http://TheButterflyPeople.blogspot.com/

And now we are cohesive, who needs babelfish!!!!?!?!?!

2012-02-10T08:36:00.000-08:00

The "I dont need babelfish" universe

2012-02-09T16:28:00.000-08:00

Its funny after all of these years I still use microsoft paint. I remember screwing around with it in the 90s on Julies computer, one time we went to Sentara (how the f*ck did mom pull that off?) at Julies job and I think I was using it since when I knew her she didnt have a computer. Anyway, today, on a train from Boston to New York City, I made the I dont need babelfish universe on paint, aka paint program.

Cardboard wings

2012-02-07T14:29:00.000-08:00

Im very excited for the next project, it will involve making life-size bird wings out of cardboard, the fun part is that they will be functional, well... not that I will be able to fly with them but they will be able to move mechanically, to open and shut. Stay tuned, after they are spray painted, a photoshoot will follow with likely some edited images posted here at the blog. The photos will be used to make small figures. The current little bird men people will be more human than bird, with the mechanical wings added onto them. So no super elongated arms and the way the wing opens will correspond to the model wings as well as the shape (flat knives) not just as twisted tassles on the arms.

thanks sunnybrook1!

Apollo 1 Gallery paintings

2012-01-26T18:50:00.000-08:00

Did you see the paintings that apollo 1 gallery did? They look like they may have been inspired by an egyptian alien-beetle and serpent which I did when I had the shop in Unique.

_____________________________________________________

before after

2012-01-26T01:35:00.001-08:00

Before

After (now)

2012-01-18T14:44:00.000-08:00

So Free

2012-01-12T01:09:00.000-08:00

2012-01-12T01:06:00.000-08:00

I had no idea blogger had so many template options

2012-01-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

ascent

2012-01-05T09:49:00.000-08:00

chirpy

2011-12-27T19:32:00.000-08:00

All in a days work

2011-12-26T20:24:00.001-08:00

2011-12-26T19:38:00.000-08:00

Red and Green

2011-12-26T19:31:00.000-08:00

Three in progress

2011-12-25T17:32:00.000-08:00

the siren

2011-12-25T15:45:00.000-08:00

Another winged man

2011-12-24T21:28:00.000-08:00

wings

2011-12-22T01:07:00.000-08:00

With wings to take him up wherever he pleases to go.

2011-12-20T00:41:00.000-08:00

Im really proud that Kenneth Cole owns one of my sculptures.

One More Day

2011-12-19T18:42:00.000-08:00

Prayer Request

2011-12-18T18:34:00.000-08:00

Hey, are you reading this?
Cool.
You know who you are, you that asked for a "prayer request", I almost laughed at first, but I made you this.
The butterfly people are here to help you and honestly, they always have been. I hope it gives you inspiration, I hope it helps you carry on for the next couple of days, I know you have been working hard and I want to tell you that you are doing a great job, and all of your goals will be achieved! I would also like to suggest the following: just let the universe do its thing, breathe in deep... and... release, give all your problems to the great universal mind and be at ease, hand them over and be free of them all in this moment, flow with life, find any reason at all to smile, in fact, smile right now as you are reading this!
Love you.
Here is your butterfly person.

Phase 2

2011-12-15T17:38:00.001-08:00

The Butterfly People?

2011-12-14T19:21:00.000-08:00

Yay.
I love this.
The butterfly wings are back!
This is phase one, she will be altered.
Actually its phase two but I didnt take photos of her before.

Pedro Ramirez thinks of Butterflies

2011-12-14T03:23:00.000-08:00

Pedro Ramirez does indeed.
Today I found myself in NYC with an hour before I had to work so unlike previous days where I just went to work early, I instead walked to central park, while watching one of the street vendors I had a vision of what the new girls will look like. They are woodland nymphs, they are fairies, they have real butterfly wings, and they are tiny. Perhaps its a bit of the trip to the Catskills, or the dream with my mom in it from a couple of nights ago, maybe even the realization that the gimmick which was the real butterfly wings on the girls has finally caught on to the last person to accept it which was me. I love the IMAGINATION aspect of creating tiny people with wings, it ignites something inside, inspires a sense of wonder.
As many of you know it took me a while to stop the censorship, that was the criticism of what is art, what is craft, and the difference between high and low art and the material one works in. Well, my polymer clay fairies are back and there here to stay.

so stay tuned for the new girls with clera glass-wing butterfly wings, I have them all planned out in my head, they are painted, they have 'parts' of nature in their boxes, and they are wonderful! And as of now they exisit only in my mind.

The colorful crew

2011-12-06T19:46:00.001-08:00

all ceramic

Hello David

2011-11-30T18:16:00.000-08:00

Hi, this is David. David is the cool new fairy. David enjoys apples; especially giant honey crisp apples.
David's hair is made of leaves.

brown lady with handpainted black design part 2

2011-11-27T22:51:00.000-08:00

I just wasn't feeling the figure so like the painter with their canvas, I altered the surface, creating a figure with a little bit of history, and a new mask. She still may not be finished, but I do like her more this way. Some hair was broken off during the rigorous scrubbing. I wonder could all of the figures undergo such a transformation... after all the are called Butterfly People aren't they?

She merged with it

2011-11-25T22:09:00.001-08:00

yes she did

Brown Lady with handpainted black design

2011-11-25T21:51:00.000-08:00

Cabin Girl

2011-11-25T21:50:00.000-08:00

Ollitavrec

2011-11-24T14:00:00.001-08:00

Blast from the past flower head

2011-11-21T23:18:00.000-08:00

I was snooping around the internet and saw this creature that I made in 2007
Haha, I love it!

unmerged, she has not merged with it

2011-11-17T06:44:00.001-08:00

no, she didnt

Inspired by me

2011-11-14T00:21:00.000-08:00

It is equally wonderful to not only come up with fresh ideas from your inner source, but also to take what you have already done and inspire yourself, this is why many artists have a "style".

