pottery

Go Big or Go Home

September 27, 2019 mud&stringLeave a comment

Anyone else ever have kiln envy? Not me…..at least not until about 30 minutes ago or so.

So. Here I am, at home, minding my own business (sort of) and remembering that another potter friend told me about her new kiln that she bought off Craigslist. I go to Craigslist – just to scope out if there are any kilns listed, mind you and find this:

B10F1219-F65A-4464-82F0-572E909F2EC0

No, I’m not Memphis bound with a wad of cash, but someday I’ll ~~want~~ need a bigger, fancier, shinier kiln and you can just bet I’ll be looking at Craigslist more often from now on! 🙂

He who talks more is sooner exhausted. Lao Tzu

The Insomniac Potter Rides Again

September 25, 2019September 25, 2019 mud&stringLeave a comment

Good morning everyone! As you can see, my sleep pattern seems to have reverted into the good old 2 a.m. internal alarm setting. (heavy sigh) One good thing about starting my day in the wee hours is that it’s a great time to run the kiln, long before the sun comes up, and the heat and humidity start to build.

Here’s a look at a few things I’ve been working on:

170191CF-8BAF-42FA-9BB6-A23C3FF8CA14

The start of a series of small bottles, all different

Glazes L to R

Blue Rutile, Textured Turquoise and Blue Rutile, Blueberry Spice, Textured Turquoise, Ancient Jasper

A pot I started yesterday waiting to dry enough to trim.

A bean pot that has been washed and reglazed several times. (I’m not usually this indecisive.) Final glaze is Textured Turquoise. (Probably)🤔

ON MY NEEDLES

The first five inches of the Gray Days sweater. Six more inches of stockinette to go then on to the best part – CABLES! I absolutely LOVE cables!

A548AEFE-5DAD-4ECA-8861-BCA48AAA26C9

My Gray Days

Knitpicks Wool of the Andes

Haze Heather

Project notes can be found here.

There is no great genius without some touch of madness. Seneca

PS I’ve added some new pots to my Etsy shop, ClayDreamsPottery. I’d love to have you pay a visit!

Knitting · pottery

Woo-Hoo! I Have a FO!

September 20, 2019September 20, 2019 mud&stringLeave a comment

Off My Needles

It’s official! My Leksak Lady is finished, with ends woven, a nice Eucalan soak and ending with a good blocking and drying. My project notes can be found here.

My Leksak Lady

Knitpicks Wool of the Andes Tweed Barn Door Heather

I’m ready for fall and cooler temps, could someone please get in touch with Mother Nature and pass that on?

In the hope that yes, fall is coming, I started a new sweater yesterday, Gray Days, a Knitpicks pattern. I wish I could show you a photo, but nothing larger than a postage stamp will load. You can get a better look at it on the cover of the latest Knitpicks catalog.

Out of the Kiln

I’ve been working on a small bottle series and got the first bunch bisqued yesterday. Now comes the hard part – what glazes should I use? Decisions, decisions. Here’s a photo –

The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper. Eden Phillpotts

Knitting · pottery

Almost Back to Normal

September 15, 2019September 15, 2019 mud&stringLeave a comment

After being laid low last week from my shingles vaccine booster – think worst hangover ever accompanied by a temp of 102, I finally feel like I’m on the downside of this ugliness. Jeez louise, I hate to be sick!

I’ve made what I consider great progress on Leksak Lady, with only one and one half sleeves and the crochet edging to be done. I admit, I’m particularly proud of my edging as I rarely crochet (though I really do enjoy doing it) and am usually pleasantly surprised at how good it looks.

D99C1B28-635A-4C0E-988F-C232D503B292

Leksak Lady

I’m going to try my hardest to remember to add project notes when a project is completed. I find other knitter’s project notes really helpful and, well, turnabout is fair play my mama always said.

OK, that’s my string side. Now, on to the mud…..

My new clay finally arrived and new clay is always cause for a celebration. I threw a couple of chucks, which I sorely needed. It seems like just about everything that comes off my wheel lately has some sort of neck and I find it impossible to trim without using one. Granted, a chuck isn’t the most exciting thing to come off my wheel, but it sure is nice to have one when I need it!

