My Pappy Place Art Studio

08/31/2026

My absolute favorite watercolor artist has made such a difference in my own watercolor endeavors! (I do have multiple other favorites, but Anna is at the top!) Anna’s watercolor book 101 Watercolor Secrets is one of the finest books on the subject, and easy to understand encyclopedia of watercolor, but fast in its helpfulness! I don’t buy very many books, but after borrowing this twice from our local library, I had to get my own copy and I refer to it fairly often!

🎨 Enjoy My ...

08/29/2026

Simple backyard bouquets with whatever is growing and blooming bring so much joy and encouragement, and all the more when I put them in one of my own handcrafted little pottery vases!

08/22/2026

Mark your calendars—four weeks from today!

07/10/2026

I’ve been creating pottery for four years, and there’s been very few times when things turned out exactly as I’d hope and planned! But also very few times when something came out so bad it’s not useful! This is my first time trying Amaco’s Lapis Flow and it came out beautifully, albeit still different than I’d hoped # and tried to manage. There’s a reason it’s named “Flow”! Though I tried to avoid the issue, it still really dripped, stuck to the kiln shelf and even chipped my bisque when pulling it off the shelf, but with a little wet sanding and polishing, it’s still useful and beautiful! It’s probably not sellable but I sure will enjoy it! And once more, ALL of these flowers were freebies this year in my garden, self seeding from last year, or survived the harsh winter, as any flowers I’ve planted from seed late this year are still not blooming!

06/11/2026

All new glazing processes for me on these two small planters! I’m loving how they came out! I’ll be making some saucers for them too. I’m slowing down some on pottery this month to try and get a little gardening done. I hope to crank up the pottery in July, and watercolor painting in August, to get ready for my 2nd Hallmarket Saturday, September 19! Stay tuned!

06/07/2026

I had the privilege of meeting one of my art studio mentors and encouragers at the Mulvane Art Fair in Topeka, Kansas this morning! I’ve learned so much from Krystle on her Krystle Cole Art YouTube channel! It was a pleasure to chat with her and her husband Greg (who’s always helping behind the scenes) and to thank her for all the good things I’ve learned from her! And I had to purchase some art for my granddaughters, who love animals! The Mulvane Art Fair was very enjoyable! Lots of great art, particularly ceramics!
Krystle Cole Fine Art

05/25/2026

Once more, I realize how much I thoroughly enjoy and appreciate sculpting! Yesterday afternoon, when I very much needed to do yard work, I started on another ribbon vase, which I’m obsessed with! I had clay rolled out waiting for a couple of weeks, and decided yesterday afternoon was the day to get at it! I’m so pleased with the results! It will have to get to bone dry for a couple of weeks before I can bisque fire it, to hopefully avoid any cracks! In the meantime, I have a big decision on how to glaze it! It will be blue or green, as usual! After finishing the vase at home yesterday afternoon, I dropped off two planters at the studio to get glaze fired. I picked up, with much anticipation, my first ever travel mug painted for the first time ever painting in underglazes! It didn’t turn out like I planned! I’m still learning! All the variation and detail I’d painted on the green leaves turned all one mass of dark green, and the top glaze is rough and bumpy on the top edges! I might be able to refire it! 🤞🏻🙏🏻

05/20/2026

Homemade gifts are the best, I think! Just dropped off a surprise birthday bouquet at the front door of a dear friend who has encouraged me so many times and in so many ways for so many years! One of my pottery flower vases with herbs and flowers from the backyard were just the thing!

05/19/2026

I picked up several pieces at the studio today! Once more, my disappointment gives way to acceptance and lessons learned! It’s the proverbial “When will I ever learn?!?” When will I learn that the green and white glazes combo is too thick and runs? When will I learn that I am NOT going to remember what glazes I used? Write them down! The saucer is beautiful … if only I’d remember! I’m loving the shape and style of these small planters ready for final glazing (and maybe I’ll write them down!) these started out to be mugs, and I got discouraged on that day when I threw these, so I decided to turn them into small planters, and I’ve really been liking the look of them!

05/14/2026

I was excited and pleased to pick up this little treasure from the pottery studio this evening! It was so fun to make this little house tealight cover with my granddaughter, from a YouTube tutorial and template from Pottery To The People! (Gracie’s to come after she paints hers) I was really pleased with the results with the glazes!