I found these photos of some of the figures of the past which were painted with lines in various forms, some resembling henna, others literally words, and still more just lines! I have some ideas of how I would like to frame the body and fill in with lines, all new ideas, but of course drawing inspiration from these past works.

girl in the very hot bath

2011-11-11T19:40:00.000-08:00

boiling

Catskills Cupules

2011-11-11T19:15:00.000-08:00

oh yeah

2011-11-09T21:02:00.001-08:00

More soon

For Steve

2011-11-07T00:29:00.000-08:00

I just had to make something as a thank you to Steve. Steve is the driver at work, nice guy and all, but to my surprise when I got back to work after being out due to surgery, he had left a card for me from he and his family wishing me a healthy recovery. I love any excuse to give the ladies away so although she didnt exist yet, I told him that tomorrow night I will bestow upon him a little lady with flowers that he can feel free to gift to his wife (or keep for himself), and here she is. I thought she may take an hour or so and three hours later here I am finally posting the blog... whew! Your eyes are not deceiving you, she has REAL butterfly wings, just like back in the day, a "standard butterfly person" as I once said in an iconic video clip.

Bilitis

2011-11-06T01:00:00.000-07:00

Latex

2011-11-04T00:11:00.001-07:00

Check out girl from the last blog covered in dark liquid latex!
It should be dry by tomorrow, and I want to paint her with a peacock. You will see what I mean.

Polymer Clay

2011-11-02T00:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, so it has been a while since I last touched the medium, after writing that blog about how the phthalates made my hands blah blah blah, well that particular condition it would appear is unrelated. My body and I are working it out, in the meantime I got my hands into some super sculpey :-p
This figure was fun, she reminded me why clay is fun in the first place, because its being a child again, no sketches, no rules, just start molding. I made her and then just posed her up as you can see in the pics below which are in chronological order, no plans, totally spontaneous thing that she is.

It may seem odd but since almost losing my left eye, I have been wanting to sculpt eyes so, she has sculpted eyes. I will paint them in after she is baked.

Her name is Bilitis because thats what I was watching while sculpting.

How to make cold porcelain - recipe and photos

2011-10-31T20:30:00.000-07:00

Alright, I guess this has been a long time coming, I have actually had requests on youtube to make videos on how to make cold porcelain and I do not get many requests in all honesty. People seem to want to make their own, and why not? You can save big bucks opposed to buying commercil stuff which always dries too dense/hard anyway.

So lets get right to it, you will need the following:

1 cup of Corn Starch

1 cup of Glue (similar to Elmers)
1 table spoon of baby oil

1/4 teaspoon of liquid soap (clear hand soap)

Yay for pictures!
I took pictures all along the way and did not change the resolution, so feel free to enlarge the pics, especially the cooking ones, to compare to.

On the recipe, I do not know why it uses what in what ratio and why it doesnt have water or lemon juice, or whatever, everyone has a different recipe online, this is mine, its worked and proven itself to be a beautiful plastic clay body which also dries nicely and with that desirable slightly flexible end result. This is a recipe which you will love but I do encourage trying out of all different kinds of recipes, you have nothing to lose and lots of experience to gain!

So, lets begin. Place the cup of cornstarch in your pot.

Get the cup of Glue ready

I add the soap first, again why use liquid soap? I do not know, but it works, try it!

1/4 teaspoon only!

next add the cup of glue and the tablespoon of baby oil

get the stove fired up, I use gas, but I assume the setting would be low for electric.

place pan on fire! start mixing... if you have ever made fondant icing with the marshmallow and powderd sugar recipe, it will look like that does in its early stages at the very first stages when you start mixing.

very very low flame please, you will be spending several minutes here scraping and stirring

this is the consistency I mentioned above.

so after a minute or so and while its heating up, the consistency will go through several changes, this is normal so dont panic, if you used the ingredients in the measurements mentioned (double or triple or even half if you have to, but if the ratio is the same) then it should turn out just fine.
Below, you can see its looking more liquid than anything and you might begin to worry that this can never be molded, fear not!

It may get very goopy and look more like elmers glue than anything, but keep stiring, I like to scrape the bottom of the pot/pan often so that I can get the parts that are becoming very thick up to the top and keep the entire mixture moving around.

Okay, after a few minutes, the mixture looks like this, like its curdling and you can feel its thickening up due to your spoon giving you lots of resistance.

okay here is the turning point, perhaps three to five minutes have passed, perhaps less, it depends on your heat, I like to work really slowly with the heat on low, soon after the mixture will begin to get REALLY thick where you feel it coming off of the pan as in the picture below.

TURN OFF THE HEAT!
This is an important step, a very important step as it will prevent you from ever overcooking your clay! Im sure many experienced folk can whip up batches easily as they know the heat and how it works, but for a first timer, turn off the flame at this point of thickening consistency, but keep the pot on the stove and keep stirring.

Keep stirring and thickening up the material.

keep it up.

Okay, now we have a super thick mashed potatoes consistency, check out the photos if you are not sure, but the clumps will have given way to this more cohesive mass.

At this point the pan is just "very warm" so be careful, but if its not too hot, I take it off the stove at this point and keep stiring.

Ok, when the material is so thick that you feel its like dough, prepare your work area and dust lightly with some cornstarch... you are not wanting to really add any to the clay so just lightly dust the table and your hands.

SCRAPE out the clay (yes I know its cornstarch/glue, but we call it clay now) and start kneading!

I tend to wedge the clay and end up with a "rams head" like in ceramics, but you can just knead away until all air bubbles and lumps are gone, I do not find that this dries out very fast, and if you were dilligent with lots of stirring as I suggested, you will not need to knead long.

