More Bowls

I managed to get 4 good sized bowls this week.  I threw them Thursday afternoon and trimmed them today (Friday).  The trimming went as expected but I really struggled with throwing them.  More than one had to be smashed, re-wedged, and re-thrown.  The clay tried to whip me, but I won.  That really is an indicator of how far I've come.  Even though it didn't go well at first and I had to start over, I still managed to get four pieces made.  It hasn't been all that long ago that I had to work up 6 or 7 balls of clay if I wanted to make 4 mugs.

August Glaze Fire

Here are some of my pieces from the last glaze fire.  

One of the big bowls...you remember, "I like big bowls and I cannot lie..."  The second one didn't make it in this fire.  

Check out the glaze on this one!  Yes, I did that on purpose.  There's a clear glaze that goes on first.  When it is fired, it crackles.  Then I put the red glaze on and fired it again.  It really shows off the crackle.  Fun.  

This bowl was an experiment.  I put a band of white slip on the outside and textured it.  Then I didn't know what to do about glazing it.  I finally gave up trying to be too creative and just did something.  It's alright but I'm not sure it was worth the extra effort.  

Here are 2 of the 3 goblets that I made a few weeks back. The third one was killed before it was ever bisque fired.  They are very fragile before they are fired and the cup came apart from the stem and fell on the floor when I was sanding them.  I think I'd do this again since it was fun and I now know just how scary it is to sand the pieces when they are green.  I need to know if anyone would actually purchase cups like this.

And a few mugs.  Making mugs for the Copper Rock (coffee shop in Shelby) has been fun.  One reason is that I don't feel like I need to make matching sets.  Now when I start to make mugs that are not for Copper Rock, I'm having trouble making them match.  I think I just need to focus on what I am doing a little bit more.

My favorites...the canisters.  I'm very pleased with these.

Buffalo Creekiness

I'm all moved in at the gallery now.  My display (at least for the time being) is on shelves near the door.  I'm really happy with how it looks.  It helps to be in a nice space surrounded by other really nice things.  I have always LOVED this gallery. It seems kind of unreal to actually have my work there. 

Jeff, Mom, and I did our day of training last Saturday.  This was also the day of the 7th Inning Stretch Festival in Uptown Shelby, so there were lots of people around.  In fact, there were so many people still around, that we stayed open an extra two and a half hours.  It was really fun and I think that we will be OK when it is our turn to work the gallery.