My pottery challenges

Navigating thru the clay and glaze choices 

Black clay vs a soft brown earthenware with manganese 

There are so many choices when it comes to clay.  I sort of gravitate toward the darker clays.  I just love the rich tones that come thru and the warms and browns that pop up randomly.  But this clay comes with problems.  It has to be fired to a lower cone.  People often push it to cone 6 and hope for the best, but I so heavily decorate my pieces that the likelihood of there being issues with the surface are very probable.  Still I try...sigh.

Many times I get one or two pieces back that I love, most of it is not acceptable and chalked up to "learning"and receive the hammer.  

This one turned out and I am going to keep it.  It's pleasant to look at but it didn't fully pass the Kolene test.  Are there blisters?  No,  Is the glaze smooth? yes. Does it hold water? UHHHH,  NO.  I had to put something inside it to place the flowers in.  Alas, this will be used (probably) for Christmas cards.  It really is pretty and someone would probably even buy it, but it didn't pass the test.  I am picky for a reason, folks. 

The bowls I will keep but only till I come up with ones that are more perfect, they have some blisters.   I will gift them to some friend who will appreciate them for what they are.  I should have fired them to Cone 5 instead of 6.    However, The vase is a keeper.  I like this vase and it passed all the above tests.  

These vases are pretty, very.  They hold water.  They look great, but I don't care for what they feel like on the inside.  They didn't pass.  It's really okay with me, finally, that I am not getting much back that I like.   At first I was so discouraged.  I would push and push myself, staying up to all hours, not sleeping, trying desperately to figure out what the Heck I was doing.  Now I just accept, there are rules to clay.  Until I figure them out, there will be learning curve of what not to do.  

I did not go to school for this, after all. 

This has a few issues and didn't fully pass all the tests, but it is very pretty and I am going to sell it.  It will be a table lamp when it is done and I bought a great shade off of Restoration Hardware for it!  It really looks nice next to my wall art.  

This is just plain white on the inside.  You can't see it but there was something
that fell into the glaze at the bottom, which turned it right away into a second. 

I am leaning toward letting the insides of the cups being plain without glaze, just maybe a wash.   Why try to hide that beautiful brown?  I am not going to anymore (for now).  It is just another step. 

This was a collaborative piece that I did with my friend Wanda.  She's a very seasoned potter.  Everything comes out shining colors with her.  I am so happy to know someone like her.  She's friendly and helpful and full of knowledge that she is willing to share.  Can you see the manganese in the clay?  That's the spots.  Some people love them, others not so much.  I do love this clay but think that it might be better without so much decoration.  

Thanks for looking.  When I finally have a website for the pottery, I will be ready to start selling some.  Once it makes it to that website, you can buy with confidence.  I will accept returns, but I don't have the website ready yet.  It doesn't much matter, I am not quite ready to start selling.  

Warm regards to you on this fall day. 

Kolene 

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Kolene Spicher for Spicher and Co Original antique frame artwork for sale Birds, Trees, sky, and Landscape paintings

Paintings for sale on ETSY 

KOLENESPICHER Store 

This is the lot of them!  

There is a link to each picture below that will (if copied and pasted) take you to my Etsy store, KOLENESPICHER. 

**https://www.etsy.com/listing/516455861/kolene-spicher-original-tree-silhouette?ref=shop_home_active_5

I like this one because it has the little bird's nest in the branch.  I love the naked tree!  NO LEAVES!  

Just copy and paste the link below each painting to see them on ETSY.  This puts me in mind of baby shower.  

https://www.etsy.com/listing/503820520/kolene-spicher-original-painting-raven?ref=listing-shop-header-0

I also have another oval that I think is precious, too.   I think WEDDING for this one! 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/502982154/kolene-spicher-bird-tree-silhouette-tree?ref=listing-shop-header-1

I like this one because it is actually taken from a tree in my back yard.  I live over a valley and there are mountains surrounding me with lots and lots of birds.  

https://www.etsy.com/listing/516451951/kolene-spicher-original-hand-painted?ref=shop_home_active_6

I love hanging art in unconventional ways.  In this picture, I have the painting hanging over the knobs of my most recent project where I painted a cabinet with blue paint to look like that old antique blue chippy paint.  

