I'm excited! The studio opens up again today after it was closed for a week for cleaning. I was naturally there helping to clean things up but now I'm getting antsy to get my fingers into wet clay again. Tonight, after work, I'm heading to the studio. Maybe I will actually get some pictures taken of the pieces I've been working on. I brought my camera all week the last week the studio was open but I never remembered to use it until after I left.

I've been in a flurry of making, even this week I haven't thought about much else. This week was spent researching galleries and residencies (a little prematurely but good things to do). I don't know if I've talked about my plan but I'm starting an etsy site and a separate bank account for my ceramic "business" and then once I get a few sales I will use that money to buy postcards and whatnot to put in gallery packs and try to get some of my work out there. But all this is waiting for another kiln load of pots. I'm getting really antsy to see some thing fired and coming out of a kiln. I haven't had new fired work since my final project at ISU last May! I think it's about time. Also, since I don't have acess to a soda kiln right now I think this next firing will go much better than the last few. I guess we should keep our fingers crossed!

Well, my first week at the studio went very well. I talked to a few guys yesterday and they're going to let me help them make and fire their wood kiln! It's a very large anagama with two chambers. They haven't fired it yet but I think they're going to soon. I'm always in on things like that! I love a good wood firing as much as the next potter....not that it really makes sense with my work but I would stick a few things in the 2nd chamber so they'd be a little more protected from so much ash. We'll see, I may just find a way to make it work with my work!

So since I can't go to the studio today, I've decided to make it a housecleaning/grocery shopping day! Already I've gone grocery shopping, baked a loaf of banana bread, watched Miss Potter (a great, GREAT movie) and folded and washed three loads of laundry. I think that's quite a lot to do before noon so I've impressed myself! Here is my yummy looking banana bread that I couldn't help but eat a piece of:

Tomorrow I will handle the slip problem that has mostly been solved by the niceness of John (one of my studio mates) who gave me a bit of his slip yesterday. Now I just have to figure out how much colorant to put in to get the color I would like. Really, for me, with colorant, less is more. I think my work would still look great if the colors were a bit on the muted side but too dark could really ruin them in my eyes. So tomorrow I will venture over to one of the ceramic supply places in town and get a bit of mason stain. I will start with a very small amount (like one tbsp) this batch and move on from there. The nice thing about that stuff is that while it does darken a bit, for the most part, the wet powder color is pretty close to the color of the finished piece which is a pretty rare thing in the world of ceramics! Now I know in a perfect world, I would make a few test tiles and test a few different mixes and decide what color I like best but that's not really available to me right now so I will have to do with the slower, less precise trial by error method.

Then my next trick will be figuring out where I packed the rest of my slip trailing bottles.....

Moving woes....

I'm getting little bit discouraged now trying to find somewhere to make my work now that I've moved to Florida. I did find a few centers but their hours are not as many as I would like but then again I suppose something is better than nothing. Monday I am signing up at one of the studios for better or worse. I may even end up at two different ones if I think it will give me more studio hours. Right now, I have to admit, I'm missing school quite a lot. Hopefully, it will be better once I can settle in and have a routine. I'm just anxious to get my fingers in clay again! It's been almost two months and I'm definitely starting to go through withdrawal. Not for the first time (or last) do I wish we could buy a house so I could have a studio of my own!
Here's what you get when you google "happy pictures" (I didn't want to end this post on a sour note!) and I have to say this little guy is very fitting today. He's happily playing around in his little mud hole! Soon (hopefully), I will be doing my own version of playing in the mud.