hoosier – mud&string

I’ve been very neglectful this past week of just about everything while dismantling, cleaning, painting and reassembling this old hoosier cabinet –

I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the colors Henrietta on doors and drawers and Emile on the rest. Oh, and see those yucky brownish hinges? Those are the original hinges, I couldn’t find any new ones that fit. Those old hinges? That’s what color the whole thing was before the new paint job. Gross. This is my workspace and storage for my pottery.

After the cabinet was squared away I was able to think about clay again and finally ran a glaze kiln today. Here’s a first look –

Way too hot to get close, but they look like a success so far!

Be sure to look for these in my Etsy shop, ClayDreamsPottery!

My advice to you is not to inquire why or whither, but just enjoy your ice cream while it’s on your plate. Thornton Wilder

WHAT I DID TODAY

Quite a while ago, think years, I came into possession of an old Hoosier cabinet which was just sort of pushed back against the wall and forgotten about. When I decided to set up my studio and started cleaning, guess what I found!!!! That’s right, the old Hoosier came out of hiding. It was a bit dirtier than before – it’s been in the garage after all and the evidence of a failed attempt to antique it was still there. Whoever painted it painted EVERYTHING, the hinges, the latches, everything within reach. Anyhow, I’ve decided to clean it up, repaint it and use it in my studio. It has at least 50 years of grime built up – seriously – that has to go before I can start it on it’s road to recovery. First things first…..knock as much gunk off as I can. So, out comes the pressure washer, off come the doors, out come the drawers and off come what looks like 20 years of kitchen grease and grime. Yay! My biggest fear that it would explode into a million toothpicks didn’t happen. Everything withstood the pressure washing with no problem. Great – half the first step – done. One more wash with a bit of Mean Green detergent should do the trick and I’ll be on to the second step – paint – soon.

Here’s a before photo –

Sorry for the bad focus, but you can see the shape it’s in. Yuck!

After first pressure wash.

ON THE WHEEL

This week I threw a couple test batter bowls, one of which I promptly broke off the handle, I tried something new I saw in Pottery Making Illustrated, Throwing in Two Parts and threw a sweet little rounded pitcher.