With experience you will know when its right, it should be a smooth and creamy consistency, see below as I pinch it to see how thin it can go... if you want to make miniature clay flowers then you will want to be sure you have conditioned this clay properly.

Its all set.

For the amount in this recipe, I like to seperate off into three balls, my work is small, and 2-3 female figures can be made from one ball this size, or dozens of miniature clay flowers!

I find that plastic sandwich bags are awfully conveinant for storing the balls of clay, I leave mine at room temperature, but you can store the in the refridgerator. Alternatively try saran wrap (or similar) and even clean re-used grocery store plastic bags.

Seal them up and they are ready for use!
Use the pasta machine and try making beautiful clay flowers or add small amounts of oil paints to create a vibrant rainbow of colors! Pendants, sculptures, dollhouse miniatures, you can do it all!
Cold porcelain takes more detail on than polymer clay or ceramics and it is most definitely ideal for things like little birds, flowers, cards/paper goods, and even dresses for sculpture-dolls.

I hope you enjoyed and more even I hope you try this, the cornstarch is less than $1 and the glue is also inexpensive (I got all my materials pictured here at a non-name brand dollar store). I would love to see what you all made with this tutuorial.

Oh... and have fun washing the dishes!

Does Pedro Ramirez Jr have a facebook anymore?

2011-10-25T21:37:00.000-07:00

No, but Pedro Ramirez Art does! The new facebook is available at http://www.facebook.com/PedroRamirezArt

why thank you for being... YOU

2011-10-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

Today I wanted to write a blog thanking all the people who were out there who were not followers, who were on their own path of discovery and who by example helped others, and then I realized that if I did this in a way I would be saying that the other people who were not doing this were somehow not worthy or even wrong. I took it a thought further and thought that what about people supposedly doing a "good job" were they better or more clearly, more deserving of praise than those who were not? The answer is no, people on drugs are not to be condemned and those who are survivors to be praised, eveyrone is doing the best that they can in this lifetime no matter what the outcome. Its something I will probably try and learn my entire lifetime, and that is to live and let live... just let it be. True, things will please me and inspire me and they are great, but the contrast (as Esther Hicks says) is just as important since it helps us expand.

Quirky Flowerpot head

2011-10-20T20:24:00.001-07:00

Quirky flowerpot head or flower pothead, whichever you prefer, shes very nutty, every time I look at the photo above, I laugh. She is a celebration, I was going to write celebration of life on her chest, but ive been there, done that.

This cooky chick has a symmetrical asymetrical design on her body, hand painted by yours truly, its tear-dropesque, reminiscent of a work from the past I had done. She wears a mask/glasses and has beady eyes.

The most striking feature of the floral bouquet atop of her head! It is bursting forth wonderfully! A true celebration of life and abundance. Im happy about my eye surgery obviously, but also about all the other cool stuff happening in life as well and she shows it! The flowers are cold porcelain, while she is ceramic!

The Kiln is on FIRE

2011-10-19T17:29:00.000-07:00

The kiln has been fired up for two and a half hours, tomorrow I will be able to color and decorate my girls... im so tired of the stoniness and gray, Im ready for some bold colors!

Sit, no stand!

2011-10-18T15:37:00.001-07:00

Theyve been sitting for YEARS, but its time to stand!
I am going to try and create a few standing figures, this one reminds me that good things come to those who wait. In fact, all of the ceramic ones remind me that, since I want to paint her NOW, I want flowers bursting out of the hat/container on her head and up her arm, but alas she is greenware, she must dry out and then be fired and THEN we will see if she really stands on her own. Stay tunes, I am going to be making several standing figures soon, some with flower heads like this one.

Its all very easy actually

2011-10-17T21:06:00.001-07:00

Flowers Flowers Flowers! & MORE FLOWERS!
Kitsch, frivolous, camp, tchotchke, wonderful!
and did I mention Flowers? Flowers for the sake of flowers!!!

haha, Im going to put something like this at the top of the blog so everyone can see it everytime. I only ask one thing of the blog readers, dont take anything here too seriously!

P Rami

2011-10-17T13:16:00.000-07:00

No disrespect Thutmose, you know these days I work fast, loose, and crudely; spending the rest of the time having a love affair with the creation and developing a deep obsession.

The little hole will help me in affixing a bouquet of white cold porcelain flowers in that spot.

Ooh lala

2011-10-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

These eleven discs are going to be my new affirmation stones. I cant wait! They will read things we like to attract such as 'money', but also feelings which are extremely important like 'security'.
I want to make hundreds!

2011-10-12T16:49:00.000-07:00

Face your FEARS

2011-10-12T16:16:00.000-07:00

Anyone with a health condition who believes that they caused it may be right, they say that on some level we created this illness/condition for a benefit to ourselves, no matter how obscure it may be, or how ridiculous that notion may sound.
So I must face the truth, I must go in brave with the knowledge that life is here to support and take care of me, I am safe. Tomorrow morning I will have this procedure done, but afterwards instead of focusing on the illness itself, I must focus on the CAUSE; for doctors may be able to fix the result, but only we can go within and mend the patterns that will prevent this from reoccurring.

