Nesting bowls + handles = non-nesting bowls

Before I put the handles on, the bowls actually nested! This is the first time I've ever made a set like this, and I am super happy with these!

Of course, once I put the handles on, they can't nest any more :( but maybe I can still set them inside each other?  Anyways, I think my Grandma will love these, especially once I paint them (I'm leaning towards a daisy design).

Also got the vases trimmed. I think I will carve a couple of these and paint the other two.  I've been cramming to try and get some of these projects done before Christmas; I'm going to try out a high fire electric glazing, expect to see those next week.

Vases and the last mixing bowl

Doing some vases for a coworker's request.  These were kind of a pain, I am still having some issues with the clay getting a little off center while opening, and this become much more pronounced with tall thin objects :P  But they came out alright. I will probably throw a couple more wed or thur. 

Also got the third bowl done for my Grandma's christmas present!  This one doesn't match quite as well... it's a little bit too short, but I think they will look nice anyways.  Plus, they wont be able to nest because of the handles I'm going to put on them, so it won't be as noticable :P

Still dealing with my back pain, which is extremely frustrating.  I can throw without too much trouble, but doing it for more than a couple hours makes me kind of achey.  Today the physical therapist basically told me to expect this to last for a while, like wearing my brace for the next year.  I am not really looking forwards to that...

Painted pots, christmas gifts

I got a couple more things painted with underglaze last week, including this pretty little plate!  I am very happy with the way this turned out; I like the plate itself (I plan on making more with this wide rim that is so very paintable), and the design is great!  I am trying so hard to not use stripes too much, and I even noticed that most of the things I sold during EAST were more complicated patterns like this one.  So I will make an effort :P

Also got this teapot done, I am very happy with the petal shapes (a million times easier to paint curved lines than to carve them), but I'm not positive I like the spout.  I'm going to leave it that way and see how it looks complete! I think it is a little overwhelming right now, but I'm hoping once I get a colored glaze on it the piece will be balanced out a bit.

Also working on some last minute Christmas gifts! My grandma mentioned a while ago that she used to have a mixing bowl with a spout and a handle and requested I make her one, so I am going to try for my first ever set of nesting bowls.  We shall see how that turns out, I'm not sure if I can get it to work with the handles, but I will try :)  These bowls and the pitchers reminded me how much I hate making pulled spouts. They are no fun.

New pots on Etsy; Holiday specials!

Thanksgiving is over, and now everyone is looking forwards to the upcoming holidays! I just posted a bunch of new pots on Etsy, and as a holiday special, I am giving any blog fans a 10% discount on their next purchase! Just enter the coupon code "FAITHFULBLOGFAN" at checkout. In addition, purchase anything before Jan 1st, and you will receive a coupon code for a 15% discount on purchases made after Jan 1, 2011.  Enjoy!

Also got one of the pitchers carved! I'm really happy with the way this guy turned out :)

E.A.S.T. week 2

The second weekend of EAST went well, though it was a little slower than the first.  I had a great time hanging out with all the artists and visitors, and I sold a few more pieces!  All together it was a great experience, and maybe next year I will cough up the  $100 and officially take part :)

EAST week 1, pitchers

The first weekend of EAST went great! I sold some pieces, and had a lot of people interested in my work, which was super exciting :)  This is my set up, I took some nicer pictures with my real camera, I'll post those after this coming weekend.  If you want to stop by, my stuff will be in the studio both days, and I should be there 3-6 sat and all day sun.

Also finally got some handles on those pitchers!  I plan on carving some and painting some.

East Austin Studio Tour TOMORROW!!

Come see me and my beautiful pottery!! :D  E.A.S.T. starts tomorrow, and I will be at Ryans studio on 2710 E Cesar Chavez from 11am-6pm and from 3pm-6pm on Sunday.  I am super excited! I will post photos of the event tomorrow :)

And because its a photo blog, and it needs pictures, here is Peanut Butter.  She is curious about my phone..

More pitchers, and a working fountain!

