Sunday

Usually, Sundays are the busiest day of the week for me, being a Lutheran pastor. With that said, it's refreshing to be on vacation and I even found a place to worship this morning. St. James' Episcopal Church.
Here's my wish list in finding a place of worship:
+ An organ
+ Lutheran or Episcopal church with liturgy
+ Communion (there must be communion)

Even though my list is short, it is amazingly hard to find a place to worship that has all there of these. Even so, I did well this morning and heard a professor for Princeton University preach. This church's new rector also has an English accent; perfect for Episcopal churches. A great choice in all. As I greeted the worship leaders and introduced myself, I learned that one of the professor's students is Baptist. I shared that I grew up Southern Baptist. She said, 'what a journey you've had.' How true... I wouldn't trade being Lutheran (discovering grace) for the world.

Away

I'm out of town for the weekend visiting my siblings and my parents. Don't have pics of my nephews (hopefully my sister will email me one). Met my other sister's fiancee. Met my new niece, Lily Annette and here's me with her soon after I went running in the cold. Anyway, she's 7 weeks old and beautiful, of course. Now I'm at my parent's house watching 'It's a Wonderful Life' for the first time in its entirety. I know, it's popular; I just haven't ever seemed to watch the WHOLE thing. It's always good to visit my parents, especially with this warm fire above that my dad makes this time of the year. :) Check out the fireplace above.

And running, I managed to go running in the cold today--- under 40 here in PA. Found this on the sidewalk. Now, it's mine. Maybe it'll help bring me better luck in 2009? I'm ready for a New Year to begin.

Finally, I know... no pics of clay in this blog. Didn't have room for it in my suitcase and I wasn't sure how to bring finished (handbuilt-- I've hardly done that either!) pieces back to Charlotte via the airplane. Maybe next time... I'm really missing it.

Glazing, Glazing and 'Slipping' on Tuesday

Last Tuesday night, I was at Clayworks, glazing four pieces on their way to the gas kiln that night. Found out that John and Greg, the master glazer would be there too, and the company was wonderful. From this point on, it will be hard to glaze pots on my own; having others around is way better.

The evening started with time to catch up over wine with Becky, Minke, and others. John has a pic of this time together on his blog. Time like this always seems to go by fast at Clayworks.

In time, I got to glazing. First, I put the wax resist on the bottom. That one piece turned upside down is mine. The bottles are John's. Those three tumblers in the back need some 'slipping' (is that a word?).

I needed some glazing ideas and really liked these two mugs in particular, belonging to John. So, I decided to use that method for my new mugs.

Aren't these beautiful? All the while, Greg was glazing some pots for his sale this weekend. I particularly like the shape of the mugs on the right (no handles either!). Both John and Greg have been glazing much longer than I. Being around this experience really helps. Here's John putting slip on some pots.So with these experienced glazers (is that a word?) nearby, I decided to glaze my pots in a different way. Still shinos, but these mugs only have glaze on the inside. On the outside of these is white crackle glaze, red iron oxide, and drops of tenmoku and alfred's blue, (if I remember correctly). The ones in the back of the pic have blue slip and white slip, I think... they're on their way to the bisque kiln.

Here is a closer shot of the four.

Late night! Ended up leaving at 11 pm. Time so well spent. :)

Holiday Sale

It's been a long weekend and here was the highlight:
The Holiday Sale at Clayworks on Friday night. First of all, lots of artists displayed their works in booths. Here's pieces by Greg.

This was Sunshine's first display. I think she ended up selling the most. Such vivid, warm colors.

Minke and her sculptures were there too. I have yet to get a picture of her, and her sculptures are amazing!Since I'm not a studio artist, my work is in the student section. The bowl and tumbler are mine.

A close-up. I must admit I'm a bit proud. A good beginning.

We all dressed up more than the usual clay attire. Check out Becky's boots!

They're green like Julie's clogs. I see a theme building here... Perhaps I need to get green shoes.
Here's some of the pieces in the gallery that were for sale.

Kris' exhibit. If I erred, I took too few pictures. Such attention to detail.

Becky's birds... I couldn't believe that all of them didn't sell. They are gorgeous.

Part of the student exhibition.

The food was delicious. It didn't last long.

Joe and John were busy doing demos... making bowls for the empty bowl project. All in all, a fun evening. I think it would be a good idea to have more than one sale a year. Back into the studio tomorrow evening. Can hardly wait.
And, my cactus plant is blooming more than ever. :)