'Tis the Season

There were quite a few folks at Clayworks today, more than I would have expected this close to the holidays. A few of us (John, Amy, Kim, Minke & I) decided to share some goodies & Christmas cheer before everyone headed to wherever they are headed for the holidays. John made some killer cookies. (*hint hint - recipe please*), Minke brought sushi, Amy, Minke & I brought wine and we ordered Donato's Pizza. I didn't take any pix of the festivities for blogging. But Amy & John did so you may find photos on their blogs.

I did have my camera with me. And I put it through its paces on my way home. The poor little digital beastie can only do as well as it's operator (no photographer here) but I hope these pics share some of the lights of the season.

I pass the above display every weeknight on my way home. It's there every year & is much more spectacular than what my pic shows. The shot below is from a neighborhood about 2.5 miles from my house.

The following displays are all in my neighborhood & they're what Spanky & I see when we go for our evening walk.

Spanks enjoys the lights, surprisingly enough, though he's scared of just about everything. So much for the savage pit bull. (But that's a soap box post for later).

I'm partial to reindeer displays.  "Rudolph" featuring the music of Johnny Marks is my favourite Christmas special.  But there's always room for Frosty.

At Storybrook, the best I can muster is putting up lights on our back deck. We don't have an outdoor outlet in the front yard. And while I could probably get electrio-creative with that, I'm content not to. These lights reflect in Williams Pond. That'll do, I think.

Because, inside, we have all the magic we need in our Christmas tree. This year's tree came from Hodge's Dairy Farm and it's a beaut!

If I don't post again this week, I hope you have the warmest, merriest and most joyful holidays!

Peace...Goodwill...to all!

Slacker

I'm sorry. I admit it. I've been a lazy blogger of late. Between two pottery sales happening simultaneously & all the exciting things happening with the construction of our new studio, I find I'm running out of energy. (C'est la vie apres 50). I haven't been doing much with clay at all since there are trees to be decorated and lights to be strung and shopping to get done.

BUT! Speaking of shopping, John of 100 (and more) pots is having a Home Sale this weekend. He does some wonderful stuff and he's one heckuva a good guy. So if you're out & about this weekend and still looking for something unique and one-of-kind for gifting, do pay John a visit.

I will probably continue my lazy streak for the next couple of weeks. Then again, who knows? Barrel Firing #7 takes place on Boxing Day. I'm sure Father Barrel will bring us some gifts and not lumps of coal. (But wait!!!! Isn't coal a combustible???)

Oh, and my sister, Cinder, has been drawn (sucked into the whirlpool) of the blogger world. Hope you'll give her a visit and say hello.

Cave Art Bottle - Start to Finish

Elaine showed me how to make a bottle form (a technique from Amy's class) which I hope will provide a nice new canvas for parietal art.  Let's see how it all works out...

Step #1...construct the bottle. The clay body is one of my favourites - Loafers Glory (50% porcelain/50% phoenix). The clay is responsive though it tends to crack at times. For cave art, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

The shouder and base of the piece were thick.  But I planned to hack away at the form so it didn't worry me.  And because this was my first try at this, I cut myself some slack. To be honest I also cut through a portion of the wall.  I patched it with porcelain. Might work.  Might not. I view most of what I do as experimental so "que sera sera."

Step #2...characterize the bottle.

That thick base is smaller already, thanks to a Pampered Chef kitchen tool I never use in the kitchen. I really enjoy this part of the process...Go CRAZY with with slips and oxides.  For this bottle I used red iron oxide, ochre slip, gobs and gobs of porcelain slip and accents of hunter green underglaze.

Step #3 is my favourite part of the process - choosing the parietal design I'll paint on the "cave wall." When I found this group of bicolour steenbok, I knew I'd found a match.

The original painting was done after the Ice Age, about 11,000 years ago, in Amis Gorge, Namibia. The artist(s) used red for their steenbok. I chose to go black...with one red doe. I also added red accents to the middle animal. A closer look...

To the side, one more steenbok...

I use black and red under glazes for the "paintings." Black slip might be a nice alternative but I haven't made any yet. I'll try that soon.

Step #4... is the bisque firing.

I love the way the pieces look once they're bisqued. It's almost a shame to cover their bare purity. But I do for...

Step #5 - Glazing.
This time, I compromised, leaving a few areas unglazed but lightly sprayed with an atomizer. Glazes used are Spotted Shino and Tom's Clear. Small glass shards dipped in red underglaze were later positioned around the top of the neck.

There are patches of soda ash on the shino and sprinkings of granulated rutile on the Tom's Clear.

The last step is the least predictable of all. For me, it's heady anticipation laced with a hearty dose of anxiety.

Step #6 - High firing in the gas kiln.
We unloaded the gas kiln yesterday afternoon. Personal taste, of course, varies from person to person. But I got most of the results I was hoping for on the Steenbok Bottle. (Yes, it now has a name.) It's the first time I've left the "paintings" untouched, except for a fine misting of clear glaze. It won't be the last.

So there you have it. A Cave Art bottle start to finish. Three more are sitting on the kitchen counter, ready for Step 3. (Wonder what I'll be doing tonight?)