–is it hot in here or what?
Coming to you Live!, from Ramona Paloma Tile Studios…HQ.
And it is Hot in here! Unfortunately, our studio is not currently sporting an air conditioner. With today and yesterday in the 100+ degree range, we were a bit concerned about our brains malfunctioning.
Late yesterday afternoon it struck us!…let’s create a swamp cooler–effective and cheap. So this morning, we got the dogs out nice and early for our hilly walk and discussed our approach to keeping ourselves cool. When we arrived back to the studio, we got another brilliant idea! Maybe we can create the same effect in a different way that will be quicker and probably more fun.
Yes, we responsible, grown-up women ran through the sprinklers…again and again and again. The dogs chose not to…I almost think they looked embarrassed for us. Once we were fully and undeniably drenched, we sat down to work in the studio–in our soggy clothes. We didn’t even need the fans. It was a miracle. We were our own personal swamp coolers. Both of us had a marvelous, productive day in the studio–able to leap tall buildings in a single bound…well, almost like that.
okay, so this is not exactly us…but it is about the age we felt.
Happy Autumn Equinox–hope we can celebrate the cooler weather soon.
–I spy with my little eye…
I spy a kiln opening.
After taking some time away in the summer, we enjoyed getting back in the saddle of tile-making. We had a few special orders and commissioned pieces which brought structure to our timeline. Thank you tile-friends. We love a deadline.
Tracy and I have found that we really enjoy the process of making unique commissioned pieces. It stretches our artistic muscles and invites collaboration…how about a kitchen back splash!
The results of September’s work are seen below as we opened the kiln recently.
–the summer
Dear Mrs. Covington,
Over the summer I went on some trips, played with clay, and visited with my family. It was good, uh , I mean it was nice… It was really interesting. ( Aren’t fourth graders supposed to use better descriptive words than good and nice…?).
Sincerely, Soozee.
(I may have just channeled a persuasive letter I had to write in my first week back to school…in 4th grade.)
I guess I am ready to be studious again, now that it is September.
Perhaps this expectant feeling takes me back to my own school-aged childhood, because September is a month that still brings so much anticipation. There is always a sense of change and newness in the air. Even the light is coming in through the window at a slightly different angle. And, there were about 17 fallen leaves on the grass outside the studio yesterday, which suggests that Autumn will be here soon, indeed! Now, all we need is a little reduction in the temperature to make it more authentic.
As far as summer went, Tracy and I played a bit of tile-hookie in July and August. We both traveled a bit plus made the time to explore new avenues. We took 2 classes together–one was a thinking/writing class and the other an opportunity to play in the medium of clay without it having to look like anything. It was so nice to (uh oh, did I just use the word nice?) …It was tremendously refreshing to approach clay from an utterly different direction than we normally do. (perhaps Mrs. Covington would appreciate all those adjectives and adverbs?) We hand-built all sorts of things that started with simple forms, full of volume. We then let each piece go where it wanted. I wouldn’t say we made masterpieces, but we learned many new things and gave ourselves that tingle of inspiration…and had loads of fun.
Interesting side note for us…we found ourselves making 3-D forms that referenced our tile themes–go figure.
here’s a glimpse of the adventure we had in our summer school clay class…
–if you like pottery…
Soozee here…I couldn’t help but want to share this story I read– It’s about a North Carolina potter who hand-built 100 huge ceramic jars in about a 3 month period of time. He then sold them all, first come-first served, in less than 20 minutes.
His story was inspiring because he made a decision to push his creative skills into unexplored territory at warp speed–somehow knowing that this extension of himself would build his abilities as an artist and… develop his character as a person.
Couldn’t we all use a little character building amongst friends?
See his well-documented story via photos at http://danieljohnstonpottery.com/large-jar-project/
–June kiln opening
…a recent “lifting of the lid” for us…see anything you like?
–Field Trip!
Hey Tracy, lets take advantage of the lighter schedule of summer…let’s change it up a bit.
How about trying something new Soozee?…let’s go on a field trip!…or maybe take a class…
Awesome idea, Tracy!
