Summer and... Writing

It's summertime and I haven't experienced the warmth and heat of summer like this one in Charlotte. And with temps in the 90's regularly, I haven't been too motivated to play with clay at the studio--- which is not air conditioned.
All this has left me in a sort of a rut... I have the sense soon my pottery will take a new look; that I'm on the verge of new style and look of pottery. Style means I'll keep throwing clay at the wheel--- I am thinking that the design on the outside of the pottery will be different. Maybe new forms too. Hmmm
And I haven't had a vacation in a long while and many where I work have been on vacation already for a long while, and well...
With vacation a few weeks away, perspective is incredibly important. Yes, perspective is incredibly important.
Time at the pool has increased. I think that reading while in the pool is a very good thing to do.
And in the middle of all this, I began to write some more. Yes, write. I don't consider myself a writer; my friend Jim out in WA State has encouraged me. It's not very easy all of the time.
Oh, I took a few pics recently of time in the studio, yet when I tried to send them on my blackberry I did something wrong. I need blackberry 101 sometimes.
Lots going on; am going to visit family for a very short trip tomorrow. Then when I return mid-week, I'll get back to the studio by the end of this week.
It's been too long that I've been away...
Off to write- something.

Wishing

Part of this day I've spent wishing about several things.

And for now, one of my latest and recurring wishes is that I had a studio in my home. Hopefully someday. It's been a goal for awhile now. Somedays it seems like a dream, yet this dream is alive! For now, Clayworks is closed until next week which is not fun at all.

Somehow I'll pass the time between now and then. This reminds me of how much I love to play with clay and the gift it is to me. The countdown till when the studio reopens continues!

Raku!

Here are a few pics from the raku firing on Wednesday. Took these with my blackberry--- so they're not the best. Glaze on this bird house is white crackle and superstition. Found out afterwards that those two glazes don't give the best results when used together. The white crackle worked- and well, the superstition didn't give the variation in color.

I'm thinking of making some more raku bird houses although they won't keep the water from seeping in--- well, if bird houses are out in the world on a branch for example, water will come in too. Hmmm

The raku kiln was hot!

Here's the same bird house in the trashcan with burnt newspaper around it.... the top can be barely seen in the middle of the pic.

The pics are out of order-- this is the very hot bird house going into the trash can. Right before it went in, Dorothy sprayed some water on the white crackle--- this helped it to crackle.

The bird house amidst others (in the middle) in the raku kiln.

The raku kiln once opened. Have missed spending alot of time at clayworks recently. Have been working lots. Gotta change that--- at least I have work.

More Bird Houses

Well, I have a new blackberry and am still trying to figure out how to use it. Managed to take these pics and email them to my own email address, but for some reason they're small! Above is a bird house made by Adrienne Dellinger as I went to her home sale this past weekend. Amazing pottery! I've learned so much from her as an instructor. She was the one who first encouraged me to try making bird houses. Didn't get many pics of her and Greg's home. Both are potters; more of their pottery can be found at www.potswithpurpose.com

And their daughter is an artist too! She drew on these tiles and they had them for sale. :) Here is a bigger bird house that I made tonight. When it dries a bit I'll let the air out from the inside. This IS the kind of form that is my favorite for bird houses! Will make two small holes at the top of it so I can put some wire in it to hang it. I will try and write more frequently here... life is quite busy with work, etc... My short term plan is to make more bird houses.