Niche Award 2015 Finalist

If you have been reading my blog or have talked to me about my Mojari shoes, you know how they came about. From an exhibit at Nordstorm during NCECA, to ripping off my wife's wedding shoes and how I just got deeper into making more of these shoes. You can read more about that story here.

Well I have some good news, one pair of these shoes has been chosen for the Niche Awards 2015!!!
Now send good thoughts that I win. :)

Another Bust Blouse Sculpture

In the month of May, I had posted about my new bust sculpture that I was working on. I did sell that one at the Edmonds show to a wonderful couple. Ever since then my mind has been buzzing with the possibility of making more designs, more elaborate patterns on them. And since the area is large, I get all the more area to decorate. hehehe... Here are some pictures of my latest sculpture. I love the red and honey gold combination on this one and like the way it stands out. Feel free to share and comment.

     

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

Making a bust for the first time

As several of you reading my blog know that my work is very influenced by fabrics. I do tend to make something functional and have done my sculptural dancing divas too. Also did some shoes last year. This time I thought why not make a torso or bust featuring some beautiful indian prints just as they are meant to be on fabric. This is a larger scale of sculpture that I am used to but thoroughly enjoyed the process.

Here it is handbuilt and slip decorated with buttons. Had to dry it really slowly and went a little crazy supporting the insides and keeping the form.

And here it is all decorated with layers of underglazes which really enhance the texture and pattern. It is approximately 18"x 18" and goes up on the wall. I will be taking it to the summer shows and hope to make more pieces in this series.

It was a great experience to get out of my comfort zone and try something new. What have you wanted to create pushing your limits? Do share.

     

When Potters Play Together

... we sure can have fun.

It is always a joy meeting other potters and chatting about pottery. We all lead pretty busy lives but it is great to hang out in the studio with another potter. I have been fortunate to hang out in Ginger Steele's studio from time to time. After the Christmas season was over, I made a trip to her studio in Oregon and we experimented with making sculptures constructed with coils.

Check out Ginger's cookie jar with the dog head. I am too embarrased to show what I made. It was a pretty saucy diva sculpture which unfortunately cracked on my trip back home. In any case it was fun and a good exercise.

A week back, Ginger visited our home and our goal was just to play in clay. We extruded some of my pillow shapes and this what Ginger made out of one of them.

I wanted to make some rectangular trays and she helped me make a plaster mold for that and I love the way the tray came out. Look out for these in my shop in the near future.

Ginger liked my extruder dies and had a design in mind for oval casseroles. We went through the process of designing it and I made the die for her which worked like a charm. Here is the casserole I made with that die. I am waiting to see what Ginger makes with that die in her studio.

It was time to spice up Ginger's Etsy shop. So we took pictures of her pots. I showed her how to edit them using picassa for Etsy and we listed her pots. Check out her shop. Really lovely work.

We had a great time and are looking forward to the next time we can play together.

Travel entry: Home town Mumbai

I just got back from my 2 month sabbatical and had a great vacation travelling to India and Bangkok Thailand. Result of such a long vacation is jetlag and 1000+ pictures. After a lot thinking, I guess the best way to share my pictures is with my blog. So here is my first entry. I hope to make an entry every Thursday.

So first stop is Mumbai, my home town. One thing I noticed when I entered was this wall sculpture of a horse I had made when I had just started in clay. It was just air dried and spray painted and is still standing good. (Family in India calls me Vicky and hence the sign)

It was great to meet family and friends and remember old times. Talking about old times, I found my journal which had torn pieces of crafty ideas, pictures of sculptures, pottery, newspaper clippings of recipes etc.. Among all that I found the page above, which was a recipe for making home made air drying clay from bread. I wouldn't suggest anyone trying this out. :)
I was just desperate as a kid to work with clay and I used to try anything.

Every time we visit we feel the traffic has gotten worse and this trip wasn't any different. There are Metro light rail lines being constructed everywhere which are supposed to ease the traffic. But while the construction is going on it is impossible to travel anywhere.

And in every tiny space available there is a multistory building coming up. Attached is the picture from my bedroom which had a nice view and also great ventilation. Now there are two buildings right in front and all I can hear is construction noise.

I am going to pace myself about my trip in every entry and try not to throw it all out there. Next week look for pictures of an exhibition I attended in Mumbai.

Some new work

So once I made the decision of buying the pugmill, I felt free to experiment. I wanted to try some new things I hadn't tried before. I have been updating some of these pictures on facebook, but here is a glimpse into some new work. Having the pugmill is really liberating!

This new line of work is a lot more decrorative and time consuming. I am still trying to figure out pricing work like this before I post it on Etsy.