2011-10-11T20:57:00.000-07:00

3-days

2011-10-09T00:47:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking for three days about something. If its true, what we put out we get back, then what would I create if I were sure the things would come back to me? I would create positive affirmations to live by. It is not a "what if" it is true, what we put out, we get back, very simple. For this, the next few things created will be affirmation figures, oh yes, they are back. They must be small, each only a word or so, each something to be proud to have put out into the universe, for I know that which I put out comes back to me multiplied.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j0Tun2JsF2o/S5kNevw66LI/AAAAAAAACQY/7D-ibL9PoOk/s1600-h/definitely005.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j0Tun2JsF2o/SQOMAdEBYII/AAAAAAAAA5A/Q5dAKpUw8_I/s1600-h/hennae.jpg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_j0Tun2JsF2o/SQOGutwzQMI/AAAAAAAAA4A/P5htZUFpRgw/s1600-h/100_3495.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_j0Tun2JsF2o/SLywkKK9FLI/AAAAAAAAAm4/DsCVUX8GSXk/s1600-h/100_2718.JPG

Love

2011-10-05T20:29:00.000-07:00

Love is the answer.
Love is the answer to healing, health, happiness, joy, peace, all good things!
The only thing about it for me was that I had some strange connotations with the word. A childhood of questioning and ascension to adulthood which still had me questioning, what is love?
I now know that love is the great power of the universe, it is God, it is everything true, good, great, and wonderful. HAHA, I love it!
Anyhoot, be open to love, allow it in. Give love freely and spread the word!

PEEP PEEP! Pete Pete?

2011-10-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Peep Peep was my boy, and the most beautiful and graceful goose on gradmas "farm" and most definitely the only Chinese Goose I had ever seen.

Dedication work of art to come!

I have always been obsessed with birds, birds birds, being an avid watcher at a very young age, I have recently resurrected the interest though mostly in texbook cases of recent extinctions like that of the ivory billed woodpecker, the passenger pigeon, carolina parrokeets, and and the Mariana mallard. Hoatzins and Quetzals are also very very cool and I would love to dedicate something to them.

Group Photo

2011-10-04T23:56:00.000-07:00

Here is a group photo of the latest buggers, little ones, like gems. Metallic and one even latex red!
I have a deep appreciation for the ability to make tiny things, they are so precious.

Silver

2011-10-03T23:41:00.000-07:00

I told you that there would be silver and goldies coming.

Check out this monochromatic girl, arms criss-crossed.

another gold one... this time a stripped down figure

2011-10-02T23:33:00.000-07:00

Metallic

2011-10-01T22:42:00.000-07:00

Get ready for some figures in silver and gold coming soon.

I am happy to be making more males since my past has been filled with mostly women, it is good every now and again to balance out the sexes.

This little gold man is a real work of art, a tiny statue made of clay and painted in beautiful metallic gold. He has a little tiny character on his shoulder, perhaps a muse of joy or a representation of the inner child.

Sisters

2011-09-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

I love the blue and silver combination when painting two-tone. I also like yellow and black very much.
So these two figures were being painted and I thought to myself... they HAVE to be sisters, so when I post them on etsy, they are going to be in a listing together. Perhaps we will call them Sherree and Sherryl. :-p

Once you go CAMP you never go back!

2011-09-29T23:06:00.000-07:00

Hitching a ride on the subject of the last blog are these four new figures. Kitsch, camp, folk, yes they are all of these. Frivolous subject matter, naive aesthetic?
Perhaps, but the flowers are abundant and the figures lovely. Love and abundance are really the things that are best to focus on in our lives as what we focus on multiplies (this includes problems so remember that!) I may eat these words one day, but I will never do "serious art" or anything political. I love my version of kitsch, If a figure is monochromatic its because I felt she looked better that way, not because I am trying to be a "serious" artist, what does that really mean anyway? If anything I'm a fun artist and this is reflected in the works, no matter their size, style, or subject matter.

So, onto the figures! These are so fun to color because instead of everyone being super sculpey beige all the time, or mixing beige and brown/white to create different skin tones, I can do it easily with paint on these bisque clay figures which are made with white low fire clay. The more coats of brown "water" the darker they get, its so much fun, the way the paint goes on is like creating a water color painting.

Below check out the little boy I made holding a daisy.

Below, a nude female figure holding red roses.
(shes currently for auction on Ebay)

This figure is actually holding tiny potted lilies.

I saved the best for last! This girls hat/hair thing is crazy! Its spiraling all around her head, and then has a separate spun circle attached near the front! Its awesome, more hats and masks for future figures me thinks!
So she is holding an attractive array of miniature flowers including calla lilies.
its important for me to include a photo of them in my hands sometimes because they appear clear in the photos and sometimes HUGE, when in fact these in particular are little itty bitys which are extremely charming.

Pedro Ramirez - King of Kitsch

2011-09-28T18:58:00.000-07:00

Tiny ladies holding miniature clay flowers, oh my!

Haha, they don't call me the King of Kitsch for nothing!
You really didn't think that the figures of the past five days would really go on forever did you? hahaha. THEY'RE BAAAAACK!

The little figures which I have created since the street vending days have found a way to express themselves in the ceramic medium. Kitsch, maybe, schlocky? Perhaps. I still say I'm a folk artist working in a naïve style with naïve subject matter; oops I meant lighthearted. Haha, I embrace all the labels, "low art" is the new thing! I love em! Little ladies with clay flowers, the perfect fusion of the differing art materials which are oil-based (really plastic-based), clay, and the original clay: the water based ceramic material clay. Here we have the ceramic figure, painted, then adorned with cold porcelain and polymer clay flowers, success! It actually solves many problems that I had before which were, I wanted loose figures, but they were too brittle, and also that I want detiled flowers but boy is that difficult in ceramic since the clay keeps drying out before you can finish! Best of both worlds here baby, schlocky or not!

Group Photo

2011-09-27T15:51:00.000-07:00

The uncropped pic of everyone out from the last bisque whom I already blogged about in their individual posts.

