Inside the Studio with Mary Harding

Welcome to Inside the Studio!

Each week one of our contributors gives you a sneak peek into their studio, creative process or inspirations. We ask a related question of our readers and hope you'll leave comments! As an incentive we offer a free prize each week to bribe you to use that keyboard. The following week we choose a random winner.

Congratulations, Lori Bowring Michaud!! You have won a set of three Tropical Tide Pool Beads from Erin Prais-Hintz.   Please send Erin an email  with your information so she can mail that out to you!

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Today we visit the studio of

Mary Harding

of

MaryHardingJewelry

I am delighted to be back again this month filling in for a team member.

 I want to thank one and all of you for your very interesting and thoughtful comments about your studio space that you left here last time I posted.  I have read every one of them and have learned a great deal about how varied our needs as artists are.  I think as a whole all of us want that special room of our own so that we can have  our creative supplies at hand and not have to feel interrupted by putting them away before we are ready to.  And for many different reasons we would choose to be in our homes or in a studio separate from where we live.

I also was so delighted at everyone's response to our old barn and the studio spaces inside of it. Again, thank you so much for your wonderful comments.

Ceramic Birds     Mary Harding

Today we are visiting my studio to look at some birds I have been making.  I have been inspired by the subject of our March Monthly Challenge, Birds on Riser, by Adolf Dietrich.

My birds don't look much like the ones in Dietrich's painting since I am going for a more folk art style bird.  I am hoping that they have a presence but don't convey a specific species of bird.

I make all of my birds by hand forming rather than using a mold.  I start with a ball of clay that will turn into a bird. It is surprising to me what a small amount of clay it takes to make a bird.  

After I roll out a ball of clay, I pinch it to rough out the bird shape as in the pictures above.

picture of clay shaper, ball stylus, orange stick(manicure tool)  and wooden skewer

Once I am satisfied with the shape of the bird,  I use these tools, in the picture above, to add some markings for texture and use the wooden skewer for making the stringing hole.

Birds beads with textures  not yet fired in the kiln

Yesterday afternoon I spent some time painting the birds I had made recently. You can see I work in small batches.  They will be coming out of the kiln in time for this post. 

Birds that have been bisque fired and are now ready for painting/glazing and one then one more firing in the kiln.

Finished Birds  Painted and Glazed by Mary Harding

in my Etsy shop

Now for the question:  Other than birds, what is your favorite creature to include in your bead work?  Leave a comment below to be entered to  win a pair of my hand formed ceramic birds like the ones in these pictures.  A winner will be picked randomly and will be announced next week.

Thanks so much for stopping by.
Posted by Mary Harding