Bird Ladies

Two  Bird Ladies, hand built figures  with birds made in a press mold fired at cone 6 mid range stoneware . The one with legs has  dowels set into the base to support the body of the figure.
     A previous blog showed the entire group from last winter, each lady has her own personality with birds ,flowers or a small vase built in.
 

Charcoal Float Drawing

 Natural abstraction :

Powdered charcoal on water color paper enhanced by a bit of tan and organized by a few black directional lines and very subtle value changes, expressed the icy puddles in my back alley. The mystery of the orange  is a cherry tree leaf  but I hope it causes the eye to ask a question and explore the rest of the design.  I always wanted to paint something with that wonderful color of the fall cherry tree leaves.

NEW CLAY WORK

My ladies are ready for the Blue Whole Show this  May.

Show at Blue Whole in May

For the news release I expressed how lucky I am to have the energy and creative drive to enjoy painting and pottery using the things I've studied for years.  The study has always been part of the pleasure, bringing up challenges and things to try. Art isn't just one thing, it sort of is everything,and it's my opportunity to know and show myself.
Some of the new work is shown on past blogs, hope you will take a look.  Thanks

Fog and Spider Web

Fog and Spider Web
Watercolor works well for fog, it's soft, transparent, muted and has soft edges which allow the eye to move easily from area to area unlike  to the spider web with its definite structure.  This was fun .. 

Peninsula Creek

Watercolors has a special ability to capture the mood of a place, to express the its feel , the shimmer of water and the dappling of shadowed light , the mood of color and its quietness.

Age Old Challenge in Old Age

   As I get older I'm realizing the value of things I used to take for granted, like knowing exactly the right word.   I just finished three 6x8 inch value studies  of rock carnes, They captured that special feeling  of satisfaction which is such a pleasure when a painting completely absorbs me.
I had been studying abstract work for the last couple years, trying to  apply my knowledge of watercolor and  the elements and principles of design.  In a sense all art is abstract and there  is no set  formula for what works.    Kindness, the  beauty of nature and simple things can express so much.

If the values are right , everything else will be okay.

 

The Olympic Peninsula, Washington State USA

Watercolor paintings of Olympic National Park, Most have been sold and are available as Glicee' prints  at 11x14 and 16x 20 with mat and backing  

 Kalaloch Beach, First Beach at LaPush, Ruby Beach (looking south)and  

Cape Alava Aerial View. are unsold originals

New Pottery for October Window at Blue Whole Art Gallery

Getting pottery ready  for a show is a big project
since there are  several steps, make the piece- bisque fire it,
 glaze it and -fire it again to stoneware.

These are some of the earlier single cats made on the potters wheel

 and refined, they all have their own personality..naturally, as they are cats :)

The new cats were designed to hold a candle in the center 

and  flowers in the cats..or both. 

Oil Painting on Oil Monotype Backgrounds

Oil monotypes lend themselves to interesting textures and color mixes which can be used as the beginning of a more realistic painting. Since the monotype has a

dry smooth surface they work very well.

The Iris is an example of several plate runs in the warm tone background a second smaller plate run which has some abstract hand painted areas with the Iris on the third"layer".
   
  As much as I love watercolor it's  nice to challenge myself with oils.

The Mermaid

Oil monotypes  sometimes suggest a subject
which is unusual for the artist.  The background for the figure was created  by spraying the plexi glass plate with solvent and running it through the press to lift the residue of paint .  No amount of brush work could achieve that background.

Plum Shino Glaze

    New glaze combinations  ,Shino Gold over  Plum  using wax reset

Plum-Shino

What's Happened and Happening

I took a break after a fall and the ensuing activities  from it.  I'm back, the shoulder onto which I landed is almost normal, I was "lucky"  that no bones were broken but it lead to a serious retina detachment surgery and eventually cataract surgery. Since November last year until now.I have been inactive with the Blog and FB.
     My pottery and painting continue to be my pleasure , did a bit of watercolor teaching and have challenged myself to abstracts and oil painting.

 Ranger Station at Crescent Lake  

Using sketches, color notes and photos to paint in my home studio, oils have such a wonderful difference from watercolor , it makes me rethink a lot of the process of painting.

claythingsplus by Carol Janda: Workshops and Classes

claythingsplus by Carol Janda: Workshops and Classes: Watercolor is the media for my classes but exploring ways to critic yourself and plan composition  focal point, placement and how the tools ...

Workshops and Classes

Watercolor is the media for my classes but exploring ways to critic yourself and plan composition  focal point, placement and how the tools create the unity  of a painting are the subject.   What are the elements in a painting which appeal to the viewer?
   What are the unifying tools of this abstract?  Is there some aspect which attracts you?   You are seeing  color, contrast, texture, shape, placement and unity from your own experience.

Matrix

Watercolor Classes

I will be teaching watercolor classes in September and October, Thursdays and Fridays.
Look back thru my blog to fine more examples of my work.   contact:studio@olypen.com                                                                  
 

Autumn Breeze

Refections in a Lily Pond

Scene thru the Trees

Cape Flattery

                                                                                                                                                                 

        I use the Elements and Principle of Design as the basis of my teaching.

Lavender Print Sale

Lavender Prints,  Frame-ready  11x14 matted -$20.00
 Call Studio -360 452 5356  and available at Blue Whole

Poppies and Lavender

Mother and Child

Poster Lavender Bundles

Lavender and Daisies

Lavender Poppies and Bachelor Buttons

Grey Marsh Lavender Farm

Lavender Barn with Olympic Mountain View

Zephrsus God of the West Wind

Sometimes a title just works , this oil mono with the wind blowing the "leaves"forward  is called Zephyrus, God of the West Wind.

Applying oil paint to plexi-glass plates creates a see- through effect of  layers of paint showing second and third or more color additions.  Glazing oil paint is a sometimes lucky process which doesn't lend itself to careful planning but created a unique surface.
    
   Oil paint dries very quickly when spread thinly on the plexi-glass so it can dry too much. The specks which flow forward  as if driven by the wind, where created by dry chips scraped off the plate and added to the final layer .

  

claythingsplus by Carol Janda: Blue Whole April Show

claythingsplus by Carol Janda: Blue Whole April Show: The work previously on my blog is in the window at  Blue Whole  for April. It's a big project to set up the window but I had wonderful h...

Blue Whole April Show

The work previously on my blog is in the window at  Blue Whole  for April. It's a big project to set up the window but I had wonderful help from members of Blue Whole, Karin Anderson in particular who has  real ability  with display design.  One of the many advantages of being in a co-op gallery is working together to make the gallery a success.

Inside the gallery 

Outside window  lots of glare and the ghost of me>