The Peculiar Palette

The Serenity Prayer, Two Eights and Fish

2013-05-17T18:37:00-07:00

I'll start by posting what I wrote earlier this week on my 'other' blog, The Untitled Journey, regarding how I ended up finding the serenity prayer and what it means to me today:

I'll admit it. I'm a dreamer. I have pictures in my head of how I believe things should be, and I have a hard time accepting it when people tell me I'm being unrealistic. Call me spiteful, but when someone tells me that I can't do something, I will do everything in my power to prove them wrong. Maybe it's a little sick and twisted, but I really enjoy proving people wrong.

This quality has served me well in the past. When I started my quest to become an artist, some people who supposedly 'loved' me laughed at me and told me that I was an idiot. Instead of believing and giving up on my dreams, I made the conscious decision to remove these toxic people from my life and surround myself with people who encouraged and believed in me. It took a while, but today I have a great job doing what I love and what I'm good at. I've had this job for more than a year now, and I still have to pinch myself now and then to make sure I'm not dreaming. I get to make a good living by surrounding myself with art and ceramics all day. In my opinion, things can't get any better than that!

A few months ago, someone told me that I was trying to change the world and that it was never going to happen. Of course, my response was 'why not?' Surely I can if I try hard enough, right? Well, I am starting to realize that maybe he had a point. I recently gave a lot of time and energy to trying to make a good situation out of a bad one. I allowed it to consume most of my free time and I was sure that if I gave it my all and had faith that things would change for the better. Unfortunately, my plan failed. Luckily, the whole experience taught me something very important so I don't regret any of it. I learned that even though I might not be able to change somebody else's world, I still have all the power to change mine.

All of this prompted me to take a look at how my life is today. All is well, but somehow I've allowed some toxicity to creep its way back in. For the most part, I have amazing friends who are encouraging and want the best for me and I appreciate them more than they can ever imagine. There are a few people, though, that have been bringing me down with their negative energy and I'm getting tired of letting that happen. Life is too short to be anything but happy, and if that means distancing myself from the people that are trying to prevent my happiness, then that's what I need to do.

Consider it done. Here's to moving forward and never looking back! And to never giving up on your dreams.

I have heard of the Serenity Prayer before, and some of the words cane to mind as I wrote the post above. I decided to Google it and read its exact wording. According to Wikipedia, this prayer is used in a lot of 12 step programs. What a coincidence! I could use to join a 12 step program so I stop trying to fix things that can't be fixed!

Also on the plate is the Chinese double eight symbol which symbolize happy relationships. It is supposed to enhance an existing relationship or bring a new one into my life. Hey, it's worth a shot, right? I added the koi because they are supposed to bring good fortune. That can't hurt either!

This plate was made with Duncan® Pure Brilliance® clear glaze, Cover Coats®, and French Dimensions™

Creepy Plates and Journal Pages.

2013-05-14T17:09:00-07:00

A few months ago, I attempted to paint a ceramic plate with the photoshopped image of the daughter of a friend of mine. I really had high expectations for it, and I worked really hard to ensure it came out beautiful. Well, it came out kind of creepy. I was disappointed and afraid to give it to the girl because I was afraid it might give her nightmares. Surprisingly, she loved it!

She vowed to draw me a picture and make me a necklace, and sure enough a week or so later I got a package in the mail which contained these awesome works of art!

She had also commented on how much she likes my journal pages, so I made one featuring her dog and another featuring her stuffed, talking bacon doll. I sent these photos via phone for her to see...

I am so happy that I had a new fan! I know my work appeals to children, but I don't really know many to give it to. So I decided to go a little crazy and send her a bunch of stuff that I made packed in a giant box and addressed directly to her. Here are the things I made her...

This is a cuss pot, because I told her that she had to make her Dad give her a quarter everytime he said a bad word. There is a legend that says dragonflies come to adults who curse and sew their eyes, nose and mouth shut. So that is what I put on it, and it says "Pay up or I will stitch your eyes, nose and ears shut".

This is a ceramic wall hanging made to look like her dog.

Last but not least, this is a bag that I sewed that features the two journal pages I told you about, which I printed out on fabric and incorporated into the design. I am the world's worst sewer, and it took me two whole days to make this. I swear I took out more stitches than I actually put in, I broke the needle in my machine, and I made such a mess that it looked like my sewing room blew up. But I managed to finish it, and it was all worthwhile because it was her favorite. She told me that I really outdid myself this time. I thought that was funny, especially coming from an 8 year old.

Supposedly she took some of this stuff to show and tell at school the day after she received it and showed the class my website. How cool is that? If that's not flattery, I don't know what is!

Rock On...

