Fall Palette of Color...

The colors of fall are so pretty.  Fall and Spring are my favorite seasons. They both are so colorful and I love color!  I created a hanging tile with fall colors that includes a little owl.  It is now listed in my Etsy shop: My Etsy Shop

I have also been watching for changing leaves for photos. Here are a few photos of what I have taken, but it is still early. But they are changing quickly.  I've been taking Sophie for some short walks to see some of the colors in the neighborhood.  I'm sure I will post more over the next few weeks.  Enjoy!
Beth  ♥     

The Corvette...

...is parked in the carport. My latest tile was done for a friend. She wanted her house and her car included. So I managed to finally finish this between all the other little houses that I've been working on. I'll post some pictures of the paintings and little houses that I've been working on soon.

Happy Holidays!

Well I survived the Christmas rush! Yesterday was our last family get together for Christmas. We travelled to my parents house for Christmas dinner and gift exchanging with the family. The trip took about an hour longer than it usually does because of flooding on the highway! Many areas got snow this week, but we got lots and lots of rain. My parents part of the state got about 10 inches of rain over a few days, so many creeks, lakes, ditches, and some roads and homes were flooded.

But we finally got there, ate the wonderful food, exchanged gifts, watched some Christmas special music and said our goodbyes before leaving for the trip back. The highway was still closed for flooding, but the traffic seemed to be moving more quickly going to other direction.

Above is the Tree House tile that my niece asked me to create for her. She gave it as a gift for someone special. The tile has special meaning or him and he really loved the tile.

Hope you were the recipient of a special gift this year! I was! I received an unexpected box of candy in the mail on Christmas Eve for no reason! It meant so much to me that she thought of me at this time of year! Thank you so much!

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season!

~Beth

Tree House Tile

Well I sound like a broken record, but again I have been very busy! I have been creating custom home tiles for several people. So when I get home from school, I tried to get busy working on tiles and glazing mini hearthomes. I am excited to create some custom tiles, but they are more difficult to create. Having customers that give you a few photos and say...do what you want!! That is pressure! But it is fun. I just wish that time was not so short right now. Christmas is coming quickly! I have to finish my shopping and finish these tiles.

Creating Relief Tiles of Clay and Little Clay Houses

Unglazed Bisque Tile

It has been another busy couple of weeks. I don't know where the time has gone lately! It seems like it was just last week when school started and we will be winding down this semester in just a few weeks! Thanksgiving is behind us and the holiday season rush has begun! My Christmas tree is up, thanks to my daughter and husband! They took care of that last weekend. So now I can enjoy the next few weeks and not have to worry about setting up the decorations.

This week we traveled to have Thanksgiving dinner with my family. Wednesday we had my husband's parents over for dinner. Both kids have been home all week, so we have had a full house and the 2 granddogs! They are like having babies to take care of! But they are cute.

Small Mini HeartHomes before Glazing

I've have been busy working on some new tiny houses and tiles, as seen in my photos. I posted a photo of the little clay houses a couple of weeks ago when they were freshly made. In these photos, they have been fired once. I have also put the black glaze wash on them. Next, I will be adding the rest of the colored glazes and fire them again and they will be done. It usually wouldn't take so long to get one or two finished, but I made several and it will take me awhile to glaze them all. I've also been very busy with school and family, so I hope to finish them up in the next week. I hope to post them in my Etsy shop soon. This time, I made Small, Medium, Large, and Extra wide sizes for different price points.

Extra wide Mini HeartHomes

Medium Bisqueware Mini HeartHomes

Stay tune for pictures of the final version of the little houses. If you think you would be interested in buying one of my little houses, just click on my Etsy shop .

For those of you who have asked about the materials that I use, I will list a few of the things that I use for my houses and tiles.
Glaze: I use a low fire white Pottery Clay. If you do not have a local source to purchase clay, there are plenty of resources online.
Glaze: I use Mayco Stroke n Coat Wonderglaze for almost everything I glaze. I found these when I was teaching and have used them since.

Hope you all had a wonderful week of Thanksgiving!

~Beth

Newest Mini Hearthomes...

I glazed and fired some mini hearthomes this week and I will be listing them in my etsy shop too. I chose fall colors for the season. I'm looking forward to having some fall weather soon and seenig some color in the trees. Its one of my favorite seasons of the year...except the allergies that come with it!

