Summer Show Schedule

Summer is here and it is time to step out, get some sun and visit your local art shows. I look forward to this time, meeting my previous customers and new ones. You will find me at these shows in May-June and July. I will send a reminder for shows after that. You can always keep in touch with my show schedule here. May 31st - June2nd: ArtFest Coeur d"Alene Park, Spokane, WA (Booth N33) Spokane folks check out the Inlander for my work featured for the show. Thrilled to get the CLAY MERIT AWARD at this show this year! June 14th - 16th: Edmonds Art Festival at Edmonds (Booth 20) www.edmondsartsfestival.com June 21st - 23rd: Lake Oswego Art Festival First time doing this show July 20th - 21st: Gig Harbor Art Festival July 26th - 28th: Bellevue Festival of Arts (Booth 195) New sculpture. First time making a bust and I am thrilled with the way it came out Casseroles in a different style. And of course my obsession with shoes continues..... Do drop by and say Hi! and share with your family and friends And if you can't make it to any of the shows my online shop is always open. With a typo in my last newsletter many couldn't open the video of my slip decoration in action. Here is the link again. Enjoy! Best wishes Charan Sachar Creative with Clay Federal Way, WA Tel: 253 241 2245 Email: creativewithclay@yahoo.com Website: http://www.creativewithclay.com Store: http://creativewithclay.etsy.com

Pushing the limits

If you have been following my blog and my work, you would have noticed that I have a big fascination for patterns and textures. The patterns on my work can get detailed but I felt I could push my slip decorating skills further. I always wanted to try the hanna patterns applied to the hands of the Indian bride.

I started with this platter for which I made a floral pattern inspired by Arabic henna designs. I love the flow of the pattern with the shape of the platter.

I got great feedback on facebook with that platter and wondered, "Can I push myself further?"
So, I took a slab of clay (16x12 inches), put some lines on it as general placement of my pattern and went to town with it. I spent my entire Sunday doing this, so it did take me forever.
I will make a textured mat with this, so I can redo this pattern on other pieces of my work. I still have to figure out how that is going to work.
This might be moving my work in a new direction and hope it is a good one.

Travel Entry: Golden Temple, Amritsar

The Golden Temple in Amritsar is considered the holiest place by the Sikhs. Being a Sikh, we were very glad to get this oppurtunity to visit. There is undescribable sense of peace one experiences the minute you are in the vicinity of the Golden Temple. It sits in the middle of man made sroovar (lake) and is just mesmorizing to watch. There is a lot about the history of the Golden Temple which you can read here. Here are some pictures I took during the day and night time.

The picture below shows the close up of the Golden Temple. The gold on the Golden Temple is Real Gold.. not paint. The bottom part is decorated with beautiful marble inlay work.

The floor around the lake is all marble with gorgeous floral marble inlay patterns. One can spend hours here admoring the art work surrounding the temple.

The first day we were here (on a Thursday) we got to visit the gurudwara (Sikh Temple) and attended the evening prayers. On the subsequent days being a long weekend, the crowd grew exponentially. There was a 3+ hour wait to get in. My advise to anyone who wishes to visit the Golden temple is to go middle of the week and avoid any major holidays. If you don't believe me check out the pictures of the crowd trying to get in. :) We were glad we got to visit the first day. We spent the rest of the days in Amritsar visiting other gurudwaras each of which had amazing stories. I will share some in my next entry.

New Tumblers and Oval Trinket boxes on Etsy

As shown in one of my earlier posts, I was working on handbuilt tumblers and some handbuilt oval trinket boxes and casseroles. I am also working on a video on how I make them and will post it as soon as I can.
The tumblers and trinket boxes are ready and posted on Etsy. I am glad to already have the tumblers along with my other work in a beautiful gallery in Edmonds, WA. Manya Vee Selects. A really colorful gallery where I think my work goes well.

Vases: Old and New

I have seen working with clay as a journey. Here is a glimpse of my journey with vases.

These are pictures of vases that I have made arranged in chonological order starting from 2000 till date.

Temoku glazed with slip decoration. This was my first piece on which I had tried slip decoration back in 2000.

This is a 18 inch vase thrown in sections and gas fired to Cone 10 in deep blue glaze. I gifted this to my mom remembering that she had a similar vase in brass.

This is when I started altering my work. These were ovaled in shape after throwing and are still sitting near my fireplace.

Here is when I started extruding my vases and had switched to an electric kiln. I was amazed at the possibilities of a extruder and couldn't stop experimenting.

My Bollywood designs make an entry to my vases. The extrusions are still altered and then embelished with slip decoration.

And below are pictures of where I am now. Adding more movement, more decoration, introduction of texture.

This is a slab built vase made with textured slabs and multiple firings.