A Fishy Friday

Over on Facebook on Clay Buddies we are posting photos of fish that we have made.  Since I missed my Whistlin' Wednesday this week, I am killing two birds with one stone.  These are three fairly small fish whistles that I made last December.  They started out as Pufferfish and morphed into their own thing.  I fired them on stilts.  If you look closely you can see some of the whistle holes.

Here is Aloysius sleeping on the new bed under the wood stove.  Yes, that really is his favorite sleeping position.  I guess he likes a warm belly!

I don't  think it went above twenty today.  But the sun was out so the sunroom and my studio were quite toasty!  It's going to get cold tonight, but nothing like it was earlier in the week.

Many regrets upon hearing of the death of Leonard Nimoy!  His acting was only a small part of what he accomplished, pointy ears and all!

Enjoy the week end.  Stay warm and dry!

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

Teapot Tuesday

I've been going through some boxes of pots that I haven't looked at since I sold my other house.  At one point I did a series of walking pots.  This one was called....guess....Americana!

Earlier this afternoon we had a flock of about fifteen or more wild turkeys wander through the woods.  I tried to get a few shots of them from a window.  I knew if I went outside they would all fly away.  It's rare to see them at this time of year.  I can only assume that they are looking for food in our snowy landscape.  When they go into full display it's easy to see why Ben Franklin thought they should be our national bird.  They are magnificent!  Hopefully I will be able to get some photos of them when they start courting!

There's over a foot of snow on the ground.  We're supposed to get another few inches tonight.  At least the temps are going to be in the teens, rather than in the sub zeros.

It was minus six when I looked at the thermometer at 6:30 AM this morning.  I didn't do any work in my studio today as I could not get the temp over sixty.  If I can get it up to sixty-five I'm good to go.  It's amazing the difference five degrees can  make!

Stay warm, and din't drive if the roads are bad.

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

For The Birds

I finally rooted around in some boxes in the shed and found some of my old bird feeders.  These are all quite early and are seconds for one reason or another.  

'Bird and Catbird' is thrown in one piece with the bottom cut out for filling.  To fit in properly it has to be cut at an angle, which I did not do.  There are small holes in the bottom and the top.  A string runs through and is tied in a loop for hanging. 

The blue and white is thrown is two pieces.  The lid has a flange on it that fits inside the feeder tube.   This is way too squat so of course i had to keep it!   Again, a string runs through to keep it together for hanging.  I usually make some sort of a flat bead to act as a stop on the bottom.

These two are my usual low fire majolica.  The blue is so old that I was still experimenting with white earth for my clay body.  They have survived the elements because I always make two or three drain hole in the feeding tray.  

I made  Greenie in my first pottery class; so it is very old indeed!  It's one of the first, if not the first, things I ever handbuilt out of pads or wads.  I liked, and still do, being able to make something large using small amounts of clay.  This has survived everything, including the squirrels destroying my improvised hanger so they could get all the seeds out.  I kept this out of sentiment.    

My little majolica bird is what got me looking for the feeders.  Tim See  inthe  Facebook Clay Buddies group asked us to post our birds.  There are a  lot of birds there.  Does that make us a bunch of birdbrains?

Last I have to post Winter in winter.   Here she is swimming in fresh snow which she loves.  It's funny because she is such a timid pup that water terrifies her!  Far be it from me to understand the workings of a dog's mind!

The sun is out with thin, high, cold clouds.  It was -2 at 6:30 this morning.   I understand that it's going to warm up enough so that the coming storm will turn to rain by tomorrow.  It will probably get cold again which will make the world into a skating rink!  My that should be interesting!

Enjoy your week end and the weather, such as it is, and know that it will get warmer, colder, wetter, dryer at some point, because Mother Nature is a fickle lady.

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

Whistling Wednesday

Two little ladybug whistles.  They are about two to two and a half inches long.

It's a balmy 32F today.  We're going to dig out the end of the driveway this afternoon!

