Didn't Get To Write Last Week

I was so busy last weekend that I didn't have a chance to write. In fact, I haven't been able to post an update in two weeks.

Catching you up a bit...

I decided that I needed to make some napkin/sponge holders.  OK.  I confess that I broke Kelsey's sponge holder a couple of weeks ago and need to replace it.  I hadn't done any of these in a long while. I start with a cup shape and then cut out slots on opposite sides.  Kind of cool how many things that these can be used for.   

I started out with six of these, but one died.  I let it get too dry and it kind of shattered and crumbled when I cut it.  Oh well. 

I also made some mugs.  Hadn't done any of these in a while either.

This picture looks like a big old mess, doesn't it?  At one point last Saturday, I realized that I might have gotten too many projects started at once.  There's the mugs and napkin holders under plastic so they don't dry too much.  In the back, you can just see the kiln shelves that I had scraped and painted with kiln wash.  I got it all done. Mugs handled (I threw them the day before), napkin holders thrown and cut, shelves taken care of, and a glaze fire loaded.  I even waited on customers.  Go me and yay customers!

So why haven't you heard from me in two weeks?  Well...

Saturday, Sept 17, was my parents' 50th anniversary.  Fifty years.  Just wow.  Here are a couple of pictures.  If you are friends with me on Facebook, you've seen these already.  Sorry.

Everyone was able to get together for the weekend to celebrate.  We had a wonderful time.  For those of you who don't know us all, Mom and Dad are in the front.  The rest of the folks going around the table left to right are grandson Callum, daughter Carol, son-in-law Paul, son-in-law Jeff, me, daughter-in-law Kelsey (who is currently very pregnant with the third grandchild), and son Jack.  I really like this picture.  It's pretty good of all of us. The only one missing is granddaughter Fiona who is too little to enjoy going out to eat at a nice restaurant.  

I hope that I'll be able to get back in the routine of giving you more regular updates for the next several weeks. 

Sometimes It's the Simple Things That Catch My Interest

Isn't this a cool cup? Mom brought it to me from France.  I love how simple it is and how it feels in my hand. 

So I'm trying to duplicate it.  Stay tuned to see how these turn out.  Right now, they look big, don't they?  Remember that clay shrinks though.

Here's the rest of what I did this weekend. Not all that bad considering that I didn't get started on Thursday evening like I "normally" do.  

I still feel like I need to be making LOTS of work.  I'm not sure where that pressure is coming from really.  Probably a combination of just-how-I-am and concern that I won't have enough work to see me through the fall.  I really hope that I sell a LOT of pots between now and Christmas. Now I've got two galleries to keep stocked in addition to preparing for the Carolina Pottery Festival on Nov 5.

Still Taking Those Baby Steps

I moved my tools over to Allen's wheel today.  I hope he doesn't mind.

Who's pots are these?

Ron Philbeck is a nice guy.  He let me come out to his place this week and helped me take pictures of some of my work.  There's a longish explanation about why I needed to do this that will come later.  For now, let's just look at the pots.  We discovered together that pots with shiny glazes are a little harder to photograph than those with matte glazes.  Of course, most of my pots are shiny.  To get these pictures, I had the camera (my phone) and Ron stood behind me with a couple pieces of cardboard or something to try to block some of the glare off the lights.  It would have been pretty entertaining to get to watch this process I think.  I'm not sure because I was looking at the pottery, but I think Ron was being pretty funny behind me. 

 

I'm fairly certain that I've shared these pots before, but don't they look different (and nicer) on a nice background?