a little walk

I have put the clay away this past week, trying to get ready for Christmas.  I did wire a few things together (some fish and driftwood ornaments/wall hangings) last Saturday at the market- sorry, did not take pictures.  Still have a few mugs, a couple of berry bowls, one bluebird ornament, honey pots, vases, planters (mostly for small succulents), wall hangings and a few wall pockets and other items at the market for this Saturday.  When they are not there right in front of me it's hard to name them all.

This morning, I headed to the woods for a walk.  Here were a few of the sights along the way. Click on the pics to enlarge.

No snow, but a little ice.

 I often see holly trees in the woods.  I don't know if they are indigenous in this area or if  the birds gifted the woods from plants people have purchased.  Below: some succulents at the base of a tree.  This is the only place I have noticed succulents growing in the woods.

Merry Christmas!

sample board, new bowls, other stuff

I took a quick picture of this sample board before heading out to the market Saturday morning to meet the customer it is intended for.  The tiles are about 2 inches square.  Since they are only glaze samples I didn't take great care with exact size.  The end product will be 6 inch square tiles. I attached the sample tiles to this drywall board with Velcro so the customer can move them around to experiment with color combinations and streamline her choices.  These are some of the glazes she was considering, plus a couple of extra I threw in.  I was a little confused by some of the glaze combinations the customer was talking about so I thought this might help to clarify things for both of us.

 

Below are some bowls I've been making for the Empty Bowls Project.  I have made most of these in a chawan tea bowl style.  I would have liked to have gone a little looser with these if it were not for the fact that they are supposed to function as soup bowls.

Used two different clays- a tan stoneware and an almost white stoneware.

It's been slow going.  These bowls have been the first things I've thrown since the wrist problem.  I soon found out, even though the clay I am using for each bowl is only 16 - 18 ounces, that I had to limit myself to throwing 6 or 7 per day.  And it helps to take a day off to trim and take pictures for my Etsy shop now and then.

 

Salt pigs out by the kiln. I don't have many salt pigs left and had a request for one with one of my green glazes so made a few while I was at it.

I listed part of the succulent planters on Etsy and took the rest to the market. I found some inexpensive plants at Lowes and kept the rust colored planter in this picture for myself.

turtles and texture

I finished up a glaze firing Friday morning and unloaded Saturday morning in time to take the turtles to the market.  Once I got there I called the customer who wanted two of the turtles to let him know I had them.  Calling him ahead of time while the kiln was firing or even cooling would have, of course, jinxed the entire glaze firing.  Counting your chickens before they're hatched, you know. So two turtles are gone and four are left.  Here is a quick picture I took Saturday morning before packing them-

This is one I brought home after the market closed to give him a close-up opportunity.

 

 Not a realistic turtle shell color, but I like the way the glaze pools in the texture.

 

 Small planters meant for succulents, also from this firing.

 

 Weathered Bronze-Green with some turquoise matte glaze brushed over.

I love the texture and the rustic, earthy quality of this glaze.

The little spots of copper penny color are from flicking a mix of borax and water onto the planter with a toothbrush.

 Yes, I do like this glaze.  I imagine most people will be drawn to the more colorful ones, though.

 

Here and there I'd get more of a clump of the borax and water solution than I intended. I was a little concerned about that but decided to leave it alone and see what might happen.  Turns out I'm O.K. with it- a Happy Circumstance, as my high school chemistry teacher would say.  About what, I don't remember now.