A bunch of freakin' stuff

Topic #1: Flies in the ointment
     It really sucks when you have nice pieces that are irreparably flawed in some way.  These are three such items.  The top two are in pieces now, but the designs will undoubtedly be used again.  The bottom one is still usable, just not sell-able.  It will take up residence on the kitchen window sill.

This was an experiment with underglaze and wax resist.  The experiment worked fine; the bits of detritus that settled in the bottom of the cup did not.

The sacred cow had two little pop-outs from bits of who knows what in the clay. 

Unfortunately that light spot on the left is not just a glare.  Apparently part of the slip got rubbed or washed off at some point in time.

Topic #2: The ones that didn't get away.
     I unloaded a glaze kiln today and all in all, it was a good firing.  There were a few bigger pieces and a couple plates in this load, so I didn't get quite as many pieces in as normal.  Thankfully all the orders I had in there came out suitably well.  Here are a few shots of some of the keepers.

Piggy bank...obviously.

Part of a "donation" for an upcoming show.  There was no booth fee, but there was a required donation for a pre show viewing thing.

SETI inspired works just in time for "World UFO Day" celebrated on June 24 (or July 2, depending on your source).

Flies can be cool.

Civet decoration on a coffee pot...wicked cool.

Round two got loaded a little while ago.  It should be out tomorrow night.  The only bad thing about having all this new work is that now I have to take pictures of everything.  That is probably the only part of the whole process that I really dislike.

Topic #3: Living on the edge
     Or on the rim, I guess.  I was playing around with the rim on a couple of ice buckets today, trying to do something more with them than just an abrupt ending. I was pretty happy with the results.

It looks better than what showed up in this picture.  I think I will try this with a split rim too.


Topic #4: The most expensive clay in the world
     I have heard this little quip as a way of describing reclaimed clay.  I have also heard that if you have more time than money you should make (or re-make in this case) it instead of buy it.  Since I unquestionably fall into the category of more time than money, I will continue to reclaim my clay.  To do this I needed to make a new plaster slab as my old one was getting a bit tattered.  Perhaps that was the reason for the little pops on the sacred cow.

I put this frame together today.  I ran a couple1" dowel rods through it to help support the slab as the bottom will be removed once the plaster has set up.  Now all I have to do is figure out how to mix good, strong plaster.

Topic #5:  It's killin' me
     This killin' time, that is.  Or perhaps it is the Easter candy sitting on the counter.  So what do we do while staring at Easter candy, waiting for a kiln to cool?  Make "chocolate" covered pretzels, of course.

To be honest, they are not actually covered with chocolate.  The Easter candy was made out of sugar and oil with natural and artificial chocolate flavoring.  Not really something I need to put in my body, but when combined with little pretzels it doesn't seem quite as bad. 

Next week: Which is better, a turkey or Mr. T?