Penny Sanford Designs

My Three Magnolia Sculptures

Actually, I have sculpted seven magnolia pieces, but the rest were private commissions or are now retired. These are the three magnolia pieces that I will currently make.

That pretty aqua fabric has been flirting with me from its cozy basket in my sewing area.  Before washing it, I put it to service as a backdrop for a few new pictures of these three magnolia designs.

These are available in an ornament ($25 plus shipping) or as a brooch ($20 plus shipping). They come in a gift box with a brochure. The brooches can be worn as a necklace or as a brooch.

I will sign or personalize the piece for free. Orders over $200 get free shipping.

Magnolia Leaf Brooch:

Magnolia Blossom Brooch:

Magnolia Glory Brooch:

Brooches you may not have seen before

Four and 6/10 of glorious rain this weekend! Apparently it was enough to wash away the pollen that has been causing my chronic coughing this past month.

Quickly tonight I finished the few pieces we needed to ship before Mother's Day, and the weather is allowing us to fire the kiln tonight! Yeah!

Here is a quick look at a couple of brooches you may not have seen before.

The Stages of Cotton brooch shows the various stages of cotton from the beautiful bloom to the fluffy boll to the burr.

The Magnolia Blossom Brooch is a small version of the Magnolia Blossom Ornament.

As you probably know, all of our porcelain comes with a gift box and a brochure explaining the artwork and the historic farm and the story of Penny Sanford Porcelain Studio.

These brooches are $20 each. The ornaments are $25 each.

In the firing process, porcelain will shrink about 15 percent. Right now, these pieces, and a few others, are warming up to 2300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Every time I fire porcelain, I think about God's refiner's fire. He sure has been putting us through some painful and hot refining the last few years, and there is sure to be more to come.

There is not a Stages of Cotton Ornament, but I do have a very limited edition series of three ornaments depicting the stages of cotton. I'll show those to you another time.

Another video from Penny's archives : WJTV 1998 with former MS First Lady Pat Fordice

Another video from Penny's archives. This is a feature from WJTV 12 in Jackson, MS. that aired on April 1998. It features Penny signing her ornaments and the late Pat Fordice, Mississippi's First Lady for eight years. Also discussed was the "Versailles Sunflower", the special commissioned sculpture of the world famous splendors of Versailles museum exhibit that originated in Jackson, MS.

More video from the Penny Sanford archives.

This is a television commercial from 1997 or 1998 featuring Penny's Natures Angels porcelain designs. Most of the ornaments shown in the commercial are still available except for the versailles sunflower. We hope you are enjoying these as there are more to come.

From the archives: WCBI feature "Southern Expressions" 1998

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58-j0uYwUqE

Gordon dug this out of the archives today.  In 1998, Don Culpepper of WCBI in Columbus, MS. came and interviewed me here at the farm and featured my various porcelain designs for their "Southern Expressions" program. 

Some folks have already asked on Facebook and via email about where to see more of my designs. Look to the right of this column, and you will see the new Paypal widget for my porcelain designs that Gordon setup here on my blog.

In this widgit, you can see my designs that are stil available. You can order them through the widget or visit the porcelain website: www.pennysanford.com. (Gordon says one does not need a Paypal account to make a one-time payment with your credit card when purchasing through Paypal.

Hope you enjoy this almost 10 year old video feature. Where does the time go?

Wanna see my hearts?

Gordon pointed out to me last night that there are so many new readers on the blog now, and some of you may not know what I do. This is what funds the little extras for the seven fur kids and the humans. I sculpt porcelain ornaments and brooches.

My first original designs debuted in 1996. My Nature's Angels concept is that there are angels all around us, representatives of God.

When tree leaves move or branches sway, it may be just the wind, or it may be one of our angels sweeping by. God is all around us 24/7.

So I started sculpting designs based on leaves and their related blooms or fruit.

Angels are also incorporated in the Nature's Angels designs. Sometimes the angel wings are shaped like the leaf, or her skirt mirrors the shapes in the plant.

These heart-shaped pieces are based on heart-shaped leaves that occur naturally in nature.

Over the years, as I have been exposed to and have absorbed elements from different cultures, my appreciation has grown for the heart as a universal design element.

Scandinavian hearts decorate at Christmas. Hearts for Mother's Day, for weddings, for special little gifts of thoughtfulness. The heart shape can represent a full spectrum of emotion from friendship to deep love.

A heart is like a little black dress. It is always appropriate.

Thanks to my geeky hubby, my sculptures are now available on eBay or on the website (that we keep promising each other is tops on our to do list to redecorate).

More of What is Really Going on Behind the Scenes

Thanks so much for the emails and comments of encouragement and understanding and prayer. You helped my rubber band get some elasticity back in just one day!

One day spent sleeping and snuggling with fur-therapists, and I was back finishing porcelain and facing opportunities (a.k.a. challenges, a.k.a. problems) the next day!

