Fresh out of the kiln… some of August’s entry in the Ornament Challenge, but this time made with terra cotta clay. The original batch that I made was in stoneware for the soda kiln. I had a little extra time, and a little extra space in my kiln, so I made a few more in terra cotta. So I kind of think these “extra” ornaments should count as bonus points in the Challenge!

But don’t think that’ s it… there are still a LOT of August’s original stoneware stars. Just waiting to be fired in my next soda kiln. If all goes well, this batch will be fired and ready for my Holiday Home Show on November 23rd & 24th. Mark your calendars now!

And

You know I love kiln filler…
so I last night I made another batch of Christmas ornaments.
More of August’s entry in the Holiday Ornament Challenge.
Tonight there were glazed and now they’re already in the kiln!

Yep… a day late…
But still she made an ornament for the August Ornament Challenge!
She’s been so busy taking care of everything… this ornament just slipped away.
But lucky for us, she got one made “kind of” in time for the August deadline.
It’s a twisted and hammered recycled copper wire ornament!

So, another month has come to an end. Which also means that another “deadline” for the monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge has come as well. I know I put off making mine until the very last moment. But being in the studio all day long today while firing the soda kiln turned out to be the perfect opportunity to get my ornaments made! So I started by making some textured stars… some outlines, some solids… well okay, the solids are really just the cut-out form the outline ones!

And then I did a little assembling & “bulging” of the solid star to make it them even more dimensional. I’m thinking that they might still get a coat of white slip on the center star to help them “pop” from the other one. We’ll see…

And what about Sarah Chapman’s ornament you may ask?… well, it seems as though another month has passed that Sarah didn’t have time to make her entry. I know she’s been busy with last weekend’s Bucktown Arts Fest, and dealing with a lot of family issues since the passing of her mother. So maybe we need to give her a pass?… or not. Maybe we just call her a slacker?!!!

And speaking of filler pieces… I’m spending a few extra hours glazing up my spiral holiday ornaments. I had made plans with a friend of mine who was going to come over Thursday night to be my “glazing assistant” and these ornaments were going to be her job. I was really looking forward to spending time with her, chatting & glazing, and getting them done at the same time. However, Nancy got stuck late at work and couldn’t make it. So… I’m glazing them tonight – pushing my glaze & loading time back a couple hours!!! I think I need to find a more reliable assistant… I’m just sayin’.

And now that they’re all glazed, now I need to go back to wipe the glaze off the top surfaces to leave the glaze only in the stamped indentations. This might take awhile. I guess I made more of these than I thought?!…

Sarah Chapman is back!!!
She’s had a rough go of it over the past few months. A lot of personal things to deal with, the passing of her mother, as well as moving her studio space to a new location. But now she’s slowly getting settled in again and back to making stuff. Including her July entry in the Holiday Ornament Challenge. She may have missed June, but she back with July’s entry… on the very last day of July!!! Just under the wire!

For July’s ornament, Sarah’s been playing with a new technique in her studio. Experimenting with a knot design embossed in copper sheet using the hydraulic press and finished with a black cotton cord.

Meanwhile, I was having a little trouble getting my mind wrapped around the July ornament. So I literally wrapped them around! I went with twisted spirals with stamped textures. They’re assorted styles, sizes & patterns. Each one fo them different form the next. My plan is to fire them in the soda kiln for some earthy-naturally-random flashing marks.

After stamping all of them, and letting them dry up a bit to make them more manageable, I added some colored flashing slip details. Hopefully that little dab of color in each stamp will give them each a festive little pop of color!

And you know I can’t make just ONE of anything… so I made a few…

A few days later… I made even more. So much fun to stamp & twist. The more the merrier!!!

This month has been a tough month for both me and Sarah Chapman.
More so for Sarah than me. I was out of town for three weeks working the Firefly Music Festival. Long days of putting everything together. Lots of rain, mud, mulch & sweat. Getting everything ready for the onslaught of 65,000 concert-goers. Very little time to work in the pottery studio.

Meanwhile, Sarah’s Mom lost her battle with cancer. Always smiling, always chatting, Nancy was known to many of Sarah’s customers who met her on the art fair circuit. Our thoughts & well-wishes go out to Sarah, Julie and their family on their loss. And to remembering better times. Like this wonderful portrait of Sarah, her brother and her mom Nancy.

Cherishing the memories… remembering the good times… reflecting on the past… and giving Sarah a well-deserved “pass” on her June ornament entry. She’s been understandably distracted. And suddenly, a little holiday ornament challenge is not quite so important.

My ornament for June is a small porcelain fortune cookie. I’ve been making a lot of textured fortune cookie rattles over the past few months, and I decided to try a smaller ornament version. I’m not quite sure yet how I’m going to finish them. I’m leaning towards a light iron oxide wash to “toast” them a bit and help accent the textures. But then again, pure white porcelain is pretty darn sweet too?! Maybe a few of each…

Done. With not even a day to spare.
My friend & metalsmith Sarah Chapman and I have been making ornaments every month as part of our “Monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge”… clever name, huh? I’ve been a little busy getting ready for last weekend’s Schaumburg art fair, so it was nice to finally take time in my studio last night working on my ornament. Sarah sent hers to me awhile ago… I was the slacker this month. But we made it… today is the last day of May. So technically, we made it just under the deadline!!!

Sarah’s ornaments for May are made of brass with a hydraulic pressed and hung with a red silk cord. Peace, love and hope “ribbon” ornaments for the holiday season.

I decided to tackle the porcelain again for my monthly ornament. I made large disks of clay and then pierced them and stamped them. Lots of dots. Lots of circles. Lots of fun. I’m kind of hoping that people’s Christmas lights will shine through some of the holes when the ornaments are hanging on their tree?!

They still need a little touching up. Some cleaning. Some finishing. And then some bisqueing! I’m thinking these porcelain ornaments will be glazed in a few different colors… and then have a wire hoop added to it for hanging. So far, so good… I’m trying to keep them flat… and in one piece. They’re kind of thin. And they’ll get even thinner as they shrink. I may need to make another batch?!… or two!

Yep… made ’em in February.
You know, part of my monthly Holiday Ornament Challenge with Sarah Chapman.
Then it took almost three months to get them into a final soda kiln firing.
But I think they were worth the wait.

Now I just need to add wire rings to hang them from. Here’s a few sneak peeks…

Well, it’s April.
Which means it’s also the fourth month of our Holiday Ornament Challenge.
Metalsmith Sarah Chapman and I have been working to make a new ornament each month. She’s making her’s in metal, while I’m making mine in clay.

This month, Sarah made her ornaments by creating bell shapes with copper screen, brass hooks and a beautiful torch patina. While these are great holiday ornaments… I’m sure Sarah has some customers who would also consider wearing them as earrings!!!

My ornaments took a more contemporary approach. Sleek. Stylized. Porcelain.
I’m digging the stylized ornament shapes. The clean lines. The surprising lack of texture?!
I’m thinking they will stay clean & white with a simple metal hoop to hang them from.

Once again, my ornaments aren’t quite done yet. They’re drying and ready for bisque firing. Although I must admit that I am more than a little concerned about them. They’re pretty fragile. Too fragile maybe. In fact, I broke two of them while I was cleaning them up. So I may need to consider making another batch… slightly thicker, and slightly smaller… as these are pretty large. Too large?… I don;’t think so. Let’s just call them dramatic!