Someday I’m going to learn how to level my shots. 🙂

B1396B2B-1C9C-4B7E-B11E-C7A8AFB085A1

E0B028E9-B330-432C-8956-E500D0D8D190

59BD21F6-E1FA-49BD-BF88-16E7B66E4074

I threw this vessel and stamped it as an experiment. I like the way it turned out – what do you think? Maybe my new glazes will have arrived by the time it’s ready for glazing and it’s final firing.

FYI – Tomorrow is the first day of the fall session of pottery class. It’s doubly exciting because we’re in a new (to us) building as the Arkansas Art Center and Museum School is undergoing a facelift/remodel slated to take three years. Exciting stuff!

One more thing – If you haven’t visited ClayDreamsPottery lately, go on over and take a look. You never know what you might find!

All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree. Albert Einstein

Family · Knitting · Random

Where’d Summer Go?

September 9, 2019September 9, 2019 mud&stringLeave a comment

I’m definitely stuck in summer mode. I keep saying to myself “this summer, I’m going to ____________________”, as if it weren’t already September, the grands weren’t all back in school and the fall activities weren’t gearing up and the summer activities weren’t winding down. Admittedly, it seemed that this particular summer was more hectic than usual with family togetherness, minor injuries (mostly mine) with my back reminding me off and on that I’m not as young as I used to be (really??). Ahhh, no real complaints here, just the impossibility of trying to fit a year’s worth of being together and a year’s worth of activities into a six to eight week time frame. FYI – Half our grandkids and their corresponding parents live in Thailand — Bangkok to be exact and can make a trip back to the U.S. once a year, hence the compressed time frame. The rest of the grands live locally – a good thing for a grandma who needs a grandkid fix every now and then.

Now, aren’t you just dying to see a photo of our little darlings???

71BDA133-C1F2-4D0D-B9E6-85B39A152DAE

Five granddaughters and one grandson!

l-r: Harper, Emma, Shepherd, Charlee, Annabelle and Susannah, the one who started it all!

IN MY STUDIO

I’m working on a series of small bottles that I’m enjoying a lot. I have no plan when I sit down to throw, I just let my hands do their own thing.

2D31315C-D8A8-4AB6-AF8B-DFA1E033AB0E

These are ready for their first firing in the next few days,

ON THE FIBER FRONT

9AF3B2DB-82BF-4694-BCCD-A47F3EBAABDF

These are some singles I spun up. I don’t feel like they are crying out to be plied so aftere a nice wash and wind, I think they’ll make nice socks for someone!

The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it. Richard Bach

Random

Notorious RBG, Finally Home and Back to My Wheel

September 4, 2019September 4, 2019 mud&string

After taking what felt like the Grand Tour of Dallas and the surrounding area, I’m FINALLY home, safe and sound. This trip had a little something for everyone, lost luggage, missed connections, airport closings, stormy weather and about a thousand unhappy passengers, hoping against hope that their connecting flight was still on the ground, just waiting to be reboarded to take their passengers to their final destinations. Unfortunately, I was not part of this happy group, having missed my connecting flight home, giving me the privilege of spending the night at DFW and catching the first plane that was pointed in Little Rock’s direction. The stars aligned, I boarded the first plane out and was home within the hour.

After my spouse and my dog, I was most happy to see my pottery wheel and studio. After some breakfast and a nap, I spent some QT getting my hands back into clay and starting on a small project that had been percolating in the back of my mind for a while — a set of small bottles, all different, but glazed in a similar way. I haven’t even given much thought to how many I should throw or how many bottles will make a set.

Here’s a look at my project progress so far –

22631F6A-4644-45FA-B3B6-3A0865DCA59F

Last, but most certainly not least, I scored a couple of tickets to the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsberg lecture/interview last evening and was so happy to have Cindy to go with. RBG was amazing and was sharp as a whole truckload of tacks. Don’t let the librarian bun and her super petite frame fool you, I don’t doubt that she can go toe to toe with any of the big, well fed (her words, not mine) male Justices that occupy the bench with her, leaving them in the dust and wondering what just happened.

I want her to stay on the bench forever!

4E9F19F9-6B84-46FB-B1A9-D8748A96CB5D