Prudence's Pottery

I’ll probably have at least one more kiln-opening day before the show. Every time I fire a load, I feel a bit unsettled—not only because it requires patience (it takes about 18 hours from when the kiln starts to when it’s cool enough to unload), but also because there’s always uncertainty about how the pieces will turn out. This time, I’m happy to report that everything came out beautifully.

After missing last year’s OGP Holiday Sale (we were in South Africa!), I made sure to sign up for this year’s event. This time, I’ll have two seasons’ worth of pieces, and I started preparing much earlier. Luckily, I managed to bisque-fire everything before we went on vacation again in November. Now all that’s left is the glaze firing—one of the kiln loads will be starting this evening.

Like I mentioned last time, since I didn’t have a show in December and didn’t spend much time outside this winter, I was able to spend more time in the studio. As a result, I actually have some finished pieces ready! I opened the kiln earlier this afternoon for my second glaze firing of the year (can you believe my 2nd glaze firing in April, this has never happened before)—here they are (sorry about the lighting…). The bottom shelf, the initial picture didn't work out and I had to take another one 2nd shelf with pieces that I did slip trail.  This is my first time doing this and I quite like the result. 3rd shelf  Top shelf  I’ve also been trying out a new look for my mug handles, but they didn’t make it into this firing. Hopefully it won’t be too long before the next update!

I can't believe the last time I posted here was in 2020. Just like those COVID years when everyone was distant from the world, I was hiding from my Blogspot too. Although I haven't been updating my blog (for various reasons), I’ve still been making pottery, albeit less frequently. Over the past couple of years, I participated in two Christmas shows, though I missed last year’s because I was out of the country. I finally did the first firing of some pieces I made early last year and have already glazed a few of them. Since we're in the midst of the winter months in Canada, I spent a lot of time over the weekend in my studio, making more pieces and experimenting with new things.  More pictures to come... I also created my first time-lapse video of me making a plate the other day. Enjoy, and until next time...

On the last day in 2020, I am sitting in front of my computer and looking back on what a year this has been..... Year 2020 started out ok, we started to hear the new word COVID, but it seemed to be very far from us.  We still went for our "annual" golf trip down South at the end of February.  Then after my birthday (early March), we went into the first lockdown after discovering the first COVID case in Ottawa.  We started to work from home on March 16 (thought we would be back in the office during the summer months, however we are still working from home).  At this time, many people rushed to the grocery stores for toilet paper, flour and other essential supplies.  Didn't know it's so important to have sufficient toilet paper at home. Things got a bit better toward the month of May where golf courses and restaurants were allowed to open.  Thanks to mother nature, we were able to put in a record high of 50 rounds of golf this year and the last round was on N...

Welcome to the first day of 2020!  Can't believe that this is my first post since last January?!  What'd happened to 2019? Yes, just like the title says, 2019 really wasn't a good pottery year.  It started out strong in January and then it'd gone downhill.  :( Last January, I kept in touch with the lady who interested in some plates and bowls.  I started making those plates back then, however, she'd written back to have those on hold.  It was perfectly fine for me as I was only seeking for new ideas.  I managed to make 7 plates and was quite pleased with them. Unfortunately work got really busy in the first half of the year.  I did a lot of overtime and really didn't have time to make any new pieces. Then the Summer came, many weekends were spent on the golf courses.  Again pottery didn't make it to the priority list. So, did I make anything else?  Yes I did.  The motivation came from signing up for my annual ...