I'm Trying...

I won't win any awards for beautiful handles yet, but all those cylinders from last week are now mugs.   

I already see things that I would do differently.  This is good...motivation to make more and try again.  

I have not had much success in the past pulling handles, and that is one of the things that I hoped to learn in this class that I'm taking.  For these, I started with a coil, flattened it out a bit, attached it to the cup, and then pulled it.  After 6 of them, I started getting a better feel for what I need to do to make this work.  

And I didn't even freeze too much.

Waiting For The Thaw

Today is one of the coldest days yet this winter.  According the the Weather Chanel, it is 12 degrees outside right now.  I need to go to the studio and work on getting some handles on these cylinders so that they can be mugs.  

At home right now, I've got soup in the crock pot, a fire in the wood stove upstairs, and I just tried to get one started in the stove downstairs.  I'm not really excited about leaving just yet although Allen will have turned on the heat in the studio a couple of hours ago.  It should be warming up...but the clay is going to be COLD.  I really need to stop thinking about this and just GO...so I can come home and get all snug and toasty again.

Merry Christmas To Me!

Just look at my new work space!  Finally, I have room for stuff.  Putting it all together was pretty easy once I got started.

                         

I had to get help adjusting the legs on the wheel so that the u-bolts that hold the legs for the shelves would fit.  Wheels are HEAVY and I was worried that I couldn't hold it up while I adjusted the legs.  

                            

Notice how Jeff (left) and Ronnie (right) are even smiling?  This is pretty funny considering that I was having a small melt down at the time.  Mostly my meltdown was due to forgetting to eat lunch, but I thought I didn't have the right size Allen wrench (should that be capitalized?) for the bolts on the legs.  Jeff pointed out that there were Allen wrenches in the set of drill bits I had in the car.  Anyway, there was whining and then Jeff and Ronnie jumped in and fixed the legs for me.  Wow!  It was pretty great to just watch competent people do the work.  I've got to remember how this worked so I can make it happen again if I need to.  I think I will continue to work on my role as damsel in distress.  Being rescued is pretty great.  

Pottery Class

I'm taking a pottery class at the community college this spring.  This is my first venture out from the relative safety and comfort of Allen's studio where I have been happily working since I started back in August, 2007.  Here's a picture of all my stuff that I hauled to class for the first night.  Ridiculous, isn't it?  To be honest, I use about 3 or 4 of these tools on a regular basis, but the thought that I was going to be somewhere else and might need something that I didn't have with me made me very anxious. I packed up everything that I own, and I used maybe 3 or 4 of them as usual.

Ron Philbeck is a great instructor.  His demonstrations and explanation of how he centers and pulls up a cylinder gave me much to think about.  Although I can usually center and pull a cylinder successfully, there are always things to learn to do to improve.   I have a lot to practice.  

One thing that I'm going to have to get used to is working with so many people around.  Those people talk and sometimes expect a response from me.  I learned from Ford McDonald that talking and being creative utilized different sides of your brain.  His point was that he wanted his students to be quiet while they were working.  Now that I think about it, I can appreciate all the reasons that would be important to a high school art teacher.  Whatever the motives, I learned to shut my mouth and focus on my work.  

The point of taking this class is to grow.  I believe that one needs to get out of their comfort zone to grow.  Part of what I learned the first night is that I can make stuff in a strange place and with other people around.  This is good for me.  

Next week, Ron has promised to help me work on pulling handles.  I can't wait!