Bisque in waiting

Finally got some bisqued pieces.

I am giddy happy.
And, I am totally freaked -out

OK, I am afraid to mess things up and stay stuck in the land of MUDDY-COLOURS.

No colour is better than muddy-colour

Maybe less is better?

I must agree that the last experiment I put a lot of matter on that poor jar!

Here are a few pieces in waiting:

 ''She devil with wings'':

 a funny little squirrel - with removable cap, log and coffee mug : 

an imaginary cactus? flower pot:

 

What else is in the works?
greenware: A hare on a rock:

A member at our workshop called this next piece:

 ''the Frankenstein Baby'' , hum,,,,

it is a tentative sculpture of my brother at age 3 

( I hope to place a bucket of maple syrup in his hand )

I feel very insecure about this piece, and can't let go

of my negative criticism!

Ceramics: trouble in the land of fun and confidence

Yep!
I had already fears and ghosts clammering : watch-out! for cracks! cracks!

Everything cracks!

First pieces I saw in the workshop. O-O it cracked !
my first plate cracked, the three next ones cracked- no more plates for me! well you get to live with cracks. Get around them.

Baby sitting - the drying process:
For a few months, weeks I was in the dark. I saw my fellow workshop allies making pieces, firing them and bringing them home. I had not yet fired anything and my shelves were getting more and more full. I was keeping my pieces wrapped under plastic- and nothing was drying!!!! One day it dawned on me, and the wish to fire was greater than the fear of cracks, and I pulled those plastic bags off my pieces and they finally got to a stage dry enough to get kilned! HURRAY! big breakthrough!

Next challenge: get out off the  COLOR MUDYNESS MESS/RUT !!!! ( Jenny Mendes*, help!)

Here a carved jar, and it's Kerplunk present ugly realtity:

Dreams of  chartreuse lime green  gone! The piece lost most of it's carving and is stuck in the land of mudyness.

LESSON # 3: DO NOT REFER TO OTHER PEOPLES TEST TILES!!!!! the workshop wall of test tiles, the test tiles on the 5 gallon glaze buckets,etc,...

and, a reminder of previous lessons:

Lesson#1: stop freaking about cracking - and do something about it, experience, explore, get aquainted with the fallin-off of hands and legs and parts,... slow dry,...use magic mender for high fire,... still in process ( still won't tackle making a plate)

Lesson #2: remove plastic bags if you want piece to eventually become bone dry!

Now:
Lesson#3: Make your own test tiles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BUT HOW????????????????????????????????????????????????????????


*: Jenny Mendes is a goddess of color , clay. Master of creative and prolific work

1st clay piece firing stages

Going through some of the stages:

once kilned I covered the piece with cobalt oxide:

then, followed some workshop suggestions and sprayed some high fire (cone 6) antique white:

and here she is with a pot that I fired at least 4 times( love the crawl glaze inside! )

         

Clay, who would of known?

Started in November -joined a ceramics workshop : MYI Ceramics in Hollywood.
Who would of known? Well there were some hints. I always had this image of myself surrounded with a cloud of dust! like the''peanuts character'' well here I am- landed in the world of mud and Fire: Glorious , sensuous clay!

it's been a while!

Look what Santa brought home,

Finally! Gave my beloved sister Sylvia her finished painting! I am now a blondie!