Glazing of New Design

I'm pretty excited! Spent yesterday doing a max glazing spree utilizing my new spray booth! What a tremendous difference it makes for me.....staying warm and not fighting any of the elements to say nothing of my glazing position being in close proximity to my studio sink. Ahhhh, how much I appreciate this!

Shown in the pic is a rustic type wall piece which will ultimately be a raku clock. I've just finished glazing it and you can see the darker areas which have been masked out from the glaze. Those areas (border and cave goats) will be blackened by carbon during the raku firing process which will happen TODAY!! This is one of several clocks......a first for me and I'm eager to see how the finished piece comes together. The surface of this piece mimics a rock/cave wall surface, so should have an overall blend of ancient/contemporary......a combination that really appeals to me.

Stay tuned! Will be posting pics of new work soon!

The Much Coveted Indoor Spray Booth

Some women get excited by shopping for clothing and jewelry I suppose, but ME? I'm nearly delirious over my new indoor spray booth! As a professional ceramic artist who sprays most all of her glazes, I have (until now) had to spray OUTDOORS for some 14 years. I have, in the past, roasted in the summer sun, fought off angry wasps who'd built nests under my glaze spraying table, battled the ferocious spring winds, run in and out of the studio with my-to be glazed- or my -newly glazed- pieces when it began to spit rain/snow AND.......one of THE most exasperating situations was spraying in the Colorado wintertime. I had to open the studio door, set up a table in the doorway and spray the piece from the inside of the studio facing outward to avoid the glaze FREEZING in mid-air on its way to the piece being sprayed. Ahhhh, but this is all a thing of the past thanks to my inventive husband!

A commercial spray booth is a pretty pricey thing, so my husband figured out a way to provide one for me at about $200. He purchased a used shower stall and, after carefully considering dimension & function, cut it down and re-configured it to meet my needs. The pics shown here are the first "test run"......some things (like the filter) are not permanently installed yet. Had to make sure that the ventilation, air flow was functioning as it should. IT'S THE BOMB!! Worked beautifully and I couldn't be more pleased!

My husband-Robert Leuallen-will do an entire storyboard on it in the near future and I'll provide a link here.

Horses, horses!

This post is all about my love of/for horses.......something my parents were told "I'd grow out of" when I got past my teenaged years! Well, guess what? That was a very long time ago and I'm still goofy over what I consider to be the most expressive, incredibly beautiful creature on God's green earth! I don't own one at present but enjoy including them in my ceramic work. Also, I'll be exhibiting my work in Feb. (11-21) at the Arabian Horse Show in Scottsdale! Soo looking forward to immersing myself among such beautiful animals! I especially love the "Freestyle Liberty" class where the horse is turned loose w/o saddle or bridle or halter.....to run, rear & do whatever it pleases......absolutely breath-taking!

You can see more of my work on the link provided and if you like what you see, please become a "Fan"!http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paonia-CO/Raku4u-by-Shekinah-Clay/328036630436