Giant Focal Buttons, Button Sets for coats and sweaters and jackets, and mini button sets.
Friday, September 4, 2015
Friday, June 27, 2014
NATURE IS FULL OF SURPRISES
NATURE IS FULL OF SURPRISES
Heavy rains in June often end in rainbows in the evening. I caught this one recently.
This little peach iris appeared in my garden this year. I don't remember having one this color before.
It was such a happy surprise. I trade flowers with friends so often, I wonder who gave me this one.
Fragrant old fashioned iris from my grandmother's garden.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Holiday Shows November 2012
It is time to shop for Holiday gifts and what better place than these fine craft shows.
The West Michigan Potters Guild Annual Fall Show is Friday November 9 Noon -9pm and Saturday November 10 9am-4pm at The Cultural Center at St Nicholas 2250 East Paris SE Grand Rapids Michigan. This is my booth from last year, featuring my porcelain and stoneware jewelry and buttons.
A new show for me this year will be at the Fair Grounds in Kalamazoo Michigan on Friday
November 16 and Saturday November 17. I have joined a potters group that puts on this show along with a paper makers group, and another artists group. The Weavers Guild Show will also be going on at the other end of the building so come for a fun shopping trip for all your holiday gifts for friends, family and yourself too !
Come, join us at one of these fine shows.
Alice
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Foggy Morning
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Limited Edition Snowmen 2011
Just out of the kiln in time for the West Michigan Potters Guild Annual Fall Show next weekend.
New snowmen sculptures and snowmen pin/pendants with this years distinctive scarf, a red and green plaid with gold. This year I have added some stand alone trees, snowy hills with trees, and deer/reindeer figures so you can arrange a scenic display on your mantle or dinner table. This and much more will be in my booth at the show.
Friday Nov 11 noon to 9pm
Saturday Nov 12 9am to 4pm
At the Cultural Center at St. Nicholas
2250 East Paris SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan
Friday, September 16, 2011
A Summer in the Garden
This summer was spent in the flower garden. After many busy years of art fairs the perennial beds had become overgrown and weedy. This summer I decided to cut back on the art fairs and do some housekeeping in the garden, gathering fresh inspiration each day for new work I am starting to develop. The days and weeks flew by and it is September already. As the summer draws to a close, I realize that I have not written a new blog in a long time. With cooler mornings I will be at the computer more as I wait for the dew (and soon the frosts) to dry off before the final trimming and raking, and I will be spending more time indoors working on all those new inspirations.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Kalamazoo Artist Eric Joseph Showing Work at the Medieval Congress
Kalamazoo Artist Eric Joseph Showing Work at the Medieval Congress
Blowing Horn
Dagger
The 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies takes place May 12-15, 2011. The Congress is an annual gathering of over 3,000 scholars interested in Medieval Studies. It features sessions of papers, panel discussions, roundtables, workshops, and performances. The Congress lasts three and a half days, from Thursday morning until Sunday noon.
The Exhibits Hall, Goldsworth Valley III Will be open
Thursday: 8:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m.
Friday: 8:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m.
Saturday: 8:00 a.m.–6:30 p.m.
Sunday: 8:00 a.m.–12:00 noon
The exhibits hall will hold nearly 70 exhibitors, including publishers, used book dealers, and people selling items of medieval interest including Medieval Style works of art by Sculptor Eric Joseph under the studio name of Griffinstone.
All works are original pieces created by the hand of the artist. These pieces are inspired form history and not meant to be historical reproductions. I do, however, strive to work within the artistic style of particular cultures at specific points in history.
“History informs our lives and leads us directly to the here and now.
My work is inspired from history. I have been interested in functional and decorative arts of the middle ages and late antiquity. The interaction between the functional object and aesthetic expression has changed since we entered an age of mass production. The disposable quality of the things around us has altered or lives and our relationship with everyday items. I believe that when a person creates something, whether it is purely utilitarian or a nonfunctional work of art, it is imbued with the spirit of that person. I hope to express myself in my work, as well as convey a sense of historical connection.” Eric Joseph
Two Drinking Horns
For additional information on the Medieval Congress
For additional information on Eric Joseph’s work
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
30th Annual Michigan Fine Arts Competition Exhibition
Luralee Kiesel’s Painting to be
Shown at the BBAC
The Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center is again
featuring their annual Michigan Fine Arts Competition
Exhibition.
