Ocarina attempts

I've been experimenting with making ocarinas of various sizes.

In varying degrees of completion. They're all turtles.

Some work better than others, and glazing them has been a challenge. The turtle on the right doesn't work at all, due to a clogged windway caused by running glaze.

My ocarinas are based on a tutorial design I found in "From Mud to Music" by Barry Hall.

Some finished ocarinas. I'm working toward a 4-hole working model, which should allow for a full octave. But so far the ocarina stops sounding whenever I add a fourth hole.

This is the best ocarina so far. It has three fingering holes.

It sounds pretty good -- a sound demo is below.

For the record, I do not play ocarina. I was going to attempt "Mary had a Little Lamb" but I lost my nerve.

Pug buddy

About 4.5 inches high, seated

Halloween Knitting

My simple costume for Halloween 2019: The Very Hungry Caterpillar. I wanted to be something that:

1. Was a literary character 
2. Could be made entirely with supplies and clothing I already had
3. Didn't need props
4. Was easy to wear

Voila!

Very hungry!

"To Have and to Hold" -- photos from the show

To have and to hold, at BayArts until May 30, 2019. We had a great show -- I sold out!

Mugs by Dan Meehan

Owl cups by Kim Case

Portrait cups by Elizabeth Varis

Tableware by Sue Peplin

Mug mugs by Heather McQueen

My work with Joan Krummert's (above) and Jennifer Lee's (hanging mugs)

My cups and saucers

Joan Krummert's bunnies

Joan Krummert's kitties

Installation by Jessica Ramage

Wall of cups -- shelves built by Joe Morris

Critter cups by Jessica Ramage

Cups by Loretta Neal

Read for the Stars!

This year's Summer Reading promo video:

Read for the Stars 2019 from Sue Kirchgessner on Vimeo.

Created with Adobe Illustrator, After Effects, and Cinema 4D.

Seasons cups

Finished work for the May 10th show, inspired by the seasons.

Box turtle with wild strawberries

Sleepy chipmunk

Tadpoles and baby bluegill

Wooly Bear with mums

 

The firefly motif never worked out

Glaze test: Laguna French Green (outside) with Laguna Hyacinth (inside and rim)

Bug Cups (finished)

Two of the three cups turned out nice!

The firefly cup (with dark background) not so much.

Bug motifs

Three cups with new motifs, ready to be glazed: fireflies, lady bugs, and bumble bees. I'm curious to see how these turn out, especially the fireflies with its dark background.

Puppies and Kitties

Some knitted portraits of friends' and family's pets. First, the kitties:

Tank and Roxy (roommates)

Roxy

Tank: a very large, polydactyl cat

Tank and Roxy in progress. Tank should have been much larger than Roxy, but Roxy turned out bigger!

Sundance and Melody, another pair of roommates

Melody: possibly the sweetest kitty currently living

Sundance

And lastly, "Not Bob," or Biddy. No photo of the actual cat available... she was very shy. Also unusual in that she was a female orange tabby.

And now the puppies:

Jinx, a Beagle mix. I haven't found a way to make white bellies yet.

But I can make spots.

Jinx, named after a Bond girl.

Freddie, a Beagle-Basset mix

Freddie -- look at those speckles!