Zinnias, a Break and a New Form

 Zinnias from seed!  Oh, and wildflowers too.  Great to grow in part because they're inexpensive to buy from seed.  There's been a bunch of rain recently- so the flowers are happy.  Me too (little watering needed)!

 Am spending some time with family so today I'll miss Moral Monday---- gathering to protest what's going on with the legislature in NC.  Thankfully, thousands are expected to gather at the General Assembly building nonviolently protesting about things like the fact that NC decided to refuse the federal assistance for over 70,000 who are receiving unemployment benefits.  So starting today- that many and their families will go without.  That's just ONE of the many issues.  Google Moral Monday and North Carolina to find out more.

 Can't remember if I've posted this before- I'm glad that I'm finished making plates for awhile and am eager to try new glazes.  Just gotta buy a little dry glaze materials to test them out.  Looking for a clear blue one and happily I've found a recipe to try!

 Am in PA and on my way up from NC I passed by DC and just had to stop at the Washington National Cathedral.  Could see myself living in the DC area in the years to come.  Oh, how I love that place!

 I never can get enough time in it.  A holy place- and one that is respected, no matter what one believes!  Many a president's funeral was held here, and countless other 'big' gatherings.  I arrived at the middle of an Evensong service.  Heavenly choir music filled the space!

 So, part of the joy is that I get to play with these two while here.

 And this one will soon be walking.  (13 mos. old now).

And well, here's my sister and I (Maria is on the left).  Being what we were- two peas in a pod.  I just saw this pic on the kitchen counter.  No wonder people thought we were twins at that age!  

 There doesn't seem to be enough time in the studio these days.  I am in PA for a few days so that means more time away from the wheel and it has been a wonderful break I must say to have time in between jobs.  Inventory is low though and I have several sales coming up, so next week I'll get back to the wheel and make more bowls like this one and some new forms too.

 Here's a random picture.  With all the rain a toad emerged outside my studio.  Sorry for the blurry pic, but he was so small and a bit frightened of me...

 And the gladiolas are blooming!

 Beautiful orange...

My latest tumbler.  6 inches high.  Will make the next ones taller as they'll get smaller in the kiln...  This one just emerged.  I'm finding out it takes awhile to come up with a new form that I like.  This one is a keeper.  May write words on it using an underglaze pencil and see how that works, because it's too thin to etch words on using a sgraffitto tool.
Thanks for reading and for keeping in touch too.

Plate Stackers Work Wonders!

 Yes, it's true.  Plate stackers work wonders.  Even though they take a bunch of space in a kiln, with lots of care and patience in assembling them, they're great!  Notice in the photo that I put an extra kin post to help support the plate stacker.  It's shorter and in the middle of the picture, and well- I rest easier during the firing as I imagine the stacker collapsing (which is entirely unlikely)..  After making a bunch of plates that warped by the time they were dry, I finally made 6 I liked and they did great in the glaze firing.  The key is to hardly move them at all until they are very leather hard.  They stayed on the bat and 5 of the 6 fired without warping because they were fired flat.  It was late, so I wasn't thinking completely and forgot that all of them need to be on a flat surface and placed one...

 That is the plate at the bottom of this pic- I put it on a broken kiln shelf--- because I thought the glaze might drip onto the kiln shelf.  Well, the glaze was fine, but the plane warped because it wasn't all set on a flat kiln shelf as the broken kiln shelf was smaller.  Lesson learned (which I knew but forgot!).  Even so, the firing was one of the best yet which was good because it took so long to glaze everything. I was awake until after 2 am.  Oh, and the test tile combos weren't exciting--- I need to use less cobalt oxide in my new combos since the blue is so strong.

 I love this bowl- where the base glaze dripped a bit on the outside.  It's simply beautiful!  I like making my larger bowls a bit thicker and sturdy; just my style.