I made two more pitchers!  I like the way these guys turned out, but I think I like my little pot-bellied ones a bit better.  They have so much personality :)

I am actually very happy with these; I had trouble throwing all four (with the back problems and general business I've been throwing very sporadically), and I was very happy to end up with good looking pots!  I guess thats what really shows my progress, I still have problems throwing sometimes (mostly its been problems with things getting slightly off center as I am opening and doing the first few pulls), but I am getting better at working through issues and managing to come out with a pot rather than having it collapse on me :D

Lastly, I finaly finished this project from October of 09!  I was taking a class at Clayways, and our instructor Kelly was showing us how to make a simple fountain.  I threw and carved this guy and got it bisqued, but I wanted to salt-fire it, and its been waiting to get fired at Ryans for almost a year!  Today I went to Armadillo and bought the pump, and put it all together.  This is super exciting for me, I've never assembled any sort  of working device before, no laps, clocks, or even a soap pump.  My cats love it; I'm not sure if they will let me sell their wonderful new drinking fountain.

Finished pots!

Here are my fired pots!! This was an exciting firing; it had some new stuff (like the painted cups, these are the first painted pieces I've gotten completely fired), and some stuff that had been waiting a long time to get fired (the bottles and jugs).  I am super happy with the way everything turned out!  The more I see of the blue glaze, the more I like it.  I think next firing I will also try some with a flashing slip on them, maybe with the carved out portions to contrast the slip? We will see.  Expect to see these on Etsy in a few weeks; I'm going to wait to post them until after EAST, as I am hoping some of them will be bought!

Pitchers

I have a coworker that wants me to make a pitcher for her, and I haven't done anything like that in a while, so I decided to make a few.  I just got around to making 2 yesterday (I need to buy more clay, and my back was bugging me), but I plan on making at least a couple more.  I am trying really hard to make a minimum of 4-6 of anything I make; I think its a good exercise, and gives me more product to sell!  I particularly like this guy, hes short and got a potbelly :)

This one I was trying to make taller and more slender, but it ended up kind of potbellied too :P I should try to make one that is top heavy instead of bottom heavy, but at least the bottom heavy ones balance out nicely with their handles.  And I like the character the bellies give them :)  This one was also being difficult, the clay was soft (and I am not throwing enough) and it was being a little difficult to control. 

As was this guy... he didn't turn out so well.  I also had another coworker who requested a vase, and I was going for one with a little belly at the bottom and then a more slender neck, but it wasnt working out, and I kept pushing at it anddd... he didnt like that.  I kept it, because its still kind of interesting, but I'm guessing I might get some cracking where it pushed down.  We will see.

Lastly, I finally got a ton of stuff fired this weekend! I will take some nice pictures soon and post them :)

The Texas Clay Festival

This weekend was the Texas Clay Festival in Gruene, Texas, and it was lots of fun! Unfortionately I didn't make it down until Sunday, and while there were still plenty of pots, they were out of my sized t-shirts :( I had fun looking around at everything and hanging out with Ryan, Chris, and Keith, and meeting plenty of new people (and dogs).

I got a couple of pots, first a nice little mug by Frank Campbell and Barbara Buell. I was really tempted by a small vase with octopi carved on it, but I decided I'd rather get a few smaller items and went with these little lizard guys :)

Then I fell in love with this teapot by Randy Brodnax, and ended up using the rest of my pottery allowance on it anyways. But this fishy teapot was worth it!

In other news, I will hopefully get all of my almost finished pieces fired this weekend! Last week Ryan didn't have room for it, but he said he should get it in this time, so that's super exciting! Expect a long post with pictures of those guys. I should be doing some more throwing sometime soon, I've just been working around my regular work schedule and dealing with this lower back problem, but I hope to get some more stuff finished before EAST.

Teapot carved

I got the one teapot carved :)  I am pretty happy with it, but I'm still not sure if carving the lid was a good idea.  I thought it would bring the whole piece together, but now I feel like it may have looked better plain.  We will see, its always hard to really tell how much I like it until its completely fired. 

Speaking of which, Ryan is firing tomorrow, and I'm hoping to get a lot of stuff in this one!  I have a lot of pieces that have been sitting around in the studio for a long time, and it will be great to get them done, if only to get some more shelf space.  Also, I will be going up to Southwestern University (my school up in Georgetown,Tx) for a show that Patrick Veerkamp (my old professor) is organizing a long with Chris Campbell.  It should be fun, and I am hoping to take my finished pieces up to campus to get some pictures of them with their lighting equiptment.

