keep centered

These are the most recent pottery from the kiln that I liked. Most of the rest of the load will either be re-glazed or have received the hammer treatment.


Covered casserole dish, maybe 1&1/2 quarts.



Jug and mug.



A purple luncheon set. I gave the green set to HGS for Christmas. He said "Nice Artwork", which is the most positive feedback he's ever given me. heh.



Soup bowl. Many soup bowls are on my mind now with Empty Bowls workshops upcoming and "Soup Bowls for the YWCA" we are doing at work.

For Christmas this year Celadon asked for a dumbek. I used to make quite a few of these, but haven't for years. The heads are a pain to put on. All of the heads I apply are glued on with a water based glue, stretched down in a strange little structure, held with turnbuckles and dried over a couple of days. I used to string the heads on with rawhide, but really that had no structural purpose, just for looks. So this one is just held together with glue, no cord and will be just as sturdy. I had one for about 6 years with just glue until someone talked me into selling it to them.
I am compelled to say the sound on this is great, very warm, deep tone.

It is about 14" tall and 12" wide at the head.


I'm going to make her a bag to carry it in. I just barely finished it in time for Christmas, so I didn't get to the bag.

I do not know if these follow the bad boy guidelines exactly, I will have to check with my 13 year old mentor. These may not be unique, but they are new to me.
But thus far my efforts:


This is with sharpie so it's the tightest & most controlled. Perhaps this isn't good??? Some of what I learned from my mentor is use of backward letters, in this case the "p, q, r,l, & e"; letters on their side my "z, q, l,& k " . Letters are written larger covering other letters by the writers choice. Letters often overlap over each other, creating interesting negative space relationships (he didn't say that, but they do)also the choice of the writer.On the bottom of the paper I wrote "Ann Marie" (sorry :-( forgot the e), it's also written vertically on the right.



These were written with an oil pastel to give a softer line like spray paint. It may be obvious to calligraphers that half-uncial is my fave and I adjusted some of those. I also love the g clef shape, and my "v" was NOT influenced by my bitterness at having missed the 12th Night party. harumph. At the bottom of the paper is the word "AnTir", also written vertically on the right.


This is with a calligraphy marker. I wrote "Morgaina" on the bottom and again vertically on the left.

I was going to write "Amby" but he already has his own technique of tagging.

Hey everyone!
My Potters Guild is planning our annual Empty Bowls event: http://www.emptybowls.net/
It will be held April 17th here in Moscow.

Potters out there, we are seeking donations of handmade bowls for this event. If you have any you would like to donate please contact me at potteryatmoscowdotcom for a shipping address.

If you have bowls to donate we might be able to use the "SCA Courier Service", via KA&S or people traveling back and forth and save the shipping hassle.

I am hoping we can have another bowl painting workshop as we did the past 2 years.

Everything is still in the planning stages, but it's exciting as it seems we are becoming more anticipated by the community that means a larger donation to the cause of ending hunger.

I started a calligraphy unit with my students. We use calligraphy markers and after practice, we use faux parchment.
One girl had used her pen to do her name in a "tagging" style.
I asked her to just use the marker for calligraphy and she claimed "This IS calligraphy."

What do you think? If done on small scale with a calligraphy point/nib on paper, could tagging be considered calligraphy?

I'm having a good time in the studio this week. Although I have got a little done,it is a constant struggle trying to keep the studio warm and that is taking up a percentage of my productive time and physical energy.
It's been a while since I have been to a city to buy clay so am getting it from a regional neighbor. This is good because he is a friend, an entrepreneur, and it is local clay. But the clay is....short. Thus it takes a lot more effort to get the shapes I want than a fatter clay like B-Mix does and it's much more difficult to get any kind of height.

I have several of the "Lark 500" series of craft books. I've found it interesting that so many of the pitchers in the "500 Pitchers" are jug styles from the high Medieval era. My own jugs (hur) are beginning to feel blurred between modern and medieval.

The tallest jug in this set is 12" tall.


Trying different things with the feet.


The photo is somewhat misleading the bowl on the right is about a 3qt capacity and those on the left are soup bowl size.


The tallest goblet is 9" tall, the shortest goblet is around 7" tall. I have a commission for 2 Communion sets, one is supposed to be considerably larger than the other set. There is a reason but I don't remember why.

I really like how many people on my f-list have started showing photos of their projects more often. I hope you will continue to do so.
It's so interesting and easier to see details on LJ than at an event where everyone is so busy, or like me not able to attend as many events in other areas.
Bring 'em on, pottery, cooking, metal, garb, sausages, jewelry, fabric, glass, etc. etc.
I also plan to do more commenting and hope more people will comment on my pics too.

This was taken from another e-list & I liked it. This is also why I say friendship is more important than politics.
-------------------------------------------------------

The following is the philosophy of Charles Schulz, the creator of the
'Peanuts' comic strip.

You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just ponder on them.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America pageant.
4 Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and
actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series Winners.


