Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Bloomin' Cactus!

Well, it's mid-August and still awfully hot here in Southern Arizona. Amazingly though, just this past Saturday, I noticed that despite the high heat some cactus around the house have started to bloom! I was thrilled to see such beauty in the middle of the hottest and driest season.....rather late bloomers I must say!

The colors on this small barrel cactus are really dramatic~


I love the flower-within-a-flower on this tall flowering cactus~
I just planted these cactus in April 2009, so to see them doing so well is inspiring. I must not be too bad at gardening :)

Also on Saturday, I went to a local art fair hosted by the Central Arizona College. I brought along some of my favorite ceramic pieces to show. Unexpectedly, a local store-owner in town commissioned me to make several sets of cactus salt and pepper shakers and a couple of large saguaro cactus for them. So it turned out to be a wonderful bloomin' cactus kind of day!

Custom order for Cactus Salt & Pepper Shakers will include
"Casa Grande Arizona" painted on the front of each piece.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Paint Your Own Ceramics Now Available!

Earlier this year, I offered paint-your-own Easter Baskets at some local shows because I thought it would be great for kids (and adults) to get together to create their own unique ceramic bunnies and Easter eggs. The kits included the ceramic pieces in bisque - ceramics that have been fired in the kiln already and ready for glaze/paint to be applied. Plus I included the paints and a brush. Several people bought these kits for their children and grandchildren - I was thrilled knowing that I may be helping to create the next great artist.. hehe :o)

I have lots of fun painting our ceramic figurines and other items at darkhorsestore.etsy.com, but there is a whole new generation of DIY-ers (do-it-yourself) out there. Plus I love to see others create their own works of art. So, I decided to start offering bisque and whole DIY kits at DarkHorseStore.Etsy.com

Here are a few of the ceramic pieces that you can paint yourself using the kit which includes the ceramic dolphin, snake, steer skull, gecko, etc. plus the paint and 2 good brushes. I think this makes for a great family activity and also good for birthday party activities.






I plan to keep adding kits so that every piece that I have available as a finished piece can also be a DIY piece. I would LOVE to see what masterpices you can make! ~~♥~~