Yellow Root--Veins

2011-09-27T15:41:00.000-07:00

I made this figure the day after making the ode to Fannie one when I said I promised the next figure would have hands, this girl does have a hand and a foot, she is very "left sided" with her head primarily cocked to that side and also having her hand/foot on that side, the right is very natural and tree-like.
I remember making this figure after a long day at work, I was in a nice calm state of mind and I really wanted to just alter the figure into a strange composition like I had never done before. She appeared somewhat twisted, somewhat beautiful and somewhat bulky and heavy. The yellow and glaze really brought the figure to new heights for me and I think she is gorgeous. Lookout for more exaggeration of natural elements on these humanoids.

woot! Mister Hammond I think were back in business!

2011-09-26T19:24:00.000-07:00

link

The Nude Male Figure

2011-09-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

I made a dude yall'
Here is a little guy I made, actually pretty bulky and heavy compared to the last few figures, he has a stocky, bulky, muscular torso with eloooongated legs and calfs. His proportions are all over the place and his detail is crude and simplified/primitive.
I love it!
Next time I want to have a group of butterflies flying up the figure, following the line that begins at the foot and takes you up in a zig-zag to the top of his head where a cluster of crowing butterflies will be sitting, the figure will be kept white as he is but the butterflies will be all colors and mixes of colors... its gonna be amazing!

HEAL - will healing figurines be on etsy.com?

2011-09-25T15:13:00.000-07:00

I think minifigure is about to get a makeover, after creating the figure below I felt like although I want to return to ebay to sell some of the bigger sculptures, that etsy is a great place to sell miniature figurines, I might have works on both websites, but I have had great success selling any small figure I made on etsy. I just have been very lazy, my shop has had zero items in it for months!

All that may change after making this scultpure. She was fresh out of the kiln from her bisque firing when I heard Marshall listening to a guided meditation, the meditation described you standing between the earth and the sun, and the blue energy of the earth, and the yellow energy of the sun flowing inside of you and healing your being... I thought this was so cool that I immediately painted her with yellow and blue and then wrote HEAL on her chest!

A healing figure! I love healing and health and will make more of these, perhaps with arms to the side so that they can be carried with you safely wherever you go!

Fertility Pendant

2011-09-24T14:49:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, I will be making a ton more of these. Why? Because they are awesome, and every woman will want one whether they are trying to get pregnant or NOT, whether they are moms or NOT... being fertile is beautiful.

So I like this one and all, but the next one I want to be smaller, actually about half the length, and to have a more teardrop shape to her, I want her to have much wider hips and more rudimentary arms and legs... like literally tiny venus' of willendorf. This one is cool though for now.

Ode to Fannie Earls

2011-09-23T14:30:00.000-07:00

Who is Fannie Earls? Fanny May Butler Cloisse Earls?
Haha, thats grams and this one is for her!
It may not "look" like gramma, but to me it embodies everything that was this woman to me.
Strong, Brown, Religious, Close to Nature/Nurturing, and extremely FERTILE!
The figure is a plant-Daphne, a combination of plant-people parts, she has roots instead of legs, and branches instead of arms. She is very very very pregnant, totally bulbous and her breasts are full.

Though it may be a romanticization of the years in Suffolk with ducks, geese, chickens, and peep peep, Grams was close to nature, she dug out that goose pond every year and also had that little strawberry patch under her bathroom window, not to mention saving the Inpatients every year by covering with mulch and plastic garbage bags.

The religious nature of the woman is indicated by a nest with three white eggs in it. This is a symbol of the holy trinity which represents the father, the son, and the holy spirit all of whom Grams strongly believed in. (When I allude to the trinity in my other works, it is for other reasons, namely the existence of the holy spirit which I choose to focus on.)

Grams was definitely fertile, I really dont know how many times she got pregnant and gave birth, but I do know that six boys, and six girls made it to adulthood (except mabe bubba), that's twelve kids! Now you tell me about fertility!

Ode to Scleroderma

2011-09-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

Another work of art dedicated to the debilitating autoimmune disease scleroderma.
One might think it strange to dedicate a work of art to the illness itself and not to say... my mother, but Its a personal narrative and the condition deserves respect and reverence as it is a force to be reckoned with. It is also my acceptance of it, not glorification.

And so as the figure hold her stone hands near her face, I just want to wisper to her, "its okay to show your hands."

Below from currently glaze ware, to bisque ware, to green ware.

Check out this Family

2011-09-21T22:46:00.001-07:00

cute eh?
They are not really a family, but three works that I recently made... really four works, the little person on the guys shoulder was so tiny that I decided to add him to the composition, as a reminder that he deserves to be praised.
The woman and the cherub guy are going to be ceramic flower holders. Thats right, I will be adding polymer clay and cold porcelain flowers to those by placing them in their hands after they are fired... they will probably remain plain bisqued but I will experiment with glazing in the future. I cant wait, this is going to be interesting... I could even paint with acrylics if I want... the possibilities are endless, there are no rules!

BYE BYE BIRDIE

2011-09-20T21:31:00.000-07:00

Hope none of my friends think I took them off my list, but really, who cares!
Today I said bye bye to facebook, my account will be permanently deleted trust I stay away for fourteen days... and while I was at it I deleted myspace (which I hadnt used anyway). It feels good, and now I can update my bloggy blog blog every single day since I have freed up so much time, time previously spent checking out status updates and hot profiles on facebook.

5:08am on Tuesday, September 2011

2011-09-20T02:08:00.001-07:00

It seems to have just come to me that those who are not able to generate love to extend outwards into the universe will not be allowed to enter the new age.

smaller ones

2011-09-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

Chirp is just a little chirp chirp chirp and just is so chirpy I cant stand it... I may make more of these in the future to be affirmation figures but im not sure yet... each might have a word on it like prosperity, success, hope, etc.

