Saturday 8 May 2010

Clay Day!!

I must be the luckiest girl in the world right now, because not only did Scott allow me to buy a kiln, but this week he let me buy a wheel as well!


It needs a bit of a clean, but it's mine!!

Despite all this, I couldn't stop crying last night and I wanted to run away to a place where no one could find me - that's what happens when I don't get clay time. And I haven't had any clay time in ages. It just shows that happiness is not achieved by the things we possess.

So today Scott ordered me to get my clay out, and despite feeling under the weather himself, he gave me the space to play and didn't pester me for sympathy (although I did cook him a rather nice roast beef dinner, even though I say so myself!)

So I got to work on Freda. Her eyes have been driving me mad for ages. They still didn't want to go right today, so in the end I took drastic action...


... I cut them out!! If there's one thing I've learned about clay this time round, it's that you can't fear it. If you fear changing anything in case you make it worse, you will never be happy with what you have. So I gauged her eyes out and made her some new ones...!


Voila! A new pair of eyes, with a ready made top lid. Ok, gimme a break, I'm new at this!

The next step was to get them in her head...


... too late now, I might as well go all the way...


While I was there I thought I might as well hollow the inside out a bit...


... and then I popped her eyes in and stuck her face back on...


I'm much happier with her eyes now, but now I have to try to get the mouth right! Bah!

After dinner I wanted to work on something quick, easy, and that required less concentration. Here's the first piece of my "Woodland" collection, made with my new yummy brown clay. The leaves and flowers are painted with white slip (although it seems very thin) so that the colour of the glazes will show up better.


And that's me for today! I'm looking forward to more clay time tomorrow, although I'm aware that we have a lot to do in the house - we're moving a couple of rooms around upstairs and having a bit of a clear out while we're at it. Why do things always look worse before they look better?

Anyway, I hope you are all having a wonderfully creative weekend! :D

6 comments:

Kathy L said...

OH my..you are one lucky girl! How exciting to ho be able to have the tools that you need to feed your passion. I love the new vase. I bet this new collection will be something that selss very quickly! Gosh I can wait to watch the progress on Freda although I still don't have a clue who she is just yet. I am a bit dense you know!

Undaunted said...

Thank you so much Kathy! I hope other people like this collection as much as you! The Tree Fairy vase will be part of the collection too, once I have remade it with this new clay. (and I'll try not to break any leaves this time!)

Hehehe, I don't think you're dense Kathy! She isn't an easy person to recognise and isn't famous for her looks. She doesn't really have very obvious features. Maybe some hair will help!

Anonymous said...

So how's the new wheel working? It's interesting looking was it a DIY wheel that someone built? I made our first wheel last fall.
http://createniks.wordpress.com/2009/09/27/diy-potters-wheel/
Throwing on the wheel is a blast.
Scott

Undaunted said...

Hi Scott, I haven't actually switched it on yet! That's bad, I know. But I'm actually really rubbish at throwing and need lots of practice, but I have an exhibition coming up so I won't really have time for that until after the show. I just hope I'm ready in time! I'm still waiting for the kiln to be wired in!

I have no idea if it was hand built or not. I shall have to take a look at yours.

mona said...

Saweet! Now you are totally set to get ready for your show. :).

Undaunted said...

Thank you Mona! :)