Opening night is Friday April 1st from 6-8pm
Luralee Kiesel is again exhibiting at the show and will
show Weeping Willow # 8 this year. It is another in her
Willow series of colorful impressions of willow branches.
The artist, Luralee Kiesel will attend the opening night
as will many other artists.
The show will continue through May 6th.
The Birmingham Bloomfield Art Center (BBAC) is
located in the Detroit suburbs at: 1516 S. Cranbrook,
Birmingham, MI 48009.
Their phone number is PH 248.644.0866
To see more about this exhibit you can go to their website:
Please feel free to leave a comment: We always like to hear from you.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Geranium Cuttings at the Studio
The sun was trying to shine between the clouds today and it looked like spring but the wind was bitter cold. My green thumb was itching to do some work in the garden but it was just too cold. So I did the next best thing and gardened indoors.
I need to clean house, and all the geranium pots on my window sills have been dropping dry leaves and old flowers on the sills and floors making a mess. I decided to give them their annual spring trimmings before I did the cleaning. I took them one at a time to the window by the kitchen sink and carefully cut back the stems to a growing leaf and pulled out all the dead leaves. Then I watered them well, misted the stems and leaves and spread a small pot of fresh potting soil on top of the dirt in the pot to snug up the stems a bit. Then I covered each pot with a white plastic grocery bag to form a little greenhouse effect to keep the stems moist. I am hoping this little hot house for each pot will encourage the dormant buds on the stems to leaf out in the humidity and get them big and bushy before I want to plant them outside in late May.
Then I took all the cuttings and stripped them down to two leaves and planted them in little pots of fresh potting soil and misted them and covered the pots (five or six at a time) with the plastic grocery bags for humidity put them in a sunny window and hope some of them will take root and make more pretty plants for this summer.
Do you think it will work? I have never been this thorough with the spring cleaning of the geraniums and have had hit and miss luck with cuttings. Maybe the little greenhouses will be the answer to having success. Stay tuned for the results in a few months.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Signs of Spring at Alice Hunt’s Studio
Snow drops in bloom under the dogwood tree, daffodils pushing up through the ground as the snow melts and the fragrance of witch hazel wafting on the breeze. Robins hunting for worms in the lawn.
These are the signs of spring at the studio this week.
A pair of Canada Geese honking loudly as I walked along the shoreline, glided down and slid across what was left of the ice before dropping over the edge into the water.
With the first spring show behind me now, new work and new displays are ready for the 2011 art fair season. I still have more ideas to bring to light in clay and soon the ferns in my gardens will be up and I can pick them to use in more contemporary fossils creations that are piling up in my mind’s eye.
To see more of Alice's creations please check these sites
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
West Michigan Potters Guild Spring Show and Sale this Saturday in Grand Rapids Michigan
Alice Hunt's booth will be in this same spot again this year.
How many ways can an artist use clay? An infinite number it seems, to anyone who has ever attended this show. Members of the West Michigan Potter’s Guild will be showing their works of fine craft this Saturday. It is one of Grand Rapids Michigan’s finest shows. I am busy getting packed for it, finishing up new work and getting ready for a new year of art fairs.
West Michigan Potters Guild
Springfest 2011
21st annual POTTERY SHOW & SALE
Saturday, March 19 9am-4pm
Church of the Servant
3835 Burton SE
Grand Rapids, Michigan
for a link to a map see:
To see more of Alice Hunt's work:
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Porcelain Jewelry Display a New Look
The 2011 Art Fair season will begin for me next month with the annual West Michigan Potters Guild Springfest. It is time to reorganize the storage bins, be sure the table covers are freshly washed and make sure the inventory is in order. I have packed away the Christmas holiday items and the snowflake pins, made a note to make more snowmen pin/pendants for fall and started the glaze fire for new spring necklaces and earrings.
