Preparing to Fire

I am so bad about taking and posting photos of my work after I fire it that I am trying to at least get pictures before stuff goes in the kiln.  These are more of the very small cups I call SIPPERS.  They are nice for a bit of whisky or cognac.

I use them for testing out new designs.  They are much smaller than my real mugs but they give me a sense of placement and color.  The odd coloration is due to the wax resist I use. The drawback is that they take almost as long to paint as my regular mugs and bowls. 

I have been truly enjoying the whole process of  painting.  It becomes very meditative when I really get into it.  

I find I have to remember to get up and move around every so often.  Otherwise I feel like I am frozen in one position.  Ah, the joys of growing older! 

  

And what would an entry be without a picture of at least one kitten.  This is Ringo, lying on Proge's lap last night.  It's hard to believe tha in August we could just barely touch him.  He now jumps up on my bed in thew morning to add his voice to the chorus demanding to be fed.

Grayby is becoming more trusting.  Last night she jumped up on my feet while playing, and she responds with purrs when I stroke her while she is eating.  She is such a neat, delicate little girl, where Ringo plops around looking like an unmade bed, even after brushing.

It's going to take Lucky Peach longer to trust us.  She's getting better, but it will take awhile.  Yet she shows no interest ingoing outside. She and the peach pits were absolutely clean when we brought everyone in.

I still think Aloysius yelling out the window is what brought her to us.

I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO OPINION WHATEVER OF PEOPLE WHO DESERT THEIR ANIMALS! 

Happy Saint Nicholas Day to one and all.

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

Behind The Love

Here's a series of photos of what lead up to the hug in Wordless Wednesday.  It's more of a wrestling match involving teeth, paws, and claws. 

The one photo I missed is when Aloysius makes his reverse wiggle and ends up on top of Winter.

They started doing this when Winter was much closer to Aloysius in size and weight.  At first I was concerned that Aloysius would hurt Winter.  Then as Winter grew I worried about the reverse.  However, they both instigate and seem to enjoy their rough and tumble play.

I've been drawing manatees lately, and other critters that I might add to my design vocabulary.

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

Playing Hooky

For the last week I've been spending a great deal of time outside.  The weather has been great, sunny with relatively low humidity.  We've had heavy rain mostly at night.  It's been enough accumulation that the pool started to go blooey.  So! I've had to rebalance and add a few chemicals to clear it up.  Now it's time to get rid of the few remaining sassafras trees down.  They drop their leaves early and often.....nasty things...one of the few trees I actively dislike.  They aren't even particularly good as fire wood.

I have glazed a few mugs.  Low fire glazes tend to be extremely dusty.  They suck up color as soon as you lay your brush on the pot.  I've taken to added a very small amount of acrylic medium to my glaze.  I am talking drops here.  The idea is to toughen up the glaze but not make it completely impermeable a la wax resist.  The glaze cannot be allowed to dry out. It can be reconstituted if not too much acrylic has been added, but it's a royal pain.  Also too much acrylic will make the glaze foamy.  Low fire glazes are so stable that any bubbles will fire in the glaze.

I have been experimenting with adding a few new elements to my designs.  Early days yet, but I think I can make it work......eventually!

The last photo is of the baby snapping turtle that Proge found in the pond while I was living it up in N.H.  He was not much bigger that his photo, but even so you do not want snappers in the pond.  They will eat the fish.....Proge says we have a small frog missing half a leg.  And their sharp little claws   poke holes in pond liners.  We let him go in a river about five miles away.

This post can also be seen at Mud Colony.  Please stop by, there are many interesting things going on there.

Have a great relaxing and/or productive week end.

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