It has been far too long...

Since I last posted! Rest assured, I have been quite busy. I've made another hippo (commission for a friend) and a few other regular items.

Currently, I am obsessed with Chawan Mushi, a Japanese savory custard. My mom was a big fan, but I never really ate it while I was growing up. While living in Japan, I couldn't get away from it. Now that I am back in the States (for the past 12 years or so), I'm getting a craving for it. A local restaurant serves chawan mushi and it was a bit more full of vegetables than I was used to. So, I've decided to try to make it myself.

But first, I need the chawan mushi cups...

A friend has asked me to make two for her, so I shall be making those next week.

Speaking of "commissions", my mother asked me to make her a few frogs with their mouths open. In Japanese, the word for frog is kaeru. Kaeru can also mean "to return". And so, the frog is something of a good luck charm. Anything you give away or send off will return to you be it money or friends. If you go to the California hotel in Las Vegas, you'll see a lot of Japanese people from Hawaii carrying around frog good luck charms.

The pig in the center was a demonstration of making a closed form (in this case, a sphere) and then cutting open the top to form a lid. In fact, all  of the frogs were made from closed forms, the mouths were cut open and feet were added. You can't see it in the picture, but some legs were formed on the side of the frogs. I suppose the frogs could be used as sponge holders, but only the one on the far right with the wide open mouth would be good for that.

Finally, more yarn bowls for The Knitting Room in San Jose. I'm selling my bowls there exclusively, though, I am thinking of trying to get into Stitches West next year.

Latest Sculpture

August was not a very productive month for me, mostly because I was in Hawaii for the first two weeks of the month. However, I came back inspired and ready to make more stuff!

The Knitting Room was running out of yarn bowls, so I made about 2 and a half bags worth of stock. Unfortunately, of the 14 I made, I've lost 3. Ah me...

I've also been accepted into the Alternative Press Expo, so I made a few more plates to paint. Egad, where does the time go?

I threw 6 plates, one squared bowl and 3 more yarn bowls. Unfortunately, they were too wet to trim today, so I got to sculpt. Yay!

I threw the body of this sculpture almost 3 weeks ago and today was the first time I got to work on it. I'm using the Dark Brown clay and will add a celadon glaze over it once it's done. For the face, I think I might use a different clay (BHC which is kind of a warm honey colored clay body when completely fired). Should be fun.

I have really enjoyed making the folds of the dress look like the trunk of the banyan tree, so I'm continuing with that sort of look. I'm looking forward to adding some interesting details on this one.

For my next sculpture, I'm actually going to branch out and try to make a male figure. My aunt would like a Gandalf like sculpture, so that is what I am going to go for.

Pasta bowls, yarn bowls, a bottle/vase and a strainer

Last night was a bit like Christmas. I got a lot out of the kiln. The bowls above are for a friend out in Texas. I wasn't too happy with all the gold specks that came out on them, but it is the nature of the glaze (when it cools down too slowly) and well, my friend likes them. Hooray!

My newest yarn bowls came out and for once, did not collapse. Yes, I have finally figured out how to make these things. I should be getting one more out in this week's firing.

Above is a big ole strainer for a friend who is moving to Austin. She gave me all of her left over clay, so I decided to use it to make something for her. She wanted a strainer for when she makes lasagna, so there you go. Big strainer.

Then, I decided to try to throw 7 lbs at one time. It was not easy and I'm not as happy with the final result. I think that I will continue to stack columns of clay when I want to throw big. It's easier on my body and for me, easier to control the clay.

Trimmed Yarn bowls and glazing

Last night was spent trimming plates and yarn bowls. I changed the cuts this time so that it is more vertical and instead of pushing the 'flap' out, I pushed it in. Hopefully, this will stop the collapsing issue I've been having with some of these. The slot on the left one in the above photo is a bit bigger than I'd like, but it should work well.

Another yarn bowl.


And another jar is glazed. This time I've used the Leo's Jade for the main part and Tenmoku for the knob. Love this combination of glazes.

The Tree Woman version 2 survived the bisque firing, but managed to blow out her back side. It's my fault for leaving it too thick, not poking holes and not letting her dry long enough. My bad. But, after a little sanding, she's just fine. I'll be dropping her off at the wood kiln tomorrow morning. Photos to come.

Sculpture, more wood fired pieces and yarn bowls

We opened another wood soda kiln firing last week. Above is a vase with roots. For other images, see my updated Flickr Wood Soda firing page. I've also created a Sculpture set.

This is my latest sculpture. She's a dragon lady. In her upraised hand is a heart with ventricles. Yes, I went there. I was in a rather 'dark' mood when finished up this sculpture.

Here are some yarn bowl kitties done for a friend. Black kitty above and a grey tabby below. They are glazed and waiting to be fired.

Slowly but surely, I am getting all outstanding projects done. I have to pick up the popover bowl that I have finally glazed and gotten fired.