We’re getting down to the last few days of March…
and you know that the plan for metalsmith Sarah Chapman & me is to create a new holiday ornament each month this year! And here they are for March… just under the wire.

Sarah as been working feverishly to get her ornaments done in time! She’s bee busy in her studio making other pieces, including a special commission piece for a commercial photo shoot! Yeah Sarah! So I was excited when she finally showed me her finished feather ornaments!… complete with textures & patinas. Two of my favorites!

From Sarah: “The theme for March’s ornament is a feather. These are copper with embossed and roller printed textures, hanging from loopy brass wires. I’ve been a little obsessed (researching, drawing, standing in front of people’s houses trying to figure out what kind of bird is making that sound) with birds for a while now and these are among the first pieces to emerge in this theme. I had to keep myself from referring to a particular bird’s feather and just go with featheriness.”

When I started my ornaments for March, I decided to go with a snowflake theme. So I build myself a couple snowflake stamps that I could use. Once they were bisqued, they were ready for pressing into the clay. I cut them out, puffed them up a bit and made them into ornaments.

Once I had several of them done in stoneware, I realized that maybe I should have done them in porcelain?! So I made another batch. I think it will be fun to have both versions to play with for different finishing effects.

Once they’re all bisqued, I will need to decide how I’m going to finish them. At first I was thinking of glazing them in clears, whites and blues. But now I’m considering rubbing some underglazes into the textures first… maybe leaving them unglazed?! Or underglazed to accent the textures, and then clear glazed over? Luckily, I have a lot of them now to play with!!!

My friend Kristen brought her son AJ to Lillstreet today for a kid’s birthday party.
Kristen and I went for ice cream, hot fudge & more hot fudge while he played at his
party. Afterwards, AJ came up to my studio and made a few holiday star ornaments
of his own! So adorable. So much fun to have a little studio “apprentice” today!

Rolling the clay… pressing in textures… and cutting out stars. Instant ornaments!!!

So here we are… Month #2 in our Holiday Ornament Challenge!
Sarah Chapman and I have committed to creating a new ornament every month.
Mine will be clay, her’s will be metal. Who knows?… some day maybe a combo?

Sarah’s ornament this month is copper with brass chain connecting the pieces and has
a “torch” patina. She made the copper bells using a form folding technique called the
“Heisted Cup.” Here’s a link for all you metal’s people out there who would like to try it.
Click here… “Heisted Cup.” The process is magical. And I especially love the “torch”
patina effect on copper. So much fun… and maybe three angels will get their wings?!

My ornament started out as a star pillow, but then I got a little carried away. I decided that
the “pillows” don’t need to be closed.  So I left the sides open, leaving a nice void inside.
My plan is to soda-fire these – and I hope that the inside gets some groovy flashing marks.
So far, the plan is that one side is painted with flashing slip, and the other side will have some
glaze inlaid into the impressions. Once they’re fired, they’ll also get a metal hoop going
through the middle of the star to hang from like my original ornaments.

Unfortunately, again this month, I don’t have any fired ornaments to show off yet.
I’m still building enough work to fill the kiln before I can fire it. So the pieces are piling up.
Once I have some pieces fired and ready to show… you’ll see these and all previous
ornaments again. Finished & fired… not just greenware… again!

During this past holiday season, my metalsmith friend Sarah Chapman and I were already
planning the “next” holiday season. You know how we’re never satisfied… that’s us, always
moving forward… always working on the next project. So there we were working in Sarah’s
booth at the “One Of A Kind Show.” We both decided that she needs to try making Christmas
ornaments. And you know I’m always up for a challenge… always willing to “gently push”
my friends to play along with me. Thus the “2013 Ornament Challenge” was born.

So here’s the deal…
We’ve both committed to making a new & different holiday ornament every month in 2013.
I will post all of our ornaments here on my blog and we’ll both link to it on Facebook so
everyone can keep up with us. As we get closer to Christmas, there’s a really good chance
we may be asking for your input as to which of the monthly designs were your favorites
to help us decide which ones to make more of to sell for the holidays. Some ornaments may
be one-of-a-kind… some may be production… some may be a disappointment…
some may even be a Gary & Sarah collaboration of clay & metal.
Who knows where the ornament challenge may take us?… dare to dream, huh?!