For several years I have used Styrofoam boards covered in dark leaf green velveteen to display pins and pendant necklaces. The first year I did art fairs, I packed each pin in tissue and put it out for display in a case or pinned it on a large white mohair shawl at the beginning of each show and rewrapped it and packed it up again after the show. Set up and tear down took forever until I discovered another artist who had her work pinned on cork bulletin boards. The velvet covered boards were a lifesaver. They are getting tired looking after all the seasons of use now and it is time for a new look. Out with the green and in with an even more neutral color to go with the cream colored table covers and the light wood shelving. I have found a new velvety fabric to cover the boards for a fresh clean look. That is my project today and when I have them covered, I will have some fun arranging a fresh spring collection of pins, and pendant necklaces.
The 21st Annual Springfest Show and Sale is less than a month away. Saturday, March 19th at The Church of the Servant 3835 Burton Street SE in Grand Rapids Michigan. Come and see all the different ways clay can be turned into beautiful and useful objects. The Dinnerware Show will again be featured.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
How Many Piercings?
People without holes in their ears are people too. How many piercings do you have? At a summer art fairs there is a parade of people and it is common to see multiple tattoos and multiple piercings. It may be hard to believe, but there are still many people who don’t have any of either.
Some people have tried but are allergic to metal in their ears, or have had bad experiences of one sort or another. Some have just never gotten around to it and some don’t even want to think about being poked and pierced. Some aunts and grandmothers grew up when pierced ears were frowned upon (yes, once upon a time) and have never wanted them. At nearly every show I hear the comment “Your earrings are so cute but I don’t have pierced ears”
So few artists make clip earrings that people don’t expect to find them. I enjoy being able to tell them that a whole spinner of earrings in my booth is just for them. Or maybe they have pierced ears but need a gift for a mom, a grandmother or aunt who wears clips. Often they are so happy to find them that they buy a handful.
For a long time, I made my own cards to put them on. I printed out cardstock cards and glued a plastic thing on the back that hung them on the display spinner. That was a lot of work and they wilted in the humidity and looked a mess after a rainy art fair. The plastic cards I buy for the rest of my earrings just have tiny holes for wires or posts to go through so they didn’t work for clips.
Then it hit me. Why didn’t I think of this before? I have a hole punch and with some effort can punch through the plastic to enlarge the holes for my clip earrings. Now, I don’t have to make my own cards, I have saved myself lots of work, the display cards won’t sag in the rain, and I have a new look for the clip earring spinner.
We don’t realize the amount of time spent on these housekeeping details until we have to do them. It is always a relief when I figure out how to simplify this part of my business. I was going to say “non-creative” part of my business, but often the display and marketing part turns out to be very creative, if not very “arty” and then again sometimes it is just something obvious finally hitting me in the face.
To see examples of my clip and “non-clip” earrings please check out these sites:
Monday, February 7, 2011
VALENTINES DAY ON ETSY & ….
I have discovered that if I put a photo and a link on my “Fan” page http://www.facebook.com/pages/AliceHuntStudio/329394373735 of facebook, it also appears on my personal page and Twitter too
http://twitter.com/#!/alicehuntstudio I don’t know how that works but I am glad it does.
Happy Valentines Day to all ! ! !
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The Necklace in My Head
I have this exhibition necklace I have been working on for several years. I can see it in my head……
I could see it when I gathered wild grape leaves to make impressions in clay. I could see it when I finished sculpting the grape leaves and grapes and made little grape beads in porcelain clay. After careful and thorough drying to be sure there would be no steam build up inside the pieces to make them explode during the first firing, they were bisque fired.
The bisque pieces were beautiful when they came out of the kiln. Pure white on white sculptures. They were so nice just they way they were I was afraid to mess them up. What if I glazed them and the colors were not what I envisioned in my head? Panic!
Since I had made the components for four complete necklaces, I decided to start by glazing just one. I have learned that if the glazes are not just right after the first firing, I can carefully layer more glaze and underglaze and fire them again. It took a lot of experimenting to figure out how to make it work as most potters will tell you once a pot is glazed you can’t get more glaze to stick. But they say necessity is the mother of invention.
After several attempts to get it right, I put the one necklace in the kiln for the last time and turned on the heat to let it fire. Then I waited for it to reach glaze temperature, over 2.000 degrees and then cool down. When I emptied the kiln, disaster struck. As I lifted the kiln shelf that was above the shelf the necklace was on, one of the supports stuck to the bottom of it just long enough to be lifted above the necklace where it let loose and fell breaking the grape leaves. I was so devastated, and mad at myself, that I could not work on the remaining three bisque form necklaces for a whole year.
