AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH

Two days of working on this horse, two days of detailing and cleaning the little fiddly bits...a little slow, but my shoulder is better so I wasn't pushing it...

Two. Days. Work.

Droppped the tool.

Thunk.

Clumsy.

Damn.

And the dog sleeps on...

Resting

When a beam of sunlight slowly moves across the cool living room on a clear November day, what else is there to do but sleep?



The chair is so comfortable, Bear can't imagine being anywhere else...





Yasha gently opens her eyes and rests her chin on the arm, wondering what Mommy is doing...



Mommy is resting too. I hurt my shoulder and arm doing bonsai, and am giving it a little time to heal. So, quiet pursuits, like cleaning greenware. November is for remembering, for taking a glance back at what the year was all about. As the cool breeze dances the dead leaves down the street, the memories of this year's ups and downs dance in my head. December is for looking forward... making new molds, cleaning the work space, finishing up projects... but November is contemplative.

Molan- Servant of the Storm

Molan, the Irish-Celtic Servant of the Storm, has all of the lovely, deep detail of Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig's Stormwatch, with the color tones of gorgeous old European porcelains. Molan is a brown dun sabino, and he might have some overo back in his ancestry too. His feathers and hooves are carefully detailed and colored to show his favored home, the American plains, where the red dirt tints and stains horse's legs. Molan has yellow teeth that show behind his drooping pink lip, one blue eye, and a kind, appealing face. His mane and tail are black, with brown sunburning, and his tail and forelock fade to light silver/cream. I particularly love his little whisker bumps and facial shading, it makes everyone want to reach out and touch his face.

Molan is the third Stormwatch to be offered publicly, and he will go up for sale on MyAuctionBarn on Sunday, October 4th and will end Wednesday, October 7th. He will have a reasonable reserve, and someone will be enchanted to be the new owner of Molan, ready for next year's show season. He will come with a complete set of digital photos that the new owner can use to show him online.

UPDATE: His auction is here: http://myauctionbarn.com/index.php He is highlighted, so look for him on the front page.

Enki, Rider of the Storm

There was a brief span of overcast yesterday morning, that allowed me to run out and take some photos of the new Stormwatch. Unfortunately, the camera battery died before I could get as many as I wanted. However, these show his color much better, without the bleached out effect that the sun at the beach gave him. You can now see that his mane is sooty, with creamy tips, and that his sooty dapples are very subtle and delicate.
He also has a name now.. Enki, Lord of Abundance, Rider of the Storm. Enki was a Sumerian god, and reflects my kiln's names, which are also Sumerian. The Sumerians were early users of ceramics, and it seemed appropriate that Enki came from Sumer, my big kiln.

You can also see his teeth, which I am really happy with, and his tail, which shows the shading that represents layers of applied and removed underglazes. I wanted the roots to be darker, and for the color to sink in to the depth of his tail, and it worked.

(NOTE: Click on the photos for larger versions, use your back button to navigate back to the blog)

Enki will be going up for auction this afternoon, so that the auction will close in the afternoon, allowing more people to access it at the end. I will post the link here, as well as on the yahoo group.

UPDATE: Auction link is here.

Joanie

WHOO HOO!

You know how a color sticks in your mind, and you want to be able to get it right? I finally did! This Stormy was for an article that will be printed in The Boat (the RESS magazine) showing the stages and techniques of ceramic glazing. Hoping with all my might, every molecule in my brain sending positive messages to the kiln, (and a good dinner out, which brings good karma) I could hardly contain myself when I went out this morning to check the kiln....

He will be up at auction as soon as next week, when I can get some light box photos too which will show his subtle dapples even better! These photos were taken at the beach this morning, and on such a bright, sunny day it's hard not to get a lot of glare. Anyway, a sneak peek, and you will see an announcement soon for his auction...

Now to decide on a name!

(click on photos for larger images, use your back button to come back to the blog)

Fifteenth Day, Last Prize

This has been such a fun contest, and it gave us a chance to look back at some Pour Horse history. This prize is the only one that I will really miss... but I wanted to give a really nice item on the last day. It has hung in my living room for many years, along with the others that I still have.

You see, when Kristina still lived in the front bedroom/studio, we bought a plate mold... and cast some plates. Then, she drew on them by hand, with underglaze pencils, and glazed and fired them. They are very special, very unique and beautiful. This one depicts a young Thoroughbred, a portrait. Kristina also did me a cantering Draft horse, Saucy, and Dare. All four plates were hung with pride in the living room just before the BOYC show, and have been there ever since.

The winner today is... Susan Natschke!! Congrats, Susan!

Thank you again, everyone, for your support, your kindness, and your heart-felt friendship. When I started this journey years ago, I could never have foreseen the richness of experience and the fullness of achievement that Pour Horse would bring, nor the many friends that would become a part of my life.

Joanie

Fourteenth Prize Leaps into View

Lynn Fraley and her hubby Barry came to visit years ago, and as a present Lynn sculpted this gorgeous tile. I fell in love with it the minute I saw it... the detail is extraordinary, beautifully executed, and just my cuppa tea. I made some to hang in the shop, and I had a very ambitious plan to make a set of four matching tiles to affix to the bottom doors of my china cabinets. While I still hope to do that some day, I've changed my decor and colors in the living room and this test tile for the project no longer reflects the colors that I will use. The interesting thing about this tile is that it is thin and solid... when I made the mold for the tile, I made a two part mold that pours a hollow tile, because that is what I know how to do! I didn't know how to pour a solid, thin tile... but luckily, the mold can be used both ways. This tile is painted all in glazes, which gives a lovely, majolica feel to it.

And the winner today is... Cindi Nakagawa! YAY Cindy!