Here’s Sarah’s entry for January. With a wonderful message to kick-off the New Year.
And according to Sarah… “It’s what everyone could use more of !”

And here’s my entry for January. Mine’s not quite a “done” as Sarah’s is. That’s me… slacker.
But working in clay is a little different than metal. It’s really tough to fire just one piece.
Or even five pieces. The problem is, you need to fill an entire kiln before you can fire them.
So I hate to say that the majority of mine will be somewhere in the leatherhard or greenware
state. I’ll try to re-post them again whenever they’re glazed and finished. So my ornament
this month is a wreath… trying to stay in my own style, use my own stamps, but still making
something new! I made five wreath ornaments so that I have a couple to play with when I get
to glazing & finishing. Hoping at least one of them turns out great…

Well, there it is… the kick-off of our “2013 Ornament Challenge.”
Our plan is to keep this up every month. To push each of us out of our comfort zone…
and force each of us to work on something new & different throughout the year.
And a great chance for Sarah & I to play with each other even though she’s
up & moved to Minneapolis. With this, we get to play long-distance every month!!!

For more about my metalsmith friend Sarah Chapman…
WEBSITE: Click here to see more incredible work by Sarah Chapman.
FACEBOOK: You can also follow Sarah on Facebook by clicking here!

Click here to follow me and Fire When Ready Pottery on Facebook.
Just be sure to click the “LIKE” button… and to “SHARE” with your friends!

As part of the Holiday Opening Party last night at Lillstreet Art Center,
they also had an open Art Fair on the third floor with a lot of students & friends
selling their wares. Obviously, I had to add to my crazy-cool Terry Hogan collection
of pierced porcelain! You know I’m a sucker for repetitive patterns & textures!

As if the her pierced “pods” weren’t cute enough… now she’s making Christmas ornaments
which are equally cool. I couldn’t decide… so I had to get all three! Each cooler than the next!

And a tw0-sided mitten… I think I like the snowflake side the best?

And a precisely pierced porcelain precious perky pup… priceless!!!

While at the McGraw YMCA tonight hanging out with my friends, I did have to do
a little shopping from “My Talented Friend” Cory McCrory. Her textures, her colors and
her wacky sense of whimsy has always amused me. So when I saw this wonderful cup &
saucer – I knew I had to have it. Sure, it will fit right into my mug collection. But this is
the first one that comes with an actual arm as the stirring stick. Which comes in “handy”
when there’s “no poison” to be had!

But the REAL clincher is when you pick up the cup and find that the bottom is a point?!
So there’s no way to set it down anywhere except for the cloud-lined saucer that fits the point.
Too funny. Too clever. I love it.

And while I was there…
I also “had to” add another one of Cory’s handmade ornaments to my collection!

A box full of holiday fun! All of my ornaments turned out great.
No mishaps. No jumping off the tripods. No problems with the risky-balanced-ornaments!
Now I need to add a shiny metal ring to each of them before the Holiday Home Show!

Getting ready for my next soda kiln… trying to make more, but quickly running out
of time! So tonight I loaded another bisque kiln for firing. Not really my “best work”
in filling a kiln… but sometimes you just need to get it loaded and get it done.
As the glazing portion needs to begin really soon!!!

Kiln Layer #1 -More bowls, mugs & ornaments!

Kiln Layer #2 -More bowls, mugs, tumblers & ornaments!

Kiln Layer #3 – Plates, gourd leaves, ornaments and some “filler” from Catherine Tweedie!

Kiln Layer #4 – More mugs, tumblers, ornaments & “filler” from Tweedie!!!

It’s never too soon to start making new Christmas ornaments… right?!

After throwing my latest batch of ornament forms “off-the-hump”…
I’ve let them set-up a bit and they were no longer sticky or squishy.
So it was time to trim them, add a clay hoop-hanger and some stamps & textures!

Next up… a little slip decoration for color accents, drying then to the bisque kiln!