I'm working again!

Not only was I MIA from the blog, I wasn't making pottery or sculpture either. But all that has changed and I'm working again. It feels good to be working in clay; I feel like I need to dust off the cobwebs and find the rhythm once again. I have been throwing some mugs and some lidded jars - after I had to search to find all my tools again. My studio has been in a state of disrepair - we ripped out the sink and transformed it into a closet. (We did that because we were preparing to put the house on the market and needed another bedroom.) So, I am working without a sink, but I am managing alright with buckets of water. I know I am not the first potter to work without a sink! In the new house, I'm going to have a bad ass studio and that will make up for it. I've already purchased a kiln - I got a large, electric front loading kiln from Bailey. I stayed with electric firing because all my glazes are formulated for it. To switch to gas firing, I would have to make so many changes to my glazes, and I'm not prepared to do that at this time. I don't have any pictures of finished pieces yet, because there are no finished pieces yet! I'm in a throwing cycle, and soon I will start firing and glazing some of the work. As soon as I have some pieces, I will take a quick picture and post it. Thanks and you all have a great day!

23 weeks pregnant!

Well, here is a baby bump photo of me at the new house. I'm 23 weeks along, so almost 6 months pregnant! The house in the background is the one we are building, and I'm standing on the pool deck in the sun - as you can tell by the squinty look on my face! You can already feel the sun getting stronger here, and many of the trees are already blooming. It's a bit early, but I'm so ready for spring! Spring has become my favorite season of the year, and it always puts me in a good mood. Speaking of good moods, I've been working on a sculpture, getting her finished. I'm trying something different on this one - what is known as 'cold finishes'. It's unfired paints of any sort that you can use to color your sculpture. This is a fun way to finish my pieces as you can tell exactly what color or finish you are going to get. It is never a given with ceramic glazes - you just never know for sure what you are going to get in the kiln! With cold finishes, you can experiment and keep working on the piece until you are happy with it. I find it to be a less of a "get it right the first time" mentality, which can be stressful. I think I'm going to spend some time working on both sculptures and pottery and just try to increase my production. We have a lot going on right now, but it is all good stuff. I feel so unbelievably lucky to love my job!