Below is my little man with the big dong, finally prob done for, if you recall he was just a glaze test piece, but I really think he might help someone trying to get pregnant, so I shall keep him. I plan on making a partner for him or a sidekick rather, the feminine side... a little venus of willendorf figure which will be a rotund little pendant-like figure that you can keep in your pocket for fertility success!

white seated sculpture

2011-09-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

Much could be said about this or nothing at all.
The figure is interesting, the pose invites you to walk around it and see whats going on, she looks content, serious, and yet at some angles angry or upset... is this Avril Lavigne? no, is she just a pissed off spaghetti head? maybe.

I really like this work, even with its lack o hands which bothers me since the time was taken to create toes then why not fingers, right? I will have to get into doing hands, I have been shying away since I cannot roll out the fingers like in polymer, AND it dries out so fast, I would have to do hands last.

I also need an x-acto knife.

another tree lady, brand new and swelling everywhere!

2011-09-18T11:39:00.000-07:00

Check out this brand new figure Ive made. She is interesting, her face is from my bronze mold for the masks work I did two years ago.

Extremely bulbous belly! and symbolism galore: figure is withchild; huge drop breasts - female nourishment; three birds - holy trinity, three eggs in a nest - incubation/fertility; rooted limbs - grounding ones self; butterfly (on the back of her head) ascension/change/transformation; flower on her head - fleeting/fragility of life.

I promise the next work will have hands... could possibly also be a male figure (full sized).

How do people photograph black ceramics?

2011-09-18T11:14:00.000-07:00

WHA?

I wonder how people successfully photograph black ceramic works of art, they are BEAUTIFUL and shiny, but the only way I know to help is by putting the work on a background darker than it is, as this offsets the white balance of a digital camera, but I wonder how the professionals do it cause I cant seem to get it right.

Water color effects on ceramic

2011-09-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

I always loved the dripping effect, its harder to do with glazes but IS possible.

I did it with underglazes, engobes, slips, and covered with a clear coat this is something that I would not have been able to actually paint on myself so its always interesting.

Bodacious Daphne!

2011-09-16T10:37:00.000-07:00

CLICK! Blow up that pic! ^

OMG, I have to calm myself down to write this blog because I am so utterly in love with this sculpture that I cannot type.

I am not exaggerating, she is amazing, she was cool when being sculpted, I was afraid she would loose her earthiness when she was chalk white, and she did, but she regained it in full with the slip & glazing techniques implied on her. WOW. WOW. WOW.

Seriously I love this figure, everything about it is perfectly what I wanted to convey. Her body is slammin'! Shes got the huge hips, twice as wide as her shoulders, and her abdomen bulges, her chest is just right, there is some gravity to it, but it doesn't overpower the entire composition. She is literally a plant-daphne, she is as much human as she is tree, her limbs are angular and natural at the same time, rock-like, statuesque, all the while maintaining her feminine appeal as earth-mother. Three birds on her knee... the trinity; and her feet are still recognizable as feet, but are very rooty and actually flat with her base which is very aesthetically appealing.

Dont get me started about her color! I have always loved celedon glazes and when I had the chance to work with Bobby Silverman at the 92nd street Y, I got to see first hand how beautiful high fire celedon glazes can be on porcelain works of art. When I was in City College, I would to dozens of glaze tests with clear glaze and increments of powdered iron oxide, trying to get that perfect brown... well lets just say this figure in her washed out glory is a great shade of shining brown, not only that, but it has pooled in the crevices which were already present (not to mention the lines in the leaves), accentuating each and every fold, curve, and crack! HAHAHA, you gotta see it in person... enjoy the photos, they speak more than I ever could of her beauty.

Tree of Life

2011-09-15T10:28:00.000-07:00

Oh man, the tree of life girl came out very nice, I really do just love her to death, too bad I dropped her on the kitchen floor and broke her arm off :( oh well! I glued it back and that just means I will not sell her without the patron knowing shes been repaired.

The underglaze pencil is so amazingly wonderful, it really does look like a pencil when you use it and the result is even darker than my black wet underglaze. I do see that making henna girls will not become easier as a brush MUST be used, but for a rustic figure like this, the pencil does wonders and the lines are so pleasing to me, I love the spread of the roots throughout her lower body.

The glaze was applied very thin, and unlike colored glazes, thin clear works very well for me in sealing and finishing the work as I do not want to loose the details of the work of art.

The Big LeBisquey is done, as well as the second glaze

2011-09-14T10:22:00.001-07:00

So in they went gray and out they came white!

Looking like those plaster things you find in craft stores, all ready to paint up!

So I rediscovered my flame from College, underglaze! I really really enjoyed working with the underglaze pencil of which I used to make the tree of life on the figure below.

Wet underglazes, engobes, slips created this water-coloresque figure here.

All have been clear glazed, The "fairy" girl and the little "chirp" one, I simply clear glazed as I did not want to alter the color at all. All of the figures were clear glazed in a very thin layer which will not give a thick coat of glass look, it will simply be shiny and stronger, as well as impervious to water.

The two extra figures you see are from the last firing, they are obviously not glazed clear, I used blue and black glaze to get a better surface than the first firing gave me, so they are undergoing their second glaze.

Attention!

2011-09-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

I am Pedro Ramirez, AKA Pedro Ramirez Jr, not to be confused with Pedro Ramirez Ponzanelli NOR Pedro Ramirez of the FSU/immigration debate fame.

Second Bisque firing at home - who is going in?

2011-09-13T04:22:00.000-07:00

Its that time again!
Time to BISQUE! haha, #bisque for twitter yall' lmao
Anyhoot, Ive got all the recent girls together and have decided against color glazes this time around due to the crap work of the last firing. I do have some mid-high fire glazes but I will have to switch clay bodies first to my stoneware (which I got when I purchased my pyrometric cones) and then I will definitely be using my amazing metallic glazes to amaze you with!
But until then, these girls will be underglazed and then clear glazed, its the most fool-proof method of creating works of art in the cone 04-06 range... the only mishap that can happen is the underglaze gets darker/more vibrant after being glazed, but you can often "check" this by rinsing the bisqued work first, often how the color changes when wet will be how it looks after being glazed fired with clear.