Oh and if you want to see them close up, just click on the images!

Little mini row hearthouses.

Birdhouse Tile

The birds need some hearthomes too! I wish the little bird that sleeps on our porch could find a home like this! He sleeps perched in the corner of the ceiling of our porch every night! Not in a nest, just perched on the top of the column.

Fall colors Hearthome tile

I'm finished with the French Cafe in colored pencil and will be starting another colored pencil piece this week. I will post some updates as soon as I can. I'm on a tight deadline for that one. I hope I can get it done for the show next month! But for now, I'm sitting with a heating pad on my neck. I've pulled a muscle or something and its trying to tighten up on me. Its difficult to draw with tight muscles!

What is your favorite season?

~Beth

Home Tweet Home!

This is one of my newest Hearthome Tiles.

Of course birds have homes too! This lucky bird already has a home. It was made especially for a member of the AREtsy Team (Arkansas Artists on Etsy). The team had a swap for the members that wanted to participate in the swap. We were to make something to go with the theme SpringTweets. So I created this Hearthome for this little birdie.

The second photo is the tile before it was glazed and fired the second time. After it is bisque fired (the first firing), I then glaze it with a thinned black glaze. After it is dry, I wipe off the excess black glaze from the raised surfaces of the tile. Then I add the other glaze colors. Once I get all of the colors added, I glaze the entire tile with a clear glaze. When that is dry, it is ready for its' final firing.

What do you think should live in a Heart Home?  ~Beth

New Clay Tile...

'Evening at Home'

Heart Home Clay Tile

4" x 4"

See here on Etsy

...is finished and listed on Etsy. This is the tile that I blogged about here: Textured Tile. I thought I might not get to fire it because earlier this week I went to fire some things in my kiln, but it wouldn't turn on! So I had to get an electrician to look at it. He was able to fix it up for me, so I fired it up yesterday. I had another tile in the kiln that I will post later. It was made for a trade with another Arkansas artist on Etsy.

Creating a Textured Tile

Happy Memorial Day!

"Evening at Home"

Prismacolor Colored Pencils on Watercolor paper

♥Beth S. Macre © 2009♥

I thought I would take some pictures of the process that I use to create my texture tiles. I really enjoy creating these tiles. If only I had more time and space to create them in. The drawing above is what I created for this tile. Last night I created this tile. It has to dry and be fired before I can add glaze it and fire it the last time. So I will post it when it is completely done.

First I roll out the clay into a slab and cut it to the size that I want. This one is 4" x 4". I also put a hole into it, so it can be hung on a nail, if wanted. The hole will get covered up on the front.

Then I cut the house out of a thin clay slab. I attach it to the blank tile, then add pieces of clay to create the ground, shrubs, and other details around the house. I start to add raised details, such as the roof edge, shutters, steps, doors, windows, etc.

I cut out little shutters, fencing, posts, steps, hearts. I always add a little heart to the home.

After I get most of the shapes attached, I start adding textures into the clay...like the tree leaves texture, ground textures, flowers, picket fence, windows, etc.

And finally the sky texture and cloud to cover the nail hole.

When it dries completely, I will fire it, then glaze it, the fire it again. It can take up to a week to dry. So it can't be rushed. I will post the results when it is finished! Thanks for your interest!

Don't you want to get your hands dirty now?
~Beth

Two Year Blog Anniversary!

Heart Home on a Hill

4 1/4" x 4 1/4" Clay Tile

Beth S. Macre © 2009

Today is my two year Blog Anniversary! I am proud that I have continued my blog for two years and I have really enjoyed sharing my creations and a few personal events along the way! I hope that you guys that keep coming back to see what I am up to, have enjoyed my journey. I hope that you will continue to visit me and see what I am up to. I hope to continue creating and sharing for a long time.

As my celebration for my 'blog-aversary', I am in the process of opening my new Etsy shop today. I am calling it HeartHomes...after my most recent clay creations. I have added one heart home clay tile, but I have a few more to add today, and I will be adding more all this week. I hope you will stop by to check out my new creations. I will be adding some heart home drawings in the future. I plan to add magnet, pins, and pendants to my line of heart homes. I am also keeping my other Etsy shop, bmacre.etsy.com open. I plan to include my other drawings and paintings that I create, that do not quite fit with the whimsical style of the HeartHome collection.

