2016-01-27 - Wednesday - Wingless Moths, Empty Bowls, Decals

When I went out to get the mail on Wednesday I noticed some of the female wingless canker worm moths clinging to the front porch so I started looking around and saw hundreds of them all over the eaves of the house. They are very confused. At least they will not get to the tops of the trees to lay their eggs.

When I wedged up some recycled clay I noticed some phoenix running through the bag. When I trimmed the pots I found that vein still prominent in the clay.

More Empty Bowls, but you knew that. :8^)

For a while Adrienne (our executive director at Clayworks) thought it would be good to have our logo on the wall where the workshops take place. It was installed today and I agree with her that it will stand out in photos from now on. Nicely done.

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August 9 - Thursday mileage hats and pots

I was sitting at a traffic light (I do that a lot) in Hickory when I looked down and noticed my mileage.  Interesting number.

In the evening I went to Clayworks (something else I do a lot) and after Julie's class left, Justin showed up to trim his large bowl.  He didn't like the way it came out and thought about making a hat.  We both agreed that it was quite fetching.

I threw some pots from recycled clay and it was such a short batch (it had no plasticity and tore easily) that I had to rib it on the inside and outside to make it stand up.  I was originally going for a more "organic" shape, but was forced to make more traditional forms because of the double ribbing.  I guess potters in the old days must have had short clay which caused them to make the forms that we consider traditional.  Oh well, I got it to work with a lot of patience.

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July 21 - Muddy Fun, pots, and a former crab

Saturday was Muddy Fun day and the place was hopping.  Angela did her usual fine job of leading the class.

I worked on my lump of Allison McGowan porcelain again and came up with a new form (for me).  I also made a two piece pot from recycled clay and attached them.  I will have to pull the neck up a bit more since it is rather thick near the top, but I have to wait for it to stiffen up a bit first.

Someone brought in a bag of shells to use for textures on the clay and I noticed something rattling around inside one of the shells.  It was a former hermit crab, completely dried out.  That's something you don't see every day.

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June 3 - More pots

Saturday I made some new pieces, decorated some others, and carved the big pot.  The new pieces have some looseness to them, which I've been working toward.  I sometimes want my pots to be a bit looser and more organic and it's an effort when you've been working at making them clean and precise for so long.

I put some wonky handles and decorative banding on the two phoenix pieces destined for raku and I'm planning on slipping them before the bisque to start with a white canvas.

I carved the big phoenix "castle" pot to remove some of the weight from the bottom third and also add some visual interest and remove some of the rigidness from it.

I made two pots from recycled clay and had fun playing with them, putting four accent handles on one of them.  I have some interesting plans for the glazing on those.

The last pot I made has a simple form.  It is made with craggy crunch and I wedged vermiculite into the clay before I started.  It's destined for the raku kiln and while I want the pot to be blackened with carbon, the vermiculite should add some gold highlights.  We shall see.  In the meantime I have something to add to that pot in the near future.

It's all about the process...

Mess 'o pots.

Two decorated pots and one pleasantly wonky one.

One traditional, one wonky, and one simple.

As if the craggy crunch wasn't rough enough,
the vermiculite adds more.

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2010-05-11 Tuesday - Clayworks

Tuesday I got started working with some recycled clay and decided to make some larger shapes.  The recycled clay is a mixture of all the leftover clay used in the studio and tends to be a bit short (which means it's not as elastic as our usual clays).  It can't be pushed or stretched as far as the regular clays without separating and tearing so it makes it more of a challenge to throw larger items.  I was ready for a minor challenge on Tuesday night and made some pots.  We'll see whether they make it or not.