Season's Screamings!

Just a few pics from Season's Screamings in Pasadena, which is still going on today, in case you can make it!

Although most people seemed to be a little on the tired side (setup was Friday morning, and the show opened on Friday evening), spirits were high! We were getting to see each other again and share in our favorite hobby/lifestyle: spookiness! 

I got to see some of my favorite vendors and some friends whom I've missed very much over the last couple of years of lockdowns. I've been like most people these days: isolated and loving it! And I know that's the time I need to kick my own butt and get out to see folks.

Sorry the video isn't better, but I loved the Scrooge vibe on this effect! If I had a good place to project this, I probably would!

I'm looking forward to the conventions coming in the New Year! 

Roger's Gardens 2021

I may have missed Roger's Gardens Halloween display because I was just really busy, but at least I finally got caught up!

Don't laugh at me! It is before Christmas, after all!

Click on the pic for the annual creepy recording.

Shop Update TONIGHT!

YES! At last, the shop update is ready to rock!

Tonight at 6:00 PM, PST, the last update of 2021 with the latest kiln load will go live, just in time for your Holiday shopping!

Shipping is always free, and you'll be supporting small business. Bonus: your gifts won't be hanging around with dock workers and picking up bad habits...

And as a special offer to my blog readers, if you enter coupon code NEST21 at checkout, you'll get 10% off your purchase of $60 or more. Just to thank you for following me!

See you tonight, darlings!

Progress? Yes!

It's been a busy month, and it's only day 3? Holy goodnight!

Well, to be honest, I'd been working to get a new bunch of Supernatural cups and mugs finished before my annual Thanksgiving trip to Sacramento to get together with friends.

It was getting a little hard to get up and get things done before work. It's cold in the mornings, and it's been either foggy or damp, which adds to my discomfort and to the drying time for the work!

But you know me, if you've followed the blog for any amount of time. I don't let discomfort slow me down a whole lot! (Though I do admit to taking all the glazing inside that I can, so I can be comfy.)

I've been getting ideas for some more Castiel-themed, bee-related cups and mugs. So far, I just have the one, but the response has been so great, I plan on more like it! The first picture is the unfired cup, with the underglaze painted in. The others are after the first firing.

I always love how they look out of that first firing! The colors are so vibrant! But they need to have their clear glaze and a second firing if they're going to be food-safe, so there's another round of work to do for them: glazing!

I've been considering the last glaze failures and think I might have the issue solved with a new clay body. It's a nice, soft white, cone 5 clay. Although it's white like porcelain (without being as white or translucent as porcelain can be), it's a stoneware clay and a bit tougher. I managed to get a layer or two of glaze on some of them before I left for my trip. You can see I take my studio assistant with me everywhere, nowadays!

I saw my ceramics teacher while I was there and got a mini-lecture for some troubleshooting questions which, as always, was super helpful. I really miss the clay gang of folks I had available to me there. Maybe after this Covid-Omicron nonsense settles down, I'll get some classes here in LA.

 

I decided to do these cups a couple of different ways, to see what ends up working best. Some, I covered in black underglaze with the colored pattern and words and did the bisque firing. When I got them out of the bisque, I covered the words and patterns in wax resist, so that when they're dipped in glaze, the glaze will flow off the wax and keep the pattern and words clean. You can see the process on this video, at around 5:15, if you're interested.

Others, I just covered in a celadon glaze I kept from my old studio and just painted it on in layers. Because a good celadon glaze has a translucent quality to it, the deeper carving will show up in a darker pool of green and the higher points will be lighter in color. I think they're going to turn out really pretty, and the celadon gives it a bit of an Asian feel. The celadon, by the way, looks almost white before it's fired.

 

Finally, we have those medallion mugs! In playing with the design, I thought having a combination of colors would be fun to have on the cup and partially around the medallion. The picture below shows only one layer of glaze, which is actually going to be blue! You'd think it would be red, but that's not how the chemistry of the glaze works.

 

After all of that, and cleaning up the bottoms so they don't stick to the kiln shelves and get destroyed, and checking for overflow into the patterns, they were ready to get loaded into the kiln. When I left for work yesterday, the kiln temp had gone from 45°F to 97°F. When it's done, it will have gone up to around 2167°F with a twenty minute hold.

Now I get to spend some time getting all the other work into the shop that I haven't gotten to, yet!

Look, I'm Downsizing, BUT...

 

I really think I need this coin for the Ferryman! And it has that nifty pocket, it looks like!

And I have to wonder how differently things would have gone had I had a blood oath marker when it counted... (I mean, the ones from Ironsmith are sold out, but still.)

And just to let you know, I haven't had dealings with this company as of yet, so please, if you want to purchase from them, please do your research.

 

 

Yes. I got One.

I've got this denim jacket, see. I got it at a second hand store a friend of mine and I went into in Carpenteria. I'd been looking for one, but hadn't found a design I liked, or for the right price. I'd already been collecting patches from various places I'd been, so I could have some mementos of my travels and of my general geekiness.

The Stanley Hotel, where I spent my ten-year anniversary. Hearst Castle. The telescopes on Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii. Volcano National Park. Point Reyes, where John Carpenter filmed "The Fog."

I bought a few "geek patches." A Hallowe'en black cat. A Browncoat symbol. A skeletal cat. A zombie mermaid.

Then I got some cool patches gifted to me. Cult of the Great Pumpkin. And my most treasured gift: my Boss Film patch, given to my by my current boss in memory of his famous VFX studio.

The pins came, too. Gifts from Midsummer Scream. A gift from Chris and Jeff Davis. The Shamrock masks. Haunted Mansion. Young Frankenstein. Pacific Whale Foundation. A "Choose Love" pin from Penzeys Spices.

Now I've found another pin that I discovered I couldn't live without.

The Xenomorph from Alien. I preordered it from Art of Maquenda on Etsy. Great reviews. Beautiful work. 

It's going to look awesome on my denim jacket!

Spooky Scary Skeletons. Old School.

As a skeleton, sometimes you just have to get medieval on people...

Click on the pic for a fun version of the Hallowe'en classic. 

The Wrap-Up

 Lydia Deetz, at your service.

"My whole life is a dark room..."

My costume for Halloween, which I was fortunate enough to spend at The Davis Graveyard! Because I have the best Hallowe'en friends, ever!

It was a wonderful, Pacific Northwest, Fall weekend. The weather was beautiful! Sunny, breezy, with that little chill in the air. Little, adorable, scudding clouds. Red and yellow leaves floating by. Spider webs. Gravestones. Skulls. 

The Gashleycrumb Tinies, too!

*Happy sigh* Perfection!

Not only that, but WOLVERINE WON ONE OF MY GOBLETS!

OK, it wasn't actually Wolverine, but it was still pretty cool to have this shot texted to me...

It was also so comforting to be among my tribe, filled with Red Dwarf and Firefly references, big hugs, and the simple happiness of being together after a very long absence. Such a warm fuzzy to be with Chris and Jeff, too!

Until next year, Davis Graveyard!

It's HERE!

Happy Hallowe'en to all of you, my darlings! I hope it's filled with treats and fun!

Click on the pic for my Hallowe'en playlist!

Georgie's Halloween

 Anyone remember this gem? Such whimsical illustrations!