Birds

Finally! Pics of the finished bird houses and birdfeeder. This one above has the words of the Prayer Attributed to St. Francis on it. I REALLY like how the glazes turned out. Used black mason stain to bring out the words... wish I had written down all those glaze colors down. I think this one has combos of mystery green, and for sure has catherine's oribe, and alfred's blue- oh and all with a few glass stones placed at the top which ended up running a bit too much.

Bird things and a flower pot. I think these glazes are catherine's oribe with alfred's blue at the rim and a piece of glass. The colors are rich! Some flower will be happy soon in its new home here.

The purple on this bird feeder is from a clear glaze stone placed at the rim. I had both pieces fired separately. What a fun bird feeder!

The bird feeder from the other side. Hopefully, the birds will be happy getting food out of this!
I will definitely make more bird feeders in time.

This one has spotted shino for a base glaze. Then I poured alfred's blue and mystery green over it. I'm pleased---
I will make more bird feeders and bird houses--- as these firsts gave me some more ideas!

I must admit that sometimes it's hard to decide just what to make. My home is full of pottery and sometimes it is hard to decide just what to make. All I can say now is that some type of bird houses and bird feeders are in order in the days to come!

This and That

Has seemed like forever since I've blogged. Not good. At least I can say that these last couple weeks I've made some different pieces. Above- two flowerpots-- made out of little loafer's clay- and fired in the electric kiln.

My parents came and visited a couple weeks ago. Got these roses for my mom for Mother's Day. Time with them was too short.

One of the two flowerpots with a rescued plant from the clearance section at Lowe's. I only get clearance plants at Lowe's. :)

I've made some different things these last couple of weeks. Here is a glazed flowerpot and a bird house. Put some glass on the top of both. Also the lid of this bird feeder below.

This bird feeder above has a bit of clear glass on it too. Glaze colors include catherine's oribe and mystery green and then some blue on top.

Here's another bird feeder in the kiln--- it's on the left in the back. Looks kinda like a beehive. :)

A bowl in the kiln... I put writing on this one and glaze-wise it has spotted shino and then the inside is splattered with some colors.

Back stack of the kiln plus some of the front.

Here's the same bowl--- after the kiln door was opened. Shino was a bit darker than at other times. This was taken while the pottery was all still cooling.

In the way back is that 'beehive' bird house.

The front stack of the kiln. There was more color in the pieces than in this pic, which is a bit dark.

Back stack of the kiln. In the bottom on the left is the bird feeder. More pics to come.

A closer up of the bird feeder- which is the second piece from the left in the back.

This bird house has some great color. (piece all the way on the left). More pictures to come of the finished pieces. Stay tuned!

Finished

Finished these bird houses and bird feeders.
L-R: bird house; bird feeder (minus roof!) bird house, bird feeder. I will make more of these!

These pics are once again, proof that a new camera would be a good thing. Went to the Episcopal Center at Duke University yesterday to deliver a baptismal font bowl that I had made. The wooden font had been donated too.

A closer view of the bowl. The glaze colors turned out a bit different than I had thought. New colors for me. Even so, I was pleased. This was one of those rare times where the two worlds of priest and potter surprisingly and pleasantly collided.

It's good to be home after a long day yesterday. Am missing time in the studio these days. I think a bunch of hours are in order this weekend!

Birdhouses... Birdfeeders

Being that it's spring, I've made two discoveries.
Birdhouses... Birdfeeders.
Adrienne (instructor) has done some demos about birdhouses. These are my first two. Different kinds of clay. I did make a perch for the one on the left. In time, the forms will get bigger.

The beginnings of a bird feeder. Made a roof too.

Then I realized that these extra coin sized pieces need to be slipped and scored on the inside- well this is just how birdfeeders are made!

Another bird feeder. This form is one of my favorite yunomi forms. I'm making the finishing touches on these feeders and houses and then they'll head to the electric bisque kilns soon.

Here Adrienne is making a perch for the bird house in the pic.

There's so much to learn in the world of bird houses. It's a wonderful new chapter in the world of pottery. Next I'll post a pic of the latest big bowl I've made.