What can I say, I love this time change, but, I did not adjust very well this morning.  I went right back to bed after hubby left for work.  And there I stayed ’til 8 am.

The first thing I did was hit the coffee upon getting up the second time around.

I also had my first day in the pottery studio this spring = fun – fun – fun

This is the decorative pottery handbag I worked on today.  I still have some smoothing of the clay and some embellishments to add.  Back tomorrow to share the outcome.

The brightest thing happened in the middle of the day.  Hubby showed up with lunch for two.  Love unplanned lunch dates with hubby.

I hate to admit, I’m getting ready to watch the grand finale of the Bachelor. 

Blessings – Debbie

I hardy know where to begin as it’s been so long (over 3 years) since I’ve been in the studio.  But make no mistake, pottery was very much a part of my thoughts, hopes and dreams the past few years.  It’s been a few weeks now that hubby and I made room for my studio.  Hubby had the electrician add the proper wiring for the kiln and I’m officially back in business.

Below is the first piece I made the first week of November.

Handle up close

I attached little clay pieces on each flap to resemble snaps on each side

A peak of the profile – The clay is still very wet at this stage…

I’m so delighted to have a wonderful studio where I can put my imagination to work.  There should be more art to come in the near future.  My goal is to have my pieces in the local galleries by early next year.

When things in life get pushed to the back burner, never give up.  For they are sure to resurface at the right time.

Blessings – Debbie

Another week and a few more purses complete. I just finished adding the knobby feet and handles to some of these pieces today. My signature is inscribed to all and now they are in the drying process.

The studio doors are closed for the weekend as Hubby will be home tomorrow for his Friday off. I’m on my way to the grocery store to pick up a few things for the weekend and I’ll be back just in time to fix our dinner. We have our Survivor show to watch tonight and we hope Terry continues to win immunity. We have a busy weekend ahead and I’ll see you guys around soon.

Not So Fast… That’s All I Have!!!

I have a very nice extra long wooden rolling pin. The manufacture did not make the handles separate from the body of the pin so the handles and body are one solid piece. You may ask “why would you buy such a thing” and my answer would be – “that’s what the ceramic stores carry for rolling out slabs manually.” It’s becoming quite painful for me to roll out my clay slabs and both my hands have blisters tonight. Ahhhh, I found the perfect non stick rolling pin advertised in my Clay Times Magazine. Hooray!!! I thought…this is perfect and with that I sent my $52.00 payment off to get the newest, latest and greatest rolling pin. NOT! I just received my brand spankin’ new pin and it’s a piece of junk – when it comes to rolling out clay slabs!!! It’s like trying to roll out clay with a rolling pin made of soft rubber and it’s very difficult to get a nice even thickness thru the entire slab. GRRR! I found myself going back to my wooden pin even though my hands hurt from the blisters but that’s all I had to use. I really need to get a nice slab roller and I guess that is the next big ticket item ($$$) on my list for the studio. One of these days I will be rolling out slabs like there’s no tomorrow.

Today I’m working on the purses I assembled last week. I’m adding feet of the knobby kind and also signing my name while the clay is still wet enough for me to work with.

Working with the clay at this stage is a bit tedious as I don’t want to mess up the form I’ve given the clay. In order for me to add the feet without me holding it, I gently lay the piece on a 4” piece of foam to ensure safe keeping. The feet are now in place, and my name is inscribed which brings it to the completion of this stage.

It was so hard to sleep in knowing there was a load of pottery finished and ready for me to see. At 7:00 AM the kiln temp was 175 degrees, which is safe to open at that temp. I’m sharing a few of the pics hot off the press. Glazing is one of the hardest things for me at the moment. I’m mixing and basically just feeling my way through at the moment. I can’t wait to have my very favorite color palate, until then, I’ll keep trying to find it. I am very much so in love with pumpkin. Pumpkin is the brown color I have on the candle holder.

