Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Busy Days; Busy Potter

I have finally been putting my fish out around the pond.  I sort of forgot about them, but now they are here and happy.  This blue guy is the first large one I made.  He started as a demo for a class I was giving and grew.

I enjoy making these, so when I have more clay I will indulge myself and make more!


Which leads to an oh fer duh! moment.  I was all set to start making stuff when I discovered that no I did not have 100 lbs. of clay ready to go, but a lot of clay waiting to be recycled.

The photo below is a small portion of what I have been doing.  I like to get all my clay for the year ready during the summer so I can do it outside, thus avoiding at least one potential studio mess.  I beat it to a slurry with my glaze mixer and put it out to dry on screens.  This came inside as a rescue when it started raining.  Good thing I did too as we had over two inches of heavy rain.

More recycle today!


I did find a bit of my low fire white so started a couple of three-legged mugs.  I want them to look a little more tilted and funkier than they do.  A paddle will beat them into submission!


We were cutting down a lot of sassafras sprouts that have been invading since last year.  In the process I found my old garden rattles That I made in a workshop with Elsbeth Woody in Port Chester,  NY around 1987.

They are some of the last thing I did in high fire clay.  It was Elsbeth's clay body fired to about ^8 with a red iron oxide wash.  They have beads of clay in them so they rattle quite nicely when pushed around.

I never followed through but I always had an image of some sort of lawn game with undertones of croquet and bocce.


And last, two little frogs that are out by the pond.  We have quite a few of them this year.  I'm not sure why; some years we only have one or two.  There are at least two bullfrogs among them who enjoy announcing they are present in the middle of the night.


The person who extolled the silence of nature obviously never lived there!

Enjoy what is fast becoming a late summer!  Where did it go?

As always, thanks for stopping by........*s*

14 comments:

  1. amazing those orbs made it out there, oh those frogs/toads are so sweet find

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    1. Hi Linda....Clay making it through winters is a risky business! We always enjoy watching the fish and frogs!

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  2. maybe the frogs are out to talk to your pretty fish?

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  3. Replies
    1. Hi Gary....Nothing like clay fish for a fish pond!

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  4. Love the orbs! Now you will have a to find a new place for them so that you can enjoy seeing them once more.

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  5. Hi Michele...Thanks. Right now they are on the 'grass' (I use the word advisedly). Maybe I will remember to get them under cover for the winter, which would be a lot better for them!

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  6. The rattles are a great find, they look really cool too.
    I love the fish.

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    1. Hi Lori....Thanks. I may have to make some more!

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  7. Dearest Suzi,
    Love that blue fish in its grassy surroundings! Oh, we forget so easily about certain things and as you already point out, one season is gone in a hurry.
    Lovely story.
    Got way behind and my PC died... so I'm on my laptop catching up.
    Hugs,
    Mariette

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    1. Hi Mariette....Thanks. The fish have been a fun place to experiment with designs and glazes!
      We have certainly become dependent on our computers. My MacBook is on it's last legs, but it's absolutely ancient by comp. standards!

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  8. Hi Suzi,

    The blue fish is fabulous and the rattles around the garden fun.
    Also how neat to see the frogs in your garden and hope the bullfrogs don't disturb your sleep too much.
    Thanks for your kind visit to my blog
    Hugs
    Carolyn

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  9. Hi Carolyn....Thanks. There are more fish that I haven't photographed yet.
    Hope you are enjoying your vacation!

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