May 16 - New direction

I'm playing with some new ideas (go figure, right?) on these tall forms.  I've been trying to loosen my forms up, but sometimes I like combining the structural with the organic.  I plan on doing a bunch of carving on this one so stay tuned.

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May 15 - Raku glazing

Tuesday night I glazed my people for the raku firing on Wednesday.  I'm having fun with these guys and I might have to make more.

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May 12 - Carolina Clay Matters Pottery Festival

Saturday was the Carolina Clay Matters Spring Pottery Festival (formerly the Barn Sale) and the first time I had a booth by myself.  It was a great day: warm, but slightly overcast so it wasn't unpleasant.  I was lucky to be able to back my van up to the booth so I could sit in the shade without using my tent.  Without the tent the sun shows the full range of the glazes and they really show their depth.

Good neighbors make a good day and I was lucky to have Angela and Ann next door.  They had a great first time at the sale and we enjoyed joking throughout the day.

My open-air booth.

Angela and Ann.

Some of Ann's new work from my side.

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May 9 - Glazing

On Wednesday night I was glazing for the upcoming gas kiln firing.  Lots of different work to glaze.  I have SO many things I want to try that I'm all over the place.  We'll see how it goes...

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May 5 - Prom night

Saturday was prom night for Meredith.  She was very proud of her dress that she purchased on sale for eight dollars.  (Yes, I said EIGHT DOLLARS!  Quite a bargain.).  We had some fun taking some photos and Meredith wanted to show how much taller she is than her older sister Stephanie.  Of course Binkley had to get into the frame.  We took lots of photos and had lots of giggles.  Good times.

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May 2 - Class

Wednesday night was class night.  I assembled another "broken vessel", trimmed the pot I made last week, and threw a simple cylinder pot.  I have to tie up the broken vessels so they don't sag while the dry.

Right now I have a lot of bisqued pots to glaze so I will have to forgo throwing for a while to get them glazed and ready for the next firing.

I tried out using my new Droid phone to listen to the Grateful Dead channel on TuneIn radio.  It worked well and we all enjoyed some easy music while working.

Becky showed me her llama sculpture had been fired and it looks GREAT!  I am so happy for her since she fretted about it before the firing and it came through wonderfully.

How can I not be inspired when I'm surrounded by such talented people?

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April 28 - Dr. Zug lecture

Saturday was the long-awaited lecture on North Carolina traditional pottery by Dr. Terry Zug.  Dr. Zug was invited to Clayworks in conjunction with the Charlotte Mecklenburg Public Library and it was very well attended.

He gave a great talk and answered lots of questions about the history, types of pots, and people involved in making pottery here in the tarheel state.  Even though I feel I've learned a lot about NC pottery in the last couple of years, I learned a great deal more on Saturday.

We were also treated to demonstrations by Adrienne Dellinger and Hal Dedmond.  Adrienne threw a large pot and Hal decorated a face jug.  I never get tired of watching these artists work.

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