I'm Back!

The past few weeks have been a struggle.  I felt like it was time to return to my "normal" routine in the studio, but I just couldn't.  I was still wearing my "bootie" and being on my feet wasn't really comfortable.  By last Saturday though, I was able to keep my posted open hours during the day (plus a little bit) and there were stretches of time that I realized that I had not thought about my foot.  Very cool. 

Here are a few of the things that I've worked on over the past two weeks.  

Two weeks ago...

A square casserole.

Mug with some extra detail on the handle.

Here is a slightly closer shot of the mug.

I kept the mug itself very plain since the handles were going to be somewhat busy.  They were fun to do, but I'm reserving judgment on the mugs until I get them finished and try them out.

Last week...

I made these last Saturday and took this picture today (7 days later).  They are still so wet that they are still attached to the bats.  It's been ridiculously hot and humid here for October.  The humidity has really thrown us off schedule. I expected things that I made last week to be almost dry enough to bisque fire this weekend.  That's clearly not going to happen. I had in mind to have a bisque fire this weekend, and follow that with a couple of glaze fires to get ready for the Carolina Potter Festival the first Saturday of November.  Thanks to Mother Nature, we are not going to be firing on that schedule.

I did get some glazing done last weekend too.  Right now, there's only about 2/3 of a kiln load, so I am waiting on some others to get some glazing done before I can fire.

This week, things with my foot have improved even more.  After six long weeks, I am out of the boot and in a regular shoe.  It is amazing how much better EVERYTHING is.  I still limp a little and move slower than I'd like to, but I feel like a human again.  

Today in the studio, I made these.  Yep twelve soup bowls and a couple of trays.  If they'll just dry enough to trim them tomorrow and attach handles, I'll feel really good about my productivity.  For now though, it is time to go put my feet up and watch a football game.