Yesterday I started some of my new designs and adding some more details to my purses. These bags still lack the little feet, which I will add today. I think I will add the little knobby kind to these. Hubby thinks my flap on the basket is just a wee bit too big so maybe next time I’ll make a smaller size for that style. I’m thinking that I may repeat my patterns but change the features of my bags. Who knows, I may just become the pottery bag lady. I’m still trying to come up with a catchy name for myself so if any of you out there have any ideas, I’m all ears. For now, I’m Debbie’s Pottery.

I’m so thankful for Hubby as he always wants to see what’s new and happening in the studio. After his long day at work, he wants to see what I’ve been up to. I’m so glad he’s like that. So many of my other friends out at the studio say that their husbands could care less what they do with clay.

Hubby always helps when it comes time for firing the kiln. He is my official kiln loader and unloader. Whenever I have a batch ready, he’s always obliged to help. I was really tired the last two evenings so we did not load the glazed pieces that I finished Wednesday. However, this morning I was feeling rather chipper about the pieces ready to be fired so I asked him if we could load the kiln tonight. He said, how would you like to load it right now before I get ready for work? Boy, was I all over that! He came down and helped me get the kiln all loaded and it’s now firing! YEA! Thanks to Hubby.

You see, I have a “Monster” of a kiln and I’m too short to get the heavy kiln furniture in and out. Even when I’m on a stool, my arms are too short so he is very happy to assist whenever I need his help. He’s the best and such a GEM!

I got to the studio downtown early yesterday with my truck full of pieces to glaze. Got everything all set up and away I went. I thought I would be finished at the studio sometime around noonish and did not get out of there till 5:30. I had all my pieces unloaded and in the glaze room and was literally in there talking out loud to myself, something like this… that one has the black/red combo, I think that one should have the pumpkin/celadon combo. I think I should do that one in turquoise to match the work on the outside, and on and on I went, with a whole lot of thinking in between. Am I the only one who talks out loud to themselves?

I must say we all had such a great time of it out there. There were around 8 of us total working chatting and just having a great day together. I took Monika several pottery books to borrow and a couple new tools to try out. She has come a long way in just a few months of (pottery) playing dirty with the rest of us. Quite a few of my friends were doing raku out in the back and several were throwing pots and a couple of us were glazing. We all stopped and enjoyed our lunch around the table and had a great time of more conversation. The Wednesday group is so much fun and the time goes by so fast that all I think I had to do was blink and it was 5:30.

I had to make a quick stop by Costco on my way home to pick up some chicken and did not get home till 6:30 Hubby pulled in right behind me and we sat down for dinner together and enjoyed each other’s company for the rest of the evening. I love days like that but I sure could not do it every day.

I’ve been working in my studio all morning and the early part of this afternoon. I’ve been trying to add some embellishments to some of the pieces I worked on last week. I’m making another pot like the one you saw way back when. I’m adding a few more details to this one like the feet, flower and petals. I’ve wanted to make another one of these pots for quite some time now and here it is. I still have quite a bit of burnishing left to do on this pot before it’s completely dry.

Tomorrow I will start my purses and I really need to get these cranking. I was sent an invitation to sell my work at the Mayfest event which will be held for 4 days the early part of May. I have another gallery interested in seeing my purses so hopefully I can get quite a few of these items made to meet my expectations.

I’ve got to get back to the studio and get a few more things accomplished before the end of the day.

I’ve been busy trying to fill my dearest mother’s pottery order. She made a request for a purse made with clay. I love making decorative purses and the people who buy them use them for plants or floral decorations or just plain decoration. I used to make purses quite a bid and never repeat a pattern. I like making one of a kind pieces and destroying my pattern when I’m finished. I have not made any purses in quite a while now but mom wanted one so here is my special design just for her.

She also made a request for a planter/box. She gave me the dimensions and I ran with the design and here is the box complete with handles and feet.

Both the purse and box are still in the wet stages and need to completely dry before the bisque firing. I can’t wait to add the glaze to see how they turn out. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.

I Love To Play Dirty

Today was another day to play in the mud. There is nothing quite like being up to my elbows in mud. I love it!