Some Days...

There are some times that I can do no wrong in the studio.  It is cool to be in the "Zone" like that.  On those days, every ball of clay springs into the form that I want and it doesn't even feel like I'm working.  I have creative ideas and imagine becoming a professional potter because I am so good.

Thursday was not one of those days.

And Now For Something Completely Different

I declare the Taste of Home Cooking Show a success!  I sold a few pieces and got to see some Shelby High friends that I don't get to see often.  Not at all bad for a Thursday afternoon.  I am still amused when people see my work for the first time.  Some are amazed and say things like, "Wow, you are doing pottery for real.  I mean for real for real."  How am I supposed to respond to that??  "Um, no.  I'm just pretending to be a potter?"  Honestly it still feels very much like that.  I can honestly say that when I look at my display, part of me wonders who made all that stuff.  

I have to give Ronnie Blackburn credit for the notable quote of the day: "This pottery show stuff wouldn't be all that bad if it weren't for the setting up and taking down."  I'm sure I don't have that quite right, but his point was a good one.  Sitting there visiting with people and occasionally trading a piece of pottery for some money (or sometimes a jar of honey) is a very relaxing, pleasant way to spend a day.  It is the pack up, set up, take down, and haul out that is exhausting.  Do all that at the end of a full work day and you have one VERY tired potter/math teacher.  

When I manage to find the energy to actually unpack the pieces of pottery that I didn't sell, I will take a look and think about what I might need to make more of before the October show.  In the mean time, I'm working on nut bowls.  (I really don't know what else to call them.)  The small bowl will sit inside the large, altered bowl.  If the small bowl holds nuts that are still in the shell, folks can drop the shells into the large bowl as they eat. That is kind of confusing, so I will try to remember to post a picture of the finished product in a few weeks.    

(And yes, I did steal the title for this post from Monty Python...)

Getting Ready for the Taste of Home Cooking Show

The show is Thursday, Sept 15.  I will have roughly an hour to get moved in and set up before the vendor area opens at 4pm, so I did a "test run" in the basement.  Since I've set it up once already, it will go faster when I do it for real.  I've tried to choose pieces to take that fit the cooking theme--things that could be used in the kitchen on the table.  Although we will only be open for business for about 2 hours, I really hope to sell some pottery.  It has been a long summer and I need to sell some pottery.

What do you do when the bowl wants to sag?  The fan is helping the clay to dry while gravity helps with the sagging issue...

This week I am trying to make something new...a chip and dip.

I started Thursday night by throwing a wide, low, flat bottomed bowl and a small bowl.  Then I folded one side of the large bowl down flat.  That was really HARD to do the first time.  The actual folding was not difficult, but  it was hard to "smush" a side of a perfectly good bowl.  Then I put the pieces in the wet closet over night.

Friday about lunchtime, I returned to the studio to join the bowls.  I trimmed the bottom of the small bowl to clean it up a little bit and then scored the surfaces of both pieces where they will be attached. Then I added slip and pressed the pieces together.  I was worried about about trapping air in between the bowls since the joint is such a large area, so I really worked hard to press them together well.

So far, I am pleased with the result.  I would like the large bowl to be wider I think.  This will be something to work on.  Opening wide is not easy for me.

It will be interesting to see what other challenges I face before these are finished.  I imagine that sanding these is going to be fun. (NOT!)  Glazing will be interesting too with those tight spaces.