I was so glad that only one necklace had been under that kiln shelf! NEW RULE , the necklaces can only be put on the TOP shelf !!! I began again very timidly. The colors were much too pale the first time. This allowed me to layer more colors and glazes but took a lot of time and since I work with small items it take a while to fill the kiln even for a glaze fire, so another year or so went by with several firings getting the glazes right.
Finally, all the grapes and leaves were the colors I had in my head and I could add the finishing touches with China Painter’s Gold. This was a labor of love, and since I had come this far with the pieces I wanted to be sure it was perfect.
Again the necklaces went into the kiln. ON THE TOP SHELF !!!
And again, they were so beautiful I was afraid to start putting them together. How would I assemble them to create the necklaces that were in my mind’s eye? I began to sort through the amethyst and peridot, fluorite and serpentine beads in my bead drawer. Seed beads and pearls were also selected. I ordered some special head pins with green swarovsky crystals. How many strands of beading wire would I need to use to get the effect I had in mind?
I have started to put the beads on the first wire and string it through the grapes that are attached to the leaves. Will two more strands of beads and grapes be enough to create the full effect that I can see in the necklace in my head? And when I get the right fullness of grapes and beads on the collar of leaves, how will I secure all the strands together and finish the sides and back of the necklace and clasp it?
To see more of my work please check out these sites.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Getting Started and Then Finishing
I have been thinking about this blog for two weeks. How do you blog about Studio cleanup? I started with the question, “What do I want to accomplish this year?” That led to a whole list of things besides art work that need to be done. If I could only go through every drawer and closet in the house and clear out enough stuff to make room for the new things I want to create. And, if I could just get around to finishing projects I have started I could get them out of storage and make more room too. The hard part is getting started.
I have had the idea and the fabric for two patchwork bedspreads for over ten years now. I should get them made before I have to repaint the bedrooms !
I think the hang up has been that I don’t know how to finish off a quilt. I have decided to charge ahead and cut the fabric and sew the pieces and worry about that when I am finished piecing the quilt. I hope I can find an experienced quilter to hire to put the batting and backing on and quilt it on a big machine.
Then there are all the boxes of family photos collecting dust bunnies under the bed. They need organizing and I want to digitize all of them by scanning them into the computer or taking close up photos of them and downloading them into iphoto so I can clean some of them up and print them out to make family story books for the grandchildren. I especially love the photos of my grandparents when they were dating. My grandmother was a beautiful “Gibson Girl” and my grandfather’s hobby was photography so we have lots of photos. He printed some out on blueprint paper or something as many of them are not sepia tone but shades of cobalt blue.
When I bought my Mac a few years ago, I signed up for the one on one training at the Apple Store and learned all about iphoto for editing the photos. I also learned how to edit music. The stereo’s turntable in the living room doesn’t work anymore and I can’t listen to records. I had purchased a turn table from a catalog that assured me it would play my old LPs into the computer where I could edit them into CDs. Nothing is ever that simple. The guys at the Apple genius bar and the trainers were able to make it work and after several training sessions, I learned how to do the editing. Thankfully, I took serious notes on how to do it. I was known as the lady with the notebook as I would make them slow down so I could write down every step. I started to edit some favorite Christmas records but never finished. So, another New Years project this winter is to finish the CDs I started to make and begin to work on some more favorites. Now where did I put that notebook of instructions????
There are the recent family photos that I want to edit and print so I can get them out of my camera and computer, the family videos too, both the new ones that are digital in my computer waiting to be made into DVDs and the old VCR ones I wish I could edit…. and that leads me to another gadget. I bought a DVD/VCR player/recorder that is supposed to “tape” from the TV, play DVDs, play VCR tapes and be able to convert VCR tapes to DVDs. When I try to set it up all I accomplish is to get the TV/Cable setting so messed up it takes us all day to find our way back to being able to watch the TV. I wish there was a genius bar for this machine.
Getting back to my art studio…….. I have this exhibition necklace I have been working on for several years. I can see it in my head…… but that is anoher long story I will share in the next blog. This one is already too long.
Alice
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
WELCOME TO MY ALASKA JOURNAL
Our trip to Alaska this summer was the trip of a lifetime for us. I kept a daily journal while on the trip and have just finished writing a blog for each day and illustrating it with our photos on Flickr.
