Bowls

I am enjoying throwing bowls and cups lately. They allow for a lot of experimentation without trying it on something big. They are still challenging. You have to consider how they are going to be used. Does it fit into your hand? How will the lip be treated? etc. I got two pieces juried into the third biennial of contemporary clay at the western Colorado art center. Now I have to figure out how to ship a 18 inch platter. Should be interesting.

In Progress

Here are a few things that are in progress. I have had a couple of good firings. Trying out some new glazes and they are coming out pretty nice. After a couple months struggling to make things I am finally getting into a rhythm. I'm not to worried about making things functional. I just make what makes me happy. In my work I'm trying to figure out how to utilize the clay surface. I've been making marks and altering the form so when the glaze interacts with the marks it changes the flow and color of the glaze. I'll be taking some images of finish work soon and I'll post.

Chair Pants

These might come in handy in the studio  CHAIR PANTS! It's like a little nap for my legs.

Workshops

I will be teaching two workshops at the Jacksonville Center for the Arts in Floyd, VA. The first workshop is June 7-10 and is called altering form and surface. In the workshop we will focus on squaring, ovaling, cutting and generally taking the round out of wheel thrown pots. I'll also do some demonstrations on slip techniques like combing slip etc. The second workshop is on spray glazing July 26-28. I'm looking forward to this one.  I'll discuss what proper equipment to use and how to apply glaze via a spray gun. So head on over to http://jacksonvillecenter.org/ and sign up today.  In the studio I have been mostly making cups and bowls. I plan to make some larger bottle forms and spray with multiple glazes.

I'm one of those people that start a blog and get all excited and then over time post less entries. So I'll try my best to post more often. January seems like an odd month. A lot of blogs I'm reading say they are feeling uninspired and not very motivated. I'm the same way. I have all these ideas but not exactly sure how to go about making these new ideas. I've got a full schedule this semester, teaching 3 classes twice a week. It should be an interesting semester.

Etsy

I'm trying find new places and new ways to sell my work. I've been looking at Etsy and others. I've been hesitate about selling online. Its mostly shipping that I'm concerned about. So what do others think about etsy? Is it worth the time and profitable? How about shipping? leave some comments if you have experience with etsy.

almost there

The semester is coming to an end and the rush to get everything fired is on. I made some progress in my own work. I've been incorporating drawing, stamps and altering the form. It will be interesting how these turn out. The two workshops that I attended have had an influence on my recent work. This usually happens. I learn something at these things and I have to go try them out and its a springboard to something else. We are doing the empty bowls fundraiser again next year. I made 45 on Friday. I hoping to make 100 this time.