Plant Shelfie Bookends with Mother-of-Pearl Luster Raffle Tickets- Raffle thru May 17
Last summer, I visited the Cleveland Art Museum and saw this vase I haven’t stopped thinking about: a simple floral pattern, carved in low relief, and glazed with a translucent glaze. When Mariana arrived in August, I explained the idea and my desire to recreate a similar look using my forms and Mariana’s patterned carvings. We had several discussions about how to glaze them. We bought 6 different glazes to test and landed on this “ice” color diluted with clear glaze.
Once they were fired, we both agreed they needed to have lusters added to really make them extra special. So first, we lined the edges with 22 karat gold luster and fired them to about 1265 F. Then, we painted the body of the bookends with mother-of-pearl luster and fired them a fourth time (most pots fire twice). They. Are. Gorgeous.
About the Raffle
We made these Plant Shelfie Bookends specifically to raise money for and awareness of Com-Fusion, the ceramics community center we are building in Portugal together. All the money raised will go to a savings account which will ultimately be used to pay for rent, ceramics equipment & materials, and all the things we’ll need to get this thing off the ground and hosting artists for classes, workshops, residencies and retreats. For me, this has been a dream my whole adult life (some twenty-five plus years). We already have the space for artist residencies secured, and are negotiating space for the community center! To start we’ll use Mariana’s existing space.
The Fine Print
Use the drop down menu to choose 1, 3, or 5 tickets
No purchase necessary to participate- you can also enter by signing up for my email list. If you’re already on the list, just send me an email to let me know, and I’ll add your name with one entry.
Raffle will be open through May 17. Winner announced by May 20
Raffle open to US, Canada, EU and UK only.
Your purchase of a raffle ticket, brings us one step closer to realizing this dream. We thank you for that and appreciate you taking a chance to have these beauties in your home.
How we make them
These are made from a 6” planter with attached saucer that Nicole throws on the potter’s wheel. She then cut the planter in half attach a slab back to each half, and voila- Bookends! Mariana then transfers the peony image onto the pot, and then uses a technique called sgrafitto to paint and carve the design. Add on the lusters and firings, these bookends have taken at least 8 hours to create.
Each half has a drainage hole and is heavy enough to hold your books up for the ultimate plant shelfie. They also have a wire hook on the back to hang on the wall (please hang on a stud).
Value: $450