–a fine day was had by all
Tracy and I just came off a 3-day show at Creative Arts group. It was our first event that ran over several days and now, a week later, it just seems like a whirlwind of activity…a bit of a blur.
We truly had a grand time of it. Lots of old friends of Ramona Paloma Tile came by to say hello as well as new. There was no shortage of warm greetings and shared chuckles.
On Sunday, at the end of the show as we said our thanks to the organizers of the event, we discovered an interesting little truth. As first-timers to this show, we were relegated to the “kids’ table”. Yup, we newbies were all housed together in a rear classroom dubbed “Room 4”. Within that farewell conversation, we were told that Ramona Paloma had helped break the curse of Room 4. (It had notoriously been a less-visited room, tucked in a rear corner of the event.)
However, all that is changed now!
Along with our Room 4 roommates, we had a walloping good time in that intimate little room. There seemed to be a constant stream of friendly visitors to see the “artwork of Room 4”. It’s an interesting social experiment to share a small room with strangers. I’m happy to report that instead of strangers, we now have some new friends! We even had a little storage room in the back of our display which became our fort after a while. (What is it about rainy weather and close quarters that turns you into a kid again?)
Ode to the Room 4 artists:
Meet Judy. She makes intricate kiln-fired glass pieces and traveled to this show from Arizona. Since her work was located close to ours, she appeared to be associated with our tile, and actually began talking about the process with those who had questions. She was hilarious and engaging in such a low-key way.
Meet Christiane and her husband. They love Beagles. She makes tiny folded origami pieces into jewelry and wall-hangings. She actually hand-paints 8 careful coats of glaze on each folded work of art. Amazing!
Meet Janice and Jill. They work together but create separate pieces (similar to Tracy and I). Janice, an elegant woman from Australia, makes beautifully woven pieces that some people may call baskets, but they are so much more. They’re like 3-d collages using natural objects, metal and wire…really lovely. (And Janice has a gorgeous Black Lab named Cassie.) And Jill? Well she arrived wearing ostrich skin cowboy boots and wasn’t afraid to carry the right attitude to wear those boots with style. She presented fascinating folded and hammered copper pieces as bracelets and necklaces. You could really see the hand in her work.
Next we have Kathleen. She makes carefully rendered and incredibly complex drawings. (Dictionary.com suggests…”something complex may be well-organized and logically constructed as well as subtle and intricate”) Yes, that sounds about right.
In the center of the room, we have Beverly. I overheard Beverly telling someone that she had been an English teacher, and a film-maker prior to her life as a jewelry-maker. That description was so fitting for her–a confident woman who wears awesome color combinations and makes beautiful jewelry full of color and life.
And next door to us was Penny. A woman we did not previously know and yet every time an old friend of mine came in to say hi, they would turn to Penny next–also greeting her as a dear friend. How is it, Penny…that everyone I know…you know…and we don’t know each other? That’s a mystery, apparently. Penny makes crazy-cool jewelry featuring found objects and vintage pieces. She is not afraid to re-adapt a necklace from by-gone days into an eye-catching masterpiece by modern standards.
And that was our stint at the kids’ table for 3 days…full of irony, amusement, and anecdotes with Tracy and I throwing our hearts and souls into making as many tiles as our little gray matter could produce…and loving every minute of it.
I guess it took me all week to reflect–kinda like adding salt and pepper at the end of a cooking fest—season to taste….savoring each flavor and nuance as it comes up.
Thank you to all our tile friends that came by to see us. Tracy and I find tremendous delight in your response to our work.
–Creative Arts Group show in Sierra Madre
As we enter into the season of giving, Tracy and I fling ourselves into the tile-making process with abandon! We have been fortunate enough to be invited to participate in several upcoming shows.
First of all, we will join in the festivities with the Creative Arts Group in Sierra Madre, as they host their Annual Art Festival–coming up next weekend, November 11, 12 and 13, 2011. The weekend schedule goes as follows:
Opening Night Reception: Fri, Nov 11, 7-9pm.
