Thursday, March 24, 2011

Sarah's Featured Artist: Natalya Sots

After reading an Etsy article on blogs, I have decided to try and revamp mine.  This blog is in a large part for myself, so that I can easily look back over my work and designs, though I hope at least some of my friends and customers enjoy seeing my process and my works in progress!  However, I do want to have my blog function in line with my Etsy store; I want people who check out my blog to be interested enough to visit my Etsy store, and vice versa.  

Much of the advice given in the article warned about having you blog completely focused on your own work, and recommended trying to include things from your life and even featuring other artists work.   So as my first step to a more exciting and accessible blog,  I am going to try and feature a different artist on my blog on a regular basis.  Though they will probably start out mostly being ceramic artists, and mostly from Etsy, I may expand the media and sources as this progresses.  Lets see how it goes!

Featured Artist #1: Natalya Sots
For my first ever Artist of the Week, I have Natalya Sots, an Etsy seller who makes some really spectacular hand built work.  I discovered these wonderful pieces about a year ago, and I am constantly impressed with the imagination and skill with which Natalya creates them.
Coffee cup with pants (red with multi-color polka dots) 
This piece is currently for sale on Etsy!

These polka-dotted pieces are only a small fraction of the works displayed on her Etsy page, which range from beautifully crafted birds, to vibrantly colored poppy plates, to fantastic figurines.  I just happen to particularly enjoy the polka dots!

Blue cup with Polka Dots

By far my favorite pieces are her teapots, which apparently are also popular among her other customers; they never last long in the shop before being snatched up!  I just love the whimsical life and energy these pieces have.  The teapots with 'pants' (which look similar to the first two cups pictured) are particularly animated, but the color and stance of her teapots give them all a lively personality.
Purple Teapot with polka dots

Natalya is one of my very favorite artists (not to mention ceramic artists) working on Etsy, and I hope that you will enjoy her work too!

Here ends the first installment of Sarah's Artist of the Week   :) 


Fountain #2

Finally got the second fountain carved! I'm excited to see theses guys fired and functional!

Getting my blog registered on Technorati!

QR9H9JCR4H2X

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Ready to fire!

I finally got the pitcher painted!


I've got two boards of pots ready to fire! Hopefully I will post pictures in the next couple days.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Carved fountain and new fired pieces!

Finally got one of the fountains carved!  I like the way it turned out; I cant wait to see it finished! :)


And got some stuff out of the kiln finally!  Some of these pieces have been on the shelf for a while.



The plate on the left was the first one I had tried experimenting with wax resist to make the pattern with plain clay and a flashing slip.  I am really happy with the way it turned out, a little bit more subtle than some of my other stuff.  Expect to see more!

Sunday, March 6, 2011

painted vase

Got the vase painted today, I should get the pitcher tomorrow, then the fountains :)  The wonders of masking tape!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

one last plate...

I'm not sure how I feel about this one.  I did the trapezoids first, but then I thought it looked too much like a sun, so I added the triangles.  I really should probably sketch out all my ideas before carving them out :P Next up will be the painted pieces, hopefully I will get at least one of those done tomorrow.

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Plates plates plates

And as promised, some carved plates! I've got one more plate to carve, plus the two fountains and their bowls, and then I have a vase and a pitcher to paint.  Expect to see more this week!  I'm hoping to get some stuff into Ryan's firing in a couple weeks, to clear out my space a little!




Still playing with shapes inspired by Native American pottery, and I'm like how these are turning out!