The busy weeks for pottery
The studio started again 3 weeks ago, it's good that I can make some new pieces again! I had my first open house in April which I invited some of my co-workers to check out my latest work. Thanks Kim, Claudia, Julie and Kathy for dropping by and all of their compliments - which really motivated me! Thanks girls. They have made some mug "orders" during their visit. Guess what I have been doing for the past 3 weeks....MUGS!!!!! Since the heat is off at studio, the pieces dry a lot slower. The mugs I made 2 weeks ago were only ready to be trimmed on the 3rd weeks. So, the Friday just passed, I trimmed 4 out of 5 mugs I made 2 weeks ago (1 of them was still a bit wet) and I did some glazing too. And just like that, I went out of time, I had to attach the handles at home. I think I have to work faster next week, since I still have 8 mugs at the studio waiting to be trimmed and handles attached.
During the down time, I was really pottery withdrawn and the fact that I am on the waiting list for the summer session really drives me crazy. It's good that I have a very supportive husband and he suggested that I should look into having my own studio at home. A studio at home?! I have never dreamed of having my own studio. I am also a bit worried about having my own studio simply because I have never made my own glazes, loaded my own kiln etc....these details have always been done by our wonderful technicians, I don't have to worry about it. Would I be able to do it myself?! Anyway, I still went ahead to ask for pricing at our one and only one local pottery store. Pricing seems to be acceptable, but it's still a lot of money. Anyway, I am still thinking about it as I type. :P
Just as I am thinking about having my own studio, my friend Wendy told me about Anne Chambers Glaze workshop in May. It's a hands-on workshop and I would get to make my own glaze. I quickly jumped on it and registered. The workshop was on May 1 at the Gladstone Clayworks COOP. The first part of the workshop was mostly theory, and it was like attending Chemistry class again. Glazes are very interesting and Anne is very knowledgeable and a very good teacher. She makes everything so easy to understand, even though I might have only gotten 1/3 of it. In the afternoon, it was the hands-on part of the workshop. We might the base glaze and add oxides to get colours. It was a lot of fun to make glazes. We all had 21 tiles for the glazes with the glaze base that we chose and we got to see them on May 8. Here are my tiles with the Magnesium Satin base (Base B) which turns cobalt purple (cobalt is usually blue):
During the down time, I was really pottery withdrawn and the fact that I am on the waiting list for the summer session really drives me crazy. It's good that I have a very supportive husband and he suggested that I should look into having my own studio at home. A studio at home?! I have never dreamed of having my own studio. I am also a bit worried about having my own studio simply because I have never made my own glazes, loaded my own kiln etc....these details have always been done by our wonderful technicians, I don't have to worry about it. Would I be able to do it myself?! Anyway, I still went ahead to ask for pricing at our one and only one local pottery store. Pricing seems to be acceptable, but it's still a lot of money. Anyway, I am still thinking about it as I type. :P
Just as I am thinking about having my own studio, my friend Wendy told me about Anne Chambers Glaze workshop in May. It's a hands-on workshop and I would get to make my own glaze. I quickly jumped on it and registered. The workshop was on May 1 at the Gladstone Clayworks COOP. The first part of the workshop was mostly theory, and it was like attending Chemistry class again. Glazes are very interesting and Anne is very knowledgeable and a very good teacher. She makes everything so easy to understand, even though I might have only gotten 1/3 of it. In the afternoon, it was the hands-on part of the workshop. We might the base glaze and add oxides to get colours. It was a lot of fun to make glazes. We all had 21 tiles for the glazes with the glaze base that we chose and we got to see them on May 8. Here are my tiles with the Magnesium Satin base (Base B) which turns cobalt purple (cobalt is usually blue):
These are other people's tiles:
I think this is my favourite colour:
Comments