I'm trying a new style of handle on my cups (new for me). I noticed that sometimes my thumb started to slide of the top of a normal rounded handle so am trying a horizontal top for a change. There is also a eucalyptus seed imprint on the top. I think of these handles as "elf-ears" instead of the rounded ear shape of most handles. The negative space is what I'm talking about here-it also looks leaf-shaped. The cup on the left comes nearest to the look I want. (yes, I see the top of the right cup is skewed- a fault since it's not on a tea bowl, eh) This 10-inch heart shaped dish was pink and had some glaze faults so I refired it. Those refires can be interesting! I didn't expect to make a "broken" heart...

This bowl is about 7 high and 9 inches wide. I brushed the copper on the leaves on bisque, instead of over glaze.

...a 12" bowl

Here's the comic relief. These were my quick demos when I was entertaining a child who was visiting.

...about nine inches in diameter

ten inches across

An 8" high teapot, glazed in unaltered slip from some clay from Idaho. A wash is applied on the impressions. This is not a great color, so I may try a few alterations in my next high firing.

I call this glaze "Idaho #2"...it's also just thinned earthenware clay

. It's very dry-I may do some tests of additions to get a satin. I feel like I should make some rock shapes and use this glaze. The box is 6" in diameter.

Same glaze- the pitcher is 9" high. I'm showing both sides to show the variation in glaze color.

This pot is 7.5" in diameter, with the Idaho#2 on the exterior. The inside color is a blend of several blues I had here.

More of the same...I never liked brown so much before, but I love this glaze.

Here are some earthenware pots I fired this past week.
The piece is 10"x7"....an experiment. Not sure if I like it.


This is a double-walled vessel; 8" in diameter.

Vase is unglazed on outside (lt. blue slip) and 8" high.

This one is 7" in diameter.

This low bowl is 13"x3". Don't even try to identify the flowers.

Small poppy plates, about 3 and a half inches across. There were four, but one broke when I dropped it while unloading the kiln (there was a hole in my glove).

These ladles are kind of fun to make; the bowls are 3 in. in diameter.

I did a ^7 oxidation firing last week and here are the pots.

These 4 pieces are tests. Upper left: the inside is an earthenware slip from Idaho which turned out to be a smooth stony mat, a rusty blush where thin and dark yellow/gold where thicker...makes me want to make some fake rocks! Upper right- a different batch of slip of Idaho earthenware- it's a satin mat. I put streaks of a Gerstley Borate wash on the inside; those are the lighter areas. I see good possibilities for this stuff.

Lower left plate: I managed to collect a little of the material that was bubbling out of a "mud pot" in Lassen Park ...just had to see what would happen when it melted! Well, it didn't...just became flakes that didn't stick to the pot, not even where I brushed some GB wash. Wonder what it is composed of?...something really refractory, for sure.

Lower right plate: I brought home some material from a parking lot in Lassen Park because it looked like ash. I sifted out the larger material and sifted some of the fine stuff on this plate. It melted enough to adhere, but will need a higher temp. to melt. I might add some to a stoneware body, or test it as specks in a glaze.

I'm calling this a paperweight (it's weighty!). I was making an enclosed sphere and it got too soft and started settling down. I guided it into a fairly even shape and spent way too much time carving the double wall. But it was worth doing, and when you hold it to your ear, it sounds like wind on the prairie.I tried a slight change in the handle shape on these cups...flat on top to prevent your thumb from sliding down the curve.

Some pots our grandsons made recently...no, our daughter made the triangular pinch pot.

This is a 15" low bowl which I refired. It was pictured here before, about a year ago, but it was creme in the middle and greyish on the sides, with a fairly sharp transition. The creme was a Touchtone base (like Randy's red with only a little RIO) and the greyish part was where it had Touchtone Red (15% RIO) dipped over the creme. So for this firing I dipped the whole thing in Laguna's cone 5 Italian Straw and you can see it fluxed everything and flowed nicely. The picture below, of the underside shows it's action well too. Good thing I didn't have a thicker coating of the Italian Straw or I would have had too much running.

Another refire: it was a plain yellow tray with copper on the edges, so I used an ear syringe and gussied it up a bit.
I had an order for one of these, so I made two.
These were made by the grandson of a friend as a Scouting project: he needed to make both slab and coil items.
These are 8 and a half inches in diameter; a customer wanted individual snack dishes.

Can anyone identify this insect? It was parked on our bathroom wall. It's wingspan is about half an inch.

Here are some Salsa Sets I made to take to the local Flower Festival Art/Craft show. I've made them for a few years now and they sell well. They are about 6" in diameter.

Below are some earthenware pots I made this summer. Some are sold, others available. Their sizes range from 9 to 12" in diameter.