2013-05-06T18:05:00-07:00

The music of Dave Davies and The Kinks keeps me sane. I can't explain it but I owe much of my mental healthiness to them. I went through this huge Kinks phase in high school after hearing 'Lola' and thinking it was the greatest song known to man. I was obsessed and listened to nothing but them for years. Their music is amazing. Ray and Dave are extremely talented songwriters and musicians (did you know that Dave was the one who invented the distorted guitar sound that we all know and love back in the 60's?). Their songs are catchy, inspiring, funny....and they are soooo British. Back when I was a 14 year old and going through what I thought had to be the most difficult time in my life (teenagers are so dramatic), songs like 'Better Things' would help me get through the day. I would drive my boyfriend crazy by playing 'Video Shop' over and over again. I listen to these songs now and memories of my childhood come rushing back to me. Good times, indeed.

For some reason when I think of The Kinks, I divide their music into two categories....old and new. Old is pre-1970 and new is anything after 1970. In high school, I only listened to new Kinks. Sure, I knew lots of the older songs but that type of early rock and roll music just wasn't as appealing to me at the time. Turns out that the fact that I never listened to the older stuff then ended up recently changing my life!

I saw Ray Davies perform 'Waterloo Sunset', one of the older songs, in the closing ceremonies of the London Olympics and thought to myself that it was a great song. It inspired me to buy a compilation of their early hits which I started listening to in my car. This was shortly after the 2012 Olympics last summer and the disc is still in the CD player. I absolutely love it. There are so many great songs on it, but there are two in particular that seriously have changed my life. One is 'Days', which after all this time has finally made me feel better about the death of my parents. The other is 'Death of a Clown', which is such an amazing, fun and catchy song that it inspired me to start listening to all of Dave Davies' solo work. And let me tell you, it is incredible.

So many of Dave's lyrics touch my soul. I have used them in paintings, on several plates in my series, and in my art journals They give me inspiration to be myself ('I'm Not Like Everybody Else"), to open my heart and love again ('Look Through Any Doorway'), to have faith and hope that everything will work out for the best. Oh,I can go on and on!

This plate includes lyrics from Dave's song "Rock Me, Rock You". It's a very personal piece so I won't go into great detail about what the composition means, but I will say that I made two of the exact same plate and the second will be going to a very special friend of mine. I hope these words mean as much to my friend as they do to me!

How great is it that smack dab in the middle of my Dave Davies obsession that he is releasing a new studio album this month and will be touring California in June? I'm telling ya, he's always there when I need him!

Crab Cakes and a National Bohemian

2013-05-06T11:59:56-07:00

Again I'm a little behind on posting about my weekly plates due to travelling, but fear not...the project is still going strong! One of my recent trips was to Maryland to visit Chesapeake Ceramic Supply and attend their first annual open house. This was my first trip there, and as always I wanted to experience all of the unique things that Baltimore had to offer. At first I was excited to be back on the East Coast because I could get a Yuengling....my favorite beer that isn't available out west. I proudly posted on Facebook that I was enjoying a Yuengling (because let's face it, I can't do anything without posting it on Facebook), and got yelled at right away for being in Maryland and not drinking a Natty Boh....or National Bohemian, the beer that the locals drink. So next time I went out, I made sure to get one (although all the locals I was with laughed at me and got different kinds. I'm such a tourist.). Apparently Natty Boh is the cheap beer that collage kids drink massive amounts of and get sick from, then by the time they are adults they can't stomach the thought of ever having another. That's okay, though. I'm not fancy. I actually liked it. Plus, there is a puzzle under the cap of every bottle! That in itself could make me a lifetime customer if it were available in California. But sadly, it isn't.

Can you figure them out? I can't.

And look at how cool their little logo mascot dude is!

I also made a vow to myself that I was going to eat nothing but crab while I was there. I had crab cakes, crab stuffed mushrooms, crab bisque, and for the first time ever, soft shelled crabs. Those were weird, I have to admit. They take an entire crab, dip it in breading and fry it. You are supposed to eat the whole thing, shell and all. Soft shell crabs have just molted so their shell is very thin. But it's still a shell, and you're eating it. And it's quite crunchy. But the seasoning they use in the breading is pretty delicious (Old Bay, whose factory is also located in Baltimore). I'm going to have to start using more of that stuff.

So anyway, plate number 17 pays homage to my trip to Maryland and all of its crabs.

This plate was made with Pure Brilliance® clear glaze, Concepts®, EZ Strokes®, and French Dimensions™

Sing Like No One Is Listening...

2013-04-19T20:20:35-07:00

I've still got springtime on the brain....I was thinking the other day that I don't think we have robins in Fresno. I know we didn't have them in Phoenix, either, which means I probably haven't seen one live in at least 16 years. I remember when I was a little kid in NJ, I ran after a baby robin and ended up catching it. I showed my mom and she flipped out thinking I was going to get all kinds of diseases. I don't remember much more than that, but it probably dates back to when I was about 4 years old. It's so weird that we can remember stuff from that long ago. I also remember putting a lunch box under my shirt on my stomach and walking around telling everyone I had just eaten a square meal. Apparently I was aspiring to be a comedian while I was chasing birds...

