We had a great weekend show!

To the garden art show

Part of Luna's garden, what a beautiful day!

Our Mother's Day weekend show was a great success. The weather was beautiful and Luna Lee Ray has a wonderful studio and garden, just perfect for an open studio show and she is a delight to work with.  LOVE her paintings!  You can see more of her work at Frank Gallery in Chapel Hill.

Luna Lee Ray, paintings

Luna Lee Ray

I got to know the other two artists during the weekend and we had a fun time! Micheal Lupa just moved to the area from New York with his super smart and beautiful girlfriend who is going to Duke Nursing School on  a full scholarship. He used to work at  Polich-Tallix Fine Art Casting Foundry in New York. They work with many of the leading sculptors in the world.  He has his studio at Liberty Arts in Durham

Michael Lupa

Michael Lupa ceramic sculpture

Michael Lupa

 Gretchen comes from a textile design background and her art is beautiful--mostly solar plate etching. Gretchen has her studio near Hillsborough, and is a member of Artspace in Raleigh.  Her and her husband are avid sailors and had just spent a week sailing in the Bahamas.  They also have a HUGE vegetable garden at their place outside of Hillsborough. Very talented woman!

Gretchen Morrissey

Gretchen Morrissey

Cathy Kiffney

Primrose in a ceramic slipper, Cathy Kiffney

my mom loved her Mother's Day vase

Blurry Vase, with Primrose

Woodthrush Platter, Cathy Kiffney

Gardens at Luna's

Kiffney's bird bath in the horsetail

Lupa sculptures

The weather was beautiful, thanks to the 200 + who came out! See you there next year.

Mother's Day Weekend Show and Sale

In the garden of natural delights

Mother's Day Weekend

May 12 and 13th

Saturday, 11-5

Sunday, 12-5

 

Luna Lee Ray, Gretchen Morrissey, Michael Lupa and Cathy Kiffney

exhibiting paintings, ceramics, etchings, prints and more!

A great opportunity to support local artists
and go home with a fantastic
piece of art or a great gift for someone special!

The show will be hosted by Luna Lee Ray
in her garden and studio
conveniently located near downtown Carrboro.
Please join us!

101 The Hollow , chapel hill, 27516
Although this is a Chapel Hill address,
the studio is located near
downtown Carrboro, NC
(off Hillsborough Rd. Carrboro)

A Secret Garden and Hummingbirds!

Hummingbird Platter, 16" diam.

 While out in my garden reading this book a familiar sound was heard, the hummingbirds are coming back!
Is it a little early for them to be back?

 If you find yourself in an ill humor I recommend reading the book--it will set you right. Find yourself a mossy spot under a tree, or anywhere in a garden and enjoy this enchanting story of hope and trust.

view across the garden to the studio

“However many years she lived, Mary always felt that 'she should never forget that first morning when her garden began to grow'.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

Comet in the Clover

Comet hung out with me, his favorite spot in the clover. I threw out some clover seed last fall it it is growing beautifully.

Piedmont Craftsmen - Things with Wings

Things with Wings, May 4-26, 2012 
Piedmont Craftsmen Gallery
Winston-Salem

Upcoming show at the gallery in downtown Winston-Salem.  This is an all members show with the theme of wings. The opening reception will be part of the downtown gallery hop on the first Friday of the month, May 4th from 7-10pm. We hope you are able to attend. 

Magpies in Magnolia, hand made wall hanging platter, 12" diam. Cathy Kiffney

 This platter is from my return to slip painting, rather than carving and glazes.  I'm not giving up the carving just yet.  I have so many more ideas with this, I hope to have more time this summer to pursue this series.

An Evening in Paris

Imagine...you area strolling around Paris on a warm spring evening. You stop by a little cafe and enjoy delicious local fresh food prepared by talented chefs. Checking out the art shows in the galleries... you can do that tomorrow evening in Paris--the Paris of the Piedmont--Carrboro! Stop by and say Hi, I'll be at the North Carolina Crafts Gallery, 6-9pm

Butterfly Wall Vases

 

Some of the new pieces for my show at NC Crafts Gallery, April 1-30th. Hope you can stop by and see my show!  Second Friday Art walk and reception April 13th, 6-9pm

Making a big wall vase

from the same group, I did not have a picture of the big vase.

beginning to glaze

glazing

finished glazing, unfired

glaze fired

Show at NC Crafts Gallery

I've been neglecting this blog, but I have a good excuse --I'm working!!  Well, I know I could easily just pop a picture up but I hope to put a little more into the posts.  The blog has been an experiment anyway, I'm not really sure what I want to do with it.  The appeal is how immediate it is, I can have an idea about a post and boom, it goes up.  Not like waiting to update a web site which can happen maybe once a year.

I do have a feature show coming up at the NC Crafts Gallery. It is not a big space, but it is still a sweet place and the people at the gallery are just wonderful. Another bonus is that it is just a few miles away!

Emerald Green Moth Wall Vase
12"high x 8"wide
hand built ceramic, slips, glazes and decals

April Flowers

New Ceramics

Cathy Kiffney

April 1-30, 2012

Please join us for the artist reception

April 13, 6-9

during the second Friday Art Walk

 NC Crafts Gallery

212 W. Main St.

Carrboro, NC

I hope it you are in the area you will be able to stop in and see it, and it would be wonderful to meet you at the opening.

Happy Spring!

Before and After

Here is the bisque fired bird getting more glazes.  Remember the camouflaged birds from  a previous post. That is how they look before the bisque firing.

And here are a few just out of the kiln. I like the new glazes and I am enjoying the slip trailing process and the combination of the glazes with the slips.

Some of these new birds will probably be in my upcoming show at NC Crafts Gallery in Carrboro, NC.
April 1-30.  I am still working on more pieces and will see how the next two firings go before choosing the work to show.

Making Vases

It has been a while since I've made any free standing pieces, here is a start to a group of new vases for the spring!

Don't they look like a group of sentries or chess pieces? Slab built, some are kind of closed forms with openings for stems of flowers, others are open--those remind me of flowers.

All huddled together to be wrapped up for the night.  I don't have a plan yet for the glazes and surface, but I am thinking about majolica.  I used to work with majolica a long time ago and love the soft feel of the colors and surface.