Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery Vase by Michael W. Moses

This is my latest ceramic art pottery piece. I call it the "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery" Vase. This is a highly detailed work with a bit of intricate hand painting. As with most of my pieces this work is just covered with attention to exuberant form and lavish colors. One can tell form what I have written so far that I apparently like this one, which I really do. I was rather pleased with how nicely the colors came out on this ceramic sculpture.  There seems to be some real movement going on with this vase. I am always striving to do pieces that seem to have movement. I like the idea of the work being a single moment caught and frozen forever in time.

This work of ceramic art pottery can be viewed at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in downtown Ocean Springs, MS.

Update on finished Trilobite and Ammonite Fossil Patterned Bowl by Michael W. Moses

This is an update on my post for Tuesday, March 8, 2011. This is the photograph of the finished Trilobite and Ammonite Fossil Patterned Bowl After the March 8 post I glazed this piece and had it fired and then I put on a coating of Pearlecent glaze and it was fired for a third and final firing. Each Ammonite now has lustrous iridescent pearl like finish that really makes for a really great effect.

New Photograph by Michael W. Moses, Hybiscus Hunger.

Here is an image that I took the other day.  I had taken a hybiscus flower that I had cut in my yard into the shop to put in one of my art pottery vases. I discovered this cute little insect setting on one of the stamen. It was a little baby grasshopper. It was just so tiny and cute that I had to snap a few images of it and here is one of them. Unfortunately these little things grow into very big things and they can strip a plant of leaves in no time flat.  So I had to thank him for posing and then take him away. I will have to spry the yard in the next day or so, because I am seeing them everywhere. They are just so cute, but they are very bad for the garden.

Update on large bowl by Michael W. Moses, from April 3, 2011 post. SOLD

Here is the large bowl that I featured in my  Sunday, April 3, 2011 post. I am very pleased with the over all effect that I was able to get with this piece. I especially find the half glaze effect to work well on this one.

After it was fired I added a nice sized real cultured pearl as a special embellishment. This unique hand modeled ceramic art pottery work will be available at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS

Dragon Finger Bone Reliquary by Michael W. Moses

  

This is my "Dragon Finger Bone Reliquary".  This is an artifact from a far away time and place where dragons were more common than they ever were here on Earth. This exotic relic is fashioned out of one large finger bone that has been intricately carved and embellished with bright jewel like enameled colors. It has been finished off with a mixture of  precious beads. This fantastic work of art is approximately 12 inches long, not including the beads and of course is available and can be viewed at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS.

 

 

Yellow Red Dragon Fruit Pod Vase by Michael W. Moses and the Pitaya Fruit

Here is a new one that I call "Yellow Red Dragon Fruit Pod Vase" by Michael W. Moses

. This pod vase is loosely modeled after the Pitaya Fruit, also known as the Dragon Fruit.

  This work of ceramic art pottery is available only at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Commemorating the 150th Anniversary of Fort Sumter at South Coast Antiques.

Today is the 150th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter, so I decided to do a post with a bit of historical information not available anywhere else.  Governor Francis Wilkinson Pickens was governor of South Carolina from 1860 to 1862.  He presided over the secession of South Carolina and it's admission to the Confederate States of America.

Governor Pickens authorized the firing on Fort Sumter by SC militia, which is well known as the start of the Civil War, but he also authorized the first shot fired in the civil war when he sanctioned state militia artillery to fire on the Union vessel Star of the West 9 January, 1861 during its attempt to bring supplies to Major Anderson's blockaded garrison at Fort Sumter.  His wife, Lucy Pickens witnessed the bombardment of Fort Sumter from atop a home in Charleston.

