I had an idea for a teapot on Sunday so I made a model out of a raisin bran cereal box so I wouldn’t forget the basic idea.  You can kind of see Mr. Sun with his 2 scoops of raisin through the handle although that part would be enclosed in the actual teapot.  I think this is about as minimalist as a teapot can go … no separate spout or handle attached to the body and the lid will be recessed on top so nothing sticks out.   This kind of looks like one of those Fiestaware pitchers.  Making this out of clay will be a little tricky but I think I know what to do.  I might give it a try this week. 

The ceramics class I’m in this semester is called “The Story Behind the Naked Clay” and we’re exploring visual narratives with clay.  We’ve been doing naked raku firings in class for the past few weeks and here’s my try at a narrative on a tile.

This is a drawing of the bedroom my sister and I shared with my grandmother when we were little and living with our grandparents in Taiwan.  My grandmother slept on the bed on the left, my sister slept in the middle, and I slept on the right.  My side of the bed actually butted up right against the wall but I’m not sure why I didn’t draw it that way.  The tile was dipped in slip and glaze and the drawing lines were scratched with a needle tool.  Smoke produced by saw dust at the end of the firing makes the lines black.  The finer crackle lines and dots were made by the crackle glaze.  You dunk the pieces into water after the firing and the slip and glaze are scraped off leaving just the bare clay piece with the smoked lines.  It’s a very cool process for those who like to play with fire (me!) and you get to see the results of the firing in just a few hours. 

This is what I did last night … 22 soap dishes glazed and ready to be fired this weekend!  I remember when I glazed for the very first time in college, I was confused to see that the celadon glaze (a pale green glaze after it’s been fired) is actually pink in liquid form (like the 2 pink ones toward the end of the table).  So these will look quite different when they come out of the kiln on Monday.

A woman at the studio was SHOCKED to see that I’ve been making my soap dishes because I normally don’t start making stuff until a month before the Show and Sale.   I told her that I will be selling these on Etsy so I’ve been going to the studio and making things on a regular basis.

So hopefully around the middle of April, I will have enough soaps and dishes to sell on Etsy.  Before then, I’ll try to list some of my vintage stuff on there for practice.

Anyway, this is what I saw this morning as I walked towards the studio at 9:30 (note that the windchill temperature was probably down in the single digits).

Hmmm, that’s weird … where’s the line of people waiting with their boxes and laundry baskets?  What’s that little red cooler doing on the ground?  Wait, there’s a note on it …

“HERE AT 9:15 – Staying warm in car (2 people)”

They have the right idea … numb frozen fingers and pottery do not mix well.   When I first read the note, I thought it said, “Staying warm in can“.   These people crack me up.

soap dish in action (square soap dishes to go with my square soaps)

different soap dish designs (these are all handmade)

I really like these guys.  I think they’re good for sea salt or cinnamon sugar.  These are thrown on the wheel, altered, and then handbuilt.

And here’s a table full of pieces I have to price tonight.  I also have to set up my display shelf tonight.  I’ll post more pictures of that tomorrow.

I probably won’t have pictures of my clay stuff for awhile because I won’t be at the studio during the summer (summer is for growing vegetables in my garden).  Here are the tiles I made for my friends’ kitchen.  These will be installed in a single row between two countertops. I really dragged my feet on these but I’m glad they’re finally done. 

On the last class of every semester, my ceramics class throws a big banquet party.  This year’s theme was Pajama BBQ party.  People came in all sorts of PJs and some even had rollers in their hair.

We go all out on the decorations. 

We also made our own plates to eat from.  This semester we made conjoined plates.  Here’s my threesome (for salad, main course, and dessert)…now this holds A LOT of food.

A couple of more plates next to me.  The foursome plate at the corner of the table (top of the picture) was shared by 2 people.  I love the sixsome plate…I should make one like that.  These are great for people who don’t like their foods touching one another.

I went to the opening reception of our class exhibition, A Class Act: Collaborating in Clay at the Fuller Craft Museum on Sunday.  It was really nice seeing all of my classmates’ pieces on display.  Here’s a picture of my final piece taken at the studio before it was packed up.  My piece was sitting in a locked glass case at the Museum and all I could think of was god, I need to fix the arrangement!  Some of the pieces moved a little during transport and need to be straightened out. 

The museum itself is quite spectacular.  There are several courtyards in the museum with partially snow-covered sculptures (beautiful!).  I love interior courtyards and I was kicking myself because I forgot to bring my camera.  There’s also a beautiful lake right behind the museum with ducks and swans.  Anyway, we’ll be on exhibit until June 17 so do stop by if you’re in the area! 

I had a fairly uncrafty weekend.  All I made was a crocheted ball for my cat.  He found one of my little balls of yarn and went nuts with it.  I got tired of rewinding the yarn for him so I decided to crochet it into a ball.  Of course, now he has absolutely no interest in playing with it (and I even put catnip in it!!).  I think what he liked about the original yarn ball was that it unraveled and that he could make patterns on the floor with it.  That cat!

I did however, went out to eat 3 times which is unusual for me.  But it was nice hanging out with friends…especially when I’m in no hurry to go anywhere and the weather was soooo nice.  Yay for more light and warmer weather!!

Another Mikrokosmos for my class project, A Class Act: Collaborating in Clay, which will be on exhibit from March 17 to June 17 at the Fuller Craft Museum.  I think I’ll end up with 6-8 of these.  I’m going to pack up all the pieces, glass containers, and sand and assemble them in class tonight so they can be packed and driven to the museum by Friday.  It’s a little nerve wrecking to have your pieces on exhibit in a museum … I mean, it’s a great opportunity and all but it’s intimidating as hell at the same time.