About The Artist

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I am a jeweler, a potter...an artist I suppose. I have been creating hemp, glass bead and wire jewelry since 1996 but have only been throwing pottery since the Spring of 2008. I plan to open my own gallery and workshop within the next five years but for now I make my work out of my home and sell in galleries and online. I sell my work to feed my hobby and because I am running out of room for my creations in the house. My art, like this blog, is in it's beginning stages and I hope that as my reader you will join me in my journey as an artist and enjoy it as much as I know I will!

Thursday, October 22, 2009

First Pieces Made In The New Home!

I finally sat down at my wheel on Tuesday night and threw my first pieces in my new home! I had been at work that afternoon and was getting restless (we just got through the 10/15 extension deadline so now work is REALLY slow) and all I could think about was throwing on my wheel. I hadn't felt this motivated to throw in a long time so I decided to go with it. I took off work at 2 p.m. and went straight home where I threw on some old clothes and started playing in the mud.
It felt so good to be back on the wheel. It's like riding a bike, you never loose the knowledge and experience you've gained and the skills you've mastered never seem to fade. I can still center a piece of clay fairly easily and I still struggle to open up my pots, I also still make my bowls too thin at the base. Some things never change.
My ideas have not changed much either and I went to my studio with a plan and a piece in mind. Of course, I wanted to make another turtle bowl. Only this time I wanted to make a sea turtle. I've tried in the past and been unsuccessful but with my new-found motivation I felt like I could accomplish it this time around. So I threw a few pieces, attempting to make a good sized bowl for my turtle shell. I failed a couple times and made a few pieces that weren't large enough and I ended up combining these two bowls into one:

I also made a rockin' lidded jar, probably my best to date. And I didn't even measure the lid!


But the highlight of my evening was finally getting the bowl I needed for my turtle. And last night, once the pieces were all leather hard, I completed my latest Clay Critter. I call him "Crush" from my favorite character from Finding Nemo:



I can't wait to glaze and fire him but I'm afraid I will have to wait for a while because I'm going to fire him in my own kiln. I don't want to transport him or give anyone but myself an opportunity to mess him up. I am currently looking to buy a kiln though, I'm going to look at one next week and keep checking Craig's List for new listings. So hopefully Crush will not have to wait too long to be completed.

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