Whew! My "To Do" list- it has me. I had planned to catch up the blog today. A short note, though, to let visitors know 'she lives' is all I have time for. It has been a time of wonders since I last posted. His Wonders. I have so much to tell. Umm, this time that's not a tease. I sold something on Etsy and last weekend's sale was monetarily fabulous.

And speaking of fabulous, having a Mac is just that. I loves my "Tavish". (as in MacTavish...sorry) The ease of operation amazes me. You must realize, however, that I was not a real techie with a PC. I had no formal training, except at the University of Whoops. So it isn't difficult to get used to another operating system when you really don't have anything to forget. (lol)

Tomorrow. I promise. And with pictures.

As in 'brief'. Just wanted to check in, as I know there are several sweet people who do read this blog and care enough to wonder where Shaungrl is. All family and friends (4-legs or 2-legs) are fine and healthy. I am trying to get ready for a large pottery sale come September. The maid, gardener, and cook have all refused to come to work. Therefore, it falls to me to attend to these common, far beneath me, domestic chores. One simply cannot find reliable help these days... ;)

I have, ahem, purchased a Mac-mini. It is still in its very little box. Apparently the CD burner on my old PC has never worked, and I can't save my pics or docs to a CD. Leave it to this wonder kid to, yet again, purchase a product (Plextor) that has bad reviews by other consumers. It has a flaw that makes it NOT recognize a blank CD ready for burning. And since the warranty has long expired and I am about to switch to a Mac- no way am I going to buy another burner.

Having said that- the good news is that Apple stores will transfer data from PC tower to Mac-mini in their store. ( and there was much rejoicing) I am taking tower and list of items in need of transfer to the Southlake store today.

Oh. I also have a "whooping" good secret to share...later. To all who stop by by: blessings from the Father. Take good care in the heat and stay hydrated. Texas finally got to Summer with +100º. I know other places have been there for months. Be careful. Talk with you on the other side of the computer change-out. I hope I will be happy to say I'm a 'switcher'. TTFN

I usually use 'I'm in the Studio' as the excuse for not blogging. And while that is the favorite in the race, my computer has decided to run for the roses, too. Apparently, this computer is old, tired and full. Hmmm...I resemble that remark.

My backdoor neighbor came over to check it out. He gave me the bad news: to fix it would mean as much money as a brand new set-up. I can't not justify buying a PC. that will just do. When I told him what I did on the computer- photo editing, blog, surfing clay sites, original art tweaking/printing and not much else. I don't do gaming or video. He suggested a Mac and I'm seriously thinking about it. This thought will have to hold for quite a while. I priced them and $1000-$2000 is what the package would be. That's fine, I'll wait. But whilst I wait, every site I visit loads like s-l-o-w-d-i-a-l-u-p, I have mid-speed DSL. And I can type faster than the words appear on the screen. Uh.. I type about 45 WPM, with lots of errors- that is slow. It takes several seconds for the window to even try to go to the site. ARRRGH.

Now, on to the pics. The first is a test leg where I used pottery clay as if it were polymer clay. I found the most clever artist. Her name is Christi Friesen and she works exclusively in polymer. She has several small, but full color books. It's The CF Sculpture Series: #1 Dragons, #2 In the Jungle, #3 Under the Sea, #4 (just out) Cats: Big and Small. She allows people to make similar projects if you make your pieces with three obvious changes- to get around copyrights. Christi wants to teach about polymer clay but doesn't want exact copies of her work being sold for profit. Fair. Actually, that's more than fair and extremely generous of her.

I will be making my variations of dragons, frogs, cats, and jungle leaves but in Stoneware clay fired to full temperature. I won't be coloring the clay before forming, but actually painting it-and not glazing-with a technique called "dry-brush". The sculpture will be painted with acrylic black paint and then colors will be stencil-brushed on. Each color built up slowly, giving the piece true depth. I am so excited about this new chapter in the big book of artistic me.

The next pic is version two of a leg for Wall Hangers- the froggie years. I made three prototypes, then realized that they were too intensely textured. Oops. Changes even as I'm creating.

I will be posting the new line as I finish and approve the results of each piece. I hope you will enjoy the new potted me...er, the new pottery.

On Friday and Saturday, July 6th and 7th, the Texas Pottery and Sculpture Guild held its annual Christmas In July Sale. On Friday evening we offer a lovely spread of fruit, cheeses, crackers and the most important ingredient in a 'meet the artist' evening- wine. So, it seems- to me, at least- that the more freely the wine flows, the more freely the sales flow. It was a very nice sale and very nice weather- no rain. I haven't tallied my sales sheet, yet. But from what I remember seeing go out the door, I think it went very nicely for moi as well.

I had already posted the whimsical side of my claying and those peices were handbuilt. Above are some wheelthrown bowls that I did for the sale. I sold the third one and the others will be listed on Etsy. The frog bowl is food safe, even with all the details and sells for $73. The sunflower bowl has a tiny surprise hidden beneath the rim- a cute colorful ladybug and this bowl sells for $31.