Slacking

Yes, yes. I've totally been slacking. It's been like a month? since I last posted. Sorry kids. Too much other things going on! In any case, I've only made it to pottery twice in the last month, which is no bueno. I missed one class because my little bro was passing through town on his way home and stopped to hang out. The second class I missed because I'm an airhead and had other things on my mind at the time. In any case, onward and upward!

I realized recently that I actually have some finished (glazed) pieces that I never photographed. The last glaze fire was not a huge success for me, to be honest. The pie plate, unfortunately, did not turn out at all. The glaze I used, stoney white, is apparently a bad apple and I did not find that out until later. That's what I get for glazing by myself, I guess. The spiral platter was also not a success. The clear coat I put over the tenmoku has a green tint, and the tenmoku did not work out so well to start with. Now you understand why I have not posted pictures of them....

There have been two other glaze fires since then, in which I have had better luck. The small mug turned out really cool. I may have to take a picture of that one on my phone, though, because it was given as a gift before I could actually photograph it. These cups actually turned out pretty cool. I'll definitely (try to) get good pictures of them. This vase turned out cool too. Pictures of those to come ASAP, I promise ;-)

I did, surprisingly (considering the state of mind that I have been in lately), remember to get a picture of the cruet bottle's new handle when I was there last Tuesday: The cup that went with this (see previous post) went into the bisque fire on Tuesday, as did the espresso cups. The awesome bowl is glazed and waiting to be fired, as is the lidded pot. I really hope the bowl works out. I did it in half tenmoku, half semi-gloss white. Tenmoku is not a reliable black, though, so who knows. I think it will look good regardless because it is such a beautiful form.

When I was in glass last week I threw two bowls that will combine to be a turtle with removable shell. Cynthia actually did most of the throwing on the second one, but all the same. I also threw a largish cylinder. I've been working on height (width is not really a problem because the clay does that on its own!) so that eventually I can make a pitcher. So far, I haven't gotten up that high yet. That's why I'm not going to forget to go to class again! Hopefully when the school semester ends and my work schedule goes back to normal I'll be able to start going to the studio more than once a week. I'll take some more pictures of all this green ware when I go to class today.