Not To Cool For School

This week I am facilitating a lesson at my old high school and the project my kids are working on is a slab self portrait project and are required to use a picture of their face and elements of things that interest them.  This is the first time that I have touched clay and done something really artsy with it since october, and its also my first time doing something like this at a high school.  Its been a very interesting experience and I'm curious to see what my last few days bring.

This is my self portrait plate. Turned myself into a sugar skull, the brain represents what pours out of my head while I'm working and what parts of my mind that I access while doing these things.  The back is going to have fused skull elements. I can't wait.

Phase 1 Of Sea Spread

I don't collage a lot, and I always tend to over think when I'm making art work, so I just went at this for a few hours ripping strips and cutting things out. I have a few more things I need/want to add.

Dear interior design magazine,

Thanks for letting me tear you apart.

Love, Yours Truly

Finally.

Some of you may have already seen these, but for the rest of you, I FINALLY started painting some of the russian nesting doll pendants that I made MONTHS ago.  I'm trying to not be so lazy and uninspired.  The 9th annual NHIA Minumental helped me kick start finishing these.  I almost didn't submit to the show this year, but I'm very glad I did, regardless if my pieces sell.  I am happy that I told myself I was going to do this, and did.  I wish I had clear sealant spray and not matte because these would look much better if they were a bit shinier.  Next time. Enjoy!

Proud Production

Yesterday afternoon, I was let go early from my first job and I thought to my self, "What the heck. Should I go to the studio today and make some things?"  Well that decision took all of five seconds and I was marching from the school cafe right over to the ceramics building.

Even though I am no longer an undergraduate student, I still work for NHIA and am enrolled in an alumni studio ceramics class.  I haven't really had the drive to want to make anything in the studio, until now.  This is certainly a small step in motivation and productivity but I'm happy it is a step at that.  After Art Attack! this weekend, aside from making a pretty decent amount of money, it made me realize that I love doing what I do.  I love working with clay.  I love being an artist, and I love selling my work, so why not make more work? Long story short, some of my hot sellers were necklaces and bowls. I really enjoyed making the necklace pendants, so that's what I made last night.

When I'm sitting at the security desk at work, I just stare into the screen of my lap top for hours and want to hurt myself because being on facebook THAT long is just bad for your health.  Granted I'm working, but the job is not super difficult, so I waste a lot of my time all the time.

Minus about an hour or so of prep, here is what I wound up with after 7 hours of work:

17 pendants later, I now have 14 Russian Nesting Doll pendants, some with a Day of the Dead twist to them, and three other random little gems, charming.  I am really excited for these to get fired so I cant paint and seal them!

I will post a picture soon of some left over finished pendants from Art Attack!

T is for Tea and Thinking

I put this as a 'note to self' on facebook, but I also want to put in on here.

I can't stop thinking about tea staining paper, letting the crinkly pages to be crackle as I burn the edges with a lighter, watching all the darkest blacks form on the edges and fade to browns where the heat from the flame hits the paper and not the flame itself. I want to try passion tea and make pinkish cranberry red paper.  I want to try different kinds of tea to see how they react to the paper, and see the colors the make, super rich dyes or faintly colored wet marks.  I may even drink some different kinds of tea to see how they taste. Then maybe I can kill two birds with one stone and taste some tasty tea and have some new and exciting tea bags to test out.

I'm trying to use words that start with the letter 'T' as much as possible. Now it's time for a nap because my thinking tank aka brain is tired, tucker out.

Pushing along and finishing up.

This top image is of some pendants I made towards the end of September and put them up for bisque firing sometime last week.  I am very excited to see how these hold up through the firing because I have not made a lot of pendants like this before.  I decided to make a list of various things that I love and have always been intrigued by and interested in, and turned each into a pendant.  From an emu head, to a jelly fish, to a russian nesting doll, to a pineapple and then some.  There is a lot I did not get to making, but this was a great start for me.

This image I took this past week.  I made these pendants towards the end of April of this year and had them bisque fired in June.  I had decided to paint them by layering different acrylic paints and washes of color to complete them since I did not have access to a kiln at the time to finish them any other way.  Since then, they have sat in the trunk of my car for the last few months, unloved, and unfinished in my eyes.  I finally took them out of hibernation and put string on them and am quite pleased with the final result.  I will be selling these at an upcoming art show in the park called ART ATTACK! which will be taking place on October 23rd in Victory Park in Manchester, NH from 12-4.  I will have other work there for sale as well so come check it out.

Sorry for the bareness

I apologize for the current lack of pizazz and information on my profile, seeing as how I am just setting this up.  Please keep an eye out as I hope to transform this blog into a definite point of interest once it has been set up to my liking.  

In the mean time please feel free to check out my ceramics page on facebook.  Search Amy Bettencourt Ceramics and it should pop right up.  I'll hopefully be updating both of these daily, leaving little gems on each site to look forward to.  Thanks everyone.