ceramic wall hanging Archives

I’m still recovering from last weekend’s three day spring Colorado Potter’s Guild Sale. It’s like having a hangover, if one can actually over indulge in pottery. But, there is no rest for me this week because I’ve been getting ready for this weekend’s Spring Horseshoe Market which takes place on Saturday, May 13, 2017 from 9am – 4pm. This event is outdoors and luckily, good weather is in the forecast.

ceramicscapes Will Be At The Spring Horseshoe Market

I really enjoy participating in one day market events and I especially like the way Horseshoe is curated and organized. There will be over 120 vendors including me and my booth mate, Sarah Christensen Ceramics. Sarah is also a member of the Colorado Potter’s Guild.

CeramicScapes - Ceramic Macrame Wall Hanging Test — CeramicScapes – Ceramic Macrame Wall Hanging Prototype

What am I bringing?

In some ways, I will have completely different work than what I brought to sell at the Colorado Potters Sale last weekend. I’m going to have new ceramic/macrame hanging wall art work, 6 hanging planters, wall planter pods, a handful of mugs, and various sizes of dishes (ring – platter sized).

CeramicScapes - Ceramic Macrame Wall Hanging — CeramicScapes – Ceramic Macrame Wall Hanging

CeramicScapes - Ceramic Macrame Wall Hanging 2 — CeramicScapes – Ceramic Macrame Wall Hanging 2

CeramicScapes - Ceramic Macrame Wall Hanging 3 — CeramicScapes – Ceramic Macrame Wall Hanging 3

CeramicScapes - Ceramic Macrame Wall Hanging 4 — CeramicScapes – Ceramic Macrame Wall Hanging 4

The finished ceramic macrame wall hanging above is the first one that I made and it sold at the Colorado Potters Guild. I just fired my kiln yesterday and have 5 more. (see above) My kiln is still just a little too hot to unload right now, but fingers crossed, they all survived.

CeramicScapes - Large Wall Planter — CeramicScapes – Large Wall Planter

Larger Wall Planters

Also, I made three larger wall planters as a prototype for a client who is interested in replacing some that she purchased elsewhere that cracked over the winter. In the end, the ones I made are not large enough. Mine are approximately 9″ wide. I took a photo of a standard wall pod next to it for scale comparison.

Horseshoe Market Swag Bags

At every market, the organizers of the Horseshoe Market give away “swag bags” to the first 50 customers in line to get into the market. The bag itself is screen printed with the market logo and can be reused as a market or grocery bag. The bags are filled with goodies that vendors donate. I am donating 50 ceramic heart gift tags.

CeramicScapes - Ceramic Gift Tags For Swag Bags — CeramicScapes – Ceramic Gift Tags For Swag Bags

They’re easy to make and it takes an extra couple of hours out of my making cycle to finish. I do it for the good will and the hope that at least 50 people will be curious enough to check my booth out. 🙂

That’s it for today. On Friday, I will be sharing the ceramic work of Jackson Gray who hails from San Diego, CA.

Ceramicscapes - Ceramic Wall Hanging 1 — Ceramicscapes – Ceramic Wall Hanging 1

Several months ago, I had an idea while I was out walking with my dog to create some ceramic wall hangings. Initially, I imagined that the ceramic pieces would stand alone. The idea makes sense to me – especially since I already make ceramic wall art. Then, I became fascinated with the resurgence of the art of macramé.

Yes – the art of knot tying that had its heyday, most recently in the 1970’s!

Patti Hardee - Macrame Owl Wall Hanging from the 70's — Patti Hardee – Macrame Owl Wall Hanging from the 70’s

A friend of mine from high school tagged me in an Instagram post of a macrame owl wall hanging that she made in the 1970’s with her grandmother. Isn’t this awesome? What a sweet memory and I love that she still displays her owl. To me it still looks fresh…but I do remember the art form falling out of favor in the 80’s.

History of Macramé

According to Wikipedia, “Macramé comes from a 13th-century Arabic weavers’ word migramah meaning “fringe”. This refers to the decorative fringes on camels and horses which help, amongst other things, to keep the flies off the animal in the hot desert regions of northern Africa.”

So, it’s actually a decorative and functional art that’s been around a long time. The art form later moved to Europe via the Moors and then to other parts of the world by sailors who passed their time making gifts using rope which was readily available on a ship.

Ceramicscapes - Ceramic Wall Hanging 2 — Ceramicscapes – Ceramic Wall Hanging 2

Popular resurgence

As with much of fashion, trends wax and wane. Currently, macramé has seen its popularity wax again in the last couple of years. Even Martha Stewart is sharing articles about macramé.

So, as a ceramic artist, I decided to combine clay + macramé to create some home decor pieces. In preparation of trying my hand at adding fiber/cord to my ceramic work, I made a couple of stand alone wall hangings using some simple knots.

Cindy Guajardo - Simple Macrame Wall Hanging — Cindy Guajardo – Simple Macrame Wall Hanging (take 2)

My first attempt was just okay. I was much more deliberate with the second one. My daughter loves it, so I gave it to her and she hung it up in her dorm room.

Ceramic Components

Can you see my vision? I don’t think that I could have made the ceramic components without first trying my hand at making some simple macramé wall hangings and practicing making various types of knots.

I even purchased about 600 feet of 3 strand cotton rope to finish my ceramic wall hangings. Also, I borrowed a couple of macramé books from the library to use as reference. I’m excited to finish these and perhaps make them a regular part of my online shop.

Originally, I thought I might bring a few to the Colorado Potters Guild Sale on May 4-6th, but I’m going to debut them at the Horseshoe Market in Denver on May 13, 2017 instead.

Stay tuned for the finished ceramic wall hangings in a couple of weeks once I fire them in my kilns and assemble them.