More winter is on the way, but enjoy the day.

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

Well It's Tuesday.....So....

It's TIME FOR TEAPOTS!

This came out of the kiln about a month ago.  It's two sides of the same teapot.  When I tried it out the pour was terrible with water running down the spout to the foot.  Not optimal for tea!  Upon closer inspection I saw that a blob of glaze just was inside and spilling onto the outside of the pouring lip.  I had already decided that it would be a keeper, so I said "Why not?" and took my trusty Dremel to it.  I ground down the inside and reshaped the lip, et voila!!  It's not perfect; it still has an occasional drip, but it's definitely usable.  It holds about 16 oz. which is a perfect size for my afternoon tea.

I decided to keep it as I am not happy with my brushwork!  It just isn't right for this pot.  Also, when using commercial glazes you still have to be careful about getting them too thick, particularly in the little nooks and crannies.  There are several small crawls where the glaze collected.

What I do like about it is the handle and the spout.  The handle was deliberate after I bashed the spout while I was attaching it.  I like the way the dent in the spout gives it a more fluid feeling. For me this is a pretty funky handle on a thrown pot.  I generally save the funkiness for handbuilding.

We've had many birds coming to the feeders since the snow started.  The goldfinches have been abundant in their dull winter coats.  Today I have been very happy to see what is either a purple or house finch visiting us.  I haven't been able to get a good view of its back to make a better identification.  Purple finches are rosier with color going down their backs to the tail.  Just got a look, definitely a purple finch, although I am not convinced that they are truly two distinct species.  They have become quite rare in this area.  We used to have masses of them so it's nice to see a comeback.

It's a warm sixteen degrees out so of course it's snowing!  There is not supposed to be too much accumulation and the wind has finally stopped after what feels like weeks of it.

It's a day for staying inside.  My studio is warm enough for me to work today.  It feels like forever since I've been in it, actually three days!

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

(Late) Whistling Wednesday

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My new camera arrived.  Needless to say I am enjoying finding out everything it can do.  These are two of the shoe whistles I made several years ago.  The whistle on the clog is in the back.  The one on the slide is in the toe.  The puff in the opening on the slide is meant to be the tissue paper often used for fill in shoe displays.

They are based on footwear that I have worn.  Did I  really wear clog sandals?  Indeed I did!  The slide was red, white, and blue canvas.  I wore them every summer until they fell apart.

More cold weather.  I won't say it's coming.  It's here in a very February sort of way!  It's odd to think that, unless we have truly freakish weather, most of the snow will be gone.  A lot of gardeners think of March 1 as the time to plant the first crop of peas.  The ground here is usually either too solid or too muddy to any sort of planting.  If we are lucky we can plant on St. Patrick's Day......we'll see, grasshopper.....

Enjoy the day in whatever way floats your boat.

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

Muggy Monday

This is a mug I made last fall.  I enjoy doing the angel trumpet flowers.  They provide a lot of ideas for improvisation!

Another snowy day here!  I have ordered a new camera.  My old one finally bit the dust!  I just hope the FedEx truck can make the delivery!

Enjoy the day and stay warm........or cool, as the case may be!

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

Whistling Wednesday

I am going to try to post some of the whistles I and friends have made over the years.  I have so many it seems like a good idea to share.

These are Snow Babies made by my friend and mentor Nancy Swanson ca. 1988-1991.  The whistles are at the tops of their  i caps. They are glazed in a textured white with a sparkle paint over.  We had many discussions about the best way to glaze them.

 I usually get then out for Christmas.  Having things made by potter friends and acquaintances is one of the neat things about being in clay!

A chilly, gray day with snow showers expected over the next few days!  Forget April being the cruelest month; February wins that title, no contest!

Please excuse any spelling errors and other typos. Yesterday Alosius and Friendly had an encounter with tea and the delete button.  It's very difficult to make any corrections!

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