Warm Wishes

Our local knit/crochet group sometimes meets at member's homes.  The dear host of one of our recent meetings had something that I'd never seen before.  It was a teapot warmer.  It was glass and held a tea light candle, the teapot sat on top, and it kept the teapot warm.  What a great idea!  I instantly knew I wanted one and planned to keep my eye out at antique stores and yard sales to see if I could find one.

It turns out that they aren't as rare as I'd thought.  I'd just never seen them before.  Since then, I saw some at Teavana.  They were a bit pricey.  But, last week, I saw a nice one at World Market and the price was a lot better.  I didn't get it that day but decided that I definitely wanted it after thinking about it that night and reading great reviews about it online.  However, before I had a chance to get it, my sweet daughter surprised me with it for my birthday!  She made a pot of tea, placed a candle in the warmer and surprised me at breakfast.  She also gave me a cute card that she had made.  We enjoyed hot tea and fresh, homemade granola.  What a great way to start my birthday!

I already had this teapot and it fits great on the warmer.

The warmer is cast iron.  The top lifts off to place the candle inside and for lighting it.

The top is textured so it's not slippery and the teapot sits securely on top.

It works great!  The tea stays steaming hot to the very last cup.

It's been getting a lot of use.  I love it!

Earthen Art

I've taken a couple of ceramics classes with my daughter over the past couple years and had so much fun that I'm taking it again this semester. This time, my husband is taking it with me. The class seems to have a different feel or vibe each time. I think it all has to do with the people in the class and how many there are. It's very crowded this time and it's been a little challenging to get into it, get creative, and have fun with so much noise and activity in the classroom. But, we're hanging in there. It's getting more fun as the semester goes on. There seems to be a few less people. I'm not sure if they've dropped  the class or if some of them just don't show up every time. And, some of our projects are coming out of their final firing. That's always so exciting!  After the initial creation, the first firing, the creativity with glazes, and then the final firing, it's fun to see how it all turns out.

The teacher comes up with different projects/assignments each time. This semester, one of the first projects she gave us was to make a pitcher, teapot or vase where we started with a flat, rolled out base and then took rolled out pieces of clay, pressed things into them to make texture, and assembled the pieces into our chosen vessel. I used an oval for my base and leaves, twigs, tree trunks and a pine cone to create texture. I wasn't very excited about the project to begin with. But, as my teapot started to take shape, I started to really enjoy it. Here's the finished teapot...

I'm not crazy about the spout.  A rounded, gracefully curved spout would have looked much better.  But, at the time, I couldn't figure out how to do that.  Here's the other side...

I created a handle that looks like a branch...

After I had all the textural pieces assembled, I embellished it with some little critters.  Here's a moth...

A ladybug...

Some of the leaves are pressed from natural leaves, like the one on the right.  I created a few others by pressing/drawing them into the clay with a needle tool, like the one on the left.

Here are a few more of the natural textures...

Here's a little worm...

And, a garter snake crawling up the spout...

There's a lizard on one side.  Unfortunately, part of his tail broke off before the first firing.
So, it's a little stubby.  But, that happens to real lizards.  This one just won't be able to grow it back.
It would have made it through if I'd attached it a little better.  It seems to have pulled away a little more when it was fired.  Lesson learned.  

The lid is a leaf with a handle that looks like a little stump of wood...

I used "Woo Blue" glaze.  I rubbed a lot of it off on the leaves and other areas that I wanted to highlight.  Those are the brown areas.  It's blue where I left the glaze thicker.

I love how it turned out.  It's like a piece of art.

My husband used some natural elements to create texture as well as some man made items.

I'm not completely sure what all he used but I love it.

He finished it off with a vine-like edge and handle.

I love how it turned out and I think he's pretty happy with it too.

We think it's very usable too.  Hmmmm?....Maybe some sangria!

One of my goals this semester is to improve my throwing skills and get better at making bowls.

In the process, I've been watching lots of videos on YouTube where I've found some fun ideas.

One of the videos I watched showed how to embellish the edge of bowls and create different shapes.  It's amazingly simple and so much fun.  Here's one of my first attempts...

I'm trying to get a little creative with my use of glazes.  I used two different blues on this one.  There's Stoneware Blue on the inside, Woo Blue on the outside, and Stoneware dribbled down the sides from the top.  I like the results.  Although, there are bubbles in it that aren't attractive and are a little sharp. The instructor thinks it's because the glaze was a bit thick and the firing might have been a little short.

Here's a little one.  It's glazed in Woo Blue.

I love the blue and brown together.  It's so pretty.