Show continues: Sat., Nov. 12, 10-5pm and Sun., Nov. 13 from 10-3pm.
The Festival includes work by more than 70 professional artists, plus the Student Sale (Fri & Sat only), and Artist Demonstrations. No worries about inclement weather, as the show will be indoors.
Please pop in to say hi at the CAG Art Festival located at 108 N. Baldwin Avenue in Sierra Madre.
You may find out more about this art studio by calling 626/355-8350, or visiting www.creativeartsgroup.org
Then on December 2 and 3, (Friday and Saturday), we will be participating in a wonderful ceramics show at The Wheelhouse in Monrovia. We love this community of potters and are thrilled to be a small cog in their wheel. (…wheel…Wheelhouse…I think there’s a joke there somewhere…). Their Annual Holiday Sale will be held in the studio located at 1833 Santa Fe Place in Monrovia behind Aamco and Troy’s Donuts.
Just after that we will be part of the ongoing “Gazebo Artists” of Sierra Madre Community Nursery School located at 701 E. Sierra Madre Boulevard. This continuing artisan display & sale will feature 2 – 4 revolving artists (twice monthly) in the charming gazebo located in the front garden of the school. Tracy and I will set-up shop there on Dec 6 and 7, (Tues and Wed).
More details to follow as we get closer to December.
Happy November! We love this slight change in the weather, don’t you?!
–box of cookies
We just loaded (and unloaded) a kiln full of goodies this week.
I couldn’t help but photograph this box of Tracy’s freshly baked goods. This wonderfully cheerful box is full of her little tiles–all about 2 – 3 inches in size. Instead of chocolate chips, they are loaded with funny images of cats, dogs, frogs and other stuff. The best part?…they are very low in calories, and you can have lots more than one!
I thought I would try something a bit different with our photos. I thought I might turn them into a slideshow instead (at the bottom of this entry).
So…you’ll see our kiln shelves loaded with glazed tile in the raw, (unfired), followed by a view of each just-fired-layer as it is revealed to us during the unloading process.
And, just for fun, I’ve included a photo of the many boxes of tile all lined up in the car to take to the kiln. The actual location of the kiln is only about a half-mile away from Ramona Paloma Studios, but we still have to get all these little precious clay chunks of our labor over to Lori’s place for firing. It’s like driving around with nitro-glycerin strapped to our belts–well almost.
so here goes…
[slideshow]
–here a frame, there a frame
Striking a fine balance within all the many tasks involved with making art is something we are often in pursuit of. (wow, I really have to catch my breath after that sentence…).
Recently, we allotted the time for a bit of woodwork again.
***
We-kicked-Tracy-out of the ceramics studio and set her aloft in the wood shop. She got very busy with her power tools to make a few frames for us.
Then-I-provided back-up by staining wood and handling the screwdriver. I’d like to be a big shot and say I used the nice power tools too…but alas, I used my forearm power tool only.
However, I am happy to report that I really “powered” that little screw into the back of those wood frames. I may have even produced a drop of sweat on my brow. You would have been proud.
Actually I am extremely proud of Tracy and her Kung-Fu skills in the woodshop.
You rock tile-twin
–Francois makes a statement
Tracy and her rabbits…
When she went through her “bunny phase” (it happens to all of us…eventually), she made these wonderfully silly and delightful rabbits, set in a variety of scenes where their rabbit-ness was très coy and subtle. These early designs are some of my favorite.
The first hare of this kind was hiding in tall grass, wearing a grass hat…this modest little fellow went on to become a sailor and a mermaid (mermale?) as well as Francois, who charmingly had a head full of bubbles. Francois hoped to make his permanent home in a bubble bath.
When looking at Francois, one couldn’t help speaking in a silly-fake-french-accent. (Tracy and I need very little prodding to be silly while making tile).
