Enjoying Summer

Busy week - I went up to Northern Virginia and brought my mom back for the week. So, I have been taking her to see the sights and we took an excursion over to see her sisters in Stanly County, near Seagrove. That meant an afternoon of visiting some potteries and picking up ideas and inspirations! Mom and my aunt Gertrude went with me which made the trip even more enjoyable. The picture above is Mom (on the left) with two of her sisters, Sarah (center) and Gertrude (right). I can hear them now, saying, "Oh! I can't believe he put that picture on the Internet!"

My son, Justin, has been working on a line-drawing logo for Straydog Pottery and we are almost ready to turn it into new business cards, signs, brochures, and a T-shirt. Maybe I will be able to unveil the new design in the very near future!

I put off the delivery of my kiln until tomorrow since Mom was visiting. I had cleared a spot in the garage last week, but it is already starting to fill with "treasures" that seem to accumulate from nowhere. This evening, I will move things again to be ready for the arrival of the kiln in the morning. I have been reading up on electric firing and am sort of excited about learning about the glazes and methods that work best with that method.

In the bits of spare time I could find, I worked on some pieces to take in to the studio. I had bought some red high fire clay just to try throwing some with both colors of clay to get a marbled effect. I think my first attempt turned out pretty well - we will see after it is fired. The red clay has a different feel - not as smooth, but maybe because it is a little drier than I am used to having.

The other pieces have been a variety of things I have wanted to try. I read an article on Ceramics Daily about a technique of scribing squares and then pushing out "bumps" on a pot, so I tried that and was pleased with the results. Also worked on some larger pieces and, of course, a couple of face jugs.

One final note - I signed a contract for a teaching job, so that worry is gone. I am always thankful when things work out and feel that there has always been divine intervention in my life that help things to continue. Life is good!