Summer!

And it is passing way too quickly.  Here it is the middle of July and I feel like we have barely begun.  I blame it on the winter that wouldn't quit and the chilly spring.

Meanwhile I have been glazing and making at a slow but steady pace.  Below are two terra cotta planters that I bought and have glazed with spectrum glazes.  I used to these with great success.  I scrubbed the surfaces with a clean scrubby and vinegar and let dry.  Toes crossed that all goes well!   

These are Italian terra cotta which as I recall was far more successful than Mexican terra cotta.  I would say it's the formulation of the clay body than anything else.  We'll see, Grasshopper, we'll see..... 

I finally finished painting the turtle!  I was held up by a disastrous spill of wax across the tree.  I carefully scraped it down to the clay, then sponged and scrubbed (very carefully) with vinegar.  I ten had to dry it, which took forever with the humidity we have been having.  I then had to reglaze with three coats carefully brushed on. When the glaze was dry I could get down to repainting.  I probably would not have spent so much time on what is an experiment if I had not been three-quarters done!

I also managed to break my mermaid mold.  Sculpy breaks if you drop it.  I can't even blame the cats!  So I am making a new clay mermaid so I can make a new mold.  One more thing!

Speaking of Mermaids....Click on the link to see my dear great niece in her mermaid guise. Mermaid On The Beach, scroll down about two thirds of the page! 

Today would be my sister's eightieth birthday!  Here is a very old snapshot, probably taken by our older brother with his Brownie.

We are in the back yard of our house of our house in Hyattsville, MD.
Our father was working on government stuff during the war.  It was all very secret so we never really knew what he did.  My mother always said it was the smallest house we ever lived in, but there was a housing shortage and everybody made do.

The dogs are Duke and the tail end of Duchess, siblings barely out of puppyhood.

Aside from pottery and gardening we are preparing to put the new liner and pump in the pool.  We thought about replacing the whole pool, until we priced a new one.  For less that one third of the cost we can replace everything for less than a third the cost of a new one

Here's to summer days!

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

Sunday

We had a successful opening Thursday night.  There was a pretty good turn out and many nice things said about my work.  The hit of the evening was Humpty Dumpty.

The turtle below was originally intended for the show but his bottom detached in front during the bisque firing. I have never had this problem before so why this happened is one of life's little mysteries.   I've come up with a couple of ways to work with the break.  We'll see, grasshopper....we'll see.....

Can you see the split ?

Nina Hope Pfanstiehl, the other clay person in the show did wonderful buildings.  The Edward King House, the former Newport Library, was a great favorite by her.  For many of her historic interpretations she does photos of the original building.  I couldn't quite manage to get her photos in my pictures.  I'll get more sorted and posted over the next week.

Edward King House.....Exterior 

Edward King House........Interior

I had wanted to do a long post on Friday but woke up with a wicked migraine; I finally got rid of it last night.  It's goldenrod season;  I love autumn but not many of the pollens that abound.  Ahh country living.

I'm going to try to get this over to Mud Colony to add to clay happenings around the world.

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

Time Flies

Where is June going?  I can't believe we are more than halfway through the month.

A Happy Father's Day to all the Daddies out there!  I hope you all get a day of fun and surprises!

I've spent most of the week decorating glazed unfired work.  The turtle is a little different from what I usually do as he is up on his legs getting ready to explore!  I generally do turtles and tortoises with their legs and head just showing.  He's a prototype all the way around so he has a new batch of a glaze I used to use a lot. 

I always decorate the bottoms of my animals.  This one is fairly simple.  Some times I do complete little paintings of an environment, or divide it into sections.

I also made cookies, well bars really.  My Nanu used to make these as raisin sandwich treats.  I use various dried fruits for the filling so I call them oatmeal sandwich treats.  They are sort of an early version of a granola bar and quite yummy! 

I also did another slow rise sour dough bread.  I've stopped calling them experiments because I know the ins and outs of rising etc.  I made this one with a cup of Greek yogurt added.  Has a nice flavor, especially with tomatoes, lettuce and mayonnaise.  I think it needs a little more salt.  I want that balance between enhanced flavor and salt being the dominant note.

Pool work today.  We've had so much rain that everything is turning green, including the pond and the pool....not so good.

Have a relaxed sunday.

Thanks for stopping by..............*s*

A Turtle

On our one warm day I started getting my real studio ready so I could throw a few things and generally  start preparing to move in.  Alas, it snowed and then got cold enough to make it uncomfortable to be there.

Temps have been in the thirties with wind.  If it gets over forty outside I am willing to use the heater for a few hours to get it into the low sixties......soon, grasshopper, soon.

Instead I glazed and decorated a turtle whistle.  I have found that while I can work on several turtles at once, it completely discombobulates me to try to work on say turtles and ladybugs.  Live and learn.

I think I'll make some bigger ones come summer.

Turtle Whistle  approx. 4"L X 2"H

I found this hibiscus flower in bloom in my sunroom yesterday.  They don't usually bloom inside this early.  It must be the warm winter and the lights I have rigged....it's hard to say.  Suffice it that there are flowers inside.  A project for this week is to rearrange the plant shelves so I can start some marigolds.  The little yellow ones grow quickly and are great for tucking into bare spaces in the garden....and I like the way they look mixed with curly parsley.

Happy Sunday.......is anybody going to watch the Oscars?  Yes, another sign of my nerdiness!

Thanks for stopping by............-s-