Well, a short while ago, we bid adieu to Francois as he flew the coop. He has taken up new residence as an installation in a shower/tub wall. He now feels like King of the castle–overseeing and inspiring bubble-filled frolic in the tub from here on.
Au revoir Francois.
Don’t forget to write.
–recent tile from Soozee
Soozee here, once again.
Tracy and I (using our keen tile-twin-powers…) like to divvy up the workload or shall I say?…activity-load. I am the keeper of the pen (the blog) and she is the keeper of the power tools (wood frames). In doing so, we work within our strengths, yet quietly develop our weaknesses through the other’s hand.
In other words, I love to get my hands on the power tools…I press the trigger full blast and wield them above my head like the chainsaw-massacre guy while Tracy gently says…now Soozee, that’s not how we handle our tools…is it? Mmm? And as far as the writing goes…I can’t say that that’s a weakness for Tracy. She’s a good writer, however she likes to write things that make her giggle and the more of a tangent she goes off on, the funnier it becomes to her…pretty soon, she is left weak and defenseless from her guffaw fest and cannot go on. So, for simplicity’s sake…I do our writing.
(Speaking of tangents…I’m supposed to be showing you my new glaze work…).
Thanks for being patient. Here are a few new pieces from me (Soozee)–
–newest work from Tracy
Soozee here…to introduce some new ideas from Tracy.
I love her recent imagery–so full of allegory and wit.
I also appreciate how our styles are a little different but complimentary to one another. Using the same process and sharing a color palette allows our work to stand together well, I think.
…here’s Tracy–
–late summer work
We recently filled the kiln with a fresh load of bisque ware (from wet clay to a hard, fired piece that has a high “tink” when you flick it). We quickly followed that up with a glaze-load brimming with new designs, along with some previous favorites. We like to send the newbies into the kiln with the stand-by, more “experienced” designs…the old guys escort the young-uns through the “sauna” as we like to call it.
We’ve introduced some new fable-like pieces that tell a wee story (left to the imagination…) along with a few tile full of whimsy and warmth. In the kiln shelf photos below, you’ll see some of our old friends too–little birds and dogs.
(p.s. forgive the flash on the photos–we were working late that day…)
–a brief homage
Please allow me to pay my respects to a coupla fur balls that have been meaningful parts of both Tracy’s and my life. This July, we both lost a fuzzy member of the family.
Tracy and I took some time off to walk and talk instead of work–providing each other with some cushion as we traveled down this bumpy part of the boulevard.
We’re back in the studio now…with clearer heads and a love for what we’re doing with tile. We just fired up a load of glazed tilework. Stay Tuned.
–tile twin powers
Tracy and I have often remarked on how many similarities we share. It is part of our schtick to claim our twinhood even though it is not really possible… medically speaking. We figure we can have our little illusions, as long as we function properly in society and don’t hurt anyone in the process.
About a month ago, we both had a commission piece due…on the same mid-June day–funny thing was, we each got our respective job at a different time, and through different contacts (I tell you, it’s that twin thing…). Each project had a substantial degree of difficulty, so we began brain-storming on how best to approach the work ahead–running glaze trials and researching methods, with many conversations about color and technique.
How helpful that we could bounce questions off each other throughout our individual processes.
(I often run through the streets, exclaiming how nice it is to have a tile-twin to share ideas with, keep work-appointments with, and share costs with…).
With a bit of good fortune in the kiln and the support of the “twin powers”, we were able to achieve the outcome we had aimed for, and relinquished our pieces on the due date with a sense of satisfaction.
I’m delighted to report that we both gained a lot from these 2 projects–we learned from each other and happily discovered pearls of wisdom within ourselves. You know?…it’ feels good to stretch the creative muscles a bit. Trying new stuff so often leads to discovery and growth.
Tracy created a framed “plaque-in-gratitude” for an outgoing orthopedic doctor, and I fabricated the likeness of a private home, as a gift.
Ramona Paloma on Instagram
Ramona Paloma On Facebook
