With no particular pressures to make specific pots in May I used my studio time to make anything other than jugbirds. Well, yes there were two. I made a loopy salt shaker just because ours is too small and falls over. I threw yunomis and made slab plates with a plan to use them for colour experiments. There are half a dozen new mugs, with…
'Life in the Time of Covid' was Alan's suggestion as a title for my newest Pope's Hat Plate. I think it works nicely for how our days have passed since lock-down due to Covid 19 almost three months ago now. When the possibility of being told to stay at home for the forseeable future I felt fortunate in that we have a large house…
A few weeks ago I noticed that some of Canada's well-known potters were being challenged to post seven photos of their work for seven days, on facebook. They were asked to nominate another clay artist to join the effort each day. It wound up being a really interesting way to see a little history of each person and admire pieces we may not have seen…
This would seem to be such a marvellous time to take advantage of my pottery studio and be wildly creative, but like some other artists, I'm finding that the quieter and slower pace of isolated life hasn't been inspiring so far. I'm allowing myself to be distracted by the ever-delightful Spring flowers in our garden and by phone-calls, social media and cooking. Sound familiar? Plus,…
Once I've finished painting my leather-hard jugbirds with coloured slips I leave them to dry. The final step before the bisque firing is to coat unpainted areas, usually the foot, with terra sigillata. It makes a fine, smooth surface.. think Roman Samian ware.. and I like the look as a contrast to the super shiny glaze finish of the rest of the pot. Realizing I…