Some updates

Hello blogging friends! Oh dear, what a naughty blogger I've been! I haven't updated for ages! To be honest it's just so easy to write a quick (one sentence) update on FaceBook and upload a photo and forget about the blog. But for those of you who have more sense than to use that (addictive) service, here is an update!

It was so wet during August! You may recall I had 4 vases in the process of being made all at the same time, and I was struggling to get them to set. For those of you who have been wondering, the hair dryer worked very well!

It took quite a while, but I finally got the vases finished!


The one on the right is for my sister inlaw and will be glazed red. The one on the left I have carved an ivy design and I intend to do an iron oxide wash on it once it has been fired. I will try to remember to take photos of the process!

The other two vases took longer to finish as my Mum took very ill and I didn't get any clay time for a while. I'm glad to say she is much better now and is giving up smoking!! These ones have the Marianne design slip inlayed on them, and since this photo was taken I have also added some fancy little handles either side of the neck.


These two came out much smoother because before I had finished them I invested in a whirler! (A whirler is a round stand that spins round, although it's not powered like a potters wheel is) So I was able to spin the vase round and use the steel kidney/scraper on the side to get a more even finish.

I also bought some other essential items - some 12" shelf props, and an angle grinder to try to clean these shelves up! I shall need to do that soon because I'm loading the kiln as I go (which is why I have no photgraph of the vases with their handles on!) I'm running out of surface space, and I don't want anything to get damaged, so I put the vases straight in the kiln when they were finished.

This week I have started a project using paper clay! More about that next post!