Egg and Hoe Update and Throwing with the Granddaughters

There has been an awful lot of life that happened since the egg and hoe experiment.  Alas, the experiment container was pushed to the back of the refrigerator and, well, it still makes me shudder.  The sulfuric stench, the rotted egg yolk and the smirky, pristine silver charms...well, there really isn't much to say....other than.....don't try this in your kitchen!

On a happier, less smelly note....the grand daughters came to visit!!!
They were amazingly helpful in the studio and threw lovely pots and drew  fantastic pictures for me (and of me!)...we went on a lot of walks and discussed gazebos and dogs and life in general...it was nice.

An Egg and A Hoe

 It's like this....I made a sweet little icon of Saint Dorothy, a patron saint of gardeners.  She's all smoky and ferny and greenish...alas, the only gardening charms I have are very bright silver...not at all pretty against her smokiness.
So, I googled turning bright silver black and found this egg business that I thought I'd give a try...since I actually had an egg (the other suggestions involved liver of sulphur which just sounds horrid and odoriferous).
Here's what I did.
I hard boiled an egg, tossed the white part, smashed up the yolk, laid a paper towel over the smashed yolk, placed the silver hoe and rake on top of that, closed the lid and put it in the refrigerator...I'll post a picture of the results tomorrow.
Keep your fingers crossed, light a candle, sing the alphabet backwards....

Tree Platter

This is the last of the brown clay...really the last.  I was in Atlanta for the weekend and went to get more but they were out.
Perhaps it's a sign to switch back to raku for a while....

Pretty Platter

This was the last of the brown clay....just enough to make a platter!

I used a really cool shaped salad bowl of my mom's as the form...and then changed it to make it more plattery.

I'm pretty excited about glazing it.  Which is odd for me 'cause I mostly don't care for the glazing part....

Possessed Wheel

For the past year my wheel has been having more and more frequent "episodes".
It changes speeds at random times, the pedal sticks and......well, you just never know.

I (the gifted mechanic), watched a you tube video on fixing the pedal
....so I gave it a go.
Now I have one speed.
Really, really, really fast.
And, the dear thing, has learned to turn itself on!

Annie says I should sing to it....I find it's hard to sing and try to hang onto clay spinning at 20 mph.
Although, I can yodel.

I have figured out an odd method of throwing mugs.
I use the on off switch to (sort of) control the speed...although trimming is hopeless.....and many mugs have been sacrificed....and one sponge.

All this to say I've been doing more hand building...mostly little things while I get used to hand building again.

But, yesterday I had the ah ha and made some salad plates and two big bowls!

Snow, Ice, Butter and Valentine Boxes

Here's what it looks like outside...
again.
 
Here's what I've noticed about me and cold weather....
I seem to require a lot of butter.
In normal weather a stick of butter can hang around in my refrigerator for several months.....but bone chilling cold seems to cause quite a butter craving...I put it on toast (yes, I am (was) a dry toast person), saute things (usually I use olive oil...or just steam), add it to the rice cooker...this really can't continue....the snow, the ice....and the butter.

To take my mind off butter I wired keys to valentine boxes today.
They're small, hang on the wall and would be lovely to give to someone who would like the "key to your heart".
Personally, I feel caution should be used when gifting your heart to people...but it's almost Valentine's Day and people do strange things...like eat butter and wire keys to boxes.

Bird Angel

Usually I raku fire the angels I make but I decided to try a new black clay for this one.  I carved twigs in the terra sig (white part) and added white birds...I might glaze one bird red...I haven't decided.
I don't know if she'll turn out...the vent hole in her head didn't go all the way through and she got a crack on the side of her face...I patched it (which seldom works).....we'll see.
Depending on how (if) she turns out, I might put a clear glaze over her....or not. I sort of like unglazed clay.