Finally Finished Pieces!

I wanted to share a few photos of some work I have finally finished! I am struggling to get a lot of work complete right now because I do not own my own kiln and the kiln I am using is owned by a very busy woman! The woman is selling her work full-time. She has been in a craft show nearly every weekend since she bought her own equipment and since I work full-time, I usually only have weekends to go to Waynesville to bring her pieces to be fired and to glaze my bisque pieces. So since I started I have had to go to Waynesville just for the evening, after work, to glaze my pieces. Its only a half hour drive so its not horrible, but it still only gives me several hours to work. She is also so busy with her shows that I now have four boxes of work at her house that has not even been bisque fired. It is in no way her fault nor am I blaming her for the slow process, she has been wonderful allowing me to use her kiln and glazes, but I'm frustrated non-the-less. When I throw a piece I get really excited and I want to see it complete! So its been hard being patient and having to wait to get my work back to me. Not to mention that I have nearly 30 pieces waiting for firing and 3 galleries waiting for my work...it just makes me a little anxious.

Anyway, here are my first two finished sale pieces:

This is my first turtle bowl. I am unhappy with how the green glaze turned out because I painted it on instead of dipping it and I feel it came out too thin. But some say it gives it a unique look and that it fits the whole turtle idea so maybe someone will like the look enough to want to take him home. I have made another turtle bowl since this one so I can better glaze it.*

*I just wanted to point out, in case you haven't already noticed, I am a PERFECTIONIST! None of my work will ever truly satisfy me and I will always strive to improve everything! So please excuse me as I complain about my pieces' flaws time and time again.

This is the first of my "drinking buddy" mugs that I have designed. I have two others that have currently been bisque fired, one has a turtle hanging on to the side of the mug and the other has a snake wrapped around the mug with part of its body as the handle. I will be glazing these mugs ASAP.

This mug was glazed by my 12-year-old sister, Michaela, who comes to help glaze every time I work in Waynesville. She has learned to throw on my wheel and seems to have a natural talent that skipped myself and Megan, the middle sister. I think if she likes it enough, she could definitely surpass me as an potter and she already has an eye for glazing as well. She hand-painted the turtle on this mug and then I dipped it in the blue and as an after-thought my mom suggested me throw some glass in the bottom of it (hence the darker blue bottom). My mother took several pottery classes a while ago and she was in class with a woman who did glass work. Together they decided to experiment with glass in pottery and it had an amazing result! So you will see a lot of my work, especially bowls, with glass melted in the bottom.

So those are my first sale pieces thus far. I am going home Sunday to glaze so, with the help of my mother and sister, I hope to get a lot of my bisque pieces finished. Keep checking back, once I get new pieces I will post pictures!