Last months firing!

Additionally, I did get some stuff out of the last firing I posted about, and I listed most of it on Etsy! So feel free to take a look :D

New designs

I've finally thrown enough stuff that I am getting back to carving, and I've decided to try and stay away from vertical stripes for at least a little while.  I did this step design, which is somewhat simplified from the original design (if you go find where I posted the sketches I did I'll give you a prize). I am pretty happy with the way this guy turned out.  The lid could have been a little bit more curved, but I still like it.  I'm still experimenting with the little lug handles; I'm not sure if I like this design or the one on the previous post better.

Then there is this design! (below) I really like it, and I think I will experiement with it on a few more forms.  It takes a bit longer to get the design sketched on , but it's a pretty quick carve since there is not that much surface to carve out.  Pretty much the opposite of the jar above.

This one I'm not so happy with... I decided to try out some horizontal stripes to get away from the vertical ones.  However, A) its much much harder to carve a horizontal line straight, especially when it goes all the way around the pot, and B) I just don't really like the way it looks.  Not the worst thing ever, but I think it's kind of ugly.  I tried making different sized lines to make it more ... engaging or something... but if I do this again it will just be regular stripes.  But I probably won't, becasue it's a huge pain.

Annnd a random update on my poor little doggy. He has had a lump in his side for about a month, and my mom (also his veternarian) figured it was an infection, and gave him some antibiotics.  The lump went away, but the second she took him off the meds it came back, so she finally decided to cut him open and see whats up.  It turns out he had some speargrass inside of him! I had read that this could happen; something about the way the grass is shaped allows it to work its way inside of a dogs body! In really bad cases they can get all the way into the lungs or heart!  Ki didn't have it nearly that bad, and now he just has to have a big bandage to keep him from licking at the incision constantly. 

I'm still here!

Yes, I am still alive, and I have actually been back in the studio for about two weeks, I just keep forgetting to post anything on the blog!  I've had the cast off for not quite a month, but right after I got it off I was out of town for a week driving Ethan up to college in Maryland (so we won't be seeing him around for a little while)

My first project after getting back was some salt and pepper shaker sets.  No particular reason, I just saw some I loved on Etsy and decided to try some of my own.  It's been a while since I threw anything this small, and I had definately forgotten how much of a pain it is to center little lups of clay :P  The first shaker turned out a little twisted... so I made a second one to match!  Let's just say it was supposed to be that way...

I was originally intending to cut a slit out of the middle of the plates to make them more oval shaped, but I *cough*accidentallyletthemgettoodry*cough* decided to take a different direction with the design! I ended up just cutting off the sides of the plate to make a little tray, but I am still pretty happy with them. I trimmed out little circles on the trays for the shakers to fit down into to make it a little less likely to slide off.  I plan on painting some designs on these guys, except for the curvy ones which I will probably leave plain and just glaze.

My next project was a jar! I don't know if you remember this post, but I've been planning on doing some jars, maybe even sets of jars, for a while.  I really like the shape and the idea of having little handles on the sides. They make me think of little stout men.

 

I like the way this one turned out carved, and yes I know, clearly vertical stripes are my favorite, but they look good, and they are much simpler to do than triangles or round objects (the very worst).  I also threw a couple of smaller ones, but I don't have pictures of them yet. 

In awesome news, I decided to go ahead and buy a featured spot on Etsy for one day, Aug 4th, and my unique pageviews on that day went from the average 3-4 views/day to 143!  I haven't gotten any sales from it yet, but getting people to look at my shop is the first step!

Aaaaaannnd of course, studio kitty!  I guess it is too hot outside for her, because every time I go in she is needy as hell and she doesn't want outside, she just wants me to pet her constantly.   She was sleeping on her back for about 20 minutes, and looked quite rediculous.  I tried to get a better picture, but when I got to close, she got up so I could pet her.