Camouflaged Birds

Sort of!  New birdies with the first stage of surface work. When I finished working on them I realized how they matched the fabric on the work table right behind me. Note to self: surround yourself with beauty. I'm off to the garden center, it is beautiful today and should get up to 75 degrees today!

The owl and the rabbit...

Doesn't that sound like the beginning of a story?

Well, I've heard that every picture tells a story.

Here is mine.

It is a cold Monday here, I plan to warm up the studio and do some glazing. 

 Wishing you a warm Monday!

Getting back to work

Little bee pocket vase, terra cotta clay

 The last couple of days have been productive. It feels good to get into some raw clay, make some pieces...wall vases seemed to be on my mind so I started groups of butterfly wall vases, bird vases and little bee vases. Hopefully they will be ready for spring which is just around the corner.

Love Birds II

From my slide archive, Love Birds, hand built ceramic wall platter, 21 inches diam. circa 2004.
Happy Valentine's Day!

Foxey Loxey

Woke up thinking about foxes...Here are just a few. To see the whole skulk (that is a group of foxes) check out my first treasury group on Etsy, fun!

Love Birds

Bali Mynah Love Birds, hand made, slip and glaze painted ceramic wall platter 13" diam. Cathy Kiffney

May I suggest most gently for the sake of these little birds and so many more please, do not support the use feathers as a decorative accessory, I am seeing them more lately. It has always been a fad and because of that many wonderful creatures are experiencing horrible suffering becoming endangered or are already extinct. Another reason for decline is the pet bird trade and loss of habitat.  The Bali Mynah is one of the world's most critically endangered birds.   In fact, it has been hovering immediately above extinction in the wild for several years.
This is a new platter from my slip painted series, Bali Mynah Love Birds, 13" diam.

The only lasting beauty

is the beauty of the heart.  Rumi

Fireplace Surrounds Commissions

I've been going through old floppy disks and CD's trying to organize old pictures. It is soooo hard! Some of the old pictures are just horrible.  These are a couple commissions from many years ago, I wish I had a better image of it.  I took this shot with my first digital camera that was a 1.3 megapixel! 

Commissions

This project was very exciting for me--I was commissioned to create a series of 22 colorful bird platters and the work was placed in each room of the children's hospital.  Studies support the idea that representational art depicting nature can have a beneficial effect on patients experiencing stress and anxiety.  I just love the idea of each room and each child having its own little birdie. I don't need any studies to confirm this to me, just that the kids are liking them and enjoying them is what is important! This project was for Park Nicollet Health Services, St. Louis Park, MN. The art was handled by Dreblow Fine Art Associates. Mary Dreblow is a joy to work with.  Here are just a few...

Hope is the thing with feathers...

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune--without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.    Emily Dickinson

Just listed this little bird on my Etsy site!