https://www.etsy.com/listing/502978044/kolene-spicher-original-hand-painted?ref=listing-shop-header-2

I live in a family that HUNTS.  We enjoy living off the land.  I think this would be a nice painting for a man in a masculine setting.  Maybe a father's day gift.  

https://www.etsy.com/listing/516459757/kolene-spicher-tree-silhouette-scene?ref=listing-shop-header-3

I really love this one.  Again this is a tree from near my home.  I just love the shape of a tree.  I love the leaves but love the tree more without them.  It is just pure art.  The knots, the crooked branches, the imperfections...they make the tree unique and perfect.  The sky gives this a peaceful feel.  LOVE.  

https://www.etsy.com/listing/516455861/kolene-spicher-original-tree-silhouette?ref=shop_home_active_5

Well, that is it!  I hope you take the time to go to my store and take a look at what I am offering.  If you buy more than one, I can offer a better discount. 

Enjoy! 

Kolene Spicher 

 

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Hudson River Landscapes

Etherial, watery looking landscapes

Hudson River Styled 

I love these for on a table or beside a bed or a dresser top 

So I have a lot of frames, as I have mentioned.  Some of them are in poor condition but they are old.  I love them.  I am always trying to figure out how to incorporate them into my life.  Here's some of the photos that I took with my new 'impressionistic watercolor' technique.  The tone, feel, and colors all say "HUDSON RIVER" to me, that is! 

The slashes are deliberate.  I like them.  :)

Some of these are vintage frames that actually have velvet backs. 

More to come, so stay tuned! 

Enjoy!
Kolene E Spicher

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Scissor Illustrations

Scissor Illustrations in Black Newsprint Frame

The Samples 

Etsy listing

https://www.etsy.com/listing/190570985/artwork-printscissor-illustration-d-with?

THIS IS ONE OF ABOUT 5 THAT ARE LISTED ON ETSY.  IF You are interested in buying these prints, I will offer a group discount.  Contact me! 

Each time we develop a new item, we make up a sample.  The following pictures below were part of the 'sample' pictures that were developed around my scissor idea (back in 07).

Love the splash of color on the handle and the black Newsprint frame! 

The fact remains~I have painted almost everything under the sun.  Well, maybe not …I can't think of anything.  Back in 2007, I illustrated 5 different antique pairs of scissors.  I don't know where all I collected my reference material from, but it all has a very "French" feel to it...  Some of it came from my grandmother who had a little collection of scissors and thimbles and some of the reference material came from the web.

They were drawn very lightly in pencil and then watercolored to achieve the soft look that I am presenting today.  I have the scissors photographed in various settings around the house so that you can see that they would look good almost anywhere.  I think an office or bathroom or hair salon would look really neat.  Heck, I would hang these in a kitchen.  For the past 5 years, they were at the entrance to my laundry room.  I LOVE THEM and still do, it's just I am redoing things.  

Closeup

I have these listed on Etsy.  You can check them out.  They have the word "sample" where my name would normally be written.  That was because they were just that, a sample.  Today they are part of our line and you can see them on the S & Co. website, too.

https://www.spicherandco.com/home.php?cat=1489

There are a total of 5 of them on Etsy today and you cannot find anything like this exactly at Spicher because for one thing they are not the sample.  

https://www.etsy.com/listing/190493260/artwork-printscissor-illustration-c-with?ref=shop_home_active_1

The 5 available - LOVE THE FRAME

The details were executed in pencil with a wash of watercolor. 

I love the way they all look ganged together on my crazy floorcloth (also from S & Co.) and you can see the floorcloths too at www.spicherandco.com

Here are a few more shots of the 5 scissor prints available: 

This one (above) is a little different in that the base of the scissor cutting edge is YELLOW.  

Each print is signed on the reverse to look like this. 

This one is slightly different than the First pair in that the handle is not colored.  

I hope that you enjoyed seeing them.  It is so fun changing things up and bringing in something new.  If you think you would be interested in any of these scissor prints, check out my Etsy store or www.spicherandco.com 

And YET another pair.

Thanks for looking! Enjoy!! 

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