So here are the bone dry girls:

I Love these new figures, they are so wonderfully bulky and natural-looking, even with their caryatid faces (yes, they are liberated caryatid countenances).

Note the difference in figures above, one is smooth, round, flowing, the other, almost looks carved and angular, simplified.

Below:
STILL room for more, I think I will wait until I have ten figures next time and see just how many of the ten I can fit in.

The Fairy

2011-09-12T04:12:00.000-07:00

People have refered to them as fairies for as long as I have made them, and even I, myself, have called em' "toxic fairies" or similar. Well, this girl actually reminds me of one, she is seated with lots of hair flowing, I wonder what she would look like with real butterfly wings?

Time to draw

2011-09-11T04:16:00.000-07:00

This figure was designed to draw on!
I have underglaze pencils which I want to experiment and see how they work, I have never used one, but if they work like real pencils and are not too brittle, I might be able to make some cool designs on the figure after she is bisque fired. Now you can see why she is exposed and arms pinned back as opposed to some position where the largest areas for me to draw on (torso, legs) might be covered up.

CHIRP!

2011-09-10T04:20:00.000-07:00

Haha, the little ones often remind me of little birds, so I sometimes call them chirp! Most were polymer clay, but this one is ceramic! I can definitely see a slew of these being sold on etsy.com if I so choose to ever populate my store under user name minifigure.
:-/

Check out this Plant-Daphne!

2011-09-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

Stellar! See, figures like this cannot be messed up with thick glaze, my plan is to underglaze with a wash of brown perhaps with black streaks, paint the birds brightly, and simply clear glaze. She is amazing, she is a true plant-daphne which are part tree, part human, a theme I have used since the beginning of making figures, emanating from the Greek myth of Apollo and Daphne.

The first firing adventure

2011-09-08T20:14:00.000-07:00

First of all, the kiln with its mere 4.5" in height sure became HUGE for me as I was expecting to only be able to fire maybe three figures at a time, now I see with careful positioning and depending on the size of the figures, I may be able to fire a dozen at a time! I also learned that the witness cone needs to be in the back right so I can see it easily when checking... I also need glasses to filter out that molten light!!!

Above is a photo of the kids all fired up, I am beginning a notebook on all firings to see what works, what doesnt, and to get a better sense of temperature and time with this manual kiln which since its not digital, I have to do all the work and sort of baby sit it, but I like being in control, when I get my next kiln it will be a digital one :)

Just a comparison how the material changes so much when bisque fired.

Okay so now I am ready to glaze.

The photo above shows the figures glazed, I was primarily using them as test tiles to see what colors the glazes did, how they reacted when thick/thin, and if they ran at all when properly fired to their cone. I did learn one thing which I had forgotten since leaving City College. I hate low fire glazes. I used to try and try and try and even formulated my own, only to end up using clear for all my needs, I feel this will happen with this new era of figure making as well.
underglazes work much much better for my purposes and a nice thin clear coat will keep the figures from getting too obscured by the thick glass. While the underglaze will allow me to control the colors and add lots of detailing and painting work... expect lots of underglaze looks for the next firing.

The pic above is the figures fresh out of the oven... I have since added some gold to the far right girl and I took her into work to show people. I must say for the first bisque and glaze, things went really well, totally perfect, but I just dont like the results of low fire glaze so again, I will be using lots of slip work in the next batch which will have more than three figures in it. :)

Today is the best day ever!

2011-09-07T11:36:00.000-07:00

So the kiln arrived yesterday while I was hanging out so I got home tired and ready for bed, but wait, no! The kiln is here, as well as several glazes and underglaze pencils. I was ecstatic. I had already read the manual in its entirety online so I knew exactly how to run it, I got it fired up and went to bed. WHAT ARE YOU CRAZY??!?!?! Haha, well I got up every two hours to check on the kiln and also to turn it up because I have a manual kiln, not a digital one, which is good for experience. Using my pyrometric cones to let me know where I am temperature wise.
So anyway, after turning off the kiln and going to bed, I woke up this morning to a great surprise, my works of art were perfectly fired and just perfect! They underwent their amazing transformations and were now ceramic works of art, which ping when you pluck them :-p.
wasting no time, I glazed them immediately. I wanted to see what the colors of my glazes actually look like so I used my works sort of as test tiles, to see how much the glazes run if any, and to see what the physical color looks like on glass, not just in a printed photo. They have been glazed fired today, and the kiln is now cooling off. It will be some hours before they are cool enough to handle, but I am excited even though they were not painted "artistically".
I also want to buy MORE glazes but have forced myself to wait at least a week from Thursday because I am getting ahead of myself, besides, I have lots of raw moist clay and really need to turn out some figures so I can do more glaze tests before I actually go getting more glazes. Why not test on a tile? Because Its better to see how they work in the crevices and intricacies of an actual figure, plus tiles are boooooooooooooring!!
I will blog later when they come out so you can see the entire process with photos.

My favorite so far

2011-09-06T11:30:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite so far of the ceramic figures. Shes awesome! Shes got a bird in flight on her shoulder, what more does she need to be completely amazing? Well, shes got three crested birds which im sure are either blue jays or cardinals (we will see when they are glazed). She also has a natural scene down by where her feet would be, it features a rose, and leaflets and a little plant w/stem, they are all really sort of like allegories to my childhood growing up in Virginia - specifically the time in suffolk with all the woodlands surrounding us, this is why the plants and birds are included (though the number of birds alludes to something else).

