Busy, busy, busy

On Monday night I threw two large-ish pots using craggy crunch. I really like this clay as it's very toothy and almost gritty. It dries quickly, but Joe tells me that it regains it's plasticity easily by wetting it a bit. By throwing a cylinder, decorating it, and then only pushing out from the inside I can achieve a rough or rustic look. To finish it off I give it a smooth lip to contrast the roughness of the body. Look for more of these in the future.

Two from Monday night.

I also threw two bottle bodies on Monday using orangestone. Once these are bisqued I'm hoping to put them in one of Ron's salt firings. (Thanks, Ron!) On Wednesday I threw necks on the bottles and they came out ok.

Adding a coil of clay to the top of the bottle.

After adding the necks.


After paddling one of the bottles.

Wednesday I made another one of those
craggy crunch pots (the best one yet!).

What's this bowl doing here?

I'd better sneak up on it...

There seems to be something in the bottom of it.

Ta-Da!
I slipped the bowl that was the 100th pot
to document the piece.

I am so taken with this latest craggy crunch pot
I couldn't resist one more shot.

This week's thought: Try making something new using a different material to shake your thinking loose.

New Brents

Woo-Hoo! Clayworks purchased four new Brent C wheels! They are so shiny and new and quiet! I can't wait to throw some pots on them.

Muddy Fun 2008-11-22

Muddy Fun class was held on Saturday morning. It was a very intimate class with only two students, Stephanie being one of them. I think Stephanie did a very good job for her first official time at the wheel.

Julie and her students.

Julie demonstrating technique.

Julie's great green shoes.

Stephanie throwing her bowl.

Stephanie's output.
We kept the bowl on the right.

Another potter is born...

The Evening Muse

On Friday I met Becky, Fred, Elaine, and Pete at the Evening Muse t0 see Steve Stoeckel and Jamie Hoover of the Spongetones perform. It was a great time and I was reminded once again just how talented these two musicians are.

During the show Fred found out that their work at Concentrix was nominated for two Emmys. Congratulations!

We had a lot of fun talking about pottery, art, music, footwear, glam, and lots of really silly things.

When Pete, Becky, and Fred wanted to head home, Elaine and I decided 11:30 was the right time to hit The Penguin for some fried pickles.

Jamie and Steve working hard.

Fred, Becky, Pete, and Elaine
enjoying all that hard work.

The ukes rule during a rendition
of "She's Leaving Home".

Elaine and Fred solving the world's problems
or maybe just talking about Emmys.


Feet. Starting at 12 o'clock: Elaine, Fred, me, Becky.


After Penguin fried pickles,
a fried bologna sandwich for Elaine,
a cheeseburger for me and a couple of beers,
it was time to head home.

Party on Garth...

Kiln opening

This is the opening of the last cone 10 kiln that Greg fired for us. It was a kiln full of surprises, like a small pocket of oxidation in the middle of a reduction firing. Everyone was happy with almost everything that came out of it, oxidation and all. I figured out that I think I need to thin out the amber celadon to get the effect I'm trying to acheive. Live and learn...

Raku pod

This is a "pod" from our last raku firing. It's a closed form and has a juicy lustre to it and I like it a lot (even if I can't create a photo that does it justice).

Oh yeah, clay...

I haven't mentioned clay here in several days.

It's not because I haven't been doing things with clay. I've been trimming, glazing, loading, unloading, throwing, and generally not sleeping enough. The main difference is that I have not brought any of the finished pieces home to photograph since I want to keep them all together. My idea is to take a photo of all of them on one table to document the 100 pots in one group. I will try to post some individual photos before then.

Still playin' in the dirt.