Stargazer Lilies, Queen of the lilies

My Stargazer lilies are in full bloom right now.  This is the 3rd year for this plant and the blooms are quite large with a vibrant color.  I have a number of lilies planted around the gardens, they do well in our climate, including a beautiful burgundy oriental.  The Casablanca and Stargazer are among some of the last to bloom but well worth the wait.  We moved the Casablanca last year to a location where we could support it as it grew to over 6' tall, but I don't think it likes the new location.  It's only producing a few blooms and not growing much.

Items for the antique booth

A few items ready to find a new home.

Daily Challenge

I recently read about a challenge to draw an hour a day for 3 months. At the end of that time you'd have almost 100 drawings and your skills would have improved without really trying. Although I love to draw, right now my challenge is trying to find time to work on my china painting. So a few weeks ago I decided to give myself a challenge to paint at least an hour a day. I'm finding it so rewarding! Knowing I have committed this time, just for painting, has allowed me to experiment with new products, new techniques, and the pieces are adding up.Can't say there are any masterpieces, in fact I probably won't ever show anyone most of what I'm doing, but I'm painting and having fun.

till next time, Jan

Yes! I'm posting again

I get so involved in my day-to-day activities, I forget to post to the blog, then when I remember it's not the right time.  I have good intentions and promise to do better.  I have so many things to share with you and lots of beautiful things to make. 

Here's a  look at one of my current projects, porcelain free forms.  What do you think?  My personal favorite  is the heart in the lower right corner.  The cat is a surprise for my granddaughter's birthday this month (hope she isn't reading this).  I poured about twice this many but this was all that made it through the bisque and glaze firings.  They are so delicate - and I always try to do one more thing with it before I fire it - that's when it finally develops a little crack.  I used to try and repair those but these days I chalk it up to experience.  You can pour a new one in the time it takes to make a repair that may or may not hold in the kiln.

I'm using a new porcelain to make these and have to reserve judgement till I have more done.  Those gallons are heavy so the shipping costs more than the porcelain.  I've found a new supplier who has a shipping special for two gallons so ordered some then ended up buying a lot more - I love to try new items :)