Natali Stoiyanna Erkaraman

With its live music performance, tonight was the first week of the studio. ✨ 🥁 ✨

It is not going well as expected but the path is quite visible. The timing is tight but still achievable. Everything feels exiting 😃

Planting

Flower seedlings 🌱 are growing wild. But no lavender detected. 👀 cucumbers 🥒2️⃣ are under the sink with lavenders 🟣2️⃣ for last two days / second attempt. The left behind pot with fresh dirt is resting.

Strawberries 🍓2️⃣ failed 😞

Tomatoes 🍅1️⃣ are going fast 💨 and would catch peas 🟢1️⃣ soon. The beans are painted by my kid who loves purple, black and glitter ✨ this tomato is actually his try although he is not a lover of them. I hope this will give him a chance to want to try tomatoes again.

Paper Mache

Cardboards 📦 are modeled as needed before mulching, QKNBRP. There is enough paper mush but I’m out of glue to make paper mash dough 📌which is a main need to go on. I have enough to sculpture Q and K for second week 🗓

The hardest part was to maintain the well. Baby swaddles and spinning mob bucket are my last additions to ✅ studios main needs and waste only clean water 💦

I welcome the shredder to finish the circle of ⭕️ doing paper mush. Now it is ready for a new start. All dry and clean 🧽

Any recycling paper is welcome 🤗 ♻️ 🗑

The last left over wet cardboards are for a recycling project of a broken outside ceramic 👩‍🌾 after the final touch of some 📌wood glue and outside vanishes it will look great next to the hammock.

Paint 🎨 stand is having some testing object to give a try 🗓 and some already painted beans needed to be vanished

This weekend we are invited for weekend to New York so I must find a watering 💧 solution before leaving tomorrow 📆

A tiling idea 💡 for grass planting is popped up. Can be helpful to secure grass seed to be eaten by birds. It is simply adding seeds on mashed paper before it gets hard. The thing I should try is to use flour instead of glue to help fertilize.

I feel happy 😊 to be in this circle even if it is just me who knows it. Because I feel right and I feel that is my right to believe 🌞

I found every need for my paper studio in our basement. I’m so lucky to have this space.

I have this big table and a soft sofa that are generous gifts from a close friend. And many overused kitchen utensils, pans, sieves, and prime bags, I have a smoothie mixer. A 400ml which is a great start for testing the ratio of the paper mash.

Testing is my main goal in the first day of studio so I also group 2 testing trays, beans, and a test plate that I applied same techniques I used on testing objects to follow the results before the hole drying process in case it needs some updates.

I realized that I am in a studio. It used to be so away but look! I found myself in it in my basement. Between the cardboards and very organized tool shelf I got inspired a way out to play with clay without any heavy steps of ceramics. It is paper mache clay. I know paper can’t be compatible with ceramics though my outcome here is just solving problems with in my time limits and budgets. Each problem I solve, makes me happy. Because those are the problems that I want to have and solve.

Do you know how much electricity ⚡️ power 💥 carbon prints you should step to cook a clay? Imagine that clay is cracked after lots of love because you did something wrong and there is no way back… so instead of this not forgiven, hungry monster I gave a try to ♻️ recycling paper. No cooking but glue. No glassing 🙄 but painting with anything under simple vanish.

Lightweight in post package 📦 and easy to give up and trash to recycle, it is nothing compared to ceramics needs.

It is such a great material for pots and vases or frames and ornaments. It is great on thinks that I want to change by seasons and don’t want to pay any. So, I meshed some paper for myself…

For a long while I was dreaming about being a ceramic artist. I studied ceramic arts in fine arts 🎭 but eventually became many other things but ceramic artist nor any artist at all.

The first time I thought about doing ceramics was in a bus 🚌 to high school. the muddy splash of the weels were collecting a super smooth clay on road sides that I irresistibly wanted to collect and sculpture. But after many years even I got the chance to study on it, running a ceramic studio had always been a dream that needed tons.

Recycling on the other hand is relatively a new habit for me. I was fascinated in Brooklyn with how people share their things and recycle ♻️ The trash was everywhere but it was clean. After moving to New Jersey and had this huge space I had chance to save reusable objects like jars and papers. When I looked at that trash of cardboards, papers that I have to fold and pack for recycling bins properly I realized that Im paying for this full of bags too!. These boxes, glass jars 🫙 papers are all some paid shit that I am throwing away. In that point a bulp light on my head💡

For a while I was thinking 🤔 of a method we can use on thrift objects so that people would like to pay more. Or let say how to ad value on thrift objects. Thrif stores are one of my favorite to see around in New York. They are all full of amazing things, and they are everywhere. But how about giving a second chance for a broken one. Nope 👎 you can’t see them in there. But what if we change all about a broken piece and give it a new purpose in a recycling shop.

My blog is about my inspirations.

I notice them and follow them from my blog. I haven’t decide to build up any big projects on anyone of them. I’ve only started to solve one problem next to another.

When I deeply think about my passion I realize what I love about ceramics. The main is to give a purpose to unneeded one. I remember my best work of ceramics was a candle lighting cage which I truly recycled from the art classes uncooked clay trash. In all stages of recycling I felt soothing it to a metamorphosis with my love 💕The result was amazing 🤩

I realized that using paper instead of clay actually saves you from 🔥 electric ⚡️ energy of your hard work 😓 Also It cuts off the budget of oven, oven shelves, chemicals and many other tools 🧰. Instead I use recycled paper from my trash and water them to make clay, paint them in any color , vanish them to look fine.

Because they all are light it will be easier to carry around, and shipping will be cheaper, too.

I started with some Amazon delivery 📦 boxes, icecream papers 📑 , and some colored papers 🎨

I’ve started to build up my portfolio. As you can see my first challenge is to understand WordPress and get to know her ways to do certain things. She kind of scared me in the first day though now I can feel that I start to understand her.

As I got the courage, I started to publish my works. And to look for some more I started to dig in my hard disk and old blogs of mine.

Here is one I’ve found today; Bally dancer illustrations for mono print on Turkish towels called peshtemal.