After the storm yesterday dumped more than a foot of snow here in Girdwood, the skies are clear blue today. With no cloud cover, it is a cool 12 degrees outside but has made the snow conditions on the mountain perfect for the North Face Vertical Challenge. The bird feeders are busy, busy, busy with little birdies having Sunday Brunch and knocking seeds everywhere. Tauzer (my Giant Black Schnauzer) is keeping an eye on all of the bird action -she'd rather be outside chasing snowballs, but with her new, short haircut she'll have to wait till later when it warms up.
Here are some pictures of the dry pieces ready to bisque fire. I tried a new Raku clay and another White Tile clay -both around ^04. I won't have an extra-full bisque load to fire, which economically, I normally would like to do, but afterwards I'll have enough glazed pieces for a more than full glaze load. The smallish slab bowls I made have sea themed textures pressed onto the insides and I made the bases using sprig-style shells and starfish. The Raven tile was freehand sculpted and if it fires nicely might make a good mold. We'll see. I've got this beautiful, new black matt glaze that I thought would be perfect for some Raven pieces.
13 comments:
Your new clay pieces look beautiful. But what really gets my attention is the gorgeous Tauzer! i forgot how pretty she is and how much she looks like Xena, when she's freshly groomed.
V --
hi vicki! I thought the same thing when I read your post about Xena getting brushed out!! I have to take Tauzer to be professionally groomed half the time and I can do her the rest of the time -every couple of months. Tauzer is a sweetie -she has very bad hips but is on some good meds to keep her comfortable. She was given to us a few years ago (she was about 2) after her owner died and is always with me. Good thing she is black because she lays around in the shop and gets soooo dirty!
Hi Cindy! My hubster and I are sitting around at an airport waiting for a delayed flight (in Atlanta, where it's storming). I showed him your blog and while I was expressing my delight in your raven tile, he was adoring your dog. Go figure. :)
Hi Patricia and Husband! How fun is that?! I just read where it's snowing in Atlanta!!! holy cow -hopefully you will get back to sunshine land soon... Yes, though Tauzer is technically MY dog :o) she is quite a man's, man dog! She will do ANYTHING for a belly rub from my husband and sons and "smiles" does circles and "chomps" when my hubby comes home and she brings him her favorite bone!! She's really pretty, completely trained, is a wonderful watch dog when I'm in the shop, weighs 100lbs and is larger than a black lab. -glad you like the tile too :o))
Love your artwork and your giant! She is gorgeous! Ours live in the desert SW and they just got groomed. She is a big girl. I enjoyed your blog.
thanks for the post and kind words! Aren't they just the greatest dogs?! Tauzer is so smart & loyal and the non-shedding is a real plus too! My life-long buddy before her was a Great Dane but this Giant Schnauzer has won our family's hearts of the breed. There are not very many here and most people think she is a Bouvier (sp?) I think there was a breeder in Juneau but Tauzer was part of a rescued litter of puppies in Eagle River, then gifted to us after her owner died. With her bad hips we baby her and she is always with me. thanks again for the interest in my blog.
Yes, they are the greatest dogs. We have five of them and a mini. We do giant schnauzer rescue in the SW. I have a friend with giants who is from Alaska. She may know something about those giants. I will ask her. I am glad Tauzer went to such a great home. How old is she?
thanks. Yes, her and Sammie, our Toy Fox Terrier (and Black Bunny Foo-Foo) have the life! Tauzer's birthday is August 16 and she was born in 2002.
Oh, wow, love the raven tile, so beautiful, can't wait to see it fired.
hi Linda my fellow Raven fan... thought you might like this one!
LOVE the raven piece & your metal work is outstanding! You live in my dream state, too! Hubby & I would love to live there one day...
I know it's a bit of a challenge getting things, so how hard is it to get clay & such? What type of kiln do you fire?
Hi Lisa, thanks for the post and thank you for the compliments. We love Alaska too! Yes, I need to budget for shipping on almost everything, both sending (shipping out sculptures) and receiving! Most of the potters I know have clay and supplies shipped by the pallet load from Seattle. I just had a shipment from Seattle Pottery and turnaround time isn't too bad but the costs can be high when you're not used to it. I am able to buy all of my steel, copper and other metal supplies locally though -which is GREAT. I have two larger, electric kilns on a Bartlett Kiln Controller. A good friend has a very cool outdoor Raku and Pit set-up. There is a wonderful and thriving artists community here with a variety of professional studio set-ups, large car kilns, outdoor woodfire kilns etc.
Hi Cindy!
Thanks so much for the info!! Good to know I could still produce if/when we move! I used to have my clay & chemicals palleted in from out of state, but started using a more local clay which I can pick up from a distributor about 30 minutes away! My glaze chemicals I now pick up from a supplier about an hour away. So I know the freight will stink!! I, too, have 2 electric kilns which is all I've fired in the 8 years I've been potting ~ though I dream of wood & salt!
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