Thank you.

Best Of Show!

While I would continue to glaze pieces for the shear joy of it, I admit it does feel pretty darn good when a piece you've put your heart into does well in either the model horse world showrings or at juried art shows. The Donna Chaney AA Striking Out Arabian that I custom glazed took home a division championship, a Southwestern overall championship and a Best of Show, all in the professional category! My husband was with me when they announced the awards, which made it very special. I am so thrilled, as this was a juried show, judged by fellow artists, some of which are masters in the fired arts.

End of an Era

30 years ago when I started dabbling in ceramics with my mother, I found a show near where I worked in Dallas. The Southwest Ceramic Association show, SWCA, was huge, taking up an entire hall in the Dallas Market Hall complex. I entered a piece in the hobbist division: a large underglazed ceramic cathedral with stained glass windows (I was doing stained glass at the time) and won a coveted Southwesterner award. Fast forward to this weekend, which is the 60th, and last, show. It is now a very small show and is no longer attracts the vendors or entrants so they are folding up their tent this year. Since it is the last year, I traveled to the Mesquite Convention Center and entered two of the AA pieces I have been working on and will see how they do in the professional division. It's the end of an era.

 

 

Back in the Studio!

Wow, can't believe how much time has passed since I posted to my blog. The school year is almost over too!

I have finally gotten back to the studio and started china painting an AA Chaney Circus Pony and a bisque Goebel foal. This is after the first of many china paint firings. I'm also working on a new Lakeshore SR and hope to have him finished in late May.

Moving on but never forgetting

It's been four weeks since our Rissa passed over the rainbow bridge, leaving our home but never our hearts. The day I brought her ashes home I also brought home a little puppy-mill Chihuahua to foster from the vet. It's taken a lot of gentle care and love but she is finally coming out of her shell. However she decided to bond with one person and that person is my husband. So we decided to find a rescue poodle that would help the Chihuahua and us. Last weekend we drove to Houston and decided to adopt "Buzz" a wonderful extroverted two year old male poodle. He and Shadow get along fine and both love long rides in the car and van. It's good to have something to cuddle and take care of again. We're helping them and they are definitely helping us.

We renamed "Buzz" to Sam (for Sam Houston). The group we adopted Sam from is k-9 angels rescue and they are doing wonderful work!

Three weeks and counting

Three weeks ago, on January 18, Rissa told us it was time to say goodbye. It has been so very hard not having her joyful greeting for me when I come home but it is even harder for my husband, who is retired and has the empty house. We are grateful for the time we had with our little angel and know we did the right thing by her. But oh how I miss my little girl.

There is never enough time when you love something.

One of the hard parts of adopting a rescue animal is that you don't know all their history and they are usually older animals so that when you bond, it can be for a shorter time period. I'm learning this personally with a little rescue dog we adopted in May 2008. She was about 5 or 6, a toy poodle who had been mistreated and was very shy about people. But when she bonded with my husband and myself, it was a fierce bond the likes of which I'd never experienced. We became her world. Not just because we fed her, but because we didn't hurt her and I think that was a new experience for her.

Suffice it to say, I have never had a dog like Rissa, and I knew she was older so I would be lucky to have her 9 or so years assuming she lived to the same age as my other toy poodles, who lived to be 15 or 16. That was not to be.

Last July she was diagnosed with breast cancer. We did surgery and chemo (yes on a dog, but sometimes you have to do things that in the past you would have thought ridiculous). So the time frame slipped to the point we were looking at having her maybe another 2 years or so. Now it may be today that we lose her.

I don't regret adopting her but I am angry with the short time she was given to us and I only hope we made up for the abuse she had in the first part of her life. It hurts so much to love them and know they will leave you all too soon. I understand why people are leery of adopting an older animal because of this exact situation but they need us, oh how they need us. And they will give back more than you can imagine.

I love you Rissa and I will do what is right for you, that I promise you, little girl.

Season's Greetings to All!

See a need, fill it.

Having lost quite a few pets over the years and currently having a terminally ill dog, I realized that there may be a need for small affordable pet creamtion urns for cremains. So I am going to offer porcelain urns as part of my art inventory. It may not be a pleasant product but I think it may fill a need. My supplier for the plain glazed urns will be Maryland China and I will keep a few of their urns in stock for china painting names, dates, artwork etc. Inquiries welcome.

Moving out of my artistic comfort zone

I started working on a fleabit gray on the Chaney striking-out arabian sculpture, which is a favorite of mine from Animal Artistry in the UK. I've never done a fleabit gray, let alone one in a fired finish, so this is a real stretch for me! He's not done yet but here are two in-progress shots.

New items in my Etsy shop!

I've put some new items in my Etsy show and will be adding more during the holiday season. I'll also be stocking some local stores with my items (Rockwall/Greenville TX) and will be taking custom orders. Here is a link to my shop: FireHorse Designs on Etsy

Cheryl

New fused glass items coming to my Etsy shop this weekend

I have three kiln loads of goodies that will be uploaded to my Etsy store this weekend, November 26-27. The link is Etsy Shop for FireHorse Designs


Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Cheryl


FireHorse Designs, makers of Pottery, Ceramics & Fused Glass, since 1980
www.appaloosas.org
http://www.firehorsedesigns.org/
Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/firehorsedesigns
blog: http://firehorsedesignxtx.blogspot.com/
FB: http://www.facebook.com/#!/FireHorseDesigns

Fusing again!

