WINTERS END??? AT THE BLUEDOOR STUDIO

Full Moon over LENSWOOD through a rain splashed lens august 2012

Wow, am I ready for Spring!!!! this winter at the BLUEDOOR STUDIO has been relentless to say the least, while not overly stormy it has been consistently BITTER and a bit of a trial in my Lovely (but unheated) studio....

However I've had some great inspirations this winter and have been 'playing' quite a bit.

This is a sample from my 'Sea Urchin' series inspired by my New Zealand trip in Feb. Due to poor lighting/photography the delicate green and gold is a bit washed out but enough to give you and Idea...These will go well in summer I feel and am still adding forms to this series, will post better pics when I get some 


Whilst I'm still after an appropriate glaze for my Fungi inspired bowls, in the meantime have glazed them with my green satin matt with iron on the rims...not to shabby I must say, sorry no images of the glazed forms as yet.... I still really want to find a white crawl glaze for them.

'NEST' series, Bird feeders, Stoneware with Porcelain slip and etching

I've been extending my 'NEST' series and working on some exciting new bird feeders this week, they are great fun to throw! They also serve the purpose of 'Prototypes' for a sculptural project I have in mind...Two birds with one stone so to speak.

Here's a pic of the progress so far, these ones have been slipped with porcelain and incised, just waiting for the 'dags' to dry before brushing of and applying the Iron oxide,which I will then sponge back...Will post pics when glazed....
They are a further development from My Owls of last year that some of you may remember and will have the same surface appearance. The owls meanwhile are still popular and I have some appearing in an interior design show this weekend! fingers crossed for sales.

'NEST' series, Bird feeders, Stoneware with Porcelain slip and etching

 Well that's about it for this Post  I'm off out to the studio to see if the Bird feeders I threw TWO days ago..(That's right TWO days ago...nothing is drying in this weather) are ready to have the holes cut out and the slip applied......So until next time....Cheers from ROSE MAGUIRE at THE BLUEDOOR STUDIO

OWL SKETCHES 2011

My Goodness two posts from the BLUEDOOR in as many days. That must be a record!!! As promised though here are some of my favorite OWL sketches. I hope you enjoy these as much as I do.

I really LOVE this drawing technique (very new for Me)

I  use a very fine gel pen and work very fast.

This gives the drawing lots of energy and allows

 me to create depth or build the "form" so to speak,

 so I feal more like I'm sculpting rather than

drawing, which is probably why it works for me.

Mean while I've spent ages trying to format the layout of this post and it just seems to have a mind of its own. So apologies if it seems a bit hap hazard.
Enjoy! 
Until next time
CHEERS!
ROSE MAGUIRE @THE BLUEDOOR STUDIO
ALL IMAGES REMAIN THE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF ROSE MAGUIRE AND ARE SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT.

OWL PHOTOS FROM THE BLUEDOOR -UPDATE TO '2011 YEAR OF THE OWL'

As I mentioned in my last post its been a very busy year @ the BLUEDOOR this year and Ive been developing a body of work that started with some simple line 'studies' using a fine gel pen, I managed to fill up most of  a large sketch pad. That's pretty amazing for me as until the last few years I usually just do a few rough sketches to get the feel of the piece I want to make, splash around a few colour swatches and get stuck into the clay.

My very first Lecturer at art school used to tell us to draw every day and to draw all our Ideas religiously and couldn't impress on us enough about how much this would inform our work. I struggled with this as I was very much a hands on 3D person and usually started my journal with the few rough sketches etc as mentioned then do a drawing after the work was finished. Yes I know that's cheating!!!

Any way over the last few years I find myself NEEDING to start any sculptural project by getting a feel on paper, This usually involves a pile of the big cartridge paper a lot of charcoal and a great CD (very important!!!)  I find these drawings give me a feel of line and a sense of scale, its at this stage that the character of the piece will start to develop and by the time I get to the CLAY stage the piece almost seems to make itself. I LOVE PROCESS.  

I thought I would post the slide show images as photos as I'm not really sure if the slide show from the earlier post presents that well so I apologise to anyone who feels this to be unnecessary repetition. I will also share a few of my Ink OWL STUDIES in another Post. Till then Cheers from ROSE MAGUIRE @THE BLUEDOOR STUDIO.

'Owl Dreaming' stoneware 35cmx25cmaprox

Hand built Porcelain Beakers with iron oxide inlay or green alkaline glaze 

Add caption

Owls in progress, slipped and drawn into ,waiting for Iron oxide wash

'Owls' Wash applied waiting to be rubbed back



Detail Stoneware Owl

 









Stoneware owl 50cm aprox



The Family





2011 The Year Of The Owl

This year I've finally gotten around to playing with owls. A bit of time to explore (and the deadline of two exhibitions fairly close together)has allowed me to develop my original drawings into a lovely body of work including a series of stoneware wall tiles 30 x 30cm approx. Some small porcelain tiles and hand built beakers, both with embossed inlays,A collection of thrown and altered sculptures and a new bowel series I call Nest, not to mention some lovely Owl pendants. Another spin off is a series of digital prints from my original drawings. Its been fantastic fun and there is still a lot more scope for further development.

The Owl sculptures start life as bottle forms thrown on the wheel then the top is sealed and clay added to create the head and facial features. I then apply a porcelain slip and draw back into the surface to create texture on the form,after this an Iron Oxide wash is applied and left to dry. This is then rubbed back with fine sand paper (always wear a mask if you try this!!!) glazed and fired to cone 6. Initially I sponged of the excess Oxide but found it often took off to much and spread the oxide around to much, sanding offers me far more control. I'm really loving all facets of producing this body of work.


Find more photos like this on Electric Cone 6, Mid-Fire Potters

To view this slide show as photos and to read a bit more click HERE or to view More of my OWL SKETCHES click HERE.