The Imaginative Mom

I've taken up pottery over the last year or so.  I go to this great studio in Houston where we work at our own pace but have access to teachers if we get into trouble.  I've never realized how many steps are in the process (or all the mistakes that can be made at any point along the way!) of taking a lump of wet clay and turning it into something that is hopefully useful.  I've had some successes and some epic failures.  When I now go to an art show, I have such an appreciation for the artists and their creations.  

Andy has been after me to post my pieces, so here the majority of them.

Some of my earliest pieces... nothing to brag about.   I'm glad I just had a few that survived and I didn't half to toss the all in the trash!

As I continued, I started getting more comfortable on the wheel and hand building.   I made a planter for my sister Lynn's jade plant.  I am starting to find inspiration in odd places.  As I was walking home after dropping the kids off at school and came across a seed pod that fell from a tree.  It seemed to work as the design.  The design has iron oxide applied with a Celadon green glaze to both the pot and saucer.  

I then started practicing with underglazes.  Its amazing how different the colors are before and after the final firing.  The picture on the left is before the final fire, the middle and right are after the final firing.  I'm not sure of the name of the pattern, but its a Lilly Pulitzer pattern I saw online.  I figured since it was just for me, it was safe to copy it (I hope!).  I wanted to find something that had a lot of vibrant color and patterns so I could practice, and Lilly fits the bill on both.  I wasn't thinking when I started the project and realized after I started, I had to free hand it since it was in a bowl and not a flat plate.   I kept this one! 

I continued to design with underglazes.  This one is one of my favorites.  I absolutely love Queen Anne's lace.  There is so much of it along the countryside and I think it is just beautiful even if its a weed.  If I get more ambitious, I might make a series of this one.  Again, the difference in color between the pre and post firing just amazes me.  This one was also a keeper!

This one was another (emphasis on was) of my favorites too but I was too heavy handed and dropped it as I was putting on the final glaze.  Had to feed it to the garbage can....

I experimented with dimensional underglaze this time.  This pattern came from fabric that I used in the Preschool teachers' quilts.  Unfortunately, it was another bowl I managed to ruin.  This time it made it through the final firing, except I put too much clear glaze on it and it ran down the sides.  For anyone who hasn't worked with clay, glaze turns glass-like (or maybe actually into glass) once fired.  When it over runs, it creates sharp shards that can cut.  Ouch!  You can fix this by using a grinding wheel and smoothing out any sharp edges.  I was grinding off the shards and wasn't paying attention (probably talking to someone and not focusing) to what I was doing and actually ground a hole through the bottom of the bowl.  UGH!  

I must have been going through a heavy handed phase with the glaze because both of these bowls need to be repaired.  I just can't bring myself to get it done nor can I bring myself to toss them.  For the butterfly bowl, the shards are on underside of the base, not the edge and a bit more difficult to grind off.  There is also a crack on one edge.  For now it sits on a shelf away from anyone who can accidentally grab it.  As for the acorn bowl, I just loved it but dropped it while I was glazing it.  One of the acorns fell off and since it was stuck in the bucket as I was trying to get it out, too much glaze was applied.  I still have it but keep it out of the way as well.  I might have a new art form of pottery sanding perfected by the time I learn to glaze better!

I attempted carving this time.  It takes a steady hand.  All I kept thinking was don't make a mistake because you can't really cover it up (or fill it in)!  I covered this with iron oxide and glazed the inside to make it usable as a vase.

You can only have so many bowls and vases, so I started making gifts for people.  I made a series of yoga mugs with the intention of giving them to my favorite yoga instructors.  I've become too lazy and have stopped going to yoga.  Now I have all of these mugs relentlessly staring at me in the face, taunting me as a continual reminder I need to start again.  The first set has Celadon glaze over iron oxide, the second has Rhodes White glaze over iron oxide.  

I wanted to make a special Christmas gift for my Aunt Irene.  She loves hummingbirds, so I thought I would try to make her a bowl she could either set out or use.  It was the first time I used multiple underglazes with a sculpted piece.  It took quite some time, but I hope she liked it.

I also made Christmas gifts for the kids.  Specifically, I made small boxes that contained what they really wanted for Christmas... cash.  I had fun making them.  For each person, I tried to make them something that they liked or studied in school in the hopes they can still enjoy the boxes once the money is all gone.  

I made this one for my son Evan who graduated with a Political Science degree.  This one started the trend.  In the end I made 9 different boxes. 

My nephew Jordan just graduated from engineering school.  This was a favorite of mine.  Although its difficult to see from the angle of the picture, I turned the bottom of the box into a gear as well.

My niece Danielle is nearly finished with culinary school.  Hopefully she can use this to store salt or one of her favorite spices.

Another niece, Victoria is studying Chinese.  I believe this is the symbol for happiness. My son's girlfriend SueAnn loves "old" music.  This is one of my favorites, might be the idea of a record player instead of some download.  I wrote the lyrics of her favorite song with a glaze pencil on the sides of the box.   

My other nieces CeCe and Irene are still in elementary school and junior high, respectively.  Irene enjoys art and the CeCe loves soccer and art.  I'm just thrilled some the small pencils and paint brushes made it through the final firing.

Lastly are the ones I made for my youngest.  They didn't get their boxes until months later for their birthday.  A lesson I'm slowly learning is it takes MUCH MORE time to complete projects than I think they will take.  One of the twins was given the nickname bookworm from a teacher, the other one loves science.  I tried to make the water molecules resemble they way they are depicted in textbooks, although exaggerated in size!

Ok, Christmas was over and I could start making random items again... Whew!

I just love the little frogs that are indigenous to our area.  Inspiration from another unusual source!  I now have a couple bowls, not because I'm trying to make a set but because I somehow messed up on the first one.  It looked fantastic going into the final firing but when it came out it had a large crack that makes the bowl pretty much useless.  It can hold something like potpourri, but no liquids unless I want it to function as a sieve.  Funny how even though the glazes are the same, the iron from the clay shows through much more prominently on the second bowl.  Both frogs show some cracking but at least the second blow is usable.

Getting back to gift giving mode...  I made end of year teacher's gifts.  Similar to the kids Christmas gifts, they are a vessel for something else.  This time a gift card to a local store.  Since I wanted to give them a box with one of their hobbies or something the liked, I found it quite challenging to copy iconic logos like A&M or the Denver Broncos (especially going from 2D to 3D) but hopefully I got it close.  My favorite are the running shoes.  

Working on a large piece now... will have to wait and see how it turns out....