Saturday, February 16th

Another tantalizing taste of Spring today in the Carolinas.  I enjoyed it for all of the time it takes to throw ball for Spanky (in the morning and just before sunset).  The rest of the day I spent indoors at Clayworks, enjoying clay and camaraderie.  My intent for the day was to do nothing but throw.   Um...well...I did throw.  (But I also got sidetracked just a smidge. )

Two of my three attempts at throwing weren't successful and ended up on the wedging table. But I did manage to make an oval dish.  Ron showed us how to do it in our last class.  I think this guy won't make it off the bat.  (Afraid I brought the wire too high while cutting under the form.)  But if it cracks, or it isn't strong enough to actually bake in, I still accomplished my goal.  I threw the round form...I altered, creating an oval...and I attached it to a base.  



A form I threw last Tuesday got a face lift today. Originally smooth and almost perfectly symmetrical, it didn't do a thing for me at all. Too pretty. So I decided to give it the Cave Art treatment. I poked. I punched. I scraped with a scallop shell (looks like bear claw marks). I even tore it, overlapping the torn edges. After trailing some porcelain slip on it I sponged a random pattern of yellow engobe on the surface. It's not pretty anymore. But now it has possibilities...



Another horse is there I think. I didn't plan her when I sponged on the engobe. But later, she's what I clearly saw.
Another animal -- I'm not sure what -- is waiting on the rear of the pot.



Speaking of horses, my porcelain pinch pot made it through the bisque firing without mishap. And here's a pic of the west end of the horse heading east.



Next step is glazing. Always a challenge. And the final reduction firing. No word yet on when the gas kiln will fire again. There's still plenty of space on the shelves near the kiln. So my guess is these ponies will be stabled for awhile.