Open House Time!

Another year has whizzed by since my last open house, and I really just can't believe it! This is traditionally my last in-person sale of the year, and I know that this year, after this one, it will be time to catch up on long overdue commissions (still!) and start planning and designing for next year.

A couple of the folks from my hood came over to help me set up, which allowed me to get to bed at a decent hour!

After tonight's open house, whatever is left will get put into the ShellHawk's Creations Etsy shop.

  

See you soon, gang!

Overachiever Jack

The Jack-o'-Lantern Spectacular happens every year at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Rhode Island.

That would be something to see!

New in the Shop! Hallowe'en is Here!

Just for Universal Monster fans!

All available in the ShellHawk's Creations Etsy store!

All Teeth

Image via The Costa Rica News.

Witch Hat Jack

My first high fire stoneware jack-o'-lantern. Now, in the ShellHawk's Creations Shop.

Big, Green and Hungry

Image source.

New at ShellHawk's Creations

ShellHawk's Creations on Etsy.


More will be going in this week, and there's free U.S. shipping.

New Shop Pumpkins

Off to make some more! Meanwhile, buy at ShellHawk's Creations!

GRINNING!

Kind of like "WINNING!" but without meth mouth.

Image by sth.

Jacko Sea

Fun Hallowe'en article here.

Pumpkin Progress-The Final Chapter

The pumpkin season was almost a complete bust for me, probably because I was completely unable to tend to them the way they should be attended to. I did get three nice pumpkins out of the deal, though.

The Wyatt's Wonder is on the left, and I'm pretty sure it didn't get to its full size. I think I would have had more pumpkins if I had laid down some slug and snail bait so those little creeps wouldn't have eaten the flowers. The Howden is on the right.

There's always next year, though. More sincerity. More food. Fewer slugs and snails.

I will prevail.

New Pumpkins on Etsy!

Hey, All! I just listed a bunch of new pumpkins on Etsy, so head over to ShellHawk's Creations and get yourself a Halloween treat!

Jack-o'-Lantern Inspiration

For those of you who are just stuck, and don't have any idea of what kind of face to carve on your pumpkin this year, fear not! Bliss Massacre has been gathering a truly impressive collection of carved pumpkins on the Bliss Massacre Blog.

More cool jack-o'-lantern images here. No excuses for a cruddy-looking pumpkin, now!

Lucky You

I'm too busy to change the shipping profile on my Etsy items, so enjoy free shipping until Sunday the 19th.

Come on. You know you want one!

Ghostly Pumpkin

Now available in the shop. ShellHawk's Creations on Etsy.

Pumpkin Progress

I think I had mentioned on my last pumpkin post how disappointed I have been with my pumpkins' ability to produce. I was very disappointed in my Wyatt's Wonder, and was pretty sure the "Wonder" part stood for "I wonder where the hell all the pumpkins are?" Well, at long last, I am happy to report I actually have one pumpkin off this vine.

I'm hoping he grows a bit larger, but I'm happy with just about anything this year! This addition will make it my third pumpkin to come to maturity. The damn slugs made off with at least two other Wyatt's Wonder babies, which is pretty amazing, considering it really hasn't been slug weather out here.

I've come to find out that pretty much everyone in the Sacramento area has had a bad time of growing vegetables this year. Since we had clouds and rain into May and June, which is very unusual for our area, everything seems to be about a month behind in its maturity. I can vouch for that, as our tomato crop this year has been pathetic, as opposed to last year's gangbuster crop.

Oh, well. Maybe next year!

I guess I'm stuck-again-buying pumpkins this year.

Bad News, Good News

So, the bad news (for me) is that The Folsom Fine Arts and Gourd Festival has been cancelled. I'm disappointed, as it was to be my first art show, but, as they say in the Old Country: shit happens.

The good news for you all is that all the stuff I have made and been making for the show will now be available in my Etsy store in the coming weeks. Keep in mind I am still messing around with my shipping profiles in the shop and will do my best to keep the costs down for you.

Happy shopping, kids!

Night Shots

I promised some night shots of the new guys, so here they are. The jacko below will be a hanger when he's finished.

Here's a quick shot of my photographic assistant, who is normally very camera-shy (upper right part of the frame). She's very helpful in keeping the lens clean with her tongue!

Since there seems to be a good response to these new additions, I'll make more to put in the store in the next couple of weeks. I also want to let you all know that prices in the shop will be going up in the middle of September, so if you like the ones already there, buy them soon!

Screamin' Scott asked if I would have some of these jack-o-lanterns available in the shop, so I guess I'll have to make some more like them, too!

Back to playing in the studio!

Fresh Out of the Kiln

I've been a bit remiss in my posting, because I've been pushing to get some pieces done for the show in September. The one that's taken the most time has been Pumpkin Head, who is pictured below, pre-bisque firing.

Here he is, just out of the kiln this morning. I layered a couple of different glazes on his head, and I really like the slightly mottled result.

Here he is with a couple of new friends. I've been playing with some new glaze colors, so all my pumpkins don't look exactly the same.

I've also thrown a couple of larger bowls. There's the bat and moon pictured below

and this guy is actually made with a slump mold. I wanted his edges a little raggedy, hopefully someone will like that, too. I'll make another with normal edges.

I'll get some better pictures later, after dark.

Alright! Back to writing my podcast!

Pumpkin Progress

Being gone for ten days has its plusses and its minuses. The plus side: the dogs are fat and happy. The minus side: the plants never get watered properly. One of my fuschias was D.O.A., and a few others were gasping for water. My pumpkins even looked a bit beat-up, but fortunately survived. Above, they're going through their over 90-degrees wilt.

I admit to disappointment, like Linus in his perpetual quest for the most sincere pumpkin patch to lure a visit from The Great Pumpkin. I don't have as many pumpkins-in-training as I had hoped (which has nothing to do with the house-sitter!). I have two, plus-at long last!-my Wyatt's Wonder finally has a female that seems to be on its way to maturity. I gave them all some more bat guano when I got back, so maybe they'll be a little happier. I may still have to re-think the whole tent-and-ice idea. So much for my "benign neglect" gardening theory!

Below: hey! Color! The pumpkins aren't very big, but I'll take what I can get!

Perhaps I can find a way to be more sincere about my pumpkin patch. O Great Pumpkin! Where are you?