Sunday, September 21, 2014

All Hallow's Eve...

  We are down to the wire...both figuratively and literally, with only 2 weeks until the fall Hilton Homeplace show...and quite a few pieces of clay to run a wire under.  

  Apparently I underestimated how much I already made for this year's show since I spent an entire day Saturday just glazing and wiping the bottoms off of pieces...it's like they were multiplying on the drying shelves!  


  And do I stop there? No...of course not!  Crazy me, goes back for more and actually made a few more things today.  Where do I get my inspiration, you ask?  Well what else could I think of besides Halloween with a black cat assistant?  


  So with minimal help from Hairy Houdini today I made a few things for my very favorite holiday!  Keep your fingers crossed that they... A) survive the next two firings...and B) are ready in two weeks for the show! 


Sunday, September 14, 2014

The monkey on my back...

  Aaaaarrrrrgggggghhhhh....there are less than 4 weeks until the 11th Annual Hilton Homeplace Pottery Show, and all the hoopla that surrounds it...and I have made, well...let's call it "less than enough pots" for said extravaganza.  I swear I can hear little ticking in my head, I'm not sure if it's a clock, or a time bomb...

  Now, for those of you who are closest to us you already know it has been a tough year for the Hilton Homeplace crew...but for those that don't...we've battled (and continue to battle...) cancer, illness, hospital scares, surgery, and death this year.  So when you combine that with the "real jobs" time starts to slip through your fingers quicker than the clay can. (Tick...tick...tick...)

   Nevertheless, with fewer than 4 weeks until the show the proverbial "monkey on my back" was pressuring me to get back in the shop and try to turn a few pieces. (Still ticking...are they getting faster?) 
  
  Well, I haven't turned in an embarrassingly long time, and was pleasantly surprised to see I hadn't forgotten how...exactly.  I made a few things without tearing them apart and I managed to get a few things fired and didn't hate them all.


  Seriously...I use commercial glazes for the most part, and yet every time I open the kiln it's like a mystery bag and who knows what colors you will actually get? 

  No, no, Heather...back to work, no time to ponder the great mysteries of glaze. (tick...tick...tick) 

  Well you may have read the previous saga introducing you to my "assistant" Hairy Houdini...(if not check out the previous blog post). Well Hairy decided she needed to help me today as I'm certain the ticking clock I hear in my head was loud enough for her to hear as well.  And apparently my sprig molding required supervision today since the "monkey on my back" became a literal cat on my back...

 
  Thanks Hairy...no pressure there...

But with a little work and a lot of cat hair, I finished a few more things for the show. Now if only I can keep paw prints off of them long enough for the bisque firing!  Keep your claws crossed for me! (tick...tick...tick...)