(T)arina and (A)tkins in Chicago

I figured I should blog about how my pottery turned out. :) I got about 12 pieces back. Which sucks because I’m pretty sure I made 15, glazed 14 and I know of one that was “accidentally taken.” What makes me sad is the one that was picked up by someone else was a pretty cute pitcher. I used some blue and white glazes on it and was looking forward to seeing how it turned out. The teacher said it looked pretty cool.
I may have another piece floating out there somewhere, but I can’t think of it. Maybe I did only glaze 13. Oh well.
I had no idea what I was doing with the glazes because I missed the last class (I was in Colorado for Chris’s wedding). So, I just picked ones I liked and combos that I thought would look nice. If nothing else, I have a good idea of what the glazes do when I go back to create more.
In any case, here are the wheel-thrown pieces:

That shows pretty well what I did for those eight weeks. I succeeded mostly with bowls, which is why there are more bowls than other forms. :)
Here are a few closeups of my favorites:

Atkins and I call this one the guac bowl. We think that it would look especially lovely filled to the brim with delicious guacamole. Yum yum! Haven’t made any yet, but I will soon!

I really like the shape and the colors on this one. It’s just so bright and springy! Plus the little twists on the rim add visual interest. You can’t tell from the pic but it has a nice high foot on it so that makes it a little more fun.

This is my homage to my undergrad alma mater, University of Wyoming. Brown and Gold, baby! Haha. Actually, I just decided to try out these two glazes to see how they looked together. I am very happy with the result.

This last one is a set of matching tumblers that Atkins says are his favorite. :) They are pretty small. Too small to be useful for a decent-sized drink. So I’m not really sure what we’re going to do with them. I like how they turned out, though. The form is nice.

I’m hoping to go back and make bigger and better things. Unfortunately the intermediate/advanced class is on Wednesdays, which is the worst day for me to have class. My usual day off is Thursday so I’m normally at the clinic late on Wednesdays making sure everything is in order. I may try and switch days off for the spring semester so I can keep going.

I welcome comments and questions. Let me know if you like anything in particular. I’m pretty pleased how everything came out but I have to say that I have problems making large forms. None of my bowls is particularly big. I think I just need to practice more. I am a lot better at making pottery with even sides and good bottoms that aren’t too heavy. It’s all about improvements, I guess.
Thanks for looking!

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Hi there!
So, I’ve been thinking I need something to do on my days off. Otherwise I end up watching the Olympics all day. Not that that’s a bad thing. I’ve seen some pretty amazing events. I’m just thinking it’s probably not the absolute best way to be spending my free time.
I think my pottery class has gotten me all fired up about finding other things to do. It’s good… I need to get a hobby, and I think that’s going to have to be something art-related. I have a few half-finished things, including my wedding scrapbook and a cross stitch I started oh-so long ago:

I have part of one of the legs on the wolf on the right done. Sad, I know.
Also, I have another cross stitch pattern I bought and haven’t started yet:

I am the queen of unfinished projects! At least that one’s cat related.

Even though I have all this unfinished business, I’m thinking I need to start painting again. I still haven’t gotten the details all worked out, but I am pretty sure I can figure something out that will work. And the good thing is that our clinic needs new art work! How’s that for fortuitous timing. And since I’m taking care of the redecorating of the clinic, I can hang whatever artwork I damn well please, and it might as well be mine. At least in part. :)
I just need to figure out a couple of things. I think I’ll probably paint in the office and just close the cats out while I work. Now, I need to know where to put my paintings out of reach of the cats as they dry (the paintings, not the cats). Hmmm. I suppose that’s actually the only detail I really need to work out. That’s not too bad. I’m sure inspiration will strike me soon. And then I will have no excuses!
And I have a nice paint set that Atkins gave me a long time ago and I never used. It looks a lot like this:

Well, I’ll keep you updated. I am sure something will present itself as the best option and I’ll be a happy, productive girl. ;)
In the meantime, I’ll take suggestions!

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Hey all you loyal tanda readers.

I had my first pottery class last Thursday. It was pretty cool! It hurt my back and my bum, but it still rocked. We are beginning with wheel throwing, which is the only ceramic work I’ve done. I actually found it easy to center the clay, something that completely flummoxed me eight years ago.
Centering is when you get the clay perfectly in the center of the wheel so there are no wobbles when you turn the wheel on. Sounds easy, but it’s not! Here’s a pic of a centered piece of clay:

So, then after you center it, you “open” the clay, which is the process of making the inside, basically. You stick your thumbs in the clay and make a divot.

After a little more work, you start raising the walls.

This is where I get into a little bit of trouble. I am out-of-practice and so I tend to overwork the clay and make the walls thin in some places. This is obviously not good for stability, so some of my practice pots this last Thursday kinda went “squish” in the middle and collapsed.
That’s okay, though. I figured if I could center the clay, I’d be way ahead of where I originally started. So, there it is. I centered and opened and raised some walls. No, those are NOT my hands up there. haha.
I just have to be a little more forceful and raise the walls with fewer throws. It’s all about firmness and rhythm. And the instructor is really nice and good about giving tips. I have gotten a lot of great info out of him already. I need to go in more often (there are open studio hours on Saturday) so I can get better and mail people cool stuff. ;)
As much as I love throwing on the wheel, I think I may try the handbuilding part of the class as well. I’ve never done it before, so it’ll be nice to branch out a little.

It’s so exciting to be making art again. Well, sorta. I mean, I haven’t made anything permanent yet. But I’m getting back in the groove, and that’s all that matters, right?

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Not that I don’t love veterinary medicine.
I have been craving making art again. Besides a little bit of drawing, I really haven’t done any art in quite some time. I mean, sure, I designed and created the wedding invites and such, but I have been really wanting to paint or make pottery–something that I didn’t think I had the time or space to do…until now.
I registered for a beginning handbuilding/wheelthrowing class. I figured I’d start back at the basics since I’ve been out of the studio for about 6 or 7 years. I signed up for the Thursday night (7-10pm) class, since I usually have Thursdays off. Then Saturdays are open studio from 10-6, so even if I work, I should be able to get some studio time in during the afternoon. I am very excited! I can’t wait to play around with clay and make new stuff to cram into the apartment. haha
The thought of getting back in the studio is a little daunting, but I think I’ll love it.
The studio is located about halfway between my work and our apartment, so it should be pretty easy to get there.
Yay! I’m so frickin’ excited. I think it will really help balance out my brain and bring me a little peace and joy that I’ve been craving.

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