ONE MORE NEW ASSIGNMENT

I have often admired and collected other Ceramic artist's workss.

Last school year while visiting my son and his fiance',

they took me to a very special Native Plants garden in Sun Valley, 

called the Theodore Payne Foundation

where in their gift shop I found the most delicate nature inspired Porcelain plates.

Immediately I thought my students could make these.

Of course I had to buy one for myself  :)

They became a very popular new assignment for my Ceramics I students.

First I had them collect small dried leaves, twigs, bugs and flowers

 and press them into the bottom of clay stamps we made.

We weren't able to pull them out of the clay before I fired them 

because as the clay dried it shrink around them,

so I loaded the stamps into the kiln

 and the nature parts burnt away as the stamps went up to 1800 degrees,

bisque temperature.

In fact,

they were so much fun that I made a few myself for Xmas gifts for the staff in the office.

The largest one abovewas probably only 3" by 3".

The longest next to it 5" by 2".

A close up below.

I cranked these out one afternoon after school,

and needed about 20ish to account for breakage and chipping.

Plus I wanted to keep one for myself  (above right).

One of my custodians walked into my room when I was making them 

and put dibs on the center elongated one in the top photo.

The smallest,

 after shrinkage were these two end pieces above,

about 1 1/2" by 1 1/2".

I had so much fun working in the Porcelain,

 especially so small and with such thin slabs.

After they were bisqued fired I had the help of one of my talented T.A.'s last year,

Lynette Lee,

 who applied most of the ceramic watercolors in the center areas.

Then they were dipped into our Transparent glaze and fired to 2150 degrees.

Soon I will post the gorgeous pieces the students made,

so STAY TUNED!!

DIGGING IN THE DIRT

One of my favorite ways to relax,

so bring on the weeds!

In a previous post from Monday,

 I talked about going up to my son's new place to help them dig up their front planter

 and try something new.

Sadly their H.O.A. has let all the front beds go bad because the sprinklers need repair,

so the plants weren't getting any water,

and weeds took over.

Weeks before I came up,

the kids dug up the weeds from this little bed and threw seed mix down,

and watered by hand.

Some great looking Cosmos came up but they still weren't satisfied with the result. 

They wanted to try a more permanent look with Cacti, Succulents and California Natives. 

My son knows I'm crazy for Cacti and Succulents and invited me up for input and help,

therefore the post from Monday,

trekking to the California Natives Foundation.

First on the agenda,

 Nicole and I transplanted all the Cosmos to another bed in front of this one,

lining them up side by side creating a soft screened-in look,

while Zach took a pick ax and tore into the hard clay soil,

then poured 3 bags of quality mulch into it and mixed by hand.

Oh boy!

My son also went to a nearby rock retailer,

and scored several great chucks for only a couple of dollars.

Before he placed them,

he mounded up the extra soil to give a more sculpted natural look,

then carefully placed his rocks.

I was dying to help direct and place all the plants,

but I wanted it to be theirs,

 so I refrained and watched while the two worked so beautifully side by side. 

Ahhh,

I'm so thrilled my son has found the perfect woman to be by his side.

Can you find the couple of California Natives they bought and put into the mix?

Far left back,

 mid left,

middle and right front.

Did I get that right Zach?

Can't wait till they send me an updated pix of how it's growing.

CALIFORNIA NATIVES

Was up to visit the kids a couple of weekends ago and knowing that I love to garden,

they took me to the Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley.

It's a society that identifies and sells only California Native drought tolerant plants,

along with a store and small gallery which was showcasing the work of a botanical watercolorist.

There was a fabulous Ceramic Potter selling her pieces as well.

Found out she belongs to the Society,

so of course I had to make a purchase 

along with the most wonderfully illustrated children's book about baby owls for Lil Guy Syd.

So many of the plants were so unusual like the one below.

Dozens of species that I've never seen or have heard of.

Many of them resembling weeds that I'd pull out of my garden.

Their Butterfly Garden was just coming into bloom with some California Poppies,

and I couldn't resist taking a picture of this sweet young one reading 

with her pup while her parents shopped.

And specking of pups,

can you find the chocolate doggie in the plant cart above?

My son had his trusty California Native Guide with him 

and was identifying

 and telling us about the characteristics of some of the plants he purchased.

His Homeowners Association found out he is a Plant Scientist 

and has recently put him in charge of redoing the landscape design

 in front of their new townhome and the 7 others next to them.

I'm so proud and super excited to see what he will do.

They live in the San Fernando Valley which is known for it's really high temps. in the summertime.

So I think he will be going with Cacti,

Succulents and California Natives.

He and Nicole are practicing with the spot in front of their place right now.

And to save money they are propagating from their own succulents.

My favorite at the foundation was this huge Channel Island Bush Poppy that was exploding in color.