Jim's Latest Sculpture

Jim got out the underglazes and had a grand time working on his latest sculpture. I can't wait to see it when it's finally finished. 

I Finally Made A Mug

I was very pleased with how the body of the mug turned out. I like the size and shape and I got the inside much smoother than the pieces I did earlier in the semester. It too several tries, but I finally got a handle I could live with. I'll smooth out any sharp edges in a couple days. I'm letting the mug slowly dry. The mug will have a clear glossy liner and the rim will be glazed. The rest of the mug will be left naked. This is more  of the Anasazi ^6 that looks so nice when it's reduction fired. 

Mica Clay Jar

I love working with the mica clay; it practically coils itself. I think I'm going to be using this jar for storing tea. 

More Little Sculptures

I made more of the little sculptures. These are out of Anasazi ^6 and will be fired in reduction without glaze. Can't wait to see how they turn out. 

Coyote Clay Blue Oasis Fired in Reduction to ^6

Clay Work 10/23/10 and 10/24/10

I had an idea for a sculpture dancing about in my head on Friday evening. I let the idea dance and these are the sculptural pieces from that dancing idea. 

Porcelain jar needing to dry a bit before making the neck where the lid will fit. 

Jim's latest sculptural piece. He's working with a ^04 fiber clay. 

Porcelain jar waiting for me to make the lid. 

Clay Studio Work 10-17-10

Jim is working on a mask made from mica clay. You can see some of the sparkles in the photos. 

Canister with an experimental lid. It's okay, but I like the petrie dish type lids better. 

Jar with the lid peeking out from behind. 

The lid is pretty tight fitting, so I may have to do some sanding before I finish this piece. 

My new bean pot made from mica clay. Mica has wonderful heat properties. In theory, pots made from mica clay can be used over a direct flame. I'm not so sure I'd try that. I need to round off the bottom edge and make a lid for it. I've been wanting a ceramic bean pot so I can make real baked beans. Beans can be made in a crock pot, but they aren't quite the same as slow baked in a ceramic pot. I'll glaze both the inside and the outside. Usually, I would not glaze the outside of a piece made from mica clay. But.... there are always a few beans that crawl out of the pot and go exploring. Glazed outside makes for easier cleanup after exploration beans. 

Small mica clay canister on the left, ^6 canister in the middle, and bean pot on the right. 

Carole's Inhaler Pouch

Some assembly required. I'm going to let Carole sew on the button and tell me how far down she put it. 


Carole wanted a pouch for her inhaler that would fit on her belt. I told her I'd make one and call it research and development. I can see I need to move the loop for the belt to fit through. I also need to do a little more work on how wide the flap should be. 


However, I've never had to use an inhaler, so I really don't know exactly what I'm doing here. The pouch is 3"x3". What would you do to improve on this design? 


Many thanks. 

More Beading

Pair of peanut wood stones with beads ready to be attached to fish hook earrings.  

Larimar cab freshly beaded. It needs to go on a necklace. 

Clay Studio 10-9-10

These are some of the beads I made from NM Clay's Monzano ^04 clay. I love the color of this clay so I used a clear glaze on the beads. 

This is my new sourdough starter jar. Same clay, same glaze. I'm trying for less plastic in my life. 

A Few Thoughts On Blogging

There's no privacy on the internet.  I knew that before I set up a blog. Today, while going through paperwork, I discovered that my employer is watching my blog. (Hello, Hugh - how's by you?) What they thought they could find is beyond me. I've always been very careful about what I put into cyberspace.

Why do I bring this up? Aside from saying hello to Hugh? As a warning. If you're on the internet, it's not private. Anyone can see this blog. Anyone can see your blog. You think your facebook page is private? Don't bet the rent check on it. Remember the Racing Periogi who complained - on his facebook page - about the baseball team which paid him to dress up like a dumpling and run around the bases? He got canned because of his comments.

And so... if you wouldn't want to see it on the front page of the NY Times, don't put it on the internet.

Clay Studio 10-3-10

The latest Qumran inspired jar. 

And with the lid. This is Laguna's ^6 Calico clay. It's mainly white with gray speckles. It's also great to do coil work with.  

No the handle is NOT coming apart from the top of the mug. It's just how it looks in the photo. Yes, I know the handles are clunky. I need to work on that. I was making wimpy handles and decided they were awful so I went for larger handles. 40 or so more mugs, and I may have the process down.  

And this is the other mug with a clunky handle. The wheel and I still don't get along, so these are coil built. I used a ^6 porcelain. 

This will be a menorah when it grows up. I used a ^6 clay that does great things in reduction. I'm going to leave the clay naked and just glaze the very top where the candles go. The idea of trying to get wax off unglazed clay doesn't sound like fun. I have aluminum candle cups that will get epoxied onto the top after firing. I'll put brown terra sig on the bottom to keep the grog in the clay from damaging whatever the menorah is set on.