Now that the weather has cooled off some, I'm working with the kiln again. Yesterday I made some fused glass cabs and also played with an electric engraver and some dichroic glass. Here are the results! I plan on making more, in different colors and patterns, to list to my Etsy store for holiday shopping. The first photo is of a bracelet made from tourquoise and black cabs. The second is a necklace made from etched dichroic glass.

A Day to Reflect, to Enjoy our Freedom, and to give Service

I remember where I was on 9/11/2001. Tomorrow I will use some of my class time to teach my students, who were 8 years of age or less then, what September 11 means, not only in terms of history but in terms of the future and what it means to serve.

This particular piece by Budweiser always manages to bring tears to my eyes.

Bud Clydesdales 9/11/2001 Tribute

Thank you to our young men and women who serve in the armed forces, as firefighters, and as police. God speed.

Items listed to Etsy!

I've uploaded many items to Etsy. There is jewelry, home decor items, etc. Please check them out at FireHorse Designs Shop At Etsy

OOAK Handcrafted Jewelry: orders being taken now

Offered for your consideration, for you or your holiday gift recipient, OOAK custom glazed earthenware and fused glass jewelry. All pieces can be customized to your color and breed preference. Glazes and glass colors can also be customized. Pictured are pieces finished in crackle glaze.


Each piece is handcast from earthenware clay, fired to bisque, glazed, and then china painted. Detailing such as mother-of-pearl, gold and silver overglazing, etc. can also be added. Item will be crafted to the design of your choosing, be it equine, canine, feline, floral, etc.

Depending on the complexity of the design, allow 3-4 weeks for delivery. Pricing will be dependent up design of piece and the type/style of necklace, earrings, pin, etc. chosen for the piece. For example, a necklace with beads or semiprecious stones will cost more than a simple black velvet necklace.

A 50% deposit will be required at the time of ordering. Please e-mail me at firehorsedesigns@aol.com or cherylfarrens@aol.com for a price quote. PayPal accepted. Thank you!

CG Lakeshores for sale through Cindy Neuhaus

Cindy Neuhaus of The Lakeshore Collection has listed for sale many CG and tests finished by me. Please go here Lakeshore CG by Cheryl Farrens to view the pieces.
They have all garnered NAN cards and some have earned championships.

Donation to a good cause and a tea pot!

I have been laid up with the silly leg ulcer again and my beloved toy poodle, Rissa, has been hospitalized since last Wednesday. Add to that a burned out element in my kiln, and you have a REALLY bad start to July. So I have thrown myself into some china painting and digging through some older work to find a donation piece for a silent auction a friend is hosting, which will assist a great rescue operation.

On a positive note, the vet thinks I may be able to bring Rissa home tomorrow and the leg isn't hurting nearly as badly as it was before I got to see the doctor on Friday. Gotta love pain meds LOL.

So without further ado, here is the abstract tile I'm donating to the Breakables at Breyerfest silent auction. I used underglaze watercolors and then applied gloss clear glaze using a sponge, giving it a pebbled effect. I then mounted it in a rosewood frame.

I am also working on a porcelain teapot. I have tried to emulate the Chinese brush-art style by using dilute black china paint and a calligraphy brush. I like what I have so far but I think it's a bit too stark and am debating where to go from here. I don't want to stray too far from the Chinese style so I am thinking about adding some minor detailing like bamboo leaves. Hmmm.

Before I can fire the china paint though, I will need to fire the kiln empty so that the element will form its oxidation coating properly though.

Lastly, here is a photo of my little girl, whom I miss greatly and hope to bring her home soon to convalesce.

Finished tiles

The day after my last post I ended up in the ER due to a bladder infection. It took about 2 weeks to get over it and gain my strength back. I finally got back into the studio last week and finished the tiles. I did them in decorator china paints over a glossy clear glaze and then added mother-of-pearl overglaze.

The top tile I am donating to the Breakables at Breyerfest show as an award for my Lakeshore challenge. The highest placing fired Lakeshore finished by me will receive it as a prize. So if you are going to Breakables at Breyerfest, make sure you stop by the Lakeshore suite and check out my latest custom glazes, tests, and SR!

For more information visit The Lakeshore Collection or BreyerFest Breakables

Photos of hand-cast bas relief projects

I've been working on some hand-cast, self-sculpted bas-relief tiles the past two weeks. I want to try to do some of my own molds and to do so I have to create my own work. So I decided to do bas-relief tiles, which are easy to create, fun, and can be done in decorator colors. The two horse-heads were sculpted in low-fire white clay, fired to cone 04 bisque, and then glazed a clear gloss.

The medallion at the bottom was cast in low-fire terracotta clay that had a small amount of native clay added to it, hence the rough texture. It was glazed with dilute translucent white glaze for the background and with dilute translucent blue glaze. These medallions were made for the school that I teach at, as end-of-year speciality awards. Mixing the clay from the school property made them unique and a keepsake for the students. I was pleasantly surprised that they all made it through the bisque firing without doing something like cracking or exploding LOL.