MadDogs and PirateMamas

Little Clay Monster!

2009-02-03T15:44:00.013+01:00

Well, I didn't get time to make a stupidsockmonster as promised, unfortunately I had two very sick girls to look after all weekend.

However, we did manage to play with some clay, and while the kids made a mess with the white clay, I managed to make a little red ClayMonster... loosely based on a previously made stupidsockmonster. It was a little tricky to dry him, I didn't quite know how to place him in the oven with such a long tail, but managed to hang it down between the grills in the oven shelves!

I'm out of the white gouache, so I tried a waterbased latex paint this time. Here is 'Clay' with his first coat of white, and then his colours and varnish!

What do you think? I do like him, however, I don't recommend the latex paint, the gouache works much better on the red clay, and with the other colours. I also like the way the gouache reacts with the varnish... he may be the first of a complete ClayMonster family!!!

2009-01-30T20:51:00.010+01:00

OK, here are the finished items made by

Ms Merryweather
and modelled by Mackenzie oh so Rosie.

It was a beautiful day in Spain today, MacKenzie and I walked up the mountain behind our house to look for our missing cats..we found two of them basking in the sunshine. The third turned up tonight for her dinner! I took this opportunity to photograph her in one of the necklaces. She wore it to school today too! (Mac not the cat)!

I managed to post some of my creations on the Art Fire website, lets see if I can actually sell any! The website allows you to post stuff for free as long as it's handmade. If I do manage to sell anything I will let you know.

I am going to make a new stupidsockmonster this weekend, if I get time... but I'll go through that stage by stage with you next week.

Getting a bit clever now...

2009-01-29T11:44:00.005+01:00

After receiving kudos from 'Life of a Wife' I visited her site, which led me to this fab site...I couldn't paste the url directly into my blog page
(not quite that clever yet, I'm an artist not a whizz kid!)
nonetheless... I might try to sell some of my objects d'art here.

Ms. Merryweather makes MadCat & MadPuppy!

2009-01-28T16:16:00.016+01:00

Today my daughter made her first two 'Mad' BoneHead necklaces.

We used the white airdry clay (Jovi brand) because its not as messy as the red.

It didn't take her long to make each one, about 20 minutes in total. We left them to air dry for about 2 hours... but kids being kids... we became impatient!! So I popped them into a low heat oven for about an hour. Then we continued to let them air dry for a couple more hours.

Here they are pre-painted.

I can't wait to see how she paints them... watch this space!

Shortie Slide Show

2009-01-27T11:08:00.003+01:00

MadDog & CrazeeCangaroooo Neckpieces

2009-01-26T13:49:00.018+01:00

As Promised... here's what Ms. Merryweather and I made yesterday...

We have normally been using red clay to create our Porcafamiliar, and having a little bit left over fashioned a small madDog necklace... which we popped into the oven along with the roast chicken!! It dried and cooled in no time. First I painted the entire thing with a layer of slightly watered down white gouche (find this in any art shop). Then added some colour using some of MacKenzie oh so Rosies poster paints - just a touch. The paint will dry within 2-3 minutes as it is waterbased. Next a quick coat of high gloss varnish - I bought a tin from the DIY store for about 3 euros - the varnish is what brings the whole thing to life. It takes a few hours for this to dry. Once dry, thread a cord through the head... a hole you poked through with the end of a thin paint brush, or similar, when the clay was still moist, and hey presto!

First MadDog neckpiece ever created!!

I didn't have a chance to photograph this prototype as it was wanted by a freind immediately, and he is flying back to the UK with it around his neck as I type this! However, we did make two more yesterday. I present to you...

madDog002 & crazeeCangaroooo.

We tried a different clay, the white 'airdry' type. Its more expensive than the red clay, but I don't find it as easy to work with, and it takes forever to dry. I must admit I did pop them into a warm oven to help them along, but you need to be careful as this may induce unwanted cracking-up!! I also prefer the red clay as it shows through slightly upon glazing.

First Post... A Work in Progress!

2009-01-25T20:39:00.001+01:00

I'm very quickly adding my first post under extreme pressure from MacKenzie oh so Rosie as she is attempting to eat all the cakes!

Today we made two boneHead neckpieces... will tell you how tomorrow.

Watch this space!