Hinge Issue

This was an idea for design class....the foam board project.  I decided to do a different thing for that but I liked the idea of this tree box so I made it out of clay....now I can't figure out how to make hinges for the doors...perhaps I'll just leave them off and hang a little clay bird inside....

First Of The Teapot Assignment

Teapot #1
There's really not much to say....except that lids are a pain!

The Wheel That Never Stops

...well, not unless you unplug it.  I've electrocuted myself several times in this house so I've been a little nervous to try this ancient wheel....wet hands pulling a taped up cord out of the socket just seems dangerous....but my mom was here weaving and she's a nurse so I figured it was a good time to try it out.
I made a mug!
First I had to throw the clay on the wheel, then jump up and plug in the cord, then back around to center the clay and make the mug....trimming it was another adventure since it always starts in super fast speed....perhaps I need an assistant!

Little Icons

I stayed home from school today because it was snowy outside and because I have the most horrible cold!
I got a bit antsy after awhile so I made some little icons...the one that looks like chocolate is a new clay I'm trying out....it's suppose to turn a nice black color when it's fired...and believe it or not....it's called cassius clay.

Design Class

Along with clay classes I also take a design class.  We're making models of tables or stools (and now, apparently, anything really) out of poster board that we will then make larger out of foam board....I'm not sure why.  
Anyway these are my first attempt at the paper models....which are due, to scale (?), next class..... so I need to stop this nonsense and get to work measuring and snipping paper.

Then I'll need to vacuum paper bits and locate bandaids...
I'm just not an exacto knife kind of person.

Dear Jenny, Please Glaze Your Pots.

Here's the thing....glazing is not my favorite activity.  You put a green glaze on a white pot and it dries brown and comes out of the kiln yellow....I just can't seem to wrap my brain around this so I'm making more pots and letting them all pile up while I await the grand aha.

On the home front.....I pushed furniture around and climbed up on top of things and balanced half on the banister while hanging on to the ceiling and dismantled the horrid smoke alarm that has beeped for three days.....quiet at last!

Glaze Test and the Smoke Alarm

Since the reduction kilns are still in progress, I'm trying out cone 10 glazes in oxidation....these mugs are some tests I did.  The brown one is a more amber color in person and coffee looks really pretty in it...the green one has nice crackles going on in the inside and the blue one in the back starts out green at the rim and then looks like blue glass melted in the bottom of the mug...it's nice but a bit narrow.
Now, about the smoke alarm....it started beeping at 2 this morning....I stumbled around for a while trying to figure out which alarm was going off...no luck...too much echo, too much delay between beeps and too sleepy to pinpoint it.
After a few hours of not at all good sleep I got up and discovered it was the alarm that some dingbat put at the top of the stairs.  I can't even begin to figure this one out...where should I put the ladder (if I even had a ladder) when there's no wall to lean it against.....and this just in....the ceiling is vaulted so a really larger than life ladder is needed.
I was hoping it would wear itself out while I was at school today...no such luck.....6 PM and still going strong.
I'm so not amused.

Salt Kiln!

Here's the new salt kiln....with a chimney and a coat of paint on the frame.

Can't wait, can't wait!

Kiln Progress

 Another kiln building day.  This is Missy and Steve cutting bricks so that the cart rolls in to a taper....it's tedious work ( none of the bricks are really the exact size) but.....new kilns will be amazing!!!

More Mugs

Well....apparently, it's not 10 matching mugs I need to make ...it's 12.
I spent today working on trimming and handles...lots of trimming and handles.  The mugs don't exactly match but then they were not made by a machine or in a mold...they were made by me on a I-think-I'm getting-a-cold kind of day.
Here's 12 of the mug I decided on....and a mug for a friend's grandbaby and some salt and pepper shakers. (I got the idea for the shakers from a great blog I found...finemesspottery.blogspot.com....you should check it out)
I am most tired.

Mugs

I'm suppose to make 10 matching mugs for an assignment....so, I've been trying out several ideas....
I'm thinking I like the tall narrow ones on the left....although, the little round one is awfully friendly looking....

Snow Goddess

This past weekend we had a bit of snow...two days of snow!
So, I slid down my road on my saucer sled (that I bought to use as a form for a large clay platter) with my big dog Rufus anxiously slipping along behind me, to my sister's house.
We used the sled to gather snow and made a snow goddess!  My parents came out and added a few touches, Rufus got to
meet one of dad's goats, we all had a turn, or two, on the sled...it was lovely.