If you look closely you will see her legs and arms are not fully formed, or rather differently formed, its funny because I actually am depicting the figure just as I imagine it in this case, with the overall shape of the body, less boxy in general, a nice round belly, breasts not too high up, perfect! The arms and legs are turning into tree limbs, one arm which goes around her back, connects to the other, and the sides have support pieces of clay which resemble roots, its like my plant daphnes are back. I Im very curious to see how all of these gray figures will look when stark white.

fertility guy

2011-09-05T01:29:00.000-07:00

I made this fertility guy a couple of days ago, he is small, about half the size of the two other ceramic girls I made. All three figures are bone dry and the kiln comes today!!!
I am going to make a stop by NJ Ceramic supply later today and get some cone 06 and 04 cones as well as some high fire clay and subsequent sitter cones for some of the metallic glazes I have which need to be fired to cone 5 - 6.

another clay girl is born

2011-09-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

Another real clay girl has made her appearance.
I really like her, I am able to translate many things onto ceramic clay that I did in polymer, BUT sometimes working with the material can be frustrating. Even with a spray bottle, my hands, the table, the tools, the air... everything wicks moisture away from the clay as I'm working, requiring very fast shaping time, and less time for perfecting the form. I need to work in a steam room or something, because simply spraying water on, dissolves the actual work and causes the arms to break off and its hard to get them to stay back on... or water pools in places like the toes or in joints, and in time it just melts away... so id rather it dry out. Wetting the hands a little seems to help, but then the piece sticks to it, haha, its a lot of fun all in all. So with this one I was able to extrude hair for her in the machine just like with the polymer clay which was cool.

I have placed six objects on this female figure. Three "objects" and three birds, each symbolizing the holy trinity. The holy spirit is extremely important and thus the holy trinity. The sprouting bud (which remains to be seen whether it will stand up to drying out and firing) is a reference to her belly which she holds, the figure is with child.

the pondering statuesque girl

2011-09-01T03:32:00.000-07:00

Howdy folks.
Yesterday I went to NJ Ceramic supply and got some clay and made this girl. She is very statuesque (bulky) as I will have to practice on getting the thinness of the wrists and ankles but I do like her gigantic proportions coupled with a tiny face and really big hair!
In the spirit of keeping my with my style (the whimsical/novelty theme), there will be three birds on her knee (trinity), and a rose on her hip.
I would like to take you through all the processes from this wet stage, to leather hard, bone dry, bisque, and finally glaze. Its very exciting to be making ceramic work again.

Damn, Goodbye Polymer Clay

2011-08-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, the time has come for me to move away from the polymer clay medium, it has created some health problems for me which I had noticed over the last two years and was visiting doctors to find out "what I had" when in fact what was happening was a reaction to the phthalate esters found in the clay that I use. Apparently phthalate esters are used in the clay to keep it pliable and soft, but they are toxic and in some people (like Pedro Ramirez) they can cause reactions when they come in contact with the skin. I am aware that many polymer clay companies are phasing these toxins out of their clays and using "less toxic" plasticizers but I buy my clay in bulk, I buy super sculpey in HUGE bulk packs saving $$$ and usually it lasts for years and I have a TON left, so I could either use latex gloves when sculpting or just buy all new clay. I have just decided to not use the material at all as my hands are always in it. So as of tomorrow, I will be returning to ceramic clay which has totally different working properties and also has to be fired at much higher temperatures. If I really miss the working properties of polymer clay, I can whip up a batch of cold porcelain which is just glue and corn starch.

Oh and for those who may be interested, the reaction occurs mostly on the index fingers and forms little raised bumps, which sort of look like warts, but they are smooth, they can last for days, weeks, or months and at some point they go from being just a plain bump to having little white dot in the center which is very painful, over time (it can be any amount of time) this white spot turns dark and the pain goes away, then the entire bump seems to dry up and after some time the skin peels off completely and a scar is left behind... eventually even the scar goes away leaving no evidence of the existence of the unsightly and painful things in the first place. I have been to several doctors, at first they thought I had a rheumatic condition, then an autoimmune disease, but finally after much research and unnecessary blood tests, it ended up being the clay which was the last thing I would have thought about!

So bye bye polymer, Its been a fun seven years! I will not bash Sculpey, Fimo, Kayto or any of them for I have nothing against them; I will still be fascinated by all those creating with it and good luck to all!

2011-08-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

We have a huge selection of polymer clay wigs, Judith was experimenting with lots of styles and getting her porfolio images ready when the eight twenty two girl tried to steal the spotlight. They are a trip together.

Juidth taught me something about wires

2011-08-24T15:12:00.000-07:00

Judith showed me that I dont have to make wire armatures for small figures, I can just push the wire into the already made figure to make the limb stand on its own... its way easier than clay slipping off of wire or aluminum making everything bumpy.

Judith is a female as far as I know, perhaps she will have breasts later, and then maybe not, its up to her really. I like the androgyny. When she was first being formed earlier today, I saw her face first and thought she was a handsome guy :-p

playing with love again, eh?

2011-08-24T11:54:00.001-07:00

eight twenty-two girl

2011-08-22T00:05:00.000-07:00

Howdy. Been sort of wanting to "make something" lately and this is what came up! I took the clay and just started shaping! She was first created as a seated woman without hands or feet, or even developed legs but after finishing her hair, I realized she deserved a little more effort, so I totally changed her, smoothing out her breasts completely, making hands, and feet, and giving her some clothes... she ended up being a wonderful work of art that I really do like, I am not sure if I will keep her or not, but I do enjoy the final result which might outwardly appear to be a vulnerable woman (she is not).

They dont call me the King of Kitsch for nothing

2011-08-17T19:14:00.000-07:00

Kitsch has such a negative connotation to it, I prefer to be considered a 3-d miniature modern rococo guy :)