Some days it calls to you...

...Other days it slams the door in your face! Today, I guess was more like a whisper. I had gone to dad's for something completely un-clay-related and ended up finding myself puttering around waiting on Dad and Dan to master the task I unknowingly challenged them with.

So I decided to make use of the time and made several sets of napkin rings. A few have decorations on them (if they survive the firing) dogwood blossoms, acorns, flowers, and a few keys...who knows what will actually adhere and what will fall apart, but fingers crossed a few sets survive.

I also got to see the new glaze fired for the first time, not too bad...(a little more teal than I expected, but beautiful in the sun). Looks like I may have a new color for the fall show!

No need to contact the sheriff...

So dad often tells people "oh I live just over the hill there, on the family farm...I run a little pot business from the shop out back". To most people who know us, no big deal...of course they already know where dad lives and what he does. To those who don't, I have to clarify he means "pottery business" not "pot business" and usually then the odd looks and whispers stop...

but, when I started posting pictures of my "herb pots" for growing herbs, all I kept hearing in my head was dad's standard introduction of him, the family farm, and the "pot business" so let me clarify...these are for growing cilantro, thyme, parsley, and other natural...legal...herbs, ha ha!

I had a pretty productive day today and got several things glazed, underglazed, and even scrubbed 1000 napkin rings for bisque firing. Ok, maybe not a thousand, but it felt that way...at least until I bumped the board they were sitting on and knocked a handful off into a million pieces in the floor! (No worries, there are plenty left!).

Here's to hoping what's left survives the next firing! (The kiln is still the enemy)

I love it when a plan comes together!

Ok so maybe not quite the same as when Hannibal lights his cigar, but I certainly felt like part of the A-Team today...(there's a whole generation that analogy was wasted on).

On the first day I have turned in 2013, I really just wanted to make SOMETHING without tearing it all apart. Once the first cylinder stood up without much trouble I set out to make flower pots...(ok, herb pots, I don't make things large enough to plant flowers in yet)

With a little guidance from the master potter himself, I learned how to turn the flower pot and even put an attached watering overrun tray on the bottom! Thanks dad!

I also mixed a new glaze to try, hopefully it comes out as I have it in my mind's eye. All in all a very productive day playing in the mud! (Fingers crossed they live through the firing!)

I think Santa reads my blog!

So after I started opening Christmas gifts this year, I decided Santa has a few helpers...and clearly the elves read my pottery blog! Ha ha!

I got underglazes, overalls, and then there was this odd shaped gift under the tree...no guesses what it was? Ha ha! A new 5 gallon bucket to replace the one Murphy claimed a few weeks back!

(You may recall a skating episode through dad's shop after a cracked 5 gallon bucket of freshly mixed glaze, ugh!) Thanks Tommy, I will put it to great use!

If necessity is the mother...

If necessity is the mother of invention, then creativity is the crazy "stage mom" who believes her child is going to be a superstar! Ha ha! (My ideas are greater than my skill set...)

Nevertheless, sometimes you have a few trial and error attempts, right? I'm working on a few new ideas...but with new ideas come new issues! (plenty of them)

Speaking of mothers, at Thanksgiving this year we sat down for a traditional dinner with mine, but something was missing! (Now if you know my family well, there is NEVER a shortage of food, so clearly that wasn't the issue). We needed trivets! A pot holder to place underneath the hot dishes on the dining table....

...don't have what you need? Make it! I am cautiously optimistic that one of my "big ideas" will work out. (But as you all know...the kiln is the enemy, so nothing's set in stone yet...or should I say "set in stoneware" ha ha!)

Keep your fingers crossed, and I will update you all as the other ideas take shape!

Using my own words against me...

Don't you hate it when someone ruins a perfectly good rant with logic? Yeah, me too! Ha ha!

So dad calls to tell me how awesome those flur-de-lis coffee cups turned out. (I had glazed them last time I was there and anxiously anticipated the reveal). I have to say, the kiln firing fairy that lives in the shop makes pottery so much easier! You simply turn it and sign it and the kiln fairy bisque fires it...then you glaze it and the kiln fairy fires it again!

Therein lies the issue...this time the kiln fairy also sold it...before I got to see it! Ha ha! So someone out there has a set of matching coffee cups that I made which I have never seen! Too funny!

I hope they enjoy them, because as my dad so happily reminded me I always tell him "the object is to sell pots!" Thanks dad, you are right...

If Midas touches things that turn to gold...

...then today belonged to Murphy!

Murphy's Law exhibit #1: nothing, and I mean NOTHING that went near the wheel today became pottery...it was a lot more like "hey let's watch you attempt to center, attempt to pull, and then it can all fall apart."

Murphy's Law exhibit #2: Know what 5 gallons of freshly mixed glaze does when the plastic bucket it's mixed in cracks? Well, I do! And so does dad's freshly "glazed" shop floor! It went EVERYWHERE and is the slickest, stickiest mess you have ever seen!

Murphy's Law exhibit #3: fine, no turning today...I get it, so...let's do some slab work. Except, without boring you to death in details, lets just say it worked out as well as any other task planned for today.

So what do you do when Murphy takes over for Midas? Relinquish the throne dear subjects...and wait for another day.