Prudence's Pottery

25 soup bowls made in time for Great Bowls of Fire 2014!  Here are some of them: I hope people will enjoy their soup with one of my bowls.  It feels great to accomplish something, one thing off my to-do list this year.  YAY! And one of my nephews' footprint with clear glaze.

My blog might not have updated for a while, but it doesn't mean that I've been slacking off.  I've been busy working on soup bowls for the upcoming Ottawa Guild of Potters' annual charity event, Great Bowls of Fire.  Each year, there are 11 volunteers who make 25 bowls for the Great Bowls of Fire (a fundraiser event for the Ottawa Food Bank).  This year I am one of the 11 volunteers.  For the past few weeks I've been busy making bowls.  I don't think I have ever made that many pieces in January and February.  So, I just started the bisque load (with 27 pieces) yesterday (thanks for family day). Some of the soup bowls and other pieces which I made last year Foot prints project for one of my nephews

Happy 2014! It's time to plan for the new year.   Top priority: make 25 soup bowls for this year's Great Bowls of Fire.  These bowls will have to be done by March 8.  I really need to get started on this.  At least I already have some ideas as to what to make. I really like the plan of making 6.3 pieces a month.  It seems to work out well last year.  I will just need to glaze them a little sooner.  Now, I have to see how many pieces I will have to make for the first 2 months of the year (with the 25 bowls and the 6.3 pieces per month). I still need to make a deeper casserole dish, a functional teapot.  I also plan to make some espresso and cappuccino cups to go with my Nespresso machine.  Guess that would be the new thing I want to make this year.  Last year, it was vases.  

Last day of 2013 and it's time to review my year in Pottery.  There were 5 things that I listed on January 1st and I had only completed a couple of them.   1. Start early, don't wait until show time!  11 months before the Holiday Show in November and if I want to showcase around 70 new pieces, I shall make at least 6.3 pieces a month. => I kept up with this schedule and it worked out very well.  The last week before the show, I found myself glazing and firing rather than making new pieces for the show. 2. Make a new casserole dish.  I made one last year but I found it too shallow. 3.  Make a teapot set.  I made a teapot last year, however, the spout wasn't done well and it doesn't pour right.  The glazing wasn't done well either. =>Unfortunately, #2 and #3 didn't happen. 4. Make 25 soup bowls to donate for the Ottawa Guild of Potters annual Great Bowls of Fire 2014.  =>I didn't make any soup bowls in advance.  However, ...

My annual pottery show started on Thursday November 14 and ended at 5pm on Sunday November 17.  I had about 90 pieces (about 65 pieces were this year's collection :))  My display was also upgraded a bit, it had extended upward which allowed me to put more pieces out on display.   The show went pretty well in my opinion, I only packed just over half of my inventory home.  One small disappointment was my mugs.  I made about 2 dozen of them, but only a couple of them went to new owner(s).  However, I still love them very much.

Just pictures from this week's firings.

The kiln is still very busy, one load after another.  This is the time of the year that I really wish I have a bigger kiln.  But my husband keeps telling me that it's fine with this one, just turns it on more often. :p So, I did the last bisque load on Monday.  As you can see I am getting desperate, I even tilted my plates to try fitting them in.  Good that they turned out OK.  Thanks Cynthia Bringle who gave me this idea. This is how Cynthia Bringle loads her dinnerware.  (picture from her Facebook page) This was me trying to fit in more pieces...... This is the result for another glaze load (and there is one more load cooling down as I type).   The last 3 mugs.  I love these mugs! Can't really tell with this picture, but this is an oval vase. I love this vase.  And there is one more in the kiln.