finished! :)

DSC02688, originally uploaded by EtraCeramics.

sunny

sunny, originally uploaded by EtraCeramics.

And here the start of a new project. This is "sunny" the campsites mascot. A Wallpainting in the room for the animation team.

imprints

imprints, originally uploaded by EtraCeramics.

Here a photo of my hand-print project. After coming back from Teseo's school class with the 21 hand imprints. Next step after drying will be the burning in the kiln.......

The Gold Rush

Why does it always have to be this way? Slowly slowly slowly, then mad last minute rush to get stuff finished in time! Not us (at least in this instance) but the hotel next to Kerstin's studio. They've just renovated a few rooms in the old, renaissance period, part and very nice they are too. One of the last things that needed doing was a series of pictures for the corridor. And this is where Kerstin comes in. The day before opening.

Goal as dictated by the architect: Decorate six blank canvases in darkening shades of grey (right to left)...... and do something nice in the middle. Lovely and specific.

After spending the evening 'um'ing and 'ah'ing over backwards numbers, growing plants, Japanese/Chinese symbols and others, she settled on various flowers painted on gold on the glass over the top of the grey background. You can see the finished articles below, though the lighting makes it difficult to see them clearly.

Etra: Sign of the times

Well, last Sunday I was going to publish a post talking about Kerstin's job on Monday painting a sign above the entrance to a bar. However, she was very worried about it for a number of reasons:


1) It's cold. Kerstin doesn't like the cold, and sitting several hours atop some dodgy scaffolding wasn't her idea of fun. Plus how do you paint well with numb fingers?


2) The kids finish nursery at lunchtime, so her time available was going to be severely restricted. Plus our babysitter had just left......for Australia!


3) Purple. Can the colour purple be a problem, you ask? Well, it turns out it can, at least with acrylic paints, and the letters of the sign were to be purple. How do you make purple? You mix red and blue together, right? Nope. You need magenta. And you can't mix that from anything else. Confused? I was (still am). Read this blog article for a detailed explanation, but basically to make purple with paints.........you need Magenta and Kerstin didn't have it.

Anyway, she was so worried that I wasn't allowed to write anything just in case it went wrong. It didn't so I have been allowed to tell you about it.


She:


1) Wore gloves. It didn't help a great deal but life is hard sometimes.


2) Got lucky. One of the kids was sick so I stayed at home and looked after the pair of them.


3) Managed to find magenta. It wasn't easy though. The local paint store guy basically emptied a little out of the magenta in his paint mixing machine. 


Anyway it went well, Kerstin liked it, the bar's owners liked it, and a few people seem to be interested in town so it may not be the last one! It's definitely better than the previous perspex sign that the local council didn't like.


Here are a couple of pictures:

 

 

Etra: Introduction

Normally you start at the beginning and work forwards. However, that's a bit boring so I think I'll start now and do the before later. Whilst also doing the later. Make sense? No? Never mind, you'll pick it up!

So why am I here? Not in a metaphysical sense, but a blog one. Well, basically to give an alternative view of EtraCeramics, which is a little company run by my partner (sounds a bit strange too, but if you're not married what else can you use?) producing hand-painted ceramics amongst other things.

It's been running for a couple of years now, squeezed between pregnancy, babies, house renovation and of course being a loving not-wife (she'll hate that!), but now she is finally pushing into the virtual world (Etsy, Twitter). Therefore, we thought it might be a nice idea to look at things from a different point of view, maybe talking about projects that don't make it onto the internet.

As you can see this is my job! Remember, Kerstin does the art, and I do as I'm told!

Anyway, I'll keep you updated........................................