I neglected to post these earlier in the week. I've been spending a lot of time tediously migrating photos off of Google so it feels like I'm spending a lot of time blogging, but in fact I'm not. I have to edit each post by hand. It's not that hard to do the posts with only 1-2 pictures, but all the posts with the kiln results take about 20 minutes each. I'm only in November of 2023, but I will keep trucking along.
In the mean time I made a batch of calla lily candle holders this week. These are one of my favorite things to make and something which I get a ton of people who come into my booth at shows to look at them. I love calla lilies and saw something that inspired me to go make these. While I made a template for these, each one is intentionally unique as I shape it into its own flower.
The ginko came out so amazing! The glaze has depth, but somehow still didn't lose the texture. I'm so happy with it. The lavender isn't new, but the shot glasses are. Somehow the lavender always makes me feel somewhat peaceful.
I had this idea in my head for a menoray made of calla lillies. I rolled out all the clay, including cutting out the base. Then I went to attatch things and realized - the base was way too small. So now I have a candle holder for skinny candles that is NOT a menorah. I'm going with it because I think it's still really cool looking, but I will need to make this again with a longer base as an actual menorah.
I can't believe that it's March already. I've made a lot, but this is the first kiln to make it all the way through. It is all crabs! Nothing but crabs. There will be more exciting stuff soon. I did have one crab test in here with blue crabs, but I'm not loving it. The red just pops the way the blue on blue doesn't.
One other small test in here with diagonal crabs in the trinket dishes. It made it so much easier to glaze, will be doing this again.
I'm finally getting around to glazing everything I've made in 2024. It's at least 3 kiln loads, but I'm guessing a few things won't fit in that. I started with all things crab. I was watching ClayShareCon on Saturday while doing this and it took me all day. I did all the crab arms and legs first, but in batches. In my day job I spend a lot of time getting teams to break things into smaller batches and to stop starting and start finishing. I'm always looking for ways to apply that to the rest of my life. Since the arms and legs take so long to do I broke it up doin a half a table at a time. Same for when I was glazing. I feel like it made the whole thing go faster.
Speaking of ClayShareCon, it was amazing. It's hard to pick favorites, but here are a few:
Colorful Clay Plants - Michael Harbridge (this one is only available to prime members)
Hydrangea and Bluebirds - Paula McCoy (also prime only)
Monoprints and Clay Bisque - Kathy Skaggs
Decals Can When Brushes Can't - Melanie Kaffl
Making a One-Piece Travel Mug with a Handbuilding Jig - Alex Mente
Scoops, Spoons and Square Stacking Bowls - Debbie DelaCruz
Pattern Placement for Shaping - Annie Crietzberg
Honorable mention - the reveal of the new 2024 Mayco Glazes. I can't wait for them to be available in March. I think that Purple Aster is going to be a new favorite of mine. I already love Lavender Mist, adding blue crystals can only make it better. I'm also intrigued by the engobes. Not sure how they'll play into my work, but we'll see. Another to the Raku Firing of leaves with Michael Harbridge.
I feel like I bought less than I have in years past now that I have a a lot of things already, but still will have a few new toys in the near future. The discounts last week were amazing.
Doing a test with some blue crabs for Maryland. We'll see how those turn out soon!
Last week I saw a studio tour during ClayshareCon (more on that tomorrow) and I saw the puzzling forms being stored wrapped in their velcro vs piled. I decided to give it a go and it actually freed up a lot of space (good thing since I ordered more). While I was there I reorganized my gr forms as well based on what I use most frequently vs trying to keep shapes together. I'll keep you posted how this works out.
I get asked all the time if my gnomes are ring holders. I thought I would try to make a few with that purpose. They are mostly the same as my normal gnomes except the hats are much straighter. I don't know why I added the bird other than I thought it looked really cute. I made one as just a ring holder without a gnome body. I like the simplicity of that one too.
A lot of people don't realize the time it takes to finish pieces. Generally I need 3 days in a row where I can work on pieces before I just leave them to dry. For mugs, cups, bowls, etc. that is.2 days in a row and then a third day a few days later when the rim is solid. I've been traveling a lot for work so it's made working on things difficult. Last week I put all my mugs, shot glasses, and the two wine goblets into my dry box to keep them soft enough that I could finish the rims.
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