• Handprints and Pendants

    Last night, Joe and I played with my new letter and number stamps, and I made herb pendants by pressing herbs from my garden into the clay. I am thinking of using these for necklaces and as tags for herb pots. This craft smells absolutely wonderful as the pressing releases the beautiful aromas of oregano, thyme and rosemary. This morning, I had Scooby do a handprint. He wanted to do more, so as soon as this one is dry enough…

  • Class Update

    My Wednesday night class with Julie Olson has been getting my creative juices flowing and reminding me of tricks of the craft. So far, getting back into throwing is not unlike getting back on a bike after not riding for awhile. My hands seem to know what to do, and I love it. Julie has demonstrated three-pull cylinders, handles, mixing bowls, batter bowls, pasta bowls and plates. My favorite has been the wide-rimmed pasta bowls. It makes so much sense…

  • Changing Seasons

    Scooby and I have really enjoyed our local public pool this summer. It took him a week or so to warm up to playing, but this afternoon he was taking a running (think toddling) jump into my arms in the adult pool. He’s really kicking his legs, blowing bubbles and is just a little too brave for my liking. I think if the summer were a couple months longer, I’d have that kid doggy paddling laps, maybe even doing the…

  • Working Form

    I took two classes from Julie Olson while at the NCSU Crafts Center. This artist is full of great ideas and is amazing at challenging students to pursue excellence. The first time we threw something decent looking, she’d have us slice it in two to look at the evenness and irregularity of the cross section to help us find our weak points. Once piece of advice she gave me was to develop a working form – a shape from which…

  • Hello Wheel

    It has been a very long time since I have thrown a pot. I believe November 2007 was about the time my belly got too big to bend over the wheel, and soon after I spent most of my time breastfeeding and changing diapers. I’ve made several attempts to throw again, but nothing has really stuck. Scooby seems to finally be at a stage where I could potentially get back on the wheel and let him play in the room…