It always amazes me.  I can work myself down to that zombie state, and then after a short regeneration, the first time I pick up a piece of porcelain on which to sculpt, the experience...the emotions are just as fresh and exciting as those first years of making my own designs.

My fingers thrill at the touch. The control over my muscles is steady and gentle. My eyes are almost hungry for the details of the texture and even the color of the towel on my work tray.

The light I work under is really strong and intense with a mixture of incandescent and fluorescent lighting. I also try to mix in some daylight on my work space so that I get all three sources of light.

Another Fed Ex Overnight Shipment to Washington, D.C., yesterday, came off without a hitch!

Just two short days before we were so confused and exhausted by bizarre problems with the kilns, by bizarre problems with a strange crust on the fired pineapples, even by crazy problems in shipping a package to D.C.

Below is a picture of all the rejects in just one firing in one kiln!

That one kiln firing had 15 pieces that we had to reject! That is 15 times 20 to 30 minutes for me to do my work in finishing the sculpted details! Then there was the time to cast the 15 pieces, the wear on those 15 molds, the cost of the porcelain on those 15 pieces.
OUCH!

That crusty stuff is not something you can brush off. It does not even fire off in a second firing.

We've investigated this mystery for years, called and sent samples to porcelain slip companies, etc.

When there is a huge deadline crunch, this crust starts to appear.

We have some theories about what is happening, and we take some steps to help minimize the time and materials lost by this problem.

The firing the day after the big deadline...not a fleck of this crust to be found on any of the pieces! I told you it was weird.

The other problem that pops up at the most inopportune time is a tiny piece of the plaster mold that hides under the top layer of porcelain. I can sculpt details over it and never have any indication that a plaster fleck is lurking. When the piece fires, the plaster fires away leaving a big crater in the piece.

I've come to look at these unpredictable defects as challenges God allows in our lives to make sure we are leaning on him and depending on him to provide for us!

He does...every time!

Just this morning, we had a call inquiring about me doing a piece for another historic building that I would love to sculpt. If it works out, this would be for Christmas, 2009.

It restored my confidence in pursuing the next level in our business. I'll share some of that at another time.

I'm not telling you any of this for any "Poor Pitiful Penny" sympathy. This story is anything but a pity party. This is yet another victory story in our journey. Anyone who creates something from raw materials runs into production problems.

I'm just sharing with you some of the behind-the-scenes, and more importantly how God takes care of us especially when we have exhausted our own energy and our rubber band has lost its elasticity. This process has been played out here hundreds of times, with every deadline I've ever faced.

Either I am one of God's dumbest children, painfully slow to learn, or He is building strong faith muscles in Gordon and me for a reason. 

Today I am thankful. Just deeply, deeply thankful. Trying to work smart and not run my batteries down to empty. Trying to take some time for rest and renewal. Trying to do something not work related.

We still have hundreds of pineapples to finish, and over 100 St. John the Baptist Catholic Church ornaments to finish and several other projects to finish...but we can and we will!

Once again, for the many-thousandth time, I'm learning to take baby steps and then learning to walk again emotionally and spiritually. In the past almost five years, this process of starting all over has been shared with a man who loves me more than I have ever been loved by a human before.

Yes, I'm more thankful than I can express in mere words.

Oodles of fab doggie pictures to share with you next!

Meshack, come home, sweetie!

Remember I told you that a power surge or strike of lightning came in and zapped three of our four kilns back some months ago? The smallest kiln was burned out completely.

The twin kilns, Shadrack and Meshack (first two kilns I bought for the studio; they are identical) both were hit, but we got Shadrack back earlier in June.

Well, this weekend, Shadrack stopped firing properly. It shows indication of a malfunction in the switch (recently replaced) and in some elements.

This means that we cannot fire any porcelain until we get a working kiln back.  We have Big Bertha, but she takes a day to warm up, a day to cook, and a day to cool down. She is a only an option of last resort.

Tomorrow, Gordon takes Shadrack to the Kiln doctor and picks up Meshack. Hopefully Meshack will settle right in and fire perfectly until we meet the deadline for the pineapple brooches just after the Fourth of July.

This is so typical of normal "complications" we face when we have any deadline. After 16 years in this studio, I am much better at handling what many would call a total disaster, but this has been a learning process.

Oh, my, have I learned the hard way how to keep working the problem. DO NOT GIVE UP is part of my DNA.

That sticktuitiveness actually gets in the way of discerning what God wants me to do in life. Many times He has had to pry my locked, cold fingers off of something (relationship or creative pursuit) before I would stop trying to make it work. 

As I share with you the changes underway in this studio, I'll tell you more about the "bumps in the road". Why?

During this ongoing journey of transition, it has helped me to read about others who have struggled and struggled to evolve their business That is what I hope to share on this blog... encouragement, even when the circumstances cry "disaster".

Some good news today:  Miss Dollie is back at work after missing work all of last week. She was knocked down by a white van in the Walmart parking lot in Grenada Saturday, June 21, injuring her shoulder.