Governor Pickens was a life-long politician and diplomat.  He was Minister to England, a state representative several times and later a state senator.  Under President James Buchannan, he served as minister to Russia from 1858 to 1860 where they became close friends with Czar Alexander II, who was the godfather of their child.    Finally he was Governor of South Carolina during secession and the early part of the Civil War.
His wife, Lucy Pickens was a master socialite of the 19th century, captivating everybody, even the Czar of Russia.  She was so well known in South Carolina and through America, her face appears on the South Carolina Confederate $100 dollar bill as well as a CSA $1,000 bond.  She was the consummate southern bell and captivated everybody with her intelligence and charm.

This letter was written by Governor Pickens, with an official State of South Carolina letterhead frank to his wife on 4 July 1861.  The letter is short and terse, very unlike typical communications of Victorian couples.  I can only expect that Gov Pickens was distraught and upset.  Perhaps she was in an area of the coast that was threatened by Union invasion and he feared her capture.
We have this letter for view here at South Coast Antiques and Gallery.

Both Francis Pickens and Lucy  Pickens are interred at
Willow Brook Cemetery
Edgefield
Edgefield County
South Carolina, USA

New Alien Dragon Pod Vessel by Michael W. Moses at South Coast Antiques & Gallery

 This is my newest piece of ceramic art pottery, I call it an "Alien Dragon Pod Vessel". This meticulously detailed work is hand painted in bold reds and greens and features an inset shimmering silver-black vintage glass cabochon gem, hidden at the tip of the seed pod shaped vessel. This piece is available only through South Coast Antiques & Gallery in beautiful, downtown, Ocean Springs, MS

Walter Crane (1845-1915) Victorian Artist

Walter Crane  was a well known Victorian era, British artist. Born in Liverpool, he was influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite Movement, John Ruskin, and William Morris.

Crane produced beautiful romantic paintings, wonderful illustrations for books, Ceramic Tiles and art pottery. He also worked in a number of other decorative mediums. I am especially drawn to the art pottery pieces he designed. I love the classical and aesthetic themes combined with the bold bright colors.

New Michael W. Moses Ceramic Art Pottery, Blue Watchworks Artifact Vessel

Here is my latest new piece of ceramic art pottery that I call "Blue Watchworks Artifact Vessel". This piece is in a neo Victorian style with a bit of Steampunk
thrown in to give it a cool textural effect.

This is kind of where old and new meet and fight it out for dominance!

New Ceramic Pottery Sponge Flower Vase by Michael W. Moses at South Coast Antiques & Gallery

Today I am posting images of one of my newest vases. I call this form a sponge flower Vase. I painted this piece in bright bold reds and blues, contrasting against pale earth tones, and added a touch of black luster as a bit of a gilding  accent. I am very pleased with how this one came out. This piece of ceramic art pottery (as all of my pieces) is available through South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS

The "Chthonian Heart of Fact Vessel" by Michael W. Moses, Ocean Springs, MS

On Wednesday, February 23, 2011, I did a post about a Woman named Carla Zilber-Smith, and I mentioned that I was working on a bisque ware drinking vessel.  It has a cryptic Chthonian design on one side and has a stylized human heart on the other side.  Well this is the drinking vessel that I was working on after it was painted, glazed, and refired. I call it the "Chthonian Heart of Fact Vessel".  This one of a kind work of ceramic art pottery is available at South Coast Antiques & Gallery, in Ocean Springs, MS.

The "Chthonian Heart of Fact Vessel"

 

The Back of the "Chthonian Heart of Fact Vessel"

The Large Ceramic Art Pottery Bowl I'm Working on Now

I did this large free form ceramic pottery bowl a few months back and had it fired.  It has been sitting around all this time calling for me to paint on it.  I just, finally got around to painting on it over the last few days.  This bowl measures approximately 10 inches across by about 6 inches tall.  This is a moderately large piece for me to produce.  The interior of the bowl will be a marbled matrix of blues. and the outside will be covered with dark blue stylized flower glyphs and an ancient alien writing.

 

Freshly painted Art Pottery Bowl by Michael W. Moses

Check back in about two weeks and I will have this piece after it has had it's final firing.