 These teabowls are my best yet.  Thankfully, they've all found new homes.  I made 12 more today.  Starting to make pottery for Christmas... Gotta start early! The thumbhole celadon color was blown onto the tea bowl- using a handheld sprayer.  Will try and post a picture of it soon.  Easy to use; just time intensive...

Here are bowls for an order- sent off to a married couple.  They're gorgeous!
Tomorrow I'll make tumblers- and am still wrestling with a mug form.  These creations take time!

The plates and one of the bowls.  I must say now that I understand in a new way when people say that plates are so tough to make- or why they don't make them!  :)  

My first cut zinnias and a wildflower or two in a simple vase.  :) It's raining so much that I hardly have to water the flowers, which is a very good thing!  Thanks for reading... 

Quiet Summer Day

Bisque firing today which is a perfect day for such.  Not even 80 out which is SO rare for NC.  It's a bit wetter these days so my flowers are happy.  Above are some zinnias and wildflowers planted from seed.  :) I love beautiful, inexpensive flowers!

 Same flowers from another view with a beautiful bowl that has a S-crack in it.  First one of that kind and hopefully, one of the last!

 I love summertime when it's not HOT!.

 Bisque fired some plates.  I know it's not best to stack them when firing--- but these on the top are extras so it will be interesting to see how they turn out.

Am grilling some chicken tonight in this bowl that is a test one.  Glaze is a bit too thick, yet I like the blue that it comes out in this picture.  Perfectly usable and well thrown.  Am thinking I'll test more on test tiles instead of big pieces; oh well, my cupboard is happy.

 One of my favorite lakes- Lake Chelan in WA.  Was there in May and it is such a peaceful place.  Deep too- deeper than Lake Tahoe, I think.

Yesterday repotted this cactus because it looked sad.  Gave it some water; so I won't water it for the rest of the summer.  Added some sand to it too.  In the background is reclaimed clay...
Also discovered a new (to me) transparent blue glaze but I don't have the needed Frit!  So, thankfully I'll be in Raleigh on Monday and can stop by Claymatters in Durham and I can pick up some Frit 3110.  I have Frit 3134 but did some reading and the 3110 is better to use for a clear glaze, evidently??  Did you know this?
 Oh, and still wanting plate wisdom from my last post if you have any to share.  Thanks for reading!

Mint Tea, Moral Monday, and Plate Wisdom?

 Here are some hodge podge pictures.  first, mint tea.  Brought these plants back from my parent's house in PA.  Also brought some other cut tea and made some concentrate and froze it.

 So far these seedlings are doing okay.  It may be too hot to grow good mint tea here.  I'm giving this tea water almost daily- and watching it closely.  Even gave it good dirt!   Time will tell how much this produces...

 Picked these strawberries at my parent's house too and brought them back with me.  First from the crop; they were delicious!

 Here are pictures from the weekly protest that I've participated in.  It's just sad, to put it lightly that the NC legislature is making decisions that benefit the wealthy at the expense and loss of the poor.  Just google 'Moral Monday' and you'll find out the details.  The more I've learned; the more embarrassed I've become about what is happening.

 I joined the group on the second floor as we watched the protesters on the first floor of the General Assembly building practicing civil disobedience.  They got arrested for singing and not leaving the building when asked and creating a disturbance, albeit a respectful one.  They were released later that evening after being processed.

 Grilled some chicken recently and made a spinach salad- in a pottery bowl of course!  I miss the shinos and cone 10 glazes.

Have been making a bunch of plates lately and was reminded at how hard it is to make plates!  They're not the easiest to trim and well- softer clay is best.  Haven't made many of these so the learning curve has been huge.  I bought this foam to help trim them and well, it seems to not help as it's not the same height all around, so I've been trimming the plates straight on the wheel.  Any plate wisdom to share in throwing, trimming or firing?  I have read online that it's best to fire them individually instead of stacking them much on top of each other.  I've been very careful to not warp the plate when I move it, always using bats.  And for firing, thankfully, I have plate stackers...  Please share what works for you. Thanks for reading and for your comments...