Don and I each took a lot of digital photos. We had more than 2000 when we downloaded all of them to the computer. The fun of digital photos is that you don’t have film to be concerned about buying and developing. Whenever something catches your eye you can snap away with the camera and what doesn’t work can be deleted later.
I never dreamed it would take me ‘til Christmas to finish all the blogs, but it has. Blogs automatically date themselves on the day they are posted, so the dates have nothing to do with the fact that our trip was the end of June and first three days of July.
If you want to read the whole story from start to finish I recommend that you skip down to the beginning of this linear story in reverse and work your way back up. My photostream on Flickr is likewise backwards and at the moment, December 21st 2010, the ALASKA photos are at the top of my photostream.
The ALASKA album of photos off to the side of the page, starts with the first day at the top if you click on that to see them. Either way, clicking on a photo will bring it up larger. The photos in the album section are very small otherwise.
Flickr is a wonderful website of photos by photographers around the world. You probably have to sign on to see all my photos. I highly recommend that as it is free and simple to sign up.
Please enjoy my story and photos and leave comments if you want to. I enjoy hearing feedback.
Alice
To see the best photos we took on our trip,
please look up alicehuntstudio on Flickr or
try the link below. (you may have to sign up, it’s free
and it’s easy and there are so many fun groups of photos to
see from all over the world I think you will be glad if you do.)
ALASKA DAY 15 Vancouver to Denver to Grand Rapids and Home
We gathered with our tour group and guide at the designated spot on the ship and waited for our turn to leave. Our bus was waiting for us and we were off to the Vancouver airport.
After much waiting in line we were given a very thorough checking by the security people. To prevent setting off the alarms I took off both barrettes and was holding my long hair up when they decided we all had to be wanded instead of going through the metal detector. I couldn’t straighten out my arms for the lady because I was holding up my hair with one of them. Then the gilt edged Bible in my suitcase showed up as a suspicious dark rectangle and they halted the line. All this time I am holding up my hair and waiting to get my barrettes back. If I let my hair down I will never get it back in the barrettes with out my hairbrush which is packed away who knows where, probably in my checked bag that is already gone! Oh the trials of long long hair! Finally the lady wanding me went over to the ex-ray lady and made her open the bag to see what the dark object was. After a few minutes of consultation they finally decided that it was just a Bible after all and let us through. And gave me back my barrettes.
Up in the air over Vancouver, I began to take photos out the window. I got some good ones of clouds and the airplane wing and cloud patterns on the earth beneath.
We had to change planes in Denver and had a short lay over there. Our planes departure was delayed because of thunderstorms in the area and there was a long line of planes waiting to take off. We were finally cleared for takeoff, just before sunset. As we lifted off we could see a rainbow ahead. It looked like we were going to fly right through it. I was able to take a photo of the bright colorful spot in the clouds and also shot some photos of thunderheads and rain with the sunset glowing through. As we flew past the storms the light faded and my pictures became too grainy to keep.
As we flew over Iowa around 9:30 local time I began to see tiny bursts of what looked like dandelion puffs beneath us when we were near the towns and cities. The announcement in the airplane said we were 30,000 feet up and that there were fireworks displays visible below. It was Saturday night July 3rd and many towns were doing their 4th of July fireworks displays a day early.
Eventually we came to a place where the whole ground below was lit up with the lights of communities and then a large solid mass of lights. I suspected it was Chicago and soon the announcements in the plane confirmed it. There was a curving line where the lights stopped and all was solid darkness. That was the biggest clue to me that it was Chicago. As we continued east I could see this dark curve extending eastward along the Lake Michigan shoreline. At one point I could see the lighted line of Chicago curving around the whole south end of the lake towards Gary Indiana and actually saw the shoreline of Michigan too. From our high in the air vantage point we could see Michigan, Chicago and Indiana lights all at the same time.
We landed in Grand Rapids around 1:00 am. By the time we found all of our luggage and got in the car it was 2:00. By 3:00 am we were home and falling asleep. It was a wonderful trip!
To see more photos of our flight home, please look up alicehuntstudio on Flickr or try the link below. (you may have to sign up, it’s free and it’s easy and there are so many fun groups of photos to see from all over the world I think you will be glad if you do.)
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