Random Thoughts
2008-05-30 20:03:00 A few weeks ago a blogging friend & fellow artist, Shawn McCann, purchased a couple of my porcelain vases from my Etsy shop. Of course I was flattered that he purchased my work, but I was even more tickled when he sent a photograph of how he was using one of the vases. ... More About: Random Thoughts , Random , Thoughts , Couple
Trimming Faux Pas & New Work in Progress
2008-05-23 15:42:00 Trimming Faux Pas While I was getting ready for the Potter’s Guild show in April, I made a grave mistake. It’s one that many novice clay people make and apparently one that I make too occasionally when I’m in a hurry. If there’s anything I’ve learned about myself it’s that I can’t rush because ... More About: Work , Progress , Work In Progress
Studio Clean Up and Milestones
2008-05-21 15:45:00 Studio Clean Up I went into the studio yesterday to work, only I couldn’t find anything I needed including tools, boards, rulers etc. This was a clear sign that my studio space needed to be thoroughly cleaned. I made good progress and hated to stop, but stop I had to in order to make ... More About: Studio , Milestones
The Right Tools Make a Difference
2008-05-17 15:59:00 Leather hard ^6 porcelain being cut into my desired shapes Since I’m sharing a booth at the Art Student’s League Summer Art Market this June with 3 other people, I cut myself some slack in the making department. From the get go, I decided that I don’t need to have a lot of inventory since ... More About: Tools , Make , Difference
Finger Condoms Cots & Studio Safety
2008-05-15 15:56:00 I’m trying to keep a safe studio for my own health and wellbeing since working with certain ceramic materials can be toxic. Every so often I get a little paper cut or other small wound that doesn’t look terrible, but hurts like the dickens - especially with constant use when working with clay. When this ... More About: Safety , Studio , Condoms , Finger
Kid?s Clay Class Work
2008-05-13 15:15:00 Crazy clay head - my mother’s day present from my daughter Side View It’s hard to believe, there are only 2.5 weeks left for my for daughter until school’s out for the summer! That means that I only have one more week of teaching my after school clay class - which is both good but also sad. ... More About: Work , Class , Clay
New Clay Bevel Tool & Happy Mother?s Day!
2008-05-11 16:48:00 Several weeks ago, I visited the Clay Stamps website and tried to purchase a bevel-o-matic clay tool via their Paypal Buy Now Link. I didn’t receive a confirmation or shipping info after committing to purchase. A week later, an email appeared in my inbox from Paypal informing me that Clay Stamps has not ... More About: Tool , Happy , Mother
Photo Set Up
2008-05-07 15:51:00 Last Thursday, I spent most of the day at the church where the guild holds its sales photographing work to use in future show advertisements and on their website. Our sale runs Thursday - Saturday for obvious reasons and the church apparently gives the guild favorable rental terms. It doesn’t hurt that ... More About: Photo
Colorado Potter?s Guild Show Closes Today
2008-05-03 16:00:00 Opening night before the doors opened - so cool to see so much amazing ceramic work all in one place As a member of the guild, which operates like a cooperative, everyone is assigned a job (ideally the job that best utilizes one’s skills) to help the guild and our sales run smoothly. So, as a ... More About: Colorado , Show , Today , Potter , Guild
Colorado Potter?s Guild Sale Invitation
2008-04-30 15:18:00 Opening Reception: Thursday, May 1, 2008, 6:00pm - 9:00pm First Plymouth Congregational Church 3501 South Colorado Blvd. Denver, CO May 1,2,3 Friday May 2 9:00am - 9:00pm Saturday May 3 9:00am - 5:00pm Press Release Gee, time flies by when one has deadlines and shows lined up so close together! Whew, I’m looking forward to the opening and will ... More About: Sale , Potter , Guild , Invitation
?Fine Art of Craft Show?
2008-04-26 17:35:00 Mary Cay and I at the opening standing in front of 2 of her pieces I drove up to Evergreen by myself yesterday evening for the opening of the “Fine Art of Craft ” at the Center for the Arts Evergreen where some of my work was on display. Unfortunately, my husband and daughter ... More About: Show
“Fine Art of Craft Show” Invitation
2008-04-23 18:46:00 Opening April 25th, 2008 5:00 - 8:00pm “Fine Art of Craft ” Center for the Arts Evergreen Address: 32003B Ellingwood Trail, Evergreen, Colorado 80439 Phone: 303.674.0056 April 25 - May 23 I have been in overdrive for the past month getting ready for this show and also the Colorado Potter’s Guild show and sale which opens the following weekend and runs May 1 - May 3. Of course you’re invited to this event as well. I pushed my luck and fired the work for the “Fine Art of Craft” show the day before the work was to be delivered. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the kiln was finally cool enough to unload and made the drop off deadline to boot. Only 3 pieces will be on display in the gallery for the month and then the rest is for immediate sale in the gallery gift shop. I know many of you will not be able to attend, so here’s a sampling: Porcelain Boxes, sizes vary, either slip transfer or hand-painted with underglaze, ^6 oxidation Re... More About: Invitation
First ^6 Glaze Fire in New Kiln & Vow
2008-04-21 15:21:00 In an ideal world, I am super organized and plan for all possible outcomes. My make up is always perfect and I am the the epitome of calm and cool. In reality, I seem to be flying by the seat of my pants these days and it ain’t pretty. I have been ... More About: Fire
You?re invited!
2008-04-14 15:11:00 Both my Monday and Tuesday after school clay classes will be displaying their most recent work at the Space Gallery today from 4:00pm - 7:00pm. We’re sharing the gallery with the After School Art Club and their work - come on out to see some great children’s art! I spent a part of ...
Kemper Mini Clay Extruder
2008-04-11 14:50:00 I spent a cold snowy afternoon (isn’t it spring already?) in the garagio yesterday afternoon, constructing some porcelain boxes for the group show I’m in the end of this month. I had already measured, cut and mitered my slabs of clay the day before, and set the pieces up conveyor belt style in ... More About: Mini , Clay
Secret Treasures
2008-04-09 15:45:00 I started making these porcelain boxes and I can’t seem to stop. In fact, I have another 4 in the works ranging in size from 2″ square up to 5″ x 6″. In a departure from the slip transfer that I used on “Birds and Bees”, these 2 are hand painted with underglaze ... More About: Secret , Treasures
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 cupOkay, 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!
More articles from this author: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 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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