Now Available at The Dart Gallery, December 10th, 2015

Here are the pics of the pieces I took to The Dart Gallery in  Dartmouth today:

First, new stoneware ornaments!  These are all $25 each (tax free Sat Dec 12 :), handsculpted, handcarved, and hand painted without the use of molds.  Each of these comes with an ornament hanging wire, and a tag.

First, two new Sullivan's Pond Geese

Golden Retriever, West Highland White Terrier, and a Pointer

Slug, pterodactyl, brontosaurus, triceratops and frog

four chickadees and two blue jays

bluebird, fawn, raccoon

The Canadian and American icons: beaver and eagle

four festive foxes

four wise owls and their mouse friend

penguin, sled dog, seagull

pig, rooster, calico cat, horse

five bouncing bunnies

two reindeer and a Christmas vulture

four woolly sheep

wren, goldfinch, red-breasted nuthatch, thrasher

nuthatch action shot

last but not least for ornaments, an alien

Five new figurines made it into the box, two bears, two rabbits and a turtle.   These are also $25 each.

 There are also two new bowls.  First, this brown rabbit bowl:

 And finally, this relief carved bowl with a fox chasing two rabbits.  The glaze on parts of this didn't turn out as planned, but it was a valuable learning experience for future functional stoneware relief carved pieces!

Time is running out to visit Dart this year.  The gallery has to close early, and unexpectedly, to address a structural issue with the building so Tuesday December 15th is the last day to visit the actual gallery this month, and to see the awesome Dart Wars group show (inspired by Star Wars).

But to help things along, everything in the gallery will be TAX FREE this Saturday December 12th.

After this, there's another chance for the Dart Gallery experience - at the very first annual "Halifax Lights Holiday Market" in the Historic Properties where Dart will have a display for the fourth and final weekend: Thursday December 17th - Sunday December 20th.  

This looks like a very nice festive market. Dart's presence here will be no small table - rather it'll be more of an empty shop turned into a 'pop up' Dart!

Parking will be free at waterfront development lots during the market, details at the bottom of this page.

Market hours will be: Thurs 17th, 4 - 9pm, Fri 18th, 4 - 9pm, Sat 19th - 12 - 9pm and Sunday the 20th, 12 - 4pm.  The theme for this last weekend of the market will be "The Night Before Christmas".  Sounds fun!

Now Available at Jenny Jib, August 21, 2015

Here are pics from my most recent firing, of work dropped off at Jenny Jib on Saturday August 15th.  I'm excited about the direction my firings are going, with a mix of big, medium and small pieces at a variety of price points.  Most of these photos can also be seen in this Facebook album.

Everything in this firing is cone 6 stoneware and foodsafe, technically they're microwave and dishwasher safe too but where the stuff is getting more sculptural, I'd recommend gentle handwashing.  And, of course, plates with picture wire attached shouldn't be microwaved!  

Click on the pics to see larger images.

There were 2 relief carved vases in this firing that turned out quite well. 

First, a vase with an owl and mouse on one side, rabbit on the other, and birch trees all around ($175).  
  

Detail of mouse, ground and fiddleheads, some of the colour effects were obtained by painting studio glazes over the underglazed areas.

Top of the vase, looking in

This is a small vase with a heron on one side, fox on the other and cattails all around ($125)

Whale Mugs!  There are 4, $50 each:

 

 

Next, the lobster butter dish: 

Next, large Flounder Platters.  These are both wired with picture hanging wire so can go from wall to table.  The blue/brown one is not available (due to a small crack) but I'll be making more!

The larger flounder platter worked out: $125

Lobster mugs! I made 2 of these, they were fun, featuring advanced comfort grip lobster handle technology.

The first has the Peggy's Cove lighthouse on it and a lobster handle, $75

Mug with lobster handle and relief carved Bluenose II - which is not actually available due to a small crack.

A Kraken Mug ($50):

 

Small figurines, these are at the $15 price point

Horse

Dog

Fox

Frog

Goat

Rat

Walrus - first ceramic walrus figurine I've made!  It's sold but I'll be making more!

Walrus side view

Here is a big rooster! He's 13" tall x 13" long.  And a bargain $175 only because one of his toes bust off during the making process, and again while I was glazing him, but I was able to repair it with glaze so it should be fine so long as he's handled with care.

I'm happy about the interaction of the commercial underglazes I use with the studio glazes I mix up in my shed.  This guy had all his details painted on for the bisque firing, and then was dunked in "Randy's Red Gold" for the glaze firing.   

  
Two small sheep bowls:

And I also dropped off a few pieces from a previous firing that I still had at home:

Mountain Goat Bowl ($85)

A large, stocky horse ($125)

 

Polar Bear Bowl ($65)

Larger Polar Bear Figurine ($50) 

 And two older small flounder plates, that can also hang on the wall.