carriewolf.net

I had an itch to make another needlepoint pincushion. I was sitting looking at the wedding sampler I made for Dean and I (our 8th wedding anniversary is coming up in July-yahoo!) and the corner star motif jumped out at me as the perfect top for a wide flat pincushion. Here is the sampler – I am also making this sampler available in my Etsy shop for the first time made to order:

This sampler still makes me happy just to look at:

Here is the pincushion – available here in my Etsy shop:

The patterns I used in both projects are from this amazing book of charted patterns from my favorite publisher Dover Needlework:

Charted Peasant Designs from Saxon Transylvania

Whenever I need a boost, I pull out this book and drool over all of the amazing patterns from days of old when this type of needlework was done to spice up otherwise plain homemade clothing and home decor. Simply breathtaking!

I have been reading up on Botanical Art and Illustration lately in an effort to take my crochet wildflower designs to a new level, how inspiring! I bought these 2 books and highly recommend:

I am intrigued by the beauty and minimalism of ikebana flower arrangements and was inspired to create this arrangement in one of our art glass bud vases. The colors in the glass played off the purple and burgundy trillium so well. The vase sold the day after we took this picture so I am happy we got this shot!

We have been working all summer at WolfArtGlass to deepen the color profiles of our art glass and this vase is a great example of layering multiple colors in the same family, opaque and transparent, to create a very deep rich color.

Making these art tile ornaments is my new way of testing our patterns for larger pieces that Dean throws on the wheel. These ornaments take a surprising amount of time to glaze but are worth every minute.

For sale here at WolfArtGlass:

For sale here at WolfArtGlass:

For sale here at WolfArtGlass:

You can tell that recently we finally had a good rain after months without because the rain lilies are everywhere! I love the resiliency of these amazing wildflowers. Here is my crochet Rain Lily nestled among its real counterparts: Oh and yeah, if you look real close at this first picture, you will see my arch enemy poison ivy mere inches from the flowers I was photographing…..

I have been working several flower designs in needlepoint and pottery. There is some kind of wonderful fascination in working the same design over and over again, especially in different mediums.

This tile is available in our Etsy shop – here:

Snowdrops is a design inspired by a recent request by a local gal who is interested in my artwork as a tattoo. I am so honored that someone would want to adorn their body with my artwork, can’t wait to see what her tattoo artists comes up with!

This tile is available in our Etsy shop – here:

Every year a pair of Carolina Wrens nest on our patio. Over the course of several days and many scouting missions, they pick just the perfect spot, which this year is in our fox fern pot. The opening is only about 2 inches across and she has 6 speckled eggs in there!

Note this seasons choice of building materials, copious amounts of Live Oak pollen and a long blue bit of my yarn, cast off from some crochet or needlepoint endeavor.

Of course, I had to make a wren to honor the day, here she is just after being hand-formed. I need her to dry up before I start to carve her down and inscribe all the little feather details. Maybe tomorrow?

This is the first wren I made – so cute!

Lately I have been working the Mexican Hat wildflower motif in clay and when I started looking back through photos for this post, I realized that I have been making Mexican Hats in some form or another for years now. Each year these amazing flowers bloom here at the house and they have apparently been more of an inspiration to my art than I had ever realized!

I have been drawing them…

I have been crocheting them…

And now pottery!!

I am working my Art Nouveau Water Lily design on multiple pieces and mediums. Here are some pics!

In the glaze kiln this evening are 2 Mexican Hat Wildflower pottery eggs and an adorable mouse sitting on a mushroom.

New pottery songbirds glazed and ready to fire! Here is the Yellow-Rumped Warbler, also known as the Butter-butt and 2 more Black-capped Chickadees. They are firing in the kiln right now – can’t wait to see them tomorrow when they are done!

#4 in my Pottery Song Bird series – here is the American Goldfinch – sold on WolfArtGlass on Etsy

He has his own recycled bottle pressed glass stand and can be easily removed or repositioned.

#3 in my Pottery Song Bird series – here is the Baltimore Oriole – for sale at WolfArtGlass on Etsy!

He comes with his own recycled bottle pressed glass stand and can be easily removed or repositioned.

Three new pottery songbirds made from hand formed earthenware clay. I LOVE making these birds! Each time I pull a new one out of the kiln I am inspired to make more.

#2 in my Pottery Song Bird Series – here is the Tufted Titmouse! He sold on Etsy within 24 hours of listing!

#1 in my Pottery Song Bird Series – here is the Black Capped Chickadee! He sold on Etsy within 24 hours of listing!

I have been an avid birder for a long time and love looking up into the trees and matching the silhouettes of birds to the vast number of templates in my head that I have been filing away over the years. I am now translating that storehouse of knowledge into creating hand formed and incised earthenware birds. These are my first three and they are pretty close to the actual size of the Black-Capped Chickadee, Black-Crested Titmouse and Carolina Wren. These are little birds that I see visiting my feeders every day and a pair of Carolina Wrens are wintering in our bougainvillea hanging basket that we have in our back patio hot house. Every night they sneak in and camp out up there in the warmth.

These birds need to be bisque fired and then glazed. I am going to attempt to glaze them in as realistic colors as possible and am anxiously awaiting enough of our pottery to bone dry so we can fill the kiln for the bisque. Soon!!

First in my series of art nouveau incised earthenware pottery bowls. This is a crocus pattern that was inspired by a pressed glass bowl that I found at Goodwill for 59 cents. Dean threw the earthenware bowl and I incised. We need to bisque fire and then glaze, I am thinking a celadon green for the outside and ivory in the inside. Nice subtle colors that will bring out the details nicely.

This Spring has been an amazing one for our wildflowers. Dean has been taking so many pictures and video that I was inspired to create these crochet versions of two of my favorites – the Mexican Hat and Greenthread. I have some other designs in the works!