The Canadian weather does a number on the fairy houses in our garden. We bring them in in the fall when our fairies move into their wild winter residences, but between the rain, the heat, and the squirrels... they take quite a beating throughout the summer.
So I'm trying to add some more resiliant clay houses to out fairy sanctuary. The grey clay is a raku clay that will be pit fired. The terra cotta coloured ones are an air dry clay that I'll seal and we'll see how well they endure. (Both of the clays are from Laguna)
I have been working on other things too, like these strings of sparkly glass beads but everything seems to be 'in progress' at the moment and not quite ready to show off.
Perhaps I have a little bit of patience. After all, this guy and his friend have been swooping on the deck for the past couple of weeks. They've refused to sit still and I haven't managed a picture until now.
Blue Jays are a great reminder that it's ok not to have it all. They are stunning lookers, but that singing voice. Oy! No matter, they continue to sing anyway.
"Some may say that I couldn't sing, but no one can say that I didn't sing."
Ahhh how FUN! cannot wait to see how the clay houses turn out Nichola. . . especially the pit fired ones! I get to do Raku at a community clay studio twice a year but I rarely have the time I would like to get pieces ready for it!
ReplyDeleteAnd that blue jay! Yes, not the aria voices of others but they do know how to let it ring out! And I have to credit them (well, stellar jays) for being the sole reason I saw my first ever barred owl in the woods a few months back. They were trying to scare it off I believe and shrieking like I had never heard. And in looking up to find them and try to see what was the problem, there she was, sitting about 15 feet up all cozy and plump and rotating her head all around to see what was what too! Then she swooped down across the path in front of me (that wing span!) and took off! Thanks Stellar Jays!!
And I heard a wonderful Snap Judgement podcast about Florence. . . so remarkable and inspiring indeed!!!
Owls are amazing! The first one I saw in the wilds was on a walk through the woods at my father-in-law's. It was sat upon a fallen log, just looking at us. We got within feet of it, and all it did was turn it's head and look as though WE were the ones to be gawked at! We had one visit here a couple of years ago. I ran for the camera, then sneaked closer and closer as quietly as I could. He sat on his branch and let me get as close as I pleased! Here's a few of the pics: http://blog.pixiehill.com/2013/01/a-visitor.html
DeleteYou amaze me!! Everytime!
ReplyDeleteJackie, you are just the nicest. I know I don't say it often enough, but I really do appreciate all comments and sweet encouragement <3 Thank-you!
DeleteI love the fairy houses. I didn't know you could make them from clay. I'll keep that in mind! Love the owl and blue jay story. They are both so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of those Faery houses. I need to go back and look at the first post you did months back and see about having a fire pit made lol. I have seen those clays before and hesitated to buy anyway because I have no way of firing them. But I guess I will have to at least give it a try.
ReplyDeleteI love the Jays but you are right their singing voice has nothing to do with their pretty feathers. Owls I see by the flock-load where I work. I love them.I can see why people think they see ghosts sometimes because at the right time of day toward twilight they float eerily across the roads here and they barely show. They are spooky bird people. I had a large Owl bank of the antenna of my car a few years ago. He actually tried to land on it and found it was pointed in the wrong direction. My favorites are the ones that look like little old ladies all bundled up in shawls. They aren't very big and they are really a bit creepy haha. Hallowe'en Owls.
I LOVE those bead strings...the Old Crow in me needs one :)
Where do you work that you see flock loads of owls?!?! I'm totally intrigued!
DeleteRead up on pit firing. It's imperfect and there is a lot of loss... but it's fun, and the clay isn't a huge investment.
hEllo, so the red air dry clay is durable enough to be outside, or you are going to experiment? and this doesn't need armature for stability? It looks awesome.. and I would like to try some.. I guess 25lbs is hard to keep? I don't use tons of clay, but if this is taht durable and sturdy I may !
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure, but the weather here will likely do a number on the air dry unless I seal it. I'll use marine varnish meant for boats and docks and hopefully they'll hold up. If you keep the remainder clay tightly sealed in the bag with as little air as possible, you can keep it for quite a while. Worth a try!
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