Clayton Hill Studio

Posted on September 29, 2010 by claytonhill

It’s not just glass …

So, I’ve spent the last two days taking photos and sitting at the computer, uploading and entering data … not really my idea of fun. The good news – my etsy shop more than doubled in inventory … the bad news – I think my arse is permanently fused to this seat.

Just kidding – I have been prepping blanks for the next big slumping; working on more badge reels and pendants; playing at the ring saw – cutting pretty small pieces; rough cutting my next night light; and got all of my magnets fired, cleaned and stored …

And! (I know! – right?!), I attended a seven hour seminar (in the MORNING) on becoming a Domestic Abuse Response Team (DART) nurse … to go along with my Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) role … I asked if they would consider changing the ‘T’ in DART to an ‘N’ (for nurse), so that I could officially be called that “DARN SANE nurse” … we’ll see … 🙂

Plus, while waiting for photos to upload, I was playing with a manipulation program, and ‘created’ this … Sophia, composed of pictures of all of her pups from her last litter … how cool!

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Posted on September 23, 2010 by claytonhill

So – I had decided I wanted to make some themed magnets – and have thus started “Magnet Madness” in the studio … It started as a simple-enough idea, but now my fingers are numb from spending so much time at the grinder, my manicure is all but shot … yep, MADNESS it is … but I think they’ll be cute!

The first picture shows the images on their white backgrounds … sure are a lot of them … The second photo is as I was adding the background color pieces, and the third photo is ‘Round 1’ in the kiln … there will be at least two more trays … it really didn’t look like that much on the paper … 🙂

Meanwhile – I’ve had some other things cookin’ (when my fingers still worked) … A wine magnum ‘dish’ and a new Halloween ‘slab’ – which will evetually become a bowl

And my latest finished night light … The camera isn’t capturing the iridescent flower petals well … it’s very pretty. 🙂

And lastly, our completed pendants … hope to get things listed up to our Etsy shop soon … (www.chneos.etsy.com)

I’d hoped to have everything done before starting my 12 hour shifts in the ER this weekend, but … Noooo – I have to show up to testify in court tomorrow – EARLY in the A.M. (which I’m allergic to … both court AND mornings), will be celebrating birthdays with family tomorrow evening, AND I suppose the kids will want to be fed too … just no studio time DARN IT! 🙂

I’ll leave you with a cute pic of one of our recent babies … she’s 2 weeks old, cute as a bug and growing like a weed! Her name is Betty, and she’ll be living in Georgia when she gets bigger … 🙂

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Posted on September 17, 2010 by claytonhill

It’s chilly outside, but the kilns are kickin’

I’m working on some magnets … working out the design aspects of them, but in the meantime, some pot-melt ‘blanks’, some of the past ‘non-bowl’ stuff and some recycled (excuse me – up-cycled) bottles went into the kilns today, as well as a new pendant …

Some of the completed bowls …

And two others …

And our latest pendant … with a serious question … which end to make the ‘top’ … in the first pic, it reminds me of Jamaican dancers in traditional dress, in the second … I’m not sure … which one looks better???

I’ll leave you with my ‘peanut’ … we’ve been having thunderstorms lately … and my Maggie snuggled into my robe, left on the bed, apparently to cover her ears from the thunder …

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Posted on September 15, 2010 by claytonhill

Falling into Autumn holidays …

With the cooler weather seeming to take up permanent residence, hopes of an Indian Summer start to wither with my garden … While I love Fall, I hate losing Summer – closing up the pool; moving flower pots, baskets, decorations and windchimes to storage, as our Michigan winters destroy anything left to the elements; thoughts of the soon-to-come Winter hibernation …

But I do love Fall – for those few short weeks – just warm enough during the day with cool nights, the vibrant colors of the leaves changing, thoughts of apple cider and doughnuts … Just last week I made several fall/’homey’-scented soy candles – Pumpkin Cinnamon, Sugared Pecans, Creme Brule, Butterscotch. My studio and the house are full of wonderful scents … the kids came home from school thinking that I had been baking … so silly! 🙂

But with cool weather here, Halloween and Thanksgiving just around the corner, time to think of my next Autumn-colors bowl …

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Posted on September 8, 2010 by claytonhill

Recent works

So – I’ve gone back to my ‘day job’ (I’m an ER nurse, and I work nights …), after being off for some time due to breaking my knee [long story that involves my 170# Neapolitan Mastiff – he’s a friendly, goofy, overly excited dog] … the older I get, the more I subscribe to my Sunday-school teacher’s philosophy … “gettin’ old isn’t for wimps” …

But, work in the studio does continue, at a somewhat slower pace: My nephew got married this past weekend, and we made a bowl in chosen colors, a custom wine label (along w/the wine), and custom candle labels (along with the candles) to commemorate their big day …

And I did get around to buying the ribbon to hang my butterfly suncatchers … gives the window just the right ‘homey-interest’, I think …

And here’s my pendant light … installed!

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Posted on September 8, 2010 by claytonhill

Other (non-bowl) projects in the works …

The list of glass ideas is bubbling over … I do love our bowls, but it’s fun to try other things too. For instance – I have been wanting to try ‘quenching bottles’ for months now … finally getting around to some silly supplies (sturdy bucket and fine mesh screen) I need in order to try it … in the meantime, my friends at work have been saving some really cool bottles just for this … but that’s for another day. Here are some pictures of things recently done, almost done, or ‘in the works’ …

John’s latest pendant, and a marble trivet – marbles compliments of my grandparents – who never let anything go to waste – God love ’em! 🙂

Played around with a sunflower bird feeder – that looks great on my deck! 🙂 And a nite-lite that keeps me company at night.

A set of pot-melt coasters … And my first pendant lamp, patiently waiting for John to complete the electrical portion so I can hang it … meanwhile, I have it sitting on my trusty flashlight for the full effect … classy, eh?

A butterfly suncatcher, just waiting for ribbon so she too can hang out on my deck; and a piece I’m playing around with that utilizes glass powders … not too impressive now, but wait – there are more ideas for it …

More nite-lites, waiting for their turn in the kiln; And, I’ll leave with a quick pic of two of my ever-present babies – always here to keep me company … patiently waiting for me to go to bed … 🙂

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Posted on September 7, 2010 by claytonhill

Hello world!

I’m taking advantage of some insomnia to create this web site of our glass designs – complete with blog.

My studio was built this past February. Since then, I have come to love this space, even ‘living’ in it for a time in June when I broke my knee – as stairs were difficult to maneuver …

Here are a couple of pics, clean (as it is a working studio – it’s rarely tidy) from Feb., complete with Yorkie friends:

Since February – my kiln(s) (as I just HAD to have a ‘coffin’ too) have been running pretty much non-stop. Our dining room table has been taken over – as seen below … I wonder what I’ll do come the next holiday dinner … ???

Some finished pieces ...