slow

moving around here. My small procedure turned into something bigger and more complex. I'm off my feet for a little longer than I anticipated. I had an abdominal incision, which means that if I'm going to work on the wheel any time soon I'm going to have to re-think how I do it. Not curled up over and around the pots. That won't work.

Yesterday I had Gary bring down a softball-sized lump of clay and my favorite clean-up tool, a double-sided blade that I use for trimming, hand-building, and decorating, but rarely for cleaning up, a fabric-covered piece of particle board leftover from my teaching days, and one of my rolling pins. I've been leafing through back issues of Ceramics Monthly and was beginning to get the clay "itch" again. Over the course of a few hours, I made a template for a new square salt cellar (slightly under 2" across) and worked on my salt spoons.

In November I was very excited about my first little spoons. But as I sat down to make more, I didn't like the bowls. In particular, I didn't like how the edges of the bowls curved up toward the handle. I'd simply been pinching them into a bowl shape, which worked fine, but the lines weren't as clean as I wanted (yes, I am a recovering perfectionist). Yesterday I began experimenting with cutting out darts in the bowls to get the look I wanted. I am happier with the new shape and will make a template to use to make more, I think.

I hope to have some help getting my kiln loaded and fired over the weekend- no heavy lifting for me. Next week I'll try glazing. I have a new color I bought to use for my porcelain teacups. We'll see how it goes.

Have a great weekend. I'm signing off until next week.