Wordless Wednesday

More Stuff

I've been sorting more boxes and found these two whistles.....I call them whistle weights because they are great for keeping papers from sliding off my desk.

I have no idea what they are glazed with...it's ^05/04;  I'm sure of that but that's about all.  I decided to use the flamingo and manatee images.  Lately I have been trying for more of a watercolor wash effect.  We'll see, Grasshopper.....we'll see.  The blue and green scarf thing was done years ago.

I guess more rain is one the way. Family in New Hampshire is expecting a lot more snow.  Which is good for them as it keeps the ski resorts going etc.  The dog sled races in Laconia have been postponed to the first week end in March, due to weather.  No, I am not going.  Deliberately going to a colder and snowier place is not my cup of tea.

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

Hanging Out

I've been trying something different with this post.  Rather than writing the whole thing at once, I've been making notes here and saving them.  Before I post I will be doing some  editing....a lot of editing!

I've been thinking about 'hang-around' pots.  These are the ones that I finished but didn't sell or destroy.  Now I am asking myself "Why do I keep these?"  The three pourers/sauceboats were prototypes that I never carried though on.  They started out as bowls. I then slashed and altered for the spout and added to foot and rim.  I got the initial idea from an old Penland book on clay.  I don't want my work to be a copy but to be informed by what I have looked at.  I made a few notes, then returned the book to the library and started on my own.

The top one is glazed with Linda Arbuckle's majolica white.  I always go back to this one, so obviously it's a great favorite.  In it's raw state it's pleasant to work on.  Fired it feels good in the hand and against my lips.

The next one is Spectrum 251-Satin White.  I like the way it looks and feels but have mixed feelings about decorating on it.  Designs smear easily.

The third one is obviously unglazed....it has too many structural problem to survive another firing.  When I do an experimental series I like to leave one unglazed.  I like, but am not thrilled with the handles on the two below.  The pulled handle on the first one doesn't feel like it fits the altered state of the pot.

The little teapot I use as my gravitar is made much the same way.

Three, rarely five, is what I do for a so-called series.  If I do make more I generally decorate in groups of three.  Too much of a good thing makes me crazed.

How do you get rid of unwanted pots?  I have a special sledge hammer that I use for smashing them to bits.  I use it for the base of driveway fill.  There's one area to the side of the parking area that I want to fill in.  Eventually there will be enough pottery bits to make good drainage, then I'll bring in a load of fill to finish it off.

More weather is coming.  Supposedly it will be mostly rain here, but Hollis could get socked again.  If we do get snow it will be wet and heavy with the potential for tree limbs and wires coming down.....so what else is new?

I'm hoping the second season of Game of Thrones will arrive today. (Oh, is that why you have dragons on the brain, Suzi?)  Which leads me to Ocarina Dragons.  Which means research in Mud to Music,  getting out my recorder to look at the holes, and tuning my guitar.  All of which sounds far more technical than I really am.  I generally try to get a lot of info and then go by the seat of my pants.

This post is also over on Mud Colony, and (late addition) Artists in Blogland.  I hope everyone will hit the links and take a look at what is going on around the world of clay and arty stuff!

Enjoy the week end and stay dry!

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

Wordless Wednesday

The Groundhog was Right!

Much as it kills me to admit it winter is not over.  It's snowing!  We have had such beautiful weather since the blizzard with sunny days and temps in the forties and even fifties that we were lulled into a false sense of spring.  It will come in its own good time, she said hopefully. 

My studio is too cold to work in for any prolonged period of time, so I have set up a small space in an upstairs alcove.  I'm doing mostly glazing and decoration, but I may hand build a few small things.

I am doing the dragon by a slightly different method.  Normally I would plan this out quite carefully, with notes about detail, color etc.  This time I am laying down some colors and designs and letting them dictate my next move.  We'll see, grasshopper.......we'll see.

The little pot hanger is one I found when I was sorting through an old box.  I think he is a demo piece from the class I used to do when I was working with developmentally delayed adults.  He had lost his eyes so I stuck some on made of paperclay spooze.  These little pieces are throwaways and great for experiments.  He is a light green, which does not photograph very well.

Time to go feed the birds and stoke the stove.

Stay warm and dry, or sunny and cool....where ever you are.

I"m going to try to post this on Mud Colony if there is still time.  Even if I don't get this up, go take a look.  There's always something interesting there.

Enjoy Sunday and as always thanks for stopping by..............*s*

P.S.  WHEW!  I made it!

Be My......

Valentine?

I was trying to take a picture of a few of my hearts, but Aloysius decided to help.  The little turquoise heart earring is hidden in his paw.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Cat will always eat your heart!

We had another three inches of snow liast night.  Very light and fluffy, what I call sugar snow because it looks like the world has been dredged with confectioner's sugar.

I'm off to decorate a dragon that is calling to me.

Enjoy the day and, as always, thanks for stopping by...........*s*

Wordless Wednesday

My! That Was......

FUN???

What is the curse? "May you always live in interesting times."  These times have been quite interesting enough thank you.  This is the third time in the last six month we have had the electricity go out!

