Stewart Creations

Sylvia, the artist-in-residence at the Curley School Art Colony, does a lot of metal work, and I commissioned her for some Day of the Dead dolls hangers that turned out so great!
She held seminars in welding and cutting torch, cutting up some huge bunch of bikes and getting a multi-hedron ball of triangles. It looks vaguely geodesic-dome. but completely round.
She has all the equipment, like any welding cable you might need. It’s just too hot right now for an outdoor workshop.

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The tail is all that has the red on so far, but he’s adding swooshes on the sides. This kind of paper shrinks when you wet it (?) or there is a special liquid to paint on that shrinks the paper, whatever, the paper gets to be drum-tight, for wind resistance, I gather.
A new hobby is as good as walmart careers for beating the old-age retirement blues. Of course a job brings in more money than a hobby, there is that to consider.

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The model plane the my sweetie is building is getting the paper covering, look how beautiful! tonight he puts on the red paper decoration and then the thin black pinstripe.

it’s not that expensive of a hobby, so he still could afford to buy gold if he had a mind to, it wouldn’t hurt a thing.
He has all the parts, I think, there’s this cute little internal combustion engine for it. That cracks me up, guys and their gasoline engines!

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Today I trimmed and painted the little cups I threw yesterday. I have thirteen as of this moment, but in ceramics you don’t count them until they are delivered.
I lost a couple in trimming and I know I am not going to be happy with at least a couple of these trimmed and painted painted ones, then they have to survive in the dried-mud stage until they get bisque fired. I hope to get four matching out of this bunch.

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It didn’t bother me much when she couldn’t keep track of which pills she was taking and when, or even when she staunchly denied missing or doubling up in the face of evidence. That really didn’t bother me much, I forget things, too, and have my own pill organizer. No, what really got me was when she couldn’t remember the quilt I made for her a few years ago. Why did that bother me so much? I think because it was a special (and long) project.
It’s important for me to notice my feelings when it becomes about me more than about her. I thought of the quilt episode (she still doesn’t remember, even after I found it and put it on her bed) when she failed to recognize me at the clinic the other day, I thought it was good practice for what surely is to come.

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I mixed the raspberry glaze chemicals today. Tomorrow it will be nicely floculated, if I have that term right. I believe that floculation is the process of the powdered chemicals actually soaking up water. Although, it might be the opposite, the definition wasn’t clear and even when I talk to potters who know, it doesn’t seem clear, but it’s a great word.

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I am selling my extra skeleton (Day of the Dead) bones as Beads at the swap meet. That’s the Pagan Pride Festival that I have been talking about. I figure I can get a buck each for the long bones, they are pretty cute. I would have made twisted wire charms or necklaces out of them but I ran out of time. Tonight I will paint the signs for all the stuff and tomorrow head off to Phoenix to deliver. Hope I get some money!

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My baby chicks are already growing adult feathers on their thighs. They still use the light at night but they won’t need that much longer. Dave is already planning the rest of their run, as they will fast outgrow the box and the coop. They are already grazing on scraps. Soon I will have eggs. Maybe enough to sell, I won’t need barcode scanners quite yet, but I have seen some pretty amazing portable units lately.

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everything came out great from the medium kiln, so now I have dolls to put together. I also know the routine for the medium kiln and can use it pretty much any time. Feels like freedom.
I might even get a couple more batches fired before the gallery opening October 3rd.
There is a Pagan Pride celebration and swap meet that a friend of mine has a booth at and she would like to sell some of the dolls, so maybe I can get a few more done by then. I will try to get a bunch of sage smudge sticks and some more tarot card bags done for that, too.

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I loaded my green ware into the big kiln today. How exciting! Some of that stuff has been around the house for several months, waiting for the right time to take to the studio. I have had many nervous moments packing, moving, unpacking, loading into the kiln, with some of those items. At last they’ll be fired and be pretty much indestructible in a couple of days.
Ceramics is so fun, I can’t wait to see the little lemon box come out of there. Mike has some stuff in with that load, too, and I have a bunch of bones and ribs and pelvises.
This is the big kiln that caught on fire a couple of weeks ago. Mondo completely refurbished it and actually has already test-fired it up to 1000 degrees, so we don’t expect any problems.

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Next step in making the skeleton feet is to make the ceramic press mold. To that end I have softened up some speckled buff, lined a suitably-sized box with plastic, layered a few inches of clay and left to settle.
After that I will press the sole of the skeleton/shoe model into the clay. I need to make the join right at the widest part of the foot/sole so the top part of the mold won’t get stuck and deform the mold when decanted.
I am gathering costumes and costume ideas, I think I will do a sports theme for some of them, I have been looking at personalized golf gifts online for accessory ideas and making jewelry out of beads and wire.
I’m pretty excited about this project, and we’re headed to Ajo tomorrow, I’ll get to look at my bones. I am very close to having all the parts for a test doll.

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I have one set of medium-sized feet out of that bake modeling clay, so now it’s time to make the ceramic mold of them. The skeleton hands, too. The hands I only need one of each size because I can bend the clay to make righties or lefties, it’s just bones. Actually pseudo-bones, they aren’t anywhere near anatomically correct. This is fun, not science.

