Not Bad...

I know this will sound funny, but it hit me that it is May already.  June and July are going to be very busy this year, and I know that I won't have time to do much in the way of pottery making.  So if I am going to get a head start on making stuff for the fall, I've got to start now. What?  

That whole thought didn't hit me until yesterday afternoon, but I wonder if subconsciously I wasn't already thinking about that.  I got a lot of work done Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week.  

Mugs for Hannah's Coffee House.  

Ok, I threw these last week but didn't have time (or energy) to get handles on them until Friday.  I have learned much about keeping things from drying out too much from Lisa and Gail over the last couple of years.

I have a commission for a large planter decorated with ginkgo leaves. I got started on that.  

This is the first attempt.  I like the shape Ok, but this one got away from me and ended up wider and not as tall as I wanted it to be.

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again.  This second attempt is taller.

I'm not sure how I'm going to glaze these pieces so that the leaf impressions really show up nicely.  So I made some cups each with a small leaf on them.  I'll use the cups to figure out what glaze will work before I tackle the glaze on the big pieces.  I didn't get a picture of the cups.

I made some bowls.  The two in the back will be batter bowls when I'm done with them, and the one in the front on the left is actually a casserole dish.  I haven't made any casseroles in a while.

Not my smoothest move of the weekend.  If you drop a ruler on a newly thrown bowl, this happens and it will make you very sad.  

Spouts added to the batter bowls.

Bowls trimmed and handles added.

I'm not sure that I have the handles right.  They need to be sturdy enough to pick up a bowl when it is full.  I really don't like a wimpy handle, so I may have over done it.  These are my first two batter bowls, so I'm still trying to figure out what works.  

I don't know what got in to me, but all together, I made 5 mugs (not pictured) and put handles on 8 from last week.  I made 2 large planters and 8 cups all with ginkgo leaves that I may or may not have been able to press into the wet clay with enough pressure to make a good impression.  I made 2 batter bowls, another bowl that I dropped a ruler on but was able to repair, and a casserole.  

There is a bisque fire in my not so distant future closely followed by a glaze fire.  I hope that I'm telling you about the bisque fire next week.  (Crosses fingers that everything goes well.)  I have some pieces that I need to get finished ASAP.  They have been on the shelves waiting for what feels like a long time.