Summer Tanager on Gingko Branch, sculptural ceramic glaze painting 9" x 12", (btw, the background is more cheerful as the pale green it actually is than the gray it appears to be in this photo).

Wishing you a very happy, healthy and love-filled Christmas wherever you are!

Good morning! Today in Portland, Oregon USA it is Christmas eve day. As a child in my half Jewish half Christian family, this was the special event much more than Christmas day.(we also celebrated the Jewish holidays but that’s another story) My mother is Danish in keeping with the traditions of her lineage, on Christmas eve we always had a feast of roast goose, duck or capon and then went around the table opening our 3 or 4 gifts which were often handmade.

Afterwards we would have rice pudding with almonds and when making it, she would slice up all the almonds except one. The person who got this single whole almond in their serving of pudding got a special gift. We would all sit in suspense watching each other in excited anticipation while taking each bite carefully to feel if the prize almond was in our mouths.

We never had a Christmas tree but would decorate our huge colonial fireplace (built in the 1720s) with Danish paper hearts we made from last year’s wrapping paper throwaways and fill them with candies. I have always loved this day and still do.

In the spirit of Christmas, today I would also like to share the follow-up to my Summer Tanager on a Gingko Branch piece which I made to use as an image to accompany good wishes for the holidays and for the coming new year. Each year I make a piece for this purpose and send it out as a digital card to the people in my life.

My Last post took you through the wet clay portion of making this slightly sculptural painting along with the application of an underglaze coat.

gingko leaves and bird carved and formed in wet clay

It then went in to the bisque firing, was glazed and here’s the result:

Thank you to each of you for your friendship and presence in my life. You have changed me and are deeply embedded in what I value most about life these days. Cheers to a beautiful Holiday season!

I still make Danish hearts every year!

by the queen of gifs, @stellabelle