Thank you to those of you who commented over the last couple of weeks. In my next post I will post a list of those of you who commented and announce the winner of the give away. All of you who commented will be getting a free gift as well! Check back with me to see who is the winner!

Thank you for being so supportive and encouraging to me in my artistic journey and personal journey. I appreciate all of you!

~Beth

Creative inspiration...

Heart Home Series

Colored pencil on watercolor paper

Beth S. Macre © 2009

...has really kept me busy in the past 2 weeks! And it feels really great! I'm working on some new clay pieces and drawings that I am enjoying working on. They will be in my new Etsy shop soon. As soon as I get the clay pieces glazed and fired and photos taken, then I will be ready to open it. I'm shooting for opening it up by my blog two year anniversary, which is May 3rd.

Preview...

The above image will be the first piece in my new Etsy shop. It was created with Prsmacolor colored pencils, both watercolor pencils and dry pencils. I have also created tiles of clay that have similar subject and feel to them. So this is a sneak preview of what will be in my new shop starting in about a week.

Give away...

I am also creating some special little clay pieces that I will be giving away to those of you who leave comments on my blog from the last post until my opening! So I hope that if you take a moment to comment and leave your name (or a link so I can contact you)! Everyone who comments will receive something, but one person from the commenters will be randomly chosen to win a Heart Home tile!

I look forward to summer vacation so much this year! I plan to spend a lot of time in my studio creating. I have lots of ideas and really can't wait...but I guess I will have to!

So, what do you think?

~ Beth

Lake House Tile

Lake House Tile

Beth S. Macre © 2008

Click here if you would like purchase this tile!

Sold

I created this tile a couple of months ago, but just now got it fired and ready to list in my Etsy shop. I've been so busy with work at school and bringing work home from school that I just haven't had much spare time for my own work. But I have managed to get a few clay pieces fired recently but I haven't had much luck with the results. I've been less than happy with some of the pieces that I glazed fired recently. But I am happy with the this tile.

Sales have been slow on Etsy anyway and I'm blaming it on the economy for now. Its either that or I need to stop creating these tiles. I'm going to run out of room storing them in my art room! So I guess I need to concentrate on working with my colored pencils for awhile. I've really been missing my time using my colored pencils lately, so that's what I will be working on next...as soon as I finish a painting that I'm working on. I will post that when I get it to a stage where I'm satisfied with it. I know, I'm all over the place with different mediums. I think that is because I'm an art teacher. I'm usually working on something similar to an assignment that I've given my students. Plus I don't get bored when I changed up often.

On another note, today was my last day for jury duty! I've been doing my civic duty for about the last 6 weeks. Although it is a pain to have to plan to be out of work, I really would like to have been chosen for a jury...just for the experience. But I wasn't. Out of the 4 times that we actually had to show up to the courthouse, they only picked one jury. My number wasn't picked, so I missed my one chance to actually be on a jury! Maybe next time.

Etsy Treasury

I was featured in a recent Treasury that was created by an EtsyMudTeam member, MudGoddess. It expires tomorrow, but here is a snapshot of the treasury.

I was also featured in an AREtsy Treasury. I will post it in my next entry along with more information about Arkansas Artists or the AREtsy Team.

Heart Frame Tile

I haven't posted in awhile because I've been feeling creative frustration lately. Work and life have been very busy and stressful lately so I haven't had much time for creative time at home. I hope that will change soon. I need to make it a priority again, for my own sanity. I need to turn off the tv and stop watching the news. All the economic and political turmoil is becoming negative energy. I want to create for the sake of creating, but when I think of the economy, I begin to wonder if there is any point. But I will keep creating, despite the bad economy, because that is what I do. I don't feel like I've accomplished anything if I go very long without finishing a project. I just posted this little clay tile frame with hearts in my Etsy shop. I've got a few more clay items that I will be posting soon.

"The Ritz" - Custom Tile Finished!

