Susan Paczek's Studio: Piping plover

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Now Available at Jenny Jib August 13, 2016

Here are pics of 9 new Pulp Creatures dropped off at Jenny Jib in Lunenburg this past Thursday.

It's been awhile (almost 2 years!) since I've worked in papier mache so these were a lot of fun and fortunately it turned out to be a great day to get some pics at nearby beautiful Hirtle's beach.

First up are the 2 "Sidney the Pittsburgh Penguins" made in honour of Nova Scotia's own Sidney Crosby, the Pittsburgh Peguins captain who is quickly becoming a national treasure.

Here's a great CBC article from last month about the parade for Sidney Crosby and the Stanley Cup in his hometown of Cole Harbour. This is a really sweet article too about how he surprised a fan in rural Nova Scotia

In one sculpture "Sidney the Pittsburgh Penguin" is holding the Stanley Cup, and in the other I tried to copy the pose of the penguin on the team's jersey. Big thanks to my super hockey fan husband for the suggestion and input! These are way more detailed than the hockey raccoons I made in 2014; as an aside one of the players who inspired these raccoons has since switched from the leafs to the penguins.

A close up. Turns out Sidney Crosby shoots left and the penguin on the jersey shoots right:

... Then they went down to the beach to check out the great white shark and show off the Stanley Cup. (For non-hockey followers, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks for this year's Stanley Cup).

Another shot of that shark, it has a hook built into the top so it can hang as well as sit:

Next up a herring gull with three piping plovers. Piping plovers nest on beaches and are endangered, check out the Nova Scotia Piping Plover Conservation Program for tips on on how to help these summer visitors thrive.

Next, two crabs. This wasn't intentional but posting these pics makes me think of play on a well loved Dr Seuss book... "one crab, two crab, red crab, blue crab"

A group shot of the crabs and birds:

A photo of everybody:

And final photo before dropping everything off at Jenny Jib, Sidney the Pittsburgh Penguin with the Stanley Cup in front of the Lunenburg Arena.

Hooray! These creatures took a lot longer than expected! but I'll be getting back in to the clay soon and working on the next firing!

Sunday, May 3, 2015

Now Available At The Dart Gallery, May 1st 2015

So excited to have new pieces at The Dart Gallery! It's a lovely space, voted best gallery in Halifax in 2014 by Coast Readers, in the hip, happening Portland Street Area of Dartmouth.

For visitors to downtown Halifax, or residents even, this shopping district with great indie shops and restaurants is a short pleasant stroll from Alderney Landing. Accessible by the scenic and affordable public transit ferry that crosses the Halifax harbour, this makes for a fun excursion that doesn't require a car!

The Dart Gallery is currently featuring a beautiful show of abstract work by Amy Corbett, "Comfort Item", until May 13th, and on May 15th there will be an opening for a group show of pieces inspired by everything Jim Henson, which sounds just awesome!

Here are the pics of the work, which are also in this album on Facebook. I managed to get photos of everything except 2 mini white owls, a chicken figurine and an alpaca figurine. All of these pieces are mid-fire stoneware (cone 6) except for a couple of earthenware figurines as noted. All of the 'animal' bowls are food safe, microwave safe and dishwasher safe although hand washing is recommended.

Sullivan's Pond Geese! Inspired by the much loved geese of Sullivan's Pond in Dartmouth... the honking one is saying "What are we doing here, this isn't Sullivan's Pond! Let's Go!"

Getting closer to migrating to Dartmouth...

Goose Close Up


Rabbits! The Dart Gallery's owner, Jane, has a sweet, inspiring, Holland Lop rabbit named Huxley who usually hangs out at the gallery with her. It was fun to make some new rabbits & "rabbitware" for the space; there's a large bowl, a smaller bowl, 5 small figurines and 2 larger figurines.

Close up of large rabbit bowl

A Brown Rabbit bowl - this one is about half the size of the blue/brown one

A pair of real rabbits that appeared and chased each other all over the woods after I photographed the brown rabbit bowl! Hopefully an auspicious omen!