Can you tell I've been in a creative place recently? I've been playing with a bunch of new ideas and designs. I think it's because I've been so stuck at work. I need the creative to come out somewhere. I made a few size fish templates probably over a year ago and they didn't didn't work in practice because the fin was too long. All of a sudden I had the idea to perform surgery on the tail. I think it makes for a really cute little fish plate. Here you can see the surgery I did on the tail. My brain is buzzing around other animals I might be able to do this with ..read more

Made some garlic plates. I was at a show last year where the woman across from was also pottery, but very different. Her pottery was mostly hanging plates, iPad stands, and other large items not really for food. She did have a basket of garlic plates that were selling like crazy. I had mental note to make a few to see whether or not they would be popular for me. I made 4 test plates and tried out different Diamond Core carving tools on them. My favorite ended up being the FP6 ..read more

Something got me thinking about displaying and burning candles recently. I was thinking about ideas for design and realized that I have cone cutters from DeLa Designs. I decided to start there, but quickly realized that I needed a wider base. On the first one I cut a couple of time to get to the right width. However, after the first time I knew about how much I needed so I set the tops aside (more on this later!). The cutter I used on the top was also from DeLa Deisgns. I think it was a sunflower cutter. I let the two separate pieces setup just enough so the flower wouldn't sag and then slip ..read more

During ClayShareCon I was enamored by Alexandria Pottery's handbuilding jig. I bought the travel mug jig with the cutter and an extender. It essentially a 3D printed flexible tool with a "key" that has two positions - one for building and one for getting it out. Alexandria did a video on this and I highly recommend watching her if you're interested. She's much smoother at it than I am having practiced. I started with the simple shorter practice mug. Alex makes 3 holes in the top, but that felt like a lot at once so I'm starting with one. In all likelihood I'll find that she's right and I'm wro ..read more

I'm continuing to play around with my new GR Potter Wallie forms. This is made with the 10 x 10 caserole form. The handles were made with a Diamond Core tools XL extruder. These are both ClayShareCon purchases. I bought less than last year, but still a lot of things to work through. This dish was surprisingly simple to make. I rolled out a slab that was just slightly thicker than 1/4 inch. I put the form down, made relief cuts on the corners, and then flipped the whole thing over. I smoothed down the sides with a red rib, slip and scored the corners, and secured them. I extruded the handles a ..read more

Just made a new batch of mushroom jewelry boxes. It's all simple skills that when they come together produce something new. It starts with a slab and a circle the same way you would for a mug. The sides have to come together and the bottom put on. Looks like a mug. Now is when I'd start bellying it out if it was a mug. Since it's not I shape it, but don't add volume. I neglected to take a picture of the larger circle that will be the top, but it needs a flange. I shape the flange on the flower pot to make it circular. The top starts in something that is rounded to give it shape a ..read more

Here are the luminaries from last week lit up. Also yes I clearly need to work on my night time photography skills ..read more

This kiln is a bunch of experiments and new things. The new puzzling vase forms came out amazing as did the vases that were extruded. For a couple of the extruded vases I used my glaze chips on a vertical surface for the first time. Not going to lie I was worried they were going to pop off. I had one tiny drip, but with my advancer shelves it was no issue at all. The new luminaries are awesome as well. I did some tests with Georgie's interactive pigments on Laguna 60 that make me wonder why it's taken me so long to do this. I think I like the satin glaze with the glossy chips slightly better ..read more

So much goodness in this kiln! And the first kiln in a while with a ton of new glazes so it's a big mystery. The "pillow" vase in the back looks amazing. I'm also excited about the drippy one on the far right. That's the first time I've used the glaze chips on a vertical surface. Both of the squiggle luminaries look awesome. Finish cooling kiln ..read more

It's been forever since I carved. Did a few this weekend and hit them at the exact right texture. This first one is an is an idea I had for a giant sunflower. Some smaller sunflowers Amazing job right? Ok I didn't carve this, this is lace. I'm having a lace moment ..read more