The snow started at 7:00AM friday just as they said it would.  It was coming down steadily but not heavily until early afternoon.  The power went off just after I had posted a reply on Hollis's blog.  We were prepared and set up the power etc.  The hardest part was that we could not get out the driveway.  It's the first time I have not been able to get my 4RUNNER through snow.  Of course it's also the first time we've had this much snow since I began driving it.  We broke down and had the driveway plowed, money well spent.  He lives just down the hill from us so it is certainly convenient. 

 The power came back on around one this afternoon.  There's nothing like being without power for several days to appreciate electricity and running water! Fortunately we heat with wood so we were warm and cozy!

The photo of the trees was taken on Sunday when the sun came out.  It's hard to tell from the picture, but we ended up with 18 to 24 inches.  It's pretty to look at but a b*tch to get around in.  I use a cane for balance; three legs are steadier than two!

The wood pecker and jay along with many small birds were coming for seed throughout the days.  Now I'm glad I had to get a mix rather that straight sunflower as the larger birds pick out the corn and peanuts.  Happy birdies!

My little garden shed is snowed in.  Guess I'll have to wait until everything melts to get into it.

Winter is completely nonplussed by so much snow.  In the photo she is light enough so she is only in about half the depth of the snow.  After we beat a path for her all that was visible was her tail poking up   like a flag.

Everything is well with us.  Right now it's raining; it's supposed to be up in the 40's tomorrow.  I doubt that it will all melt away before it gets cold again.  Hey!  This is New England....live with it!

I hope everyone who was in the storm has survived it well.  Those of you in sunnier climes, those are little green tendrils of envy you see growing around me.

Enjoy the evening and as always, thanks for stopping by...........*s*

Wordless Wednesday

At Least.....

The days are getting longer.  It's light out before 7:00AM  and yesterday evening I noticed I could see out the window with no outside lights after 5:00PM.  JOY!

I took these photos on Sunday morning pre-dawn when Winter decided she absolutely had to go out.

There was a cold mist in the air which made the pretty halo effect.  I had the lens fully extended to macro which makes it difficult to get a reasonably clear picture.  I generally use a tripod when using macro, but I just wasn't up for getting out a tripod at 5:00AM!

I am rolling slabs today.  Thus the moon shots, as  I think looking at a bunch of wet slabs has all the excitement of watching grass grow!

It's snowing in a half hearted way.....sugar dusting.  I'm not a fan of lots of snow, but enough to cover the bleakness of winter is nice.

This is the anniversary of the Blizzard of '78.  I remember we went to pick up Proge at his school just as it started and told the headmistress she should get kids home. (We were thanked profusely later)  Going was no problem it took us over an hour to get home...17 miles.  The snow was so deep we couldn't even get the 4 wheel drive truck out.  Proge's father and I ended up digging the half mile drive. .....most of it was two paths for the wheels to follow.  I think it took about three days.  It wasn't hard to dig as the snow was compacted enough to carve it in slabs. We were relatively young and healthy and there was nothing else to do.  We kept building snow forts along the way.  That is why people get so crazy around here when any amount of snow is predicted.  Gotta have milk and bread  and beer!

Stay warm and as always, thanks for stopping by...............*s*

Half Your Wood

And half your hay

You should have left

On Candlemas Day.

Phil may be predicting an early spring in Pennsylvania, but here in New England Mr. Groundhog (or woodchuck) poked his head out, saw his shadow in bright sunlight and promptly retreated into his burrow.  Wise creature!  Although we have clear skies, it's about 22F outside.  I don't think there will be any wood chucking in the near future!

As for me I am baking some bread, doing a load of laundry and will probably watch some Downton Abbey later on.  We broke down and bought the dvd.  Actually I ordered it early and it arrived last wednesday.

 I've been making a lot of these test tiles.  I'm doing a stain version of ink and wash.  Switching drawing mediums always takes some adjustment.  But it keeps me on my toes to try different methods to get the results I want.  In the end it may not look that different from what I normally do; it depends on the clay body I use, how I glaze and so on.

Our local PBS station is reshowing I Claudius.  I watched it many years ago when it was first broadcast on Masterpiece Theater.  I am happily surprised at how well the production values have held up.  It is strange to see Derek Jacobi made up to be the age he is now.  I've renamed it Game of Thrones in Rome.

We ordered the dvd for it with a sale coupon from Barnes and Noble.  We generally buy dvds of things we know we will watch a lot.  I like the back-up stuff and some of the commentaries.  Some are better at it than others.  Yes, I admit to being a nerd......the day the first version of Fellowship of the Rings was released I hauled Proge out of bed and we bought a dvd player and the dvd as soon as Best Buy opened. His friends reacted by, "Hey, you talked your mom into buying a dvd player."  "No she made me get up so we could go get it."  He often tells me I act like I am six.


LOOK WHAT I BOUGHT FROM GARY!!

I call it my Groundhog Day present to me.  I love the way the teapot nestles right into the cup.  It's very stable on the shelf.  I didn't photograph the inside of the cup.  It has more polka dots; they look pretty through the black tea I drink.  The little heffalump (sorry, Gary, it looks like the heffalump in Winnie the Pooh, so it's officially The Heffalump Teapot!) makes me smile every time I look at it.

Stay warm or cool if you are in warmer climes and enjoy the weekend.

This will also be over at Mud Colony, which I am very happy to say is back in full flower.   Please take a look.

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