Here are a couple more practice bowls.  I used a glaze that seems to have been an accident when they mixed it.  They're calling it, "Mystery Celadon".  I decided to give it a try.

I'm not crazy about it.  It's a little pale.

Here are two more little practice bowls...

I used Tea Dust glaze on the left one and Woo Blue on the right one.

I have a few more bowls with shaped edges in the kiln right now.  I think they'll be finished next week.  I've had some good luck this week with throwing larger bowls.  That's very exciting.  It'll be a few weeks before they're glazed and finished though.  I have so much I want to do and try but the semester is flying by. I think we only have three more weeks to create.  Then, it'll be Thanksgiving and we'll only be able to do glazing and final firings.  I have a feeling I'll be taking this class again!  ;-)

Lovely Lizards and a Bevy of Bowls

I've just finished 18 weeks that I will cherish for the rest of my life!  My daughter and I took another ceramics class together and had a blast!   This is the second semester we've done this.  I feel so lucky to have a daughter that loves to hang out with her mom.  I treasure every moment of it!  She'll be transferring to a university in a few months.  So, this will be the last time we'll get to do this for a while.  That chokes me up a bit but I know we have lots of new adventures ahead of us.

If you're a regular visitor to my blog, you may recall a blog post I did a few months ago about a lizard I had sculpted in class.  I had a lot of fun making it and was pretty pleased with the results.  Since then, he's undergone a bit of a change...glazing.  It didn't turn out quite like I'd planned.  He was supposed to be sort of a greenish color and the cup was supposed to be a deep chocolate brown.  Being the beginner that I am and that the glazes aren't always reliable, I ended up with this...

It's not what I had envisioned but it's kinda cool.  I made it for hubby and he really likes it.  So, that means it's a success.

That lizard inspired others in my class and other classes that saw it.  Someone even called me the "lizard master" one evening during class.  That was fun!   

I enjoyed sculpting the first one so much that I was anxious to make another one and I did.  This time it adorned my very first teapot.  The spout was challenging but I did it.  The lid was challenging too and it came out a bit large.  That made it the perfect place for a lizard to sit!

I chose the same glaze, Winokur Yellow, that I used on my Acorn Mugs last semester.  I usually like the yellow color with bits of rusty orange.  And, it's usually a reliable glaze.  However, it seems that the bag of clay I used on this and a few other projects had a lot of iron in it.  So, they came out of the kiln with lots of freckles!

I'm really happy with the shape of the teapot, the lizard, and the yellow and orange colors. 

But, I'm still trying to fall in love with all those freckles.

The yellow parts are satiny smooth and make the lizard fun to pet!

I'm planning to make a pot of tea tonight.  I can't wait to try out my new teapot!

I love his shape.  So cute!

One of the freckles could be an eye!

I practiced a LOT on the wheel to learn and improve my skills.  The teacher was very encouraging about not worrying about assignments but to just keep working because it's the best way to improve.  I appreciated that.  It made the semester very productive.  I made close to 40 projects!

One of my goals for the semester was to make a large bowl that was big enough to make a salad for the family.  That's not as easy as it sounds.  The bigger the project, the harder it is to make on the wheel.  So, I practiced a lot and made a lot of bowls!

I tried to make a set to go with my Acorn Mugs and Lizard Teapot.  I ended up with three that are almost exactly the same size. I made them with the same bag of clay I used on the teapot and they ended up with a lot of spots.

I named the set, "Funny Freckles".

These bowls were made with a different bag of clay and the color turned out great...more like what I'd hoped for the above projects.  I like it when I can get a perfect little spiral in the bottom and get it to show up. 

 

I had a lot of fun making these.  I call them, "Honey Pot Vases". 

As you can see, these were made with clay from two different bags!

I think they'll look really cute with flowers in them.

Here's another "Honey Pot Vase" glazed in "Woo blue".  I love the blue/green drips.  So pretty!

Woo Blue glaze seems to be a bit unpredictable.  It turned out mostly brown in the vase above.  But, in this bowl, it turned out more blue.  I love that color!  The toasty brown edge is a nice touch.  The inside is solid white.

I named this one, "Zen".

This bowl turned out pretty big.  It'll work for a nice personal salad.  I can't wait to try it!  The glaze I used was supposed to be green but I think i got it a little too thin.  I love the tan color and the simple, natural look of it though.

I have LOTS more projects but I figured this was enough for now.

It seems to have been a very productive semester for a lot of students and the kilns are so backed up that they're still working on firing everything.  So, I don't have my biggest bowl and some other projects back yet. 

I can't wait to see how they turn out!  It still amazes me what can be made with mud and heat!  And, how great it feels to use a ceramic piece that I made with my own two hands.