And now for something completely different - Ceramics

I do like paper, but I needed to try something different, so here are my ceramics so far. Just playing around. I'm posting to this site just because a couple of friends have asked about the pieces and to log them somewhere.

My very first piece! Need to learn better how to use wax, but he's kinda cute. Red wine glaze on the top. Folk art on the bottom. Speckled buff clay.

Scraffito! This is a press plate. I added slip to the bottom, then spent the next week carving out an image of a Barred Owl.

Used clear glaze on the bird and than waxed over that, and then dipped in sky blue glaze. Should have used folk art instead of clear. You can see where the tongs went. So many things to learn. Speckled buff clay.

Used a template for the shape, a little like paper folding. Oribe glaze. Speckled buff clay.

We used a template with the shape of the fish. Then rolled a mat over the clay to give texture. I felt 3 would be better than 1, so made 2 more. Body is folk art glaze, head is yellow sunshine. Speckled buff clay.

A bird house too heavy for any tree. It was fun to do, but a challenge to keep the wet clay standing up. When it came to glazing I was going to do two tones but the other color was way, way, way too thick, so just dumped the whole think in yellow sunshine. Speckled buff clay.

The class wanted to do coil after doing so many slabs. Mine looked like it might have some hope, but too "rustic". Folk art glaze, but the kiln didn't fire correctly, so not shiny, which I think is good. Speckled buff clay.

My first mug! You don't want to see what the handle looks like. Hoping I learn to do better handles soon. I dipped it first in a red glaze that was way, way, way too thick, then washed that away and dipped in yellow sunshine. Made it more interesting with a little of the red showing through.

Speckled buff clay.

Three small pitchers, all the same size. Ceramics has tons of stamps and mats to roll onto your work to give it different textures. I used a wood grain mat so it'd be OK that the pieces were "rustic" and dipped in folk art glaze. Kind of pleased with the handles. Speckled buff clay.

This was meant to be a chip & dip dish, but the bowl part for the dip is too small for much dip. I used red-brown underglaze for the dragon fly and bird in the bowl. What I like the most is the color of the dish itself. It's called buffy paws. This probably won't see the light of day again.

Nothing to say. Easy piece. Speckled buff clay. Glaze is folk art.

Hanging planter. I'd hoped to replace a spot where bewick's wrens had made nests each year, but this isn't big enough. And I got too much was in places. Should probably re-do. Speckled buff clay. Dipped in folk art.

A teapot! I used the wood grain so would match the small pitchers (like someday I'll have a "set"). Building this took a hard 4-1/2 hours. Speckled buff clay, folk art glaze.

These two little guys make me happy. Owl luminaries for Halloween. Start with a basic cylinder, flatten it a bit, squeeze the top together, add body parts and cut out holes. Sunshine yellow for eyes, white for facial disks, wax on talons and beak, folk art for rest of body

. Speckled buff clay.