Hello...My name is Pam...and I am a...

Ceramicoholic. It is creeping into my veins and making me constantly think about and fantasize over what I will create next...I crave it. I have a feeling that Mariko will soon regret opening her studio for Open Ceramics Night at her studio...Feedlot Studios is the place to be on a Monday or Wednesday night when you're on Gabriola. The first taste, (I will call it) that I had with the delightful addiction came to me through my friends...yes...peer pressure. Mariko had her first (on Gabriola) ceramics course...like a 10 week, one night a week ceramics workshop. The beautiful things that my friends were making were absolutely amazing. I was so impressed with the talent that my friends had working with clay. Mugs, platters, animals, tea pots...they made cool stuff. And then I started to see Mariko's work...oh my word! She is a supah fantabulously talented ceramics artist...I love her work! And then my friend Kate who is an amazing artist making jewelery, paintings, lino cut scenes...and now she is getting deep into the ceramics abyss. She is creating such cool, imaginary little vignettes...you just want to have all of them in your home. So awesome! She has made quite a few of them...and each new one always has a story and makes you feel something. Like it should. ;o)

So...I finally gave into the pressure of having a great night with some fantastic women...maybe having a glass or two of vino...and creating my own special ceramics sculpture. One of my all time favourite things in life to do is to have a lovely Epsom salt filled bath. I miss my bear claw tub at the last place we lived in...but THIS bathroom has a skylight. So when it is sunny outside I can lay in the tub and enjoy the blue sky...and even watch the birds..if they fly over my skylight. (but I probably wouldn't see them anyways because I don't wear my glasses in the tub and am therefore blind and really all I can make out is the hole in the roof and see either blue sky or white clouds...and that's cause I know that is what it HAS to be!) Anyways...I love bath time! I guess you could call it another of my plethora of addictions. I made myself a little bear claw tub...it's an ashtray. ha ha ha!!! I bet you've never seen a bath tub ash tray...well now you have...you have NOW seen EVERYTHING! hee hee hee. It takes a while to complete a project once started. Especially my tub. The first week I went in, I molded the clay into my likeness of a tub and vanity. Mariko had to let it dry and then fire it, along with all of the other cool creations that the talented ceramics junky women from that class made. The next week I went in and glazed the whole thing. Ceramics glaze is a really weird medium. It's almost like you are painting with super watered down icing sugar or something. And it dries super matte...like I expected I would then have to gloss it! Lots I know. after the glazing, it gets put back into the kiln to bake the glaze on...and whammo! It's a glossy ceramics sculpture. Finito! No...I felt I needed to go a little further with my first ever ceramics piece. Mariko has all of these amazing decals...all sorts! The decals my eyes fell in love with were the vintage pin up girls. They were made in the 50's or 60's or something...really cute pin up poses. They are all wearing a red bikini...at first. Once your decal is on your piece it has to have one more firing...at a low setting to stabilize the decal so not to ever be removed. During the firing process the bikini kind of disappears...and what is left of it is now green. So...oopsy daisy...my pin up girl is showing her boobies!! tee hee hee! I LOVE it!!! How rad is that? Supah rad.

 So here she is...in all her beauty. I took her outside for the photoshoot as I figured, that being partly nude she would appreciate the warmth of the morning sunshine. And who wouldn't love to be lounging in a big and beautiful tub in the garden? I want to be her! ha ha ha!

 I am super stoked. I remember my mom leaving the house for the evening to go to ceramics class. I was really little...like 2 or 3. She made me little figurines and a big huge "Leo" the lion piggy bank and a bedside lamp...one for me and one for my bro. I have everything she ever made me. :o) Last night I glazed the piece I made for her for her birthday coming up June 4th. She'll get it a little late because the US postal service will probably keep it at the border for longer than needed...but she'll get it eventually. And she will love it!! It's a wall plaque...pics to come. ;o) Fun times!!! yeah yeah!
 
I think that everyone should make at least one thing in their life in a ceramics class. It really is waaaaay too much fun! Imagination is your friend when you start playing with clay! Yay for clay! Hoorah!!