Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Hump day!

Well I've been back in the studio for a few weeks now & it feels good!
you know as much as i needed a break, i do get pretty antsy when away from the studio for too long....maybe that would be different if my hiatus was spent somewhere slow & tropical...instead of here waiting for the pipes to defrost...
in any case i'm making making making with deliveries scheduled in april and some new things up my sleeve (photos as soon as they are out of the kiln!)

here's my studio shelves today as they fill up with work (and a full load in the kiln to boot!)



















today was making what i call dipper bowls, and i generally throw them "off the hump" - meaning i don't measure each ball of clay out individually like i do for most things, but simply toss a large lump of clay onto the wheel (usually between 6-8 lbs) and throw each bowl off the top of it until i run out of clay. it takes some practice to get each piece the same size, but once you get it & are in the flow its a great way to make small things, or pieces of things (spouts, lids, etc...). you don't have to centre the entire lump of clay, just the top part that you are using. it's not a radical new way of doing things but i sure like it when it's time to throw dipper bowls

here's the hump looking down from the top












here's the hump from the side, i've already thrown about half of it, glistening in the sunlight (yes it was sunny today and still i stayed in my studio!)











here's the bowls that have already come off this hump

Thursday, March 10, 2011

spare time? part two

well spare time seems like a thing of the past all of the sudden, now that i am back in the studio with many pots to make & orders to fill. but i do have another long time project that i am picking away at.

this fall is was gifted four bags of raw wool. i was so excited. i had no idea what kind of work (whew it's a lot!) would be involved in getting the wool to the stage where i could use it for felting or spin it for knitting... so i did get it all washed over about two months and am starting to card it. knotty by nature is that super fabulous store in town that rents time on their drum carder! it took me two hours to make my first 15 batts...but feels like progress. in the meantime between the next session (who knows when that will be!) i am hand picking it (basically fluffing it before carding it.) and experimenting with dying.












some picked wool, some dyed some au naturel

i have been loaned a variety of drop spindles, but have yet to get the hang of it, so that i can hopefully spin it into something that resembles what one would knit with, i.e. yarn.















drop spindles


N has already requested a hat...so maybe i will have the wool (or at least some of the wool) spun up for the end of summer and get working on some winter hats...


And being back my studio does feel good, i just getting back into the old juggling act. i am working on some new fun stuff, lots of layers of colour, images, and polka dots! will show some photos when they come out of the kiln.
also working on some portrait pieces, something i've been wanting to do for awhile...also give you a peek when they get out of the kiln...stay posted!