How did you do?
The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.
These are no second-rate achievers.
They are the best in their fields.
But the applause dies...
Awards tarnish.
Achievements are forgotten.
Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and
special!!
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.


Easier?

The lesson:
The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the
most credentials..
the most money..or the most awards.
They simply are the ones who care the most


''Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!

Look at this cool article in the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-claypot28-2009oct28,0,487574.story

Another book I have to get.

Some of the pottery I've been working on recently. I will try to get photos of my collage too, but it probably needs re-framed. The show the collage is in has an opening tomorrow. The theme for the show is "The Road Less Traveled". Yeah....I suppose I have some life experience in that. ;-)

( tiptoeing through the Medieval ceramic spectrum )

The contents of Maiolica albarello/drug/pharmacy jars were originally kept closed by use of a piece of parchment tied on with a cord. Any ideas for good substitutions for parchment?

From Gwen and Gwen

Work:............ glad ibuprofen exists
School:.......... kids wigging out
Project:......... entering art shows
Health o'mine:... lucky so far
Crafts:.......... yes please, more
Cooking:......... trying to improve
SCA:............. its there somewhere
Amusements: ......Dog o' courage
House:............change the subject
Mood:.............Still somewhat stressed
Car: ............ Subaru for me
Phone: ........... only when necessary

I think I would like to have some of my classes decorate sugar skulls for Dia de los Muertos. There are some web sites that sell molds for casting sugar skulls, they also have meringue powder, which they say is necessary for casting sugar. Is this true?
Is there a recipe that doesn't call for that?
Thanks

Email friend Kelly Savino made this oven http://www.primalmommy.com/earthoven.html several years ago. I have been in great admiration of it. But since I don't have the kids at home any more and would like to move at some point it wasn't at all a reasonable thing to make. But then Dame Zenobia posted this http://people.umass.edu/dac/projects/BrickOven/Instant_BrickOven.htm web page on FaceBook last Wednesday eve. I have been somewhere between overwhelmed and obsessed about it since then. It was temporary, it was quick, I could tear it down again and use the materials to make a ziggurat or a tornado shelter if either became necessary.

I was able to scrounge all the materials for it from off my place, which was one of my rules. I am trying to purge, not accumulate. Or in this case at least put to use some of the crap around here. It took longer than the hour promised, but only because I had to find the materials, tote them to the back yard, and scrub them off. If the bricks & blocks were already sitting in the back yard it would have taken less than an hour.
( it's ghetto, but that just means it perfectly matches the rest of my decor )

Master hroar expressed interest in the mica clay so here are some photos of the ware I have been making with low-fire mica clay. This is a commercial body from New Mexico Clay Co., is supposed to be what they Pueblo Indians used for cook pots, and I wanted to experiment with it.

( white mica clay, I haven't started the red yet )
Although New Mexico Clay was a good company to work with, shipping makes this clay impractical, my plan is to prospect around here for mica clay as soon as the weather moderates.

I'm working on longstitch books again. I am using linen for the connecting hinge. Does anyone have suggestions of a glue to attach the hinges to the covers that does not mottle and make the hinge look so stained when aforementioned glue dries?
So far I've tried wheat paste glue, Elmers, and Mod Podge, all have discolored the fabric.
My Guru is deep in the backwoods of Idaho for the summer so I can't ask him.
Thanks,

I know I said the Tonala family's work was majolica, but that is wrong wrong it is underglazes painted on bisqueware.
( certainly similar style though )

Some pictures from Mexico:
( I won't subject you to all my photos, but this is still picture heavy )
I'll post some Mexican pottery pics later.

Not the most rewarding kiln opening I've had. The biggest disappointment was the stools, which were so severely cracked I couldn't exhibit them. I might put a bead of silicone on them and keep them outside. The glaze and design turned out nicely. This only adds to the frustration.

Then there were the other pots for ArtWalk, inspired by the Lascaux Cave paintings. They are OK but didn't turn out like I had hoped. I used a mouth atomizer to spray glaze & slip as a background on them, I obviously didn't have it concentrated enough (although I personally almost passed out from the blowing) leaving too pristine a white for the background. I think the idea is great though and worth pursuing. I'm going to keep trying with it. However, I have to fill an entire kiln, so if the if the results are mediocre or poor, I've wasted an entire load.

The best ones were due to the brilliant Miss dancing_guru who encouraged me not to put glaze over the top of two of them. She was so right. If anyone wants to know why you should have adult children, it is because they give, without question, the most useful, honest, and tactful critiques I get. When working on a project, I have so often wished they were around for suggestions/advise/honest appraisal.

I have to go set up my ArtWalk display in a couple of hours. Wish I felt better about my pots.
This was the due date for "Madame Chair" so that is right out.
( here are some pics anyway )

One of the real positives is that at last I have found some images of horses that aren't such cliche images (to me anyway) as so many horses on ceramics feel like.

These are some paintings Gavin didn't include in his show. They were piled up in his apartment. These aren't his preferred paintings. but I thought you might like to look at them anyway.
( More paintings )