this week:

First, thank you for your comments and suggestions regarding my chronic  tendonitis.    I threw three days last week and didn't have any real problems- I even threw "big".  Soft, wet clay is easy for big forms, but harder to throw tiny forms- egg cups, bud vases, etc.  I'm looking for the happy medium.  I have acupuncture again on Friday, and I've found that the liniment my practitioner made for me really works well.   I can't tell you how very very happy I am that clay texture, different centering (that's hardest, really), and the acupuncture/liniment/massage (massage to get the liniment into the muscles) really seems to be working to solve my problems. 

This week I'm working on finishing up a dinnerware order for one of my regular MFM customers, finishing up a wholesale order, working on a project for a school, and preparing the den for our new woodstove.  I am finally going to finish painting the woodwork in the den, mostly because if I don't do it before the stove is installed, it won't ever get done.  So I'm taking an hour a day to finish sanding, priming, and painting the baseboards and windows.  We've been in our house for 5.5 years- I'm ready to finish those small nagging projects that bother me every time I look at them.

Pottery-wise, I think I'm returning to teacups.  Every few years I make a half dozen then stop making them altogether.  I made a few of these speckled ones last year and had a request from a potential customer that made me pull them out.  Three of them have been stacked up on my kitchen table this weekend, and I've given them a lot of thought.  I prefer drinking out of tumblers- I want to feel the warmth of the tea or coffee with both of my hands, but the form of teacups has always been visually appealing to me. I guess it's fitting that they keep returning as Josiah Wedgwood is one of my pottery heroes.   I made a set for a friend a few weeks ago- they're ready to be glazed.

OK.  Time to go get to work.  I hope your week is productive and warm.  Especially for my friends in the midwest and northeast- stay safe in the snow!