Ooooh...

I love how this one came out!  It was the last one of my bowls to come out of the kiln this last semester. I wasn't able to get it until several days after my class ended but it was worth the wait.

It's just a simple bowl.  Nothing fancy.  In fact, I wasn't very happy with the bottom of the outside before I glazed it.  But, the glaze changed everything!  I LOVE the colors!

The golden color on the outside with the black speckles is so pretty.  The inside is glazed with the same color (carbon trap shino) but turned out orange.  What a fun surprise.  And, the all over silvery shine is awesome!

I would have loved to have kept this one.  However, it was the only one that came out in colors I thought my mother-in-law would like.  So, I gave it to her for Christmas.  Lucky girl!  :-)

I'm planning to take ceramics again next semester and I'll definitely be using this glaze again!

Pottery Post

My Fall ceramics class ends tomorrow.  I just finished photographing some of my latest projects for my portfolio and thought I'd post a few on here.

I had a lot of fun playing around with the top edges of many of my bowls.  I love this one...it looks like a flower...

I just couldn't resist creating a few more lizards this semester.  This was the first one of the semester. I didn't use a photo for reference and he ended up with back legs that aren't quite right.  I like him anyway.  I also like how the glaze became blotchy during firing.

I threw a lot of bowls this semester.  Here are three that are similar in size and in a couple of different colors...

When bowls went off center or tried to collapse I tried to rescue them.  This one was saved by adding a spout on the collapsing side and a handle on the other.  Voila...a batter bowl!

Later in the semester,  I thought I'd memorized how lizard legs go...how many sections there are, etc.  And, I thought I got this one right.  But, now that I look at it....I think his back legs are a little funky too.  I guess I'd better take some lizard photos with me to the studio next time so I can really get it right.

I played with glazes a little on this bowl.  It has a thick coat of stoneware blue on the inside and apple green on the outside.  It's one of my favorites.

I'd better get back to work.  I need to write up info on all of my pieces...sizes, glazes, used, etc., get the photos printed, work on my portfolio, and get all my pieces wrapped up and packed to take back to school tomorrow for class critiques and showing.  Have a wonderful week!

Bowl Full'a Crazy

This week has been crazy!  Actually, the past few months have been crazy...but this one has been a bit a little crazier.  So, I've been working hard today to find a little bit of normal...uh...or less crazy!  One of the things I did was to stop at the ceramics studio to see if any of my bowls were out of the kiln.  I found three and a saucer.  Yay!

I like this little bowl.  It's so cute!  The small size and the frilly edge make me smile.

I've got to try some other way to glaze my pieces though.  I've been using some special tongs to hold them and dip into the glaze.  But, they leave little spots where they grab onto the bowl that I have to touch up with little finger dabs of glaze.  Sometimes it doesn't show.  But, other times...like on this bowl...it does.  See those dots on the inside bottom of the picture...

I know, it's not horrible.  But, it would look a lot better without those spots.

I made a little saucer too.  I glazed it in Winnokur Yellow to match so many of the things I've made and use in my kitchen.  I think it was a failed bowl that I tried to save and turned into a saucer.  Yay...it worked!  It even looks cute with this little bowl.

This bowl was an attempt to make a wide, shallow bowl.  It's 7 1/2" wide x 2 1/4" tall.

I had a wider, bigger one in mind but didn't use a big enough ball of clay.  I like it though.

I used Tea Dust glaze on this one.  I like how the green dots look like lichen.

It's a pretty reliable glaze.  I like that too.

Woo hoo!  Another success at a larger bowl.  It seems like if you can throw a small bowl,
a bigger bowl would be no big deal.  That's so not true.  They're very challenging.

This one is just over 8" wide and 3 1/2" tall.  I'm still aiming for bigger.

I have some more bowls waiting to go into the kiln that are deeper.

This one is glazed with Stoneware Blue.  It's one of my favorites.  Although, it's a bit unreliable
in that  I usually get a fairly solid blue but this one came out with lots of brown spots.
I think that means the clay has more iron in it...I think.  It's pretty though.

The semester has gone by fast and I only have one more week to make things.  Then, we only have time to glaze and fire.  I've missed some days due to all the things that have come up the past few months.  And, the stress has been a bit tough on my creativity and ability.  It feels good though to see these few successes.

I struggle with whether or not to mention any of what's been going on.  It might be pretty boring.  But, I realize that I may be  leaving readers wondering.  So, if you're interested... my daughter's first year away at college has been intense. The school part of it would have been ok.  But, the living situation turned out to be horrible.  I knew that roommate situations aren't always fabulous.  But, now, I know they can be awful.  And, now, I know this, sadly, is very common as I've been hearing soooo many similar stories.  I hate that my daughter was on the hurtful end of it.  But, I'm so proud that she's not a bully and mean like the other girls she lived with.  She called me on Wednesday morning and things had gotten so bad that we quickly had to make arrangements to move her out that day.  We did it!  Whew!  She has a couple of months to try to find a much better place to live before the new semester starts at the end of January.   Luckily, she has a wonderful friend that offered to let her stay at her place for the last couple weeks of this semester.  That's so sweet and we are so grateful!

