Saturday, February 26, 2011

Nothing terribly interesting...

So again, I don't have any actual studio pictures, so you will have to make do with my teapot with squares and my ever so curious cat, Sammy.  She thinks everything might have food in it :)  I was not the happiest with this teapot, mostly because I was frustrated with the blue glaze (it is a pain to apply, and it ended up with a very obvious overlap stripe in the middle), but its not bad, and people seem to like it on Etsy.

At the studio I still have one fountain bowl and the big plate to trim; they were both a little too wet on friday when I went in and trimmed some other pieces.  Probably the most frustrating thing about not having the studio close by (college completely spoiled me) is trying to time the drying!  I have to wrap up my pots fairly securely, because its usually at least a day or two before I will be back in the studio, and I never am positive when I will be next stopping by.  So it takes forever for things to dry, as I would rather err on the cautious side.

I also have a couple of the plates at home ready to carve, so those should be showing up in the next day or two!

Friday, February 18, 2011

Fountains and plates

I've been meaning to make some more fountains since I sold my first ever fountain at EAST last year (it was so awesome it sold before the show even officially started!), and I finally got started!  These will look a lot like the one in the post linked above, though I don't think either one will be quite as round as the original, and I intend to stay with the geometric carvings with these guys.



I am so happy with this platter! It is going to end up a present for a friend, and I will be doing lots of awesome carving on it!  Very excited :D  It turned out perfectly, and I think it is one of the larger plates I have ever thrown. I'm a teensy bit nervous about trimming it...


The space on my cart is getting really cramped! I haven't gotten a chance to get stuff fired in  a bit, so I have pieces that are glazed and waiting to be soda-fired, pieces that need to be bisqued because I dripped wax in the wrong place, bisqued pieces that need to be glazed, and semi-dry pieces that need to dry and be bisqued, in addition to the wet pieces!! I don't think I can really afford to throw much more until some of these pieces get finished.


(I had to stick several of the shorter ware boards in between the regular levels of the cart to fit everything in!)

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

New pieces on Etsy, vases for a wedding!

I finally took nice pictures of the few finished pieces I have around (two bowls, a teapot and a large jar) and put them up on Etsy.  Check them out!

I also got a couple more plates thrown yesterday, and threw three test vases for the wedding;  I'm trying to get the size just right! Since they are just cylinders, I hope to get these dried and fired pretty quickly so I can start making the actual vases.


Sunday, February 13, 2011

Plates and logo

I've been so lazy lately! I went into the studio yesterday but all I made were these two plates :P  Admittedly some of my time was spent showing the studio to a friend who stopped by while she was in town, but thats not really an excuse.  The first one I made (on the right) was perfect! The second one collapsed three separate times, and only on the third attempt to save it did I realize that was not happening, so I cut off the rim and made a smaller plate :P   Oh well. I am about to start working on some vases for a friend's wedding in June, but I want to do a test to make sure I get the size right. 


Also, the most recent draft of my prospective logo! Those wierd things in the background are my simplified take on indian paint brush :)  Anyways, this is just a draft, so I will probably put a little more detail into them before I'm done, and I need to color a version on my computer instead of just with pencils. All in all I like the way it's coming along! I really like this more stylized version of the lizard (there is an earlier version somewhere in the blog archives).



Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Mug sketches

I haven't actually done anything useful at the studio this week, so here is a page from my sketchbook with lots of mug designs.  All of these are inspired by design elements from native american pottery. 


And because I dont have anything else pottery related... my dog.  Looking very silly.

And a ferret in a tupperware!  No I didnt keep her in there for very long, but she fit so perfectly!  She actually sat in it for a minute more when I took the lid off; ferrets love little spaces :P  Hopefully I will update soon with more awesome pottery!  I am thinking about making some more plates, and maybe a couple fountains!

Friday, February 4, 2011

More carved mugs

Got the last of the carved mugs done! I have another 5 that I will be painting, but I have to wait for those to dry (oh so slowly) and get bisqued.


This one is my favorite!


And it was a snow day today!! I know 1 inch isn't very impressive for a lot of people, but here in Austin it's a pretty big deal :D  I don't think I have ever seen this much snow before (in Austin :P ).

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Carved mugs and cold doggies

Yay some carved mugs!  This is my favorite so far:


This one's pretty cool too

Doggies trying to stay warm in the studio.  For Texas, 25 is really really cold!  More carved mugs soon!