So, for our first summer field trip, we trekked out to American woodworker Sam Maloof’s place in Rancho Cucamonga. (You know Sam–famous for his beautifully honed wood chairs and design esthetic). We were there to catch an outdoor sculpture show–about 40 artists showing a diverse sampling of garden art. We admired the artful expressions sprinkled throughout the water-wise garden and meandering paths around house that Sam Maloof built–pretty cool.
We were inspired?…I’ll answer that this way–like bread, inspiration takes a little time to rise…all that visual input is in there, rearranging it’s little molecules, puffing itself up…and will be ready, when it’s ready.
In the meantime, a little slide show for you–
[slideshow]
–a step outside the studio
Sometimes, it’s a good thing to step outside yourself and remember that we live on a small blue planet with just over 7 billion close personal friends…well, not exactly.
To a lesser extreme, Tracy and I have had many conversations about our own community’s well-being when the “big one” hits…such heady subject-matter to discuss while tile-glazing or during pre-studio morning walks…
We’ve known each other for a long time and remember the “scare” that computers would shut-down involuntarily, causing our infra-structure to collapse when the calendar turned over to the year 2000. Additionally, the massive windstorm of November 1, 2011 super-charged our dialog about providing for ourselves in the event of an emergency. The little town of Sierra Madre (where the studio is located) suffered from a high percentage of tree-blocked streets. No city or county personnel arrived with large equipment to “save the day”. The town was liberated by it’s own community members–neighbors helping neighbors.
And finally, here in Southern California, we live in a land of earthquakes. It’s pretty hard to ignore that little fact!
All that being said, we have both talked about taking a CPR class and perhaps a first-aid class as well. The November windstorm was really an eye-opener about how long whole neighborhoods (filled with families) could be on their own, without outside help.
So, after reading in the newspaper about the National campaign promoting Hands-Only Sidewalk CPR, we took the morning off from the studio last Thursday to check out the “sidewalk” event sponsored by a local hospital. We found ourselves with 2 hands linked together pressing into the chest of our friend pictured here, to the rhythm of the disco anthem “Staying Alive”.
We see that we have much to learn and are inspired to take the extended course offered throughout our local cities.
The American Heart Association has multiple resources online, including a variety of “how-to” videos. They highlight the 2 steps to saving a life:
How to Give Hands-Only CPR
- Call 9-1-1 (or send someone to do that).
- Push hard and fast in the center of the chest to the beat of the classic disco song “Stayin’ Alive.” CPR can more than double a person’s chances of survival, and “Stayin’ Alive” has the right beat for Hands-Only CPR
Check out http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/
–new page!
We’ve added a new page to RamonaPaloma.com!
Look for scrapbook along the tabs at the top
Now that we’ve been working together for many moons, Tracy and I have collected some photographs that help us to see where we’ve been and suggest where we might be going. A lot of this collection are bits and pieces of the process–the layer of steps that create something handmade from beginning to end.
The photos below show the interns hard at work in the studio…
–from a child’s mind…
(Soozee here…) Earlier this Spring, I had the opportunity to teach a variety of clay projects with my friend, Cathy, to several grade levels from the local elementary school.
How inspiring to make art with a bunch of bright kids! Each child brought with them a different set of life experiences and approaches to manipulating the clay–so very fascinating.
It reinvigorated the idea of creativity and expression without the need for a perfect end result. I was able to say…Let’s immerse our hands in the materials and see what happens! I had a marvelous time and the kids made some great pieces…here are a few…
–a peek inside the kiln
We invite you to have a look inside a recent kiln opening…shelf by shelf.
[slideshow]
I know, I know, the tiles face all different directions but think of it as a little bit of exercise for your neck as you turn your head this way and that to have a proper look. Who knew you could do calisthenics while looking at art?
Actually, the seeming randomness is a function of squeezing the tiles into position without anybody touching anyone else. We often reflect on that game “Operation” that we played as kids while we load the kiln…we don’t want to hear that buzzer and definitely don’t want to see that red nose light up!
See you at The Wheelhouse Spring Ceramics Sale in Monrovia on April 27 and 28!
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