Still Searching for Time

I feel like I am already behind in blogging! This week has been filled with grading, lesson plans, church, and the other things I have to do immediately to keep things going. So, it was another week of only a few pieces to take in on Thursday. I spent a lot of time working on a lidded casserole, which still is not finished. It is the picture of what looks like a fat flying saucer. I need to spray it down with water to keep it from drying out completely so I can attach handles and some decorative additions. It has been a real learning experience, but well worth the exercise, if only to help in visualizing how lids fit into design schemes.

Other pieces are a couple of bowls, a couple of urns/vases, and a couple of small face jugs. The reclaimed clay really is pretty moist and it has taken some time to get used to working with it. Last night, the only pieces I had to from last week that were ready to pick up were a small rice bowl and a lidded bean pot. I like how the pot turned out, but it surprised me when I saw how off center the handles are - I really had made an effort to keep everything centered and symmetric.

A friend of mine and fellow teacher is also learning pottery and we went in together and ordered about a dozen different colors of mason stains - greens, browns, blues, yellow, etc. We also got some Coleman slip, so I will be trying out these stains and slip in the near future. I brought home two pieces that were bisque-fired last week to experiment on with the stains.

I need to create at least three special pieces in the next few weeks for a summer exhibition that begins in May. More on that later, hopefully with a copy of the flier with all the details. Until then, I plan to grab whatever minutes I can at my wheel and try some new things. First order of business this weekend is to clean up all those little muddy paw prints so I can start with a relatively clean studio space. I wonder how I can incorporate the additions of our cats and dogs into the pottery design!!!

Happy Valentine's Day - don't forget to give your soul-mate a card, an extra hug, and a special expression of love! My motto for my thirty-plus years of marriage has been, "A happy wife is a happy life!" Pretty close to, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!"

cmj