Kitten tumblers

Kittens on their way to new home...tumblers with designed white kittens on the sides, that is.

Here they were before glazes. 

 Their new owners wanted a variety of glaze colors...so this is the result.

Simple joys of life

Starting the day out

I make two cups from the same cone, just adding another scoop of coffee for the second one, which is actually a bit stronger of course.

Trying new techniques for a tree

These strange shapes are a trial at how to stand things up for a tree.  Pat made a lovely egg serving dish next to the strange tree, which  doesn't require a lot of experimentation.

new shapes

I not only faceted the carafe, I've covered it with Fish Sauce slip.  Wheee...lots of new things to combine.

So I did it to all four that I threw Sunday.

We were talking about a Devonshire Potter, Doug Fitch, who does slipware, meaning he throws gorgeous pitchers/jugs/jars, and then pours white slip over the decorated forms.  (See HERE).

Throwing new shapes

I thought I'd like to make pitchers without handles.  Kind of a carafe.  This is just thrown.

There's the wheel with another pitcher, and some plants that are struggling to make it another month when they can finally go outside in the sun and warmth.

I've actually already done some fluting on the bases and pasted a sprigged emblem of a triple spiral on each of these carafes.  Can't really call them pitchers, can I?

Stuff around the place

I love these silly slinky white nick nacks...or is it gnick gnacks?  Something weird I know.  But here they are, not sold for a bit...and they just look so, I don't know, reminiscent of that lamp I had with a shepherd boy and a dancing woman holding a parisol...ok, maybe not that exactly combination.

 

My wintered over plants have begun to bloom.  I admit I don't heat my studio daily, so they are lucky to be alive still.

Isn't perspective funny with an iPhone?  Or any lens actually.  Look how those round openings go all whonkey when they are closer to the edge of the photo!

I love St. Patricks Day

...from green beer to the great step-dancing to drumming.  Ahhh.
Shamrocks are beautiful, if somewhat weedy once they are established.  "Erin go bragh!"

I need to read seriously the Irish history which includes some of my ancestors, as well as the Scottish ones who were forced to move to Ireland by the British.  I don't know which side is right or wrong. And lots of wonderful music has been written.

I love the myths.  Bridgid.
The ancient sites.  Newgrange.

So I will salute St. Patrick's day, which was brought by the immigrants from Ireland to the US...and still goes strong each March 17.  Erin go bragh!

St. Patrick's Day Parade, Dublin, Ireland

And especially a toast to my son who was active celebrating St. Patty's day this weekend.  I hope he's feeling up to going to work on the real St. Patrick's Day!

PS, I posted the same post on another of my blogs...hey why not?

bisqued tumblers

The kittens are molded in white clay, applied to a stoneware tumbler, and carved.  So they each look different.  I designed the molds as well.  I thought it would also be fun to shape the tops as triangles...which require a bit of thought to drink from.  These are waiting to be glazed with different colors...as well as a couple more for a set of 4.  Meow!

The former set had different animals and all had a glaze which turned the animals pale green.  (Go Here to see that set).

Incense Holders?

I know people like a stick of incense sometimes.  My friend asked me to make her a ceramic holder where the ashes would drop onto a surface rather than the desk or table.

Now I've seen a few zillion wood ones, but she wanted a ceramic one.

So she'll get to chose whichever one she likes.

blossoming tree mugs

You saw me holding one of these yesterday.  Not sure what kind of blossoms they are, but they join most of us in our fervent wishes for spring soon.
They were intended to be dogwoods...just thought I'd let you know what I had in mind.

And just out of the kiln

In her right hand is a new toothbrush holder in bright yellow just as my friend requested.
In the left hand, one of my tree mugs, with some kinds of blossoms on the tree.  Yay, it's spring.  Maybe.

So what's your toothbrush hanging in?

I actually have an order to make one that's yellow.  This is on a stoneware that turned the yellow glaze closer to green...though that's nice too.  So I've made a white clay one that's about to be glazed bright yellow.  I'll show you next week sometime.

And yes, for several years I used an electric toothbrush.  So I just had to put cosmetic sticks in my toothbrush caddy, until I stopped wearing cosmetics.  Maybe that's why I went back to a standard arm powered toothbrush.

A small tree

 

White clay, stained, with just the leaves glazed with celadon, and a bit brushed across the rocks at the base as well.  This time my stain (black copper oxide) was thickly applied, giving more blacks as well as the browns that my larger tree had.  (see tree sculpture here). 

I wonder what the dark stain would look like on a speckled brownstone clay...mmm, next thing to try.

Daffodils coming...

I'm not the only one eager for spring

Big Stone Gap fire

Remember my road trip last Sat?  To the Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap, VA.  

I'm now Wendy Welch's friend on FaceBook, and yesterday evening she posted lots of pictures from her second story windows of the fire across the street.  I thought she had a blog as well, but am not finding it.  So here's her FB site. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tales-of-The-Lonesome-Pine-LLC/166114776736491

All photos are Wendy's.

March 3, about 8 pm under control

March 4, this morning, back flaming again

About half an hour ago, she posted a picture that the fire had restarted, and then was again under control.  It's a chemical loaded building, being a NAPA Auto Parts store.  The apartment building didn't make it last night, but the ABC store has so far been protected.  There are lots of comments from people concerned about the chemical run off.

March 4, back under control.

So sorry to see, and hear about this fire kitty-corner from a lovely business, which is closed for today.  I know they are smelling lots of smoky fumes, and hope everyone in the Bookstore and Cafe are ok.  Thanks Wendy, for sharing with us.

Pop an animal on it!

The fun of these animals are that I made a mold for them myself, so they are my designs, but still hand made.  And add them to a triangular shaped cup which holds 10 oz...then just charge $10 each...whoo hoo!  Things are moving along.  Thanks to Wendy who told Elizabeth R!

COld and wet here in western NC today.  I'm glad to have a warm home in which to work...as well as feline companions of the warm persuasion.

Going out of town

...there's this assumption often (and often totally off the mark) that the out of town person knows something/has something to offer, different or better than the locals.

The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap, VA

So I got to go out of town yesterday, and proved it's a small world.  One of the women who bought one of my mugs comes here to Black Mountain frequently, and knows a couple of potters that are friends of mine, and who make beautiful works...so I was very grateful that she liked my work also.

Here are some of the photos that spread out my day.  Meeting the owners of The Tales of the Lonesome Pine Bookstore, as well as a lot of their friends and customers, as well as the chef who prepares fabulous food for the Second Story Cafe...it was all wonderful fun.

And did I sell pottery?  More than I expected!

 

That's the advantage of having so much to look forward to, besides sales, that they indeed become just a secondary aspect of everything that's happening.

Elizabeth Cooperstein took some mug shots...ha ha.

While I snuck in some book shots... and Wendy Welch shots, and cat shots...and friends...and so on.

My books for the day, and some pottery which didn't all come home with me.

Pause here, because this lovely lady hiding in the mystery book room is waiting to be adopted.

But 18 year old Nicki is the shop-cat!

I hope someone enjoys candlelit baths!

The wall of fame, thanks to Wendy's book

Erin and I had some good talks

Helen found a niche where she could read and not be bothered about pottery sales

And I came home to find I'd missed photofraphing several important members of their community...so I'll have to go back again and make sure to include Jack, Wendy's husband, and Hollie who creates fantastic food for the Second Story Cafe.