This month’s challenge, hosted by Art Elements, is “To gnome me is to love me…” A gnome challenge is just what I needed! I made a ceramic gnome for my daughter last Christmas, but then just before I was ready to fire it, I broke it’s hat off! So I promised my daughter I’d make a replacement, but I’d never gotten around to doing it – until now! I glued the hat back on the broken gnome so you could get an idea of how it was supposed to look.
After I joined the Art Elements challenge, I made 3 new gnomes. However, I glaze and fire my ceramics at a community ceramics studio, which is closed now, due to Covid 19. So I’ll have to show the gnomes as just greenware (unfired clay). The other issue I had was that, other than a fettling knife, (a special knife for use in ceramics), all my tools were at my community studio. So these little guys are literally made by hand – only my hands, without any tools. They are a little rough, but I can clean them up once I can get back into the studio, before I kiln fire them.
Two views of new gnome 1
Two views of new gnome 2
And below is a photo of me smoothing the surface of the second gnome.
These first two gnomes were made about a week ago and have been drying ever since. Then last night I made a third, larger gnome. Here he is in the beginning stages. He has a body and a nose, but nothing else, at that point.
And here he is sort of complete. He needs to dry more and then get the details refined and the surface smoothed.
Two views of new gnome 3
Thank you for visiting my blog and viewing my unfinished gnomes. Can’t wait to get some tools, glaze and fire them. Thanks also to Jenny Daves-Reazor and Art Elements for hosting this challenge.
This is a blog hop. Please visit the artists below to see their interpretations of the gnome challenge.
Linda's Bead Blog & Meanderings 
They already look great even without the glaze! Especially the way the hats are curling on top. My ceramic work is also on hold right now, because we also had to close our Makerspace. Of course, that is the moment my mind is full of ideas and inspiration and I think as soon as we can work there again, they will be all gone 😉
Thank you. You could keep a journal/sketchbook, so those good ideas can’t get away!
They are all adorable! They will look wonderful finished.
Thank you Cat!
I am so sorry the little hat broke on the one you made your daughter. He is adorable. I love the ones you have created for this theme. I am sure once you can get back to the studio they will be just perfect.
Thank you Cathy!
I’m so impressed you were able to come up with 3 absolutely darling pieces in spite of all the challenges. I am dying over the hats! Stay safe! And thanks for participating. I hope your daughter loves her replacement.
We did a video chat yesterday, so I showed her the gnomes. She loves them, And my little granddaughter, who is just learning to talk, saw them and said, “Guy!” All men are “Guy”s right now.
Your gnomes make me grin! Unfinished or not, I think they’re most excellent. I’m particularly fond of gnome 2 with his wonky hat, but they’re all whimsical and wonderful!
Thank you. I’m glad they made you grin, Hope. We all need more smiles in this stressful time!
Your gnome sculptures are super cute even in their greenware stage. Based on the original you made for your daughter, I can imagine how much more adorable they will be when finished with glaze. I hope things get back to some kind of normal soon so you can finish them and share the final results.
Thank you Tammy! I’m sure the finished gnomes will end up on my Insta and on FB, eventually.
Hurrah! Thank heavens you had the foresight to bring clay home!! Well done ten fingers! creative challenge met! Are they hollow? I mean – they will have time to dry…. lol. Once a teacher, always a teacher. I like the hats that are curled and attached. Cute and well engineered!
Thank you for joining us!
Thank you Jenny. There is a big hole that goes up the center of the body – kind of like an inverted ice-cream cone shape. Thanks for hosting this blog hop. It was fun!
I am happy this challenge got you into making more gnomes (it stinks when something ceramic breaks like that). I see Jenny’s comment above about hollowing them out and I actually thought when I saw your photo of the larger one above – that if it happened to be hollow and the hat separate, you could totally have a little place to hide stuff. These are fantastic Linda!
so sweet. I hope you do post finished pictures soon.
These are very sweet and I love seeing the in progress shot, at first I thought they were rather big until I saw the in hand photo. These are going to look amazing when finished!
Ooh. Those are going to be so cute! Wishing you better firing luck when you get back into the studio. 🙂