Tonya Gray Art

If only I had the picture now...

Now that I have successfully developed the birds on a wire ceramic spoon rest,
I've created a rustic salt bowl to go them.
If I can find the camera, I'll post an image tomorrow.

Salt bowls, de sel (salt in French), are for cooking or for the table.
Shallow little pots for holding spices for flavoring your food.

Or maybe it will hold your rings while you do the dishes, or house a tea light on the kitchen table for a little ambience.

I'm also at the Harvest Festival at OHSU tomorrow. The big teaching hospital has a weekly farmers market of local food. Isn't that awesome?
I think it'll be a blast.

with gratitude,
Tonya

Goofy

If this picture is sideways, that just adds to the mystery of the moment!

I set up on Saturday, working my way around the booth on autopilot, like we all do.
Half my booth neighbors decided to come and make fun of me and my upside down banner. Oops.
I fixed it soon enough. I'd like to have folks drawn into the booth by the vibrant colors and innovative art works, not by my morning mixup.

The weekend was a bit slow, but a lot of homes will be sporting whimsical ceramic spoon rests! Yippee!

with gratitude,
Tonya

Inspired by the Truth

Relentlessly focus on the one or two vocational desires that turn you on so much that envisioning doing JUST those things seems so fantastical that it borders on erotic pleasure

Ahem.

I love the woman who writes this blog. She has a powerful voice and encourages fierce living with a loving heart. My kinda gal.

The above suggestion just happens to be what I read today while taking a break from the studio, thinking to myself, when am I going to start those new paintings? When am I going to carve out time to experiment and explore? When am I going to risk my fragile heart and try my hand at the newest creation?

Hmmm. Seems to be right. about. now.

xo
with gratitude,
Tonya

painting experiment

What happens when you try something new? Something big?
Hopefully, you have fun!

I tried my hand at reverse glass painting, which means you paint your picture backwards; highlights first, then middle ground, then background.
What an intriguing and challenging process.
My image was an easy choice, my b&w stripey flowers.

The first step was to paint the black stripes, then add the white stems.
The glass is slick and easy to paint on. I found that painting the white over the black caused some of the black stripes to move and shift, as, really, they are just light layers of acrylics on smooth glass.
Hmmm, more to this than I thought.

I found that adding a thin layer of glue on top of what I had painted helped with the shifting, but then acted like a wax resist, keeping new paint from adhering to the glass.
Challenging.
Then as I added a clear coat to help weather resist the final piece (we're going to hang it outside), the shellac smeared more of the paint.

It was so much fun to play and not know the answers, to just experiment, to just explore.
I'm quite happy with my final piece, although I can see the places where I got tight. Where I thought I needed to change something, and as I did, changed to original intent of trust.
Go. Experiment. Trust. Fall into your heart. Have fun!
xo
with gratitude,
Tonya

Birthday Boy

Mac-n-cheese in a cup, water (with a straw) in a bowl.
Left on his own, this is what our 12 year old does.
Love it!

We went camping Labor Day weekend, so I missed selling at the Market.
Fellow vendors told me I didn't miss much.
Ouch.

I, myself, am ever hopeful, and do have lovely aspirations for this weekend.
I hope the sun is glorious, and the idea of finding a treasure to take home from vacation brings many shoppers to the Market.
It is the first week of school for many families, so they are back home,
but Portland still has lots of visitors.
Come on down to the Portland Saturday Market! Check out our fun art scene, visit with the crafters, eat good food, listen to street musicians: support local small businesses.
We thank you everyday!

with gratitude,
Tonya

Finally! New ceramic spoon rests.

The larger version of my new spoon rests.

These will be at the Portland Saturday Market this weekend.

I confess I'm still fine tuning the style. High fire clay shrinks a lot more that low fire clay, so I thought the size was just right, but I actually need to make them even bigger to adjust for the hot kiln tightening up the clay.

But, they are dishwasher/oven/microwave safe, and they make me smile big time!
with much gratitude,
Tonya

Custom Coat Rack

I'm loving this lavender background.
The steel grey coat hooks were a great find.
My customer had asked for a coatrack that would work with her grey/mauve waiting room.

I hope it is perfect!
with gratitude,
Tonya

Update: Got an email the other day, she loves the coat rack! Yay!!

Recently

Last week I applied for an almost dream job.
The position is to be a liaison between school administrators and teachers with the hiring of residential art teachers.
The main focus of the job is to help with communication between the two, helping those involved be clear on direction, intention and completion.
I cannot say enough about how I think this type of job fits me perfectly; my desire to see more arts in the schools, and working on clarity with words. Holy cow, communication is key, people.

But, I didn't qualify, as I am connected to one of the arts groups via Young Audiences as an artist-in-residency instructor.

Heartbroken. Just so sad to be out of the running from the get go.

But, the saving grace is that I will not be spending tons of time in my car commuting from school to school. So I must give thanks for that fact.

It did make me wonder if perhaps this self taught crafty gal might want to learn a few computer techniques and admin skills for the future, though.

In the meantime, lots of work to do in the studio. Last weekend was way busy, so there are many chalkboards to create, and I have a wholesale order to fill, plus the latest custom coatrack ships today.

with much gratitude,
Tonya

Wonky weekend

Boy, you just never can tell about this whole sell-your-own-art-gig.

This weekend felt particularly slow for me, but I sure did meet some great folks! Chalkboards went home to Hawaii and New York and Vancouver, BC and Saudi Arabia.
Wow.

Saturday was overcast, and the sun never really did pop out and shine.
What a difference the lack of sunlight makes, especially when you are hoping, and maybe even expecting, sunshine in August in Portland.
Sunday was much more fun with blue skies and happier vendor friends.

I'm so very excited to be working on new spoon rests, BIG ones, and in a high fire stoneware clay that can be safe in dishwashers, ovens, and microwaves, if need be.

Pictures soon!

with gratitude,
Tonya

Good morning!

These little sweeties went home a few weeks ago with a wonderful woman who is a writer.
She is going to use them to as decor in her writing studio.
How glorious is that?!

I, myself, and looking forward to a warm weekend filled with busy activities, including
being at the Market both Saturday and Sunday.
See you, if you come on down!

with much gratitude,
Tonya