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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 to move, he and I will get busy.
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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 to have a place to rest the bread instead of trying to chase the sauce away during the meal! The biggest encouragement from Julie has been to detach myself enough…
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Day 1 Back at the Wheel
Today wasn’t as rocky as I was expecting. I managed to squeeze in enough time in between grocery shopping and feeding Scooby lunch to throw two pieces. The first is a small mug; the second is a serving dish. I’m not sure yet if the leaf fits, but it was fun to play.
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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 all pieces were to be derived. The vase to the left might be my favorite piece so far. I love the glazing (thanks to the magic of gas firing at…
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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 with me. This week I am going to attempt to still work my regular job during his naps and try to put in a couple hours with him in the…