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These Day-of-the-Dead dolls are getting pretty exciting. I couldn’t come up with a delicate enough structure out of clay, The finger bones are not sturdy enough to do out of speckled buff or dover white, but I figured out a way to mold them and attach to the doll to make it sturdy enough to fire. After it’s fired it is no problem.
I am playing around with jewelry for them, too. To get ideas of classic designs I visit sites like diamonds international reviews and such. Can’t get enough of shopping, even if I’m just looking.
I am now trying out a modeling clay that I just found out about, I guess it’s been around. This stuff you bake, the longer you bake the stiffer it gets, and you can stop the process anywhere from rubbery to melmac.
I will use this skeleton hand to make a mold and then attach the hands to my day-of-the-dead dolls using the s’graffiti method. That means I can make the hands out of the same clay as the bones, I just have to attach the hands to something, lay the three-dimensional molded hands over some flowers, or skirt material, or hat. They will be too delicate to hold up on their own, but it should work fine attached. Next problem, feet.

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I am making bones for the Day of the Dead Ladies. I want to have a bunch of them done for Halloween, actually somewhat before then so I can show them and sell them. Having a hard time with the hands, I haven’t figured out how to make them so they will be sturdy enough to make it through the first firing. Clay is just mud until it fires, and dry mud is pretty fragile.
Look at these beauties.

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Two items are listed so far, well, no, more like I have 2 items to list in my etsy store, one is listed and one is on its way.

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These will go on my new etsy account, with this description.
Ice Cream Dish
Pretty little stemmed ice cream cup. 3 3/4 inches tall and 3 3/4 inches wide. Blues and natural buff-colored clay support the whimsical design. This is a chunky, hand-made ceramic style and it holds temperature well, so you can freeze the cup and your ice cream will stay cold longer. Perfect for hot weather.
Microwave, freezer, and dishwasher safe.
I think $12.50 each or all four for $40.00

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We are getting a new roof. It’s taking a couple of days, but is not costing us a dime, the insurance picked it up because of the hail storm in October that ripped through the Miata roof and smacked me on the jaw. almost Golf Ball Sized.
So there is a lot of banging up there, and I’m surprised that the dogs are being so good.
Good dogs.

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We got a package from our friends in Minnesota. They find a lot of antiques and vintiques and ran across just the thing for my Mr. He really likes his flamingos. It’s a tin watering can, pretty unique. And they also sent each of us this incredibly bright flashlight.
I am more interested in things that will organize me right now, like zippered packs for my various electronics. There are sites where you can buy a motorola case and organize your purse, desk, world… whatever.
But the flamingo is good, too.

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By now, this reveler has a whole monkey outfit and also, even though it not a wrestling backpack, he has a monkey backpack, too.
We take our monkey Fridays pretty seriously around here. It’s about time for another one, though this time it will be Tuesday. If I get my homework done, I’ll see if I can arrange for a day of good food, good company, and good drinks.

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This is the simple apple tart that my Monkey Friday buddy made out of pizza dough, apples, cheese and a sprinkle of sweetened balsamic vinegar. It has inspired me countless times since to
1. make my own pizza dough (which turned out great)
2. make my own apple tart (which did not turn out as good, and
3. make an apple pie (which did not turn out at all, though everybody ate it politely).
The trouble I had with the apple pie was the filling. It was too chunky of sliced apples. The tart has sliced apples laid in a ring, cheese, and another ring of apples laid the other way with more cheese and the vinegar on top. My pie filling apples were laid out the same way, but it was an open top crust and the apples weren’t mushy enough for my taste.
Gives me a good excuse to keep practicing.

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A roast sounds good, there is some organic roast on sale at Sunflower Market. That is the kind of thing that’s easy to make for a party. The vegetables go right in the roast and the gravy is the only last minute cooking there is. Easy peasy! No one had better be using any appetite suppressants, would they even work with all that good food around? Think of the smells! Mmmm!
If it is roast, I could have a nice bread and brown mustard, and a salad, and with the veggies cooked along side of the roast, I think that would be good.

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The cookies are a success! They are full of pretty fruit bits and very whole wheaty. You almost feel healthy just eating them. If I didn’t know there was so much butter in them, I’d swear they were good for me.
I baked a loaf of the cookie dough and it looks great, too. I will drizzle frosting on it tomorrow and slice it thin. should be a nice little sweet treat for after dinner. We are having the kids over tomorrow for a meal and a cartoon. I’m looking forward to that.

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I really like cooking, so winter is a treat for me in Arizona. One of these days I intend to have an outdoor oven for the summers. I actually like cooking enough to always be on the lookout for the best diet pills on the market.
Tonight, to warm up the house, I am baking brandied fruit drop cookies. They’ll have oatmeal, whole wheat flour, walnuts… the works, and I soaked the dried fruits (dates, apricots, cranberries, apple) in the last little dash of apricot brandy that we had left over from Christmas.
I’ll let you know how it turns out.

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My darling’s foundation for the new shop is nice and level.

It took a couple of loads of rock and a few more loads of dirt, but it’s ready to be poured now.
Today he is working on the motorcycle that he wants to sell before he moves the garage to Ajo. It’s more complicated than just installing yakima bike racks on the trucks, he will have to schlep everything onto the trailer, drag the trailer down there and then schlep everything off the trailer again. Do that several times with heavy toolboxes and bikes and bike parts. It may take awhile.
But he’s got a nice start on the shop. That’s the first step, finish the shop. Then he can move out of the Phoenix one.

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I laid the table and can’t hardly wait for tomorrow with the kids.

Looking at the pic here it doesn’t look as festive as it does in real life. None of the food is out yet, except the stuff still in packages. I might have to make a centerpiece out of rosemary or something. I did a swag for the patio door out of rosemary, it smells so good.

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