I've FINALLY found my "thing"!

Oh my goodness!  These pots are SO wonderful!  I am having a hard time believing that every piece of this work is mine!                                                                                          
 

 I threw the pots, painted the designs and fired them.  If they have wirework, I did that too!

Here's the detail on the wirework!

One last tasty pot and its detail...

Some of you have asked about the wirework jewelry I am making in tandem with this work...I need to work on the photography so you can really see the details!

Not an art picture, but related!

Yes!  Its gone!  The era ends...

I bought this pick up when I was moving out on my own after my divorce.  It was the vehicle that brought us to ND and transported my goods to all those art fairs! 

What is next?  Working on my own themes and ideas, and considering the next move!

Transformations

 

Late night and lots of work pouring out.  These are three raku clay pots, fired to 06 with underglaze paints and semi-matte overglaze.  They were grooved to allow for the addition of metal handles to be added later.  I worked in a progression, becoming more effusive and less functional as the night progressed.

This was my work this a.m.--adding barbed-wire motif to the edge of this pot and dangling 19 hand-wrought charms from it.  Here's a detail:

 

And finally, a decent picture of my favorite side.  As architect, sculptor and educator Gerry Allan taught, the picture of the work should be better than the work itself.

Four Hours at Creative Clay, Bismarck!

These are my hand-thrown pots painted at Creative Clay.  Next step is to overglaze and fire.  This is next weekend's work, when I am at Cattail.

It was wonderful--and chaotic--to be there.  Once, during the four hours, there must have been 30 people in the smallish space!  When I am at home or Cattail, I am alone and it is very quiet.  I think the variation is good for me.

These pots will look SO different after they are fired.  I am becoming attached to their pastel good looks and they will be darker and more vibrant.  That is part of the wonder of pottery--the shifts in color and changes in surface.

I am wondering today why I always step away from expertise I've gathered?  I feel so uncomfortable telling people how to do things.  I learn best when I am left to work things out for myself.  That is the nature of the self-directed learner.  But it is a different thing to always be stepping out of the expert box because I am uncomfortable...

One more pot image...

Shipment from Firemountain Beads!

 

Yup, got here yesterday evening!
I have all night tonight to work with them.  Just like a candy store!

Planning for the weekend

What am I working on this weekend?

I am waiting for a box from Firemountain Beads that contains lots of malleable wire, crystals and fun tools for bending/blending metal.

I also plan to glaze-paint the many pots I fired last weekend.  Mel, of Creative Clay in Bismarck, has agreed to let me paint at her studio, so now I can have greater control over my colors.

Probably try to get the "3-ring circus" going, with at least one more creative activity to pursue at once.

And of course, a good fantasy-adventure book to read!  Gotta keep the "trout pond" full!