Turtle Power!

In how many ways can you incorporate turtles into pieces of functional pottery?  I don't know that I have the answer, but I am sure trying to see what I can do to be ready for the Indian Summer Festival in Hertford in September.  Part of the festival is the crowning of the Turtle Princess and the Turtle Queen.  These people are very proud of their town mascot, so I have been told that whatever I can bring that has a turtle on it will stand a very good chance of being a popular item.  Therefore, I have been working on turtle mugs, turtle plates, and even turtle French butter dishes!  I have a month to build my turtle inventory, so I suppose that will be a majority of my focus in August.




I also have the last "Second Saturday" of the summer on the 14th in Cresswell at Somerset Place, so most of my new non-turtle ware will be included in that event.  I have really made use of the Shino glaze since it has become available again at the studio and have been very pleased with the results.  The bunt cake "pan" is an example of this beautiful reddish brown glaze.  I made the bunt pan because a potter in Seagrove told me how hard they were to make and I wanted to see for myself.  I don't know that I would call it difficult so much as time consuming, but I really like how it turned out.  I also have been working on things like the apple bakers and pitchers of various sizes and shapes.


In October, the Finch Potters will be putting on an exhibit in Wilson, so I have been working on a few pieces especially for that show.  Since I have made so many face jugs, I thought that I would include a jug as one of the pieces - this one about three times larger than my usual jugs.  The deep oblong casserole is another piece I am hoping to include in the exhibit and then maybe a bowl of some sort.  I will have more specifics on the show in the coming weeks.

Still moving . . . still getting ready for the start of school.  Later!

Three Weeks to First Day of Classes

It is hard to believe that school starts in three weeks!  By that, I mean that school starts for the students . . . my vacation ended when I accepted the role of principal.  So, now I am adjusting to new duties and a new set of colleagues that I will be working with this year.  Exciting times.

Pottery-wise, I am somewhat behind this week due to a screwed up back.  I can't figure out what happened unless it was from leaning into the engine compartment of one of the cars and pulling on an air-conditioner drain tube - must have pulled a muscle in the process.  Anyway, that put me out of commission for the weekend and last night I couldn't stand it anymore and worked at the wheel for about three hours.  It wasn't exactly comfortable, but I managed to get started on some mugs for a show in September and I am still alive to talk about it!

The pictures are from my last glaze firing.  I really liked the way the urn turned out with the Shino glaze.  Shino is one of my favorite glazes and this batch has a lot of orange/red tones in it.  The canisters were partly experiment, partly designed, to go in our new kitchen.  I wanted something to keep coffee and tea bags in that could sit on the counter.  The tumblers are pretty good size - will probably hold a complete can of drink with ice.



Time to pull some turtle molds made out of sculpey from the oven and head over to the shop to finish last night's mugs.  I will have a booth at the Indian Summer Festival in Hertford in September and wanted to have some "turtle-ware" available.  One of the highlights of the day at the festival will be the crowning of the Turtle Princess and the Turtle Queen!  More on that later.