I really miss those robins! They would always be on the prowl for worms after a rainstorm and our backyard was full of them. I decided to pay homage to these sweet little birds on this week's plate. The quote I used is by Rumi. It's fitting because no one on the planet actually would want to hear me sing...even my dogs give me the evil eye when I do it at home. But I really love to! I wish I was more like a bird and didn't care about what people think about my awful singing abilities, but I care about people too much and can't bring myself to subject them to such torture.... :)

This plate was made with Duncan® Cover Coats®, French Dimensions™ and Pure Brilliance®.

April Showers Bring May Flowers

2013-04-12T10:28:24-07:00

I've had this idea in my head for awhile now so I couldn't wait for April to roll around so I could make it happen!

April showers bring May flowers....at least that's what my mom always told me. And when I think of rain, the Rhianna song Umbrella always gets stuck in my head. I actually really like that song, which is strange because I am usually not a fan of anything Top 40, especially dancey music like this. But there's something about the words to this song that appeal to me. So much that they inspired my 15th plate!

Here in Fresno CA, we get most of our 'spring' rain in January and February, and by the time April rolls around we are having weather similar to June's in most other places. In June it's 105 here and that's when I start hibernating. I wish we were having more rain right now so it would stay cooler longer. But I digress.

Although this plate doesn't exactly reflect the Fresno springtime experience, it reminds me of growing up in NJ and waiting desperately for some nice weather to come around so we could finally get out of the house. I have great memories of those times and think about them often. What I wouldn't do to have just one more April with my family in NJ!

Happy Spring!

This plate was made with Duncan® Cover Coats®, French Dimensions™ and Pure Brilliance®.

Happily Ever After for All...

2013-04-04T12:06:50-07:00

The other day I was taking a walk during my lunch break at work. We work in an industrial area which isn't very pretty, and there are a few abandoned buildings that are overgrown with weeds. Needless to say, I saw about a million dandelions and I thought about how much I loved picking them, making a wish and blowing as hard as I could to make the little fuzzy things fly way up in the sky when I was a kid...hoping that my wish would come true.

I decided that I would relive a bit of my childhood that day and made a wish. Life is pretty good for me right now so I couldn't think of anything specific I wanted to wish for, so instead I went for something a little more general. I hope it still comes true even though I told you all what it was! I made the wish for all of us...so I hope each and every one of you (and me too) lives happily ever after.

This project was made with Duncan Concepts® and French Dimensions™

Underneath All That Snow is....Spring!

2013-03-27T19:32:00-07:00

I am lucky enough to live in part of the country where I don't have to deal with snow and ice very often. The downside to that is usually by the time springtime rolls around, the temperatures are already in the 80's and are well on their way to their summer high of 105+. I do like spring, but I usually dread when it rolls around because I know it won't be long before I lock myself in my air conditioned house and enjoy paying electric bills that cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars.

This year, it seems like spring is taking its sweet time getting here for the rest of the country. The calendar says it has arrived, but apparently it's covered in snow. I made this plate with all the people who are desperately waiting for some warm weather in mind. Sure, it may take a little longer than you want it to, but rest assured...it will come!

Interesting fun fact about this project...I brought a blank plate and some paints with me on my recent trip for work so I wouldn't fall behind. I realized that when I got out all my supplies in my hotel room to start painting, I hadn't packed any paintbrushes! Most of the paint on it was applied by whatever I could find around my room....door keys, scrunched up plastic bags from the ice cooler, rims of paper cups, and my finger. It was really fun!

This plate was made with Duncan® Cover Coats®, French Dimensions™ and Pure Brilliance®.

Asian Fusion...

2013-03-27T16:27:53-07:00

For those of you who have been paying attention, you've realized that I'm a week behind on presenting my weekly plate to you. Fear not....I have been painting them as scheduled. But I have been travelling for the last couple of weeks and I only had a chance to fire them last night. Therefore...today I will be unveling two!

This one is for the week of March 17-23. The inspriation came from a class that I took with the great David Hoff, ceramicist extraordinaire and my good friend. We both had to teach classes last week at Bisque Imports in Belmont, NC, and his was a beautiful lotus flower scene with a hint of bamboo in the background. He can do all kinds of fancy brushstrokes and make his flowers look realistic, which is not my strong point, so I decided to change it up in typical 'Laura' fashion. What this basically means is that I added extra color, swirls, bold outlines and a quote from a fortune cookie. Somehow the plate survived the plane ride home wrapped in my clothes and packed away in my suitcase.

This project was made with Duncan Concepts®.

Those Lucky Irish!

2013-03-17T19:34:00-07:00

St. Patrick's Day is in the air...which makes a perfect theme for art plate #11 (you know what this means, don't you? The year is already 1/5 over. Can you believe it?)

I didn't want the plate to end up looking like a St. Patrick's Day decoration, so I decided to accentuate the quote and make it the focus of the piece. I really like this quote. It's good to have a reminder to slow down and enjoy life every once in awhile. It's something I need to do more often.

This plate was made with Duncan® Cover Coats®, French Dimensions™ and Pure Brilliance®.