Back to the Indoor Sports. . .

 

New favorite mug

The weather is quite cold, but crisp. We've had our fair share of cloudy days, but the sun has been kind for the past few days giving us lovely morning walks. The kids visited for a few days, and I'm figuring they brought the cold and the warmth.(!)

But I have been Making Stuff this winter, too. I keep forgetting to photograph, so I took a little time a few days ago, and this is the best and the worst of the batch. Glazing remains a torture for me. I so love making the forms, and my wheel work is more reliable than it was a year ago. However, every time I open the kiln from a glaze firing, I gird my loins.

The mug to the left is my new favorite. The green color is a coyote matt finish, while the brown drippy stuff is our old friend Ancient Jasper. A small success!

a tale of two disasters

But to be fair, it's not all sunshine and roses. These were mugs that I really like for their form, but the glaze is a near disaster. The one on the right developed bubbles. . .it's a terrible functional problem, because the bubbles feel uncomfortable in one's hand. And I haven't found any cure for it. I may text my ceramics expert friend to see if he has any suggestions. The mug on the right could have been lovely, but the black (usually a matt finish) is unattractive, and the color combination trulyl terrible. What was I thinking? Note to self: I really need to write these failures down so as to not repeat them.

Small and sweet

Getting back to the "Not Bad" category, these are two very small bowls. . .about 3 1/2" in diameter when fired. I really love making these little bowls. They come about then I have a very small piece of clay left over from other throwing or hand-building, and I wedge it, and put it on the wheel. It takes about 3 minutes to make the little bowl (I don't trim the bottoms), and they just make me smile. . . on those occasions when I don't screw up the glaze! I put these in the good-not-great category. The interior glaze is a pistachio, and the outside was the same matt black as in the mug above, but I dipped the rim in Emeraude. . . a known runner, and it really heightened the green and didn't do the black any harm. Ha. Do No Harm. A new potter's motto.

Soup Bowls

The "okay" category holds these three soup-sized bowls (5-6 inches in diameter). I dipped, rather than sprayed the glaze, and boy do I like the ease of that. But the rims were dipped in Ancient Jasper again, with uninspired results. And there were also some glaze bubbles in the bottom of the bowl. These aren't dangerous like the ones on the outside of the mugs, but they are disturbing to scrape your spoon over as you finish up your lovely bowl of soup.

John's tumbler

These last 2 hand-built pieces were "quite useful" and "just goofy". I'm ok with both. The tumbler is one I made for John using a brown speckled sculptural clay. It is quite thin, especially given that it's hand-built, and the texture was nicely highlighted. Texture was from a bisque stamp I made using leaves, grasses, other stuff. I love using tools that I make.

useful and goofy

The little bud vase to the right was just a fun left-over-clay piece as well. "I have a little clay and I don't want to re-open the bag to put it back in" kind of piece. It's 9" tall. I find these little vases quite useful in the summer. . .a single leaf and flower? 

Life has been pleasantly busy. I always feel like I'm forgetting something, or I'm a step behind, but the good thing about winter is that being a step behind isn't a biological disaster. We won't lose a tomato crop because I forgot to send an email. Ha. Terrible example. Anyway, while I'm always in the outdoors at least twice a day (Thank you, Jasper), I'm also particularly appreciative of our snug warm house.

I hate it when they catch me with my tongue out

Going for a walk on a snowy morning. . .

 

This morning was quintessential Maine winter weather. Cold, blue sky, still. I can't walk on these mornings without thinking of Robert Frost, though these are not the roads not taken. They are paths taken, made all the icier because of the feet that have packed them down, followed by the sun melting and re-freezing at night. Crampons, once again, are my friend.

But not my best friend. Jasper is the reason I'm on these trails before anyone else thinks of getting out and hiking. It is such a gift.

One of the most wonderful things about hiking alone with a wolf is that thoughts just wash over you. Thoughts you might not take time to think under any other circumstance. Or be inspired to think them. . .

 

 

 This morning I was thinking about how fundamental. . .how natural. . it seems to be walking with my wolf in the snow. I know I know. He's a dog, but he does look a little wolfish, doesn't he? Coloring not withstanding.

 I was thinking of all of the other people who walked through these Maine woods with their dog/wolf. Men or women who predate the arrival of white people. They walked in the woods to hunt, gather, teach their children the ways of woods and their creatures. Maybe they walked through the woods to see a family member in another tribe. . to trade gossip. . to complain about their husband ("He never puts anything away. . ."), to alert them to some danger. Did they take pleasure in these woods? Or was it a chore ("Damn. I wish I had a horse. . ")

I learned recently that Maine is the most forested state in the United States. An estimated 90% is forested. And northern Maine, where few people live, has 12 million acres of forest. No wonder this state has attracted me.

I am, however, starting to lean toward spring. With my 70th birthday pending, I can't help but wonder how many more springs there will be for me. That's not a woe-is-me statement. Just an objective thought. It might make me further appreciate the remaining springs. And walks in the snowy woods.