Have you googled yourself, lately?

DON'T You could be reminded of what your butt used to look like! Yikes!

Or you could come across scary 80-ies and 90-ies images like THESE!!  Yikes again!

 

from mud to wonky candle sticks

This is quite a funky wonky collection of candelabras. I still don't know what to think of them. They're kinda cute in a "only a mother can love them" way. I'm not sure if they were worth the effort but I did have fun playing in the mud. And it has been a useful exercise in how much abuse the clay (and I) can take.

I have been working on creating a line of utility ware for my etsy store while still staying within the Mediterranean Classics. I was inspired by a pair of "marble" bowls that I've thrown years ago and still love and use regularly. I would have continued to make more, but the use of black clay was soon verboten in the studio I worked in at the time. (Something to do with my messy work habits maybe?) Anyway, while trying out different white porcelains to mix with the "midnight black" from Seattle Pottery and the right proportions, I made a pretty big mess of things and ended up with a bucket full of scraps and mud. Not wanting to be wasteful, but without the help of a pug mill or even a wedging board I set out to create something, well anything really. After an "entertaining" struggle with air bubbles and lumps - it made shaping the neck of the vase in the previous post feel like buttah - I ended up with a bunch of wonky aka "characterful" candle sticks. Now all I need to do is figure out how to glaze them, if at all. Any suggestions? MAybe I'll try to raku them. Not my favorite procedure normally, but it could be just the right thing. I will post the results when available.

messy room (my "studio")

This is my "studio" slash cat-room slash sun-room. It's not insulated or heated and either freezing or boiling. But once in a while I manage to get in there when the temperature is tolerable. But it's SO nice to be able to work at home. I'm still potting at the Eagledale arts center as well - it's good to be social and I still have many! questions, but I no longer despair when classes are on break.

On the wheel is my latest venture into antiquity, a Tang Dynasty inspired dragon-handled urn. I am still very much inspired by post Bronze-age Mediterranean cultures, but I'm not averse to more Asian influence. In particular Ritual Asian Bronzes. After all it is widely believed that the makers of Shang Dynasty bronzes were influenced by Mediterranean craftsmen. A bit all-over the map and all-over many time lines; easily justified as an archeological stir in the ol' cultural melting pot.   

  

A Shang period inspired "bronze" that I'm offering as a custom order in my shop on ETSY.

I made this one for a friend as a funerary urn for her dog's ashes. 

         

I spotted this "bronze" pool side at Casa Dali - 

Salvador Dali's house, now a museum, in

Port Lligat, Spain.