Creative Day

I felt very creative today. The above photo shows a sugar and creamer I made. I got the inspiration for the creamer from a blown glass pitcher I saw last weekend in a Highland's gift shop. The tool is new as well and has 4 different attachments. This one is the vine attachment. I also made an extra large bowl with looping handles that I very excited about.

Tonight is the Opening Reception at the Mint Hill Arts Center. I will give an update on how that goes, tomorrow.

New Pots

I unloaded the kiln last night and here is a photo of some of the pots. Later I am going to throw some more pieces for the Monocromatic show in September. I have to think of visually interesting pieces that will all be one color. I will probably use the blue glazes to acheive this. I got some new texture tools yesterday and I am excited to try them out as well.

Waterfalls

Went camping again. This time to Western North Carolina near Franklin. I have posted a photo of Cullusaja Falls, one of the six waterfalls we went to.

I haven't been working much in my studio this month, because my son is doing football conditioning 3 mornings a week, so by the time I finish busing him back and forth it is too hot to work in my studio. But, I will have new pieces out of my kiln tonight and should post some photos by tomorrow morning.

I have entered some pieces into an exhibition at the Mint Hill Art Gallery. The opening reception is this Friday, July 10th, from 7-9pm. Maybe I will see you there. The exhibition runs through August 6th. I have also placed some small bowls in the gift shop and will place new items there periodically.

Camping

This weekend we went camping at Bandit's Roost campground near Wilkesboro, NC. The photo above is taken from the top of Stone Mountain. My son invited two of his friends. They fished, skipped rocks, slid down waterfalls and ate more smores than you can imagine. We had a great time and we plan on going camping again soon.

Wilkes Art Gallery Opening Reception

Last night I went to the Wilkes Art Gallery Opening Reception for the Claymatters Pottery Guild Exhibition. The exhibition lasts until August 1st and features works by potters from North and South Carolina. There are some very beautiful pieces. In the photo above I am standing next to one of five pieces I have on display. If you are in the area of North Wilkesboro this summer, you should check it out.

Today I started early and made some nice urns and some more brie bakers. My clay was very hard and it was more difficult than usual to center the clay. My kiln was ready to unload in the afternoon and this is one of the cookie jars. I may be crazy, but I really like the red and turquoise together.

Tonight is the reception for the Wilkes Art Gallery Exhibition that I have entered 5 pieces in. It is my first gallery showing and I am pretty excited. The exhibition runs until Aug 1st.

The Good, the bad and the UGLY

This is my son Jassim, who graduated from 8th grade today. This is also the haircut he insisted I give him if he achieved a 4 on at least 2 of his EOG tests. I don't know that I would barter for this.
This is an urn that got stuck to the kiln shelf. AGHHHH. I hate it when that happens.

This is the rest of the load. I made the cookie jar and appetizer plates for myself. There will be 6 more coming out of the next load. I have not any new pieces this week. Tomorrow I will do a glaze load and maybe I will get back to throwing on Friday.

I will let you wonder if the photos are good, bad or UGLY.

Wedding Gift

Here is a commission order I finished recently for a woman getting married in August. We worked together to design her place settings and serving pieces. I am envious of her because I don't even have a set for myself yet. I did make my appetizer plates today, since I am having Spades (neighborhood card game) at my house next month. I will probably make dinner plates next, but there is no hurry since I don't have any plans for a dinner party any time soon. There are so many shows that I am committed to in the fall, that I need to be making pieces for sale rather than for my own enjoyment. I plan on going to the farmers market this weekend to sale some of my misc. pieces. If it goes well, I will plan on going back again later this summer.

The buyer for the Greensboro Historical Museum Giftshop picked up their order today(Above). This is my first time selling work at a store and I am interested in seeing how it goes. She seemed interested in my new work with red sprayed on glaze. (see below). They are remodeling the museum and will be doing a Grand Re-0pening in the fall. She thought that they may be interested in some of that work in the fall.

Tomorrow I am going to get back to work making urns. I have made a bunch of bowls and platters lately, but I really enjoy making urns and I have sketched some ideas that I would like to try.

Another kiln load

Yesterday I glazed a load and today I made only 4 platters. I had no inspiration. But, I did unload the kiln this evening and here is my favorite piece. It is one of three that I made as a special order. Tomorrow morning I need to get back to it. I think that if I am in the right mood I will make the appetizer plates I have promised to make for myself. I tend to forget about myself and my new resolution for this summer is that I would make myself 10 place settings for my dining room.