2017-01-26 - Thursday - Baked fish

Thursday night I fired four loads of raku while trimming more Empty Bowls. This was an important firing for me since I was curious to see how the fish I'd made would come out.

I love them.

I'm really pleased with the results and am planning on making more of them. There are so many glazing options I want to try that I don't know where to begin. Stay tuned.

On the left side you can also see two urns I made for a friend's dog who was mottled with patches of black and white. I made two in case one broke.

I forgot to take a photo of the guinea pig urn (I made two of those, also) before I delivered it to the owner so I asked her to send me a photo of it.

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2017-01-17 - Tuesday - Glazing raku

Tuesday I finally got around to glazing the second batch of raku pots I made last year. I was waiting on making some copper sand glaze and it was finally done.

Lots of pots and fish.

Guinea pig urns.

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2016-10-08 - Saturday - Ribs and cups and urns, oh my

Saturday I noticed that I was wearing out one of my favorite ribs. This rib used to be red all the way to the edge and now it's clear. It's well-loved and well-used.

This rib is becoming real.

I worked on some new mug ideas and the pet urns. I am making two for the guinea pig in case another one doesn't make it. Wish me luck.

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2016-09-15 - Thursday - Urns and teapots

On Thursday I worked on the pet urns and the lids for the teapots. Unfortunately the urn photos were horribly out of focus so they are no longer with us.

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2016-09-13 - Tuesday - Range hood mods and urns

While we like the new range hood, the lighting was not the best. It uses two halogen spot light bulbs that only throw light on the front two burners, leaving the back half of the range in darkness. I found that if I installed regular light bulbs it lit the range up nicely, but the glare of the bulbs hanging down was awful.

I made a temporary modification with some aluminum foil which works very well. I plan on cutting some flashing to replace it and giving it a bit more of a finished look.

Tuesday night I worked on the replacement urns for the ones I broke. Onward and upward.

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2016-08-14 - Sunday - Raku clay

I've been throwing a lot of raku clay lately and using some of it to make some urns for friends' pets. I don't really want to dwell in the urn-making business but I'm honored to make these final homes for well-loved pets.

For a guinea pig who loved carrots and parsley.

The back-right pot is an urn for a friend's dog.

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2014-08-07 - Thursday - Geeking out and lids

Thursday I was geeking out because my new Lord of the Rings set arrived.  (Yes, it says "15 discs".)  I was going to order it back in June as a birthday present to myself, but I procrastinated --and I'm glad I did.  In June it was $68 on Amazon and my brother sent me a gift card towards it.  Last week it was the Deal of the Day and after subtracting the gift card, it cost me $15 with free shipping.  Procrastination does sometimes pay off.

Thursday night I went to Clayworks and made lids for my urns.  I'm not thrilled with them and I may have to start over.  We'll see.

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Tuesday - Clayworks

Tuesday I was greeted with another reminder that we will be moving my favorite home-away-from-home, Clayworks.  The move is coming sooner than it seems.  I can't wait to get it all behind us and settle in to the new space.

I trimmed the lids on my urns and placed them on the greenware shelf to be bisqued.

A reminder that our time here is short.

An urn.

Two more urns.

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Saturday - Meeting, Office Depot, Clayworks

Saturday I attended a meeting for our Clayworks marketing & communications committee and I had to pass the Metrolina Expo Fairgrounds.  I noticed a large concert stage as I passed at 9:00 am and wondered what was going on.  I didn't give it too much thought during our meeting, but when I left I passed it again and couldn't believe my eyes.  There was a quarter mile line of young people waiting to get in the gate.

The biggest surprise came when I got on I-77.  Traffic was at a complete standstill for over SEVEN MILES!  That was apparently some concert featuring about a dozen bands that I never heard of before.  I'm just glad I was heading south.

Next stop was Office Depot for ink and labels.  After I came out of Office Depot I noticed some of the buildings around the parking lot so I took some photos of them.

Finally I got to Clayworks to work on more urns.  I made three more to bring the total to five.  I hope one of these will work.  If not, I will make more.

Long line.

Interesting sign.

Buildings.

Another building.

Since 1931.

More urns.

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Thursday - Urns

I am currently working on some urns for a friend of mine.   I am going to make several to see if I can come up with one that she likes.  Thursday I made the first two with the lids.

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