Spring 2012 Sale

Here are photos of my display for the Spring 2012 sal.

Painted pieces and the last of my wall hanging vases. Yes, those are dragons. It is Year of the Dragon after all. The blue dragons on the side are water dragons.

More skull pieces. Surprisingly the boy skull plates sold and the girly skulls have not. Yet.

I have a lot of lovely red bowls for sale. As of Saturday night, only one has sold. Ah well.

More bowls.

And some heart shaped turtle coasters, as seen in one of the previous posts.

I'll update this post after the sale!

Purple Hippo and latest sculpture

Here is the 3rd hippo that was commissioned. I used the Coleman Purple glaze and actually got a reddish purple.

He turned out well.

Now, my mom has requested that I make a few open mouthed frogs... oh the list never ends.

Currently, I am working on a Elf Maiden sculpture for a friend. I need to get her arms done and hair, of course. And ginormous ears!!!

Here is a close up of her face. I think I'll open up her mouth and try to make her more smiley.

New Painted Pieces for 2012

Some new pieces that just came out of the kiln.

All these pieces will be on sale (with the exception of the Red Dragon slab plate) next week at Blossom Hill Crafts Annual Spring sale.

February Work

Baby Hippo, made for my mom. I will have one more hippo to make after this for a friend. She wants it as a bowl for her cat's food.

Here's a side view. The hippo's body was made with about 2-3 lbs of clay. The head and mouth parts too. This one is about half the size of the first hippo I made.

As you may have noticed, I've been a bit quiet on the blog since January 16. Well, I kept hurting my back while exercising (dead lifts first and then some high impact jumping). So, my throwing was kept to a minimum.

Right now, I've got a few plates to paint as well as some slab work. I'm really into painting right now, so making slabs is a quick way to create clay canvases to paint on.

Now, I need to make a few more slabs and plates and then start mass producing bowls for a red firing in April. Yes, I have to prepare for these things this early!

Happy New Year! Honey Jar

Happy New Year! Well, I am starting off the year with a honey jar made for a friend. You can see the jar in its leather hard state. In the photo above, the cylinder laying on its side is a glaze sample. When the honey jar is bisque fired, I'll be using the Ohata glaze which is a lovely rusty red.

Here is another view of the jar.

The other project I started was another hippo for another friend. After this, I have a number of items to make (3 custom plates, creamer and sugar for my cousin's bridal shower, yarn bowls for the store and for my mom's friend). I shall be quite busy in the next few months. And I am very happy about that. I just hope I have some time to do this sea-horse sculpture that is floating around my head and yes, that was a very bad pun... And the creature is more like a horse in the front with a fishtail rather than a real seahorse. I will keep you informed about it!

Finished Hippo Candy Bowls

Hippo Candy Bowl #1

 Hippo Candy Bowl #2

Hippo Candy Bowl #1 and #2

The customer who ordered the hippo was very very happy and picked it up today. I still have the second one (the one on the right or Hippo Candy Bowl #2), but I have a few people interested in it as well.

They are pretty darn cute.

Hippo Candy Jar

Here is one of the Hippo Candy Jars that I made. I was commissioned to make one for a man who wanted one for his wife. As advised by Joanne, the owner of Blossom Hill crafts, I made two. Just in case.

This hippo took about 15 - 17 lbs of clay to make. The body is completely hollow. The mouth is where the candy (jelly beans) will go. There are holes on the bottom of the hippo's feet that lead into the body part. That way we won't get any explosions.

Once the hippo was a bit dry, I started underglazing it with Western brand underglazes. I'll have to take a photo of the interior of his mouth next time so you can see the uvula. Now, I didn't make a hole between the head and the body just in case a stray jelly bean slipped through the hole. You'd never be able to get it out!

There's his cute little tail.

I'm currently bisque firing this hippo. He and his twin will be cone 5 clear glazed over the weekend. I can't wait to see them when they're completely done!