On a less happy note, I was very stupid and forgot to completely cover the little round teapot with the over-the-top handle.  It only went one day, but the handle was pretty cracked around the joining.  It was still not completely dry, so I jammed some wet clay into the cracks and spritzed down the whole teapot, and I am crossing my fingers.  Each time I check on it its had hairline cracks, though not nearly so big as the original ones.  I'm continuing to smear the clay together and spritz it, so I have high hopes that it will make it through the bisque when its dry.  >_<

And Afshans sister was in town with her adorable little dog, Sammy.  Sammy is the fluffiest dog ever, and looks hilarious when he is all wet.  We took him down to the greenbelt, and he was afraid of the water at first, but he eventually got in and had a blast fetching tennis balls.

Teapots assembled

This weekend I finally got all the teapots assembled!  I always forget how long it takes me to get everything pulled, thrown, and assembled :P  I think this one is my favorite so far; even though they are a royal pain to make, I love the way over-the-top handles look!

This little guy is the one I plan on carving in some manner.  I will try not to just make stripes :P

The following two I had to re-do :P  I made the spouts, wasnt sure I was happy with them, then looking at the pictures later that night I realized I really hated them.  So I went in the next day and fixed them up a bit.  The original spouts were just too big for the pots, and made them look really unbalanced.  I am  much happier with the final result.

This one ended up being so tall it should be interesting to see what it looks like with a wicker handle.

This is a special treat for any readers out there, you get to know a secret no one else does!  For a couple years, whenever I make a teapot, I write a little something under the spout, usually 'Bless this Teapot."  I am not particularly religious, but I have always associated tea and teapots especially with comfort and saftey, and I just like the idea of putting a blessing on a teapot :)  It's my little secret, and no one else will know unless they break their teapot :P

Birthday Kitty loves to sleep in places she probably shouldn't sleep.  I broke the mug of Patrick's that I had, and he offered to let me have one of the ones he sent down for Art of the Pot.  After I picked one out, Kitty decided the box with the other two cups would make a great bed, and clearly ceramic cups are comfy pillows :P

Teapots!

I decided to make some more teapots, as I have had a couple people possibly interested in some, and the only two I have right now are really fancy and carved and more expensive.  So I threw a few pots the other day, of various sizes and shapes, and I plan maybe leaving one plain, painting two, and carving one fairly simply.   I will probably carve the cylindrical one, since it will be the easiest to do.  I'm just waiting for these guys to dry a bit, then I will put them all together!

And my adorable kitty sleeping in the sun.  I am so jealous of her; how great would it be to sleep all day.  The worst thing that ever happens to her is getting fed late, or getting stuck outside for a little longer than she likes.

East Austin Studio Tour

E.A.S.T. is coming up in November! The East Austin Studio Tour is an awesome event that showcases various studios, visual artists, and performance artists in east Austin.  Ryan's studio is going to be hosting about 10 artists this year, including me!  Excitement :)  It is going to be over two weekends, the 13th & 14th and 20th & 21st.  I know this is advance notice, but now you will have no excuse not to come! I will post more updates/reminders as it gets closer.

Project Clayplay at Kealing

This sat I had a great time helping out with a Project ClayPlay event at Kealing Middle School.  ClayPlay is a non-profit started by the owner of Clayways Studio and Gallery on Burnet; they have an old airstream trailer that they have fitted out to be mobile studio, which they take to various locations to allow children who could not afford classes at Clayways to play with clay.  In addition to some grants, the non-profit ventures are supported by paid birthday parties, corporate team building events, etc.

We just gave any kid that looked interested a chunk of clay and let them do whatever.  I suggested pinch pots or little plaques, but a lot of them made some great little sculptures.  This girl made a super cute little dog.

It was pretty hot outside and in, but at least we had a fan running! At one point we had the table outside full, and people standing inside.  There were enough kids coming in and out that it was hard to do much in the way of teaching, but they had fun and I had fun watching them make stuff.

I've also managed to get a bit of carving done at home, though I haven't had time to get back to the studio much in the last week.  I've been helping Ryan out with his stuff, but I need to get in to throw at some point.  The break has been helpful with my back though, I think I'm making progress, and I hope to get rid of the last of this stiffness in the next couple weeks!

I am really excited about these two bowls, I found a new way to use stripes!  Stripes are the easiest design, and I love the way they look, and making them slant like this is really not much more difficult, but gives the bowls an interesting 'twist'.  Sorry.