My latest clay tile is finished and on its way to its new owner who plans to give it as a gift. It has taken many weeks for this process to be completed because of the many steps that are required to finish a clay piece. First I made sketches from the description that the customer gave to me for what she wanted. In this case, she wanted a lakehouse. She made a couple of suggestions for changes of little details. Then I created the tile in clay, which took me 3 to 4 hours. Then the drying and waiting time began. To avoid warping of the tile, I loosely cover my tiles for several days to start the drying process, very slowly. After it is leather hard, I start to uncover the tile for a little while each day. I don't want the little details to dry too quickly. Eventually leaving it uncovered to completely dry out. Some of the edges are cleaned up, then I put it into the kiln to fire. After it is bisque fired, I apply black glaze to the surface and wipe away the black on the top surfaces, leaving black in the creases, lines, indentions, etc. The black glaze makes the texture and the depth show up better. The glaze colors are painted on, then refired. The best part is opening up the kiln to see the final result! Hopefully, it looks like I planned. Sometimes it does not. That can be disappointing. Although this process can take several weeks, I enjoy it and the creative process.

New Clay Tile

Last week I posted a picture of this tile before it went into the kiln. This is how it turned out. This little cottage garden was inspired this summer when I was in France. As we were driving through the country and the villages, I noticed that many of the homes had flower boxes and pretty gardens, and they all had shutters on the windows. I have always been interested in architecture and I had plenty to look at in France. I have many reference pictures that I hope to use for future drawings and possibly more tiles. It is now in my Etsy Shop.

Garden House Tile

Beth S. Macre

© 2008

SOLD

Another week of school done and I'm beginning to get caught up and ready to start working on some things of my own. I have some clay tiles and some smaller pieces that I need to glaze and fire to add to my Etsy shop. I hope to do that soon. Here is one of the tiles I'm working on before it was fired. I will post an update as soon as I glaze fire it.

Etsy Trade

Last week I mentioned that a lady from Canada contacted me about my Clay Tiles that I list in my Etsy shop. She mentioned that she would like one with her dogs and asked me if I would want to trade. Apparently, there are many artists on Etsy that regularly trade with other artists. So I looked in her shop and liked this painting. Anyway, we agreed to trade, I created the Custom Dog tile that I posted here and sent it off in the mail. I received this painting in the mail yesterday and I am very pleased to get it! I love the painting. I think it is very creative and it is proudly hanging in my home now.

Because of this trade, I also added a listing to my shop for custom orders. So far I haven't had any orders, but I'm just going to try different products and see how it works out.

On a personal note, my daughter had her tonsils out last week, so I have been busy nursing her back to health and getting her ready to move back to college next month. So I will not get much accomplished until after the move. My daughter wants me to paint some things to decorated her walls, but I don't know when that will happen!

Custom Tile for Canadian

Here is a picture of the custom tile that I created for a lady in Canada. She wanted a tile and asked if I wanted to trade something from her shop, so I agreed. There was a painting in her shop that I liked, so she sent me photo of her 2 dogs. They were standing up on the railings of the porch of her house. She didn't give me any other instructions, so this is what I came up with. I have to say that I really enjoyed creating it, so now I listed in my Etsy store custom tiles. So maybe some others will order some custom tiles from me. I'm going to work on some other sample tiles to sell soon. It does take a couple of weeks for them to be finished. They have to dry slowly, get fired, then get glazed and fired again. So the whole process can take up to 2 to 3 weeks, depending how busy I am.

Learning About Etsy

I have been busy working on some drawings this week but I do not have anything to show. I have also been doing a lot of research about selling on Etsy. I think I mentioned earlier that I recently opened a shop on Etsy.

So much to Learn
I've been doing a lot of reading about how to promote my shop so it doesn't get lost in crowd. There are so many artists with shops on Etsy that are very successful, but you have to learn how to be found. From what I have read, that doesn't just happen without alot of effort! I did have my first sale about a week ago (YAY!) to a lady in Greece! So my Pink Flamingo ACEO drawing (in the photo) should be in Greece by now. I guess that means I've gone International. I have also been working on a custom tile as a trade with an artist in Canada. I fired it in the kiln today, so hopefully, I will be able to photograph it tomorrow and post it here. I hope that she likes it!

On the Drawing Board
Some other things that I am currently working on are ideas for future pieces that will be put in my shop, a larger colored pencil drawing for an upcoming CPSA Chapter Art Show, and I'm also getting ready to paint a mural at my church soon. So I've got a lot to do, but my summer break will be over in one month! So I have to get busy! Oh, and life has a way of cutting into that art time too! Oh well, I guess I would rather be busy than bored! Bored? I really don't know what that word means!