Happy Beltaine!

A quick peak at my trio of trees, tres amigas, or our threesome friendship into goddesses.
My friends and I stand amusing ourselves, as ceramic tree goddesses, much as surprised to be here in this form as many of the other occasions we've shared.

Being our authentic selves, we have moved throughout the lives that have extended past our adolescent selves, parenting, partnering, and often exploring whatever was happening around us.

So today I celebrate having such good life long friends. Hail!

sculpture and Goddesses

A serpentine dish for candles or silk flowers.

Glazes are Mexico around base, and Mayco Stroke n' Coat colors.

Moon Dancer Number Two, from the back, with Mayco Stroke n' Coat glazes and clear glaze over Desert Buff stoneware

Front view of Moon Dancer Number Two.
The Black Mountain Center for the Arts Clay Studio has been my home almost daily. Thanks to all the studio assistants and A.J. Reisman for mixing glazes and firing my works. You're the greatest!

Moon Dancer Number One. Mayco Stroke n' Coat and clear glaze over stoneware.

Next weekend the BMCA Studio will have a display of students and community members (like me) to help raise funds to provide for our equipment.

Mama Wilendorf plant bowl, with Matt Bronze Green and clear glaze on stoneware.

I'm also part of a new little co-op, Black Mountain Mud Buddies, which Marcia has organized. I like that I only have to work the booth one Saturday a month. The sales will be at the Tailgate Market every Sat, 9-12, and will mainly be small items. We can all have some of our wares each week, and the person who's actually there will have the most.

Red Clay Tree Goddess Number One, with red iron oxide and Eggshell glaze. I have made some new friends with the UU women who have taken part in the Rise Up and Call Her Name class over the last 13 weeks. It was focused upon a "woman honoring journey" with goddesses of non-Western European areas of the world. But we discovered that there are more goddesses that we still want to learn about. So we're going to continue meeting monthly to share leadership of a woman's group.

Red Clay Goddess Number One from the back.

Red Clay Goddess Number One from the side. We have also started meeting in each other's homes for shared meals, which we enjoy while laughing and getting to know each other better.

Side view of Titmouse tree goddess, white earthenware clay. This is a birthday present for a friend of mine who's going through chemo treatment these days for breast cancer. Love to you, dear one! I'll be packing the Tufted Titmouse to send you in a few days.

Front of Titmouse Tree Goddess

Detail of Tufted Titmouse and her nest with face of Tree Goddess

Most of my tree goddesses have breasts of some kind or another. But the Titmouse is sitting with her nest where a goddess might have had breasts removed. I thought a Titmouse was an appropriate Tit replacement!

Back View of Dervish Tree Goddess, white earthenware clay Linda saw that this goddess has a crown and robe like the whirling dervishes. I enjoy that she's pink.

Front view Dervish Tree Goddess

Detail of roots of Dervish Tree Goddess

Banded bottle, Little Loafers clay, Matt Bronze Green, Amber, and Mexico glazes

Ryanne, Pregnant Tree Goddess, Red clay with Eggshell glaze, rubbed.

Detail, Pregnant Tree Goddess

Detail, Pregnant Tree Goddess

Tree Amigas...Raku clay with pastel Mayco Stroke n' Coat glazes Or maybe this should be The Three Tree Goddesses. My two other internet buddies will recognize that this is a model of our sisterhood. We three were in high school together waaaay back when in St. Louis, MO.

Tree Amigas

Tree Goddess Queen detail

Tree Goddess Queen, Red clay with Eggshell and Mayco Stroke n' Coat glazes, rubbed

Tree Goddess Queen

replacement Bart the cat

My dear friend had a birthday way back on the 18th of July.
I had finished making but not firing her 2 cats in clay.
Then I mailed them in a rickety box, and Bart got broken.
I felt so bad...er badly...and made another cat for her.
But it again took several weeks.

So here is Bart number 2. Or maybe kitten #2-1/2.

I had just 2 pictures of his coloring...and putting it onto a clay figure obviously left a lot to be desired.

The cats did end up different sizes, since the second Bart is a bit larger, I'm pretty sure.

And I made a little tray for them to sit on...if Jinni wants to use it. That's mainly because Fisher, the remaining cat of the first litter, didn't have a bottom.

The tray may just be a Birthday Card. The new Bart does have a bottom. So Jinni will be sure to be able to tell which is which. The real cats have absolutely no problem knowing which one is which.

Love to my friend with whom I attended high school in St. Louis.

Jinni's kitties

These are the ceramic versions of Jinni's kitties. One is a Maine Coon cat, named Fisher. The other is a lovely tuxedo (perahps also Coon) named Bart.

These were Jinni's birthday present this year. She sent me photos of her darlings. I tried to replicate them, but of course I took some artistic license. So did glaze and clay.

There is actually a black and white tray that they are supposed to sit upon...like good little figurines. It is coming out of the kiln today...hopefully. With clay you have to always put that wish in there.

I enjoyed seeing the reactions of all the folks in the studio when I made these cats. I may have to try dogs...but there are so many different breeds. And if the cat were not a nice black and white, say a striped orange or grey...it would have been much harder to glaze. I guess the stripes might not have made it. And I did mix a grey glaze once, but they are hard to do. Not to mention considering my cat who's tricolor. Oh my, I don't think I'll go there!

But I'm also going to have a big Bast cat goddess pretty soon.