Miss Dollie is not 100 percent, but she can do the first steps on preparing the raw porcelain for me to finish. Last week, Gordon and I had to step in and do more for Mama and Unc...things Miss Dollie does so faithfully and without complaint.

It did mean we had less time and less energy for the porcelain, but we still made good progress.  We Worked the Problem.

We are watching Miss Dollie closely to be sure she does not re-injure her shoulder by trying to do something that her shoulder does not need to do yet. Miss Dollie has taught me so much about faithfulness and loyalty through her example here, and I want to honor her by protecting her from re-injuring her shoulder.

This weekend, Gordon and I watched some program about oil well drilling, "Black Gold". What struck me was how familiar it seemed.

All three drill sites had everything go wrong. If it could break, jam, or malfunction, those guys experienced it. Each delay cost money and threatened to shut down the job.

Through the whole program, I caught myself thinking this phrase, in a mental mantra,  Work the Problem. "Yep, Work the Problem, Guys".

It helped seeing others encounter a hard-to-explain cascade of challenges, leaving only the option of Working the Problem.

I feel strong and positive tonight. It is a new week, a new set of challenges and a new set of opportunities to make something good come from this journey.

Time for bed and a little help falling asleep. One has to get plenty of rest during times like this.

What I'm Really Doing

For something different, I thought I would let you have a peek inside my work day, in the middle of this really big, looming, humongous, leering deadline to which I have referred often in the past few months.

A peek today, a peek tomorrow and so forth.

I'm sharing this with you while I wait for a burst of energy to do a third session of porcelain to put in the kiln and fire tonight.

Working with "green" or raw or unfired porcelain is like working with an unbaked pie crust. It is very fragile and can crumble if I look at it wrong.

I have a "Three Breaks and Stop" rule. After I've broken the third piece in a work session, I have to stop until I am more rested, calmer, or have better control of my hands.

Since starting this studio in 1992 and since introducing my line of original sculpture in 1996 (Christmas ornaments, jewelry, vases, tile, statues), tens of thousands of pieces of porcelain have crossed my work tray.

I go through tools at an amazing rate. Note the ends of the tools in the second picture. The large tool is relatively new. The almost-worn-to-a-nub tool has been used for a month or so. Try to picture wearing down a hard metal sculpting tool against material with the texture of an uncooked pie crust.

You see, I am the last pair of hands to work on every piece that comes out of this studio. I decided early on that if my signature was on the piece, then I wanted to have put in time finishing that piece.

I collect stuff that carries an artist's signature or logo...but the last time that artist ever touched that line was when the original was finished. More on this area of conversation later. I will be asking for your thoughts and opinions.

For tonight, I'll just share the work setting today.

Today I spread an old quilt on the bed, propped up a BUNCH of pillows, positioned a flax pillow in the small of my back, put my work tray on a big 37 inch square pillow in my lap, covered with old towels, and started sculpting tiny details on each of these Spirit of Hospitality Pineapple brooches.

This is a special commission for 600 brooches for the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution. The deadline is the first week of July. This project started 16 months ago, and it has been a nail-biter. 

The Penny Sanford Porcelain studio is in a transition phase. We have more requests for special commissions than we can do, and we need to transition to a custom manufacturer to free me up to create more original art.

I'll be sharing this bumpy ride with you in future posts. You too will be saying, "what ELSE can go wrong?" Well, oodles, I promise, some of it genuinely funny!

Two intense work sessions today, propped up on my pillows, with Elvis sleeping against me, his head often propped on the work tray.

In his second picture, he is playing Peep--Eye with me, opening those beautiful big brown loving eyes from time to time, just to check on me. I love you too, my little man.

Lillibeth snuggles with one of her toys in the last picture. She and Annie usually log as many hours as Elvis "assisting" me with the porcelain.

It is dusty, messy, tedious work, and I love it. 

If I've not sculpted for a week, for example, the act of sinking a tool into the clay or the raw porcelain is still a fresh, exciting experience.

So back to the porcelain. I'd like to complete seven more brooches tonight, giving me a total of 20 in the kiln.

It is slow work. Right now, it is taking me 20 or 30 minutes PER brooch.

More behind the scenes to come...

Sculpting Frenzy; Aching fingers, hands and arms

I adore these intense times of sculpting. 

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, my hands were in a frenzy, barely able to keep up with where my mind was directing the sculpting tools.

A bull terrier, a Westie, multiple pineapples, another magnolia, a flag, a musical instrument piece, a historic church, "The Last Cotton House" (an exhibition piece)...have all emerged from the porcelain clay this week. 

Honestly, I credit God's inspiration and direction for intense creative times like this week.

I wish I could show you what I have been working on...but not yet.  The introductions of these pieces are October 6, October 15, December 1, February 2008, April 2008 and July 2008.  Lots of behind-the-scenes work to be done between now and those release dates.

Hubby Gordon has been rubbing my fingers and hands and forearms tonight. All this sculpting is like running a long marathon for my hands!

You know those "good" aches and pains from accomplishing a challenging task? Yep, that is me tonight...exhausted but happy.