The other stuff?  My dad has been going through some health stuff and I had to take him to emergency a few weeks ago.  It turned out to be a reaction to his flu shot but he has a bad heart so they wanted to check him out to be sure he was ok.  It was a long night and I didn't get home until 3:30 in the morning...25 minutes drive to their house, an hour drive to the hospital, hours at the hospital and the long drives back.  So glad it was nothing serious.  But, he had surgery last week for something else.  So, it was another day spent at the hospital and taking him to the doctor a few days later.  He's at home and doing very well.  I talked with him today and he shared with me his worry and need of support with my mom as she is having memory problems and has started to break down and cry over her frustration.  I'm hoping to talk with my brother about it later and try to figure out how to handle it.  It's a delicate situation to figure out how to approach someone about seeing a doctor for such a thing.  I can only begin to imagine how scary and frustrating it would be to be told that others are noticing you're having problems like that.

And, last but not least, I finally got around to going to a dermatologist to have a spot checked out on my cheek.  The good news is that it's not cancer but it's pre-cancer and had to be treated.  So, the teenie, tiny spot that I went in with became a big spot I walked out with.  I try to not think about it when I talk with people and imagine that they don't see it.  Ugh!  It's supposed to clear up in a couple of weeks.  Oh...and two more months of hormones and I'll be done with that treatment.  Then, it'll be time for another uterine biopsy.  Fun!  NOT!

Now, back to some of the "normal" not so fun stuff...house cleaning, laundry, cooking.  But, I'll be happy to take that over crazy, any day!  I guess a little crazy once in a while just helps us appreciate the "normal" that much more.

Have a wonderful...non crazy...weekend!  :-)

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!  ;-)

Fresh Out of the Kiln

I popped over to the college this afternoon to see if the latest kiln firing was done, cooled and unloaded.  It was!  Yay!  I was able to pick up the last of my projects.  I'm really excited about some of them and can't wait to share...

One of my goals for the semester was to make a large bowl.  I definitely made progress toward that.  This is the biggest bowl I've made so far and it's quite an accomplishment.  The larger a piece is, the harder it is to throw on the wheel...and to get it to be round and not lop-sided.   It shrunk a bit in the kiln (which always happens) but it's still pretty big. If I take ceramics again, my goal will be to make one even bigger! 

This clay must have had a lot of iron it because the bowl developed lots of freckles when it was fired.

I love the yellow and rust color in Winokur Yellow glaze.

It's not as big as I'd wanted but will be plenty big enough to make something in it to serve my family.

It's 8" tall and 4" wide.  I placed a regular sized garlic head next to it to give an idea of it's size and scale.

Before the semester was over, I had to try throwing on a kick wheel.  It's powered by my foot only.  No electricity.  It worked better than I'd expected.  To get better at it I'll have to remember to let go of my clay whenever I kick to get the speed back up.  I learned that the hard way.  If I kick while my hands are working with the clay, it immediately sends it off center and I end up with wonkey, lop sided pots.  They're also a bit thick on the bottoms because I wasn't able to lift them up much more after they lost center.  But, I'm pretty proud of them for my first try.  And, what fun!  I love that I made them with human power.  It was a quiet and peaceful, creative experience. 

This one resembles my honey pot vases.  It looks great with the other two and gives me a perfect set of three in various sizes.  I plan to put some flowers in them very soon and try it out as a little grouping.

I took a picture holding it to give an idea of the size these two kick wheel pots are. 

My third attempt at a goblet went much better than the first two.  But, it still wasn't all that great...until I picked it up today.  The glazes I used transformed it into something pretty cool!

I used Teadust glaze on the outside. It's usually black in color with green speckles. Turns out it also red in it.  There are even some tiny blue flecks.  It's interesting and lovely.  I really like it.  The tiny greenish/yellow flecks remind me of lichen we see on rocks when we hike. 

I used a green glaze on the inside that I thought would tie in with the specks on the outside.  Turns out it would have been pretty light.  Luckily, I was inspired by another student and how she had experimented with mixing different glazes.  She had some fantastic results.  So, I grabbed my goblet and headed back to the glaze room and put a little splattering action into the project.  It turned out to be just what it needed to tie the outside and inside together.  I love it!

The stem fits and feels very nice in my hand.  It's very comfortable.  The goblet is almost 8" tall and holds exactly eight ounces of liquid.  I think that will make for nice sized serving of wine...to start with.  I plan on trying it out tonight.  Cheers!