I thought I had a buyer for this piece several months ago but now I haven’t gotten any replies so I must assume they “just aren’t into it” anymore.

This is an earthenware china “Optime” Arabian Stallion in glossy finish, custom glazed by me. It is a flashy dappled grey with hints of rose in the coat. Seeing my work in earthenware has been quite a revelation: the detail in the castings is a lot better than what we would get in the bone china versions!! All the crisp details I had in the original sculpture are there, where they went sort of soft in the bone chinas. I can only conclude that earthenware holds the detail better! It is a delight to work with these now, though I still do love the color and “feel” of bone china.

It is still in-progress. Just the last details to go: the eyes, mane and tail, hooves, and put some pink into that white on the nose. You still have the chance to tell me how dark you want the mane and tail. Asking price is $1200.00 postage paid.

I only have one more earthenware bisque in stock that was cast (by the experts) at Alchemy Ceramics in the UK. I have no more bone china Optimes in stock, and no more will be made. From now on they will all be castings I make myself from the molds. No telling how long it will take me to successfully make pieces good enough to glaze and sell. And my focus will be on customizing the body on those. So if you were looking for a straight custom glazed Optime this is the time to grab it!

I love change and frankly thrive on it. I am not overly sentimental and don’t look back or dwell on the past. I especially love the distinct change of seasons. Fall is especially invigorating. The only time I get the urge to go out and buy clothes is in the fall when I can pick out some new cold weather clothes—because I’m utterly sick of shorts and tee shirts. Now that summer is over (though you’d never know it from the amazing warm and sunny weather we’re still having here in Boulder), I have cleared the decks of everything I had committed to, finished our summer travel, and cleared other obstacles and baggage in the way of me getting back seriously into the studio.

I have such an embarrassment of riches in my work life right now. Looking ahead to this time over the past few weeks while traveling, I was feeling a bit paralyzed by too many great things I could work on! I can start pouring slip in my ceramics molds and learning about getting china horses made. I can get going on the nice waiting list for china glazing commissions; I’ve got enough work waiting there to take me through next summer. I took a beginner oil painting class in August and need to finish the painting of Malta/Mdina begun there, and get other paintings started that I have in mind. And last but not least, I can work on sculpture.

This week I decided that Job #1 absolutely needs to be finish the Roundabout sculpture. Having a finished horse sculpture would drive energy in the studio in so many ways. When molds get made for it, I can cast chinas of it along with my others. I can then glaze Roundie chinas along with other pieces. And I need another “game piece” (to borrow Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig’s great label) for my participation in the model horse showing hobby. For some reason I am not great at multi-tasking. It is hard to switch tools and workspace from any of the above tasks to another in the same day or even the same week; it’s a tough mental switch too.

Soooo, I’ve just spent 2 good days on Roundabout V2. I call it V2 because I’m using the 2nd armature that I started over from scratch with in the UK last spring, after The Boat critique. V3 is the one I started here in July before V2 arrived back here in the shipment with all our UK goods. V3 will just become something else someday; I didn’t get very far on it that day when I was itching to sculpt!

Here’s what Roundabout looks like right now. It isn’t balanced right at all yet but at least he looks kind of like a cob again. If I really commit to working on it at least a part of every day I could get it done by the end of October I think.

There are only FOUR DAYS LEFT to bid online on the two ceramic cat medallions donated to the Meows and Minis live show. All proceeds will go directly to Cat Guardians, a no-kill, cageless, non-for-profit cat shelter in Lombard, Illinois. Since Meows and Minis began in 2003, they have raised over $5000 for this wonderful shelter – which in turn has found homes for THOUSANDS of cats. Please take a moment to look at these items and bid for a very good cause.

http://www.modelhorsesalespages.com/sales/view_details.asp?id=800838
This is part of the artist editions of Becky Turner’s beautiful cat medallions sculpted in honor of the Meows and Minis show. This is a custom glazed earthenware medallion. I glazed this one a stunning snowy white with grey points and piercing blue eyes!  CURRENT BID:  $35.00

http://www.modelhorsesalespages.com/sales/view_details.asp?id=800837
This is part of the artist editions of Becky Turner’s beautiful cat medallions sculpted in honor of the Meows and Minis show. This is a custom glazed earthenware medallion. I glazed this one a luxurious tortiseshell to represent “Heinz”, a cat at Cat Guardians!  Heinz is a favorite cat at the shelter and can usually be found curled up in a ball with her feline friends!  CURRENT BID: $65.00

If you would like to bid, please e-mail Chris Wallbruch at wombats@earthlink.net and send her your maximum bid ($5 increments only).  You will be notified if you are outbid and all final bids will be announced after the show. The bidding will end at the Meows and Minis show on September 11th, 2010.