Warm Weather, Extended

Porcelain Mug, Cala lily

It's hard not to enjoy the return from the cold we've had for the past week or so. It's been extremely dry, but also throw-open-the-doors warm. Jasper is happy. And it's hard not to enjoy it, especially knowing that winter is on its way.

Still. It is unseasonable, and one can't help but wonder what lies ahead. There was a time when I reveled in weather. Oh sure, I could always find something to complain about. That's what people who take growing things seriously do. But now contemplating what's next in our forecast is accompanied by a twinge of anxiety. It used to be that a big storm was somehow reassuring. It made me feel like humans weren't in control as much as we pretend to be. 

 

Porcelain mug, Dogwood-ish

But now? It feels more deadly. Not only personally, or species wise, but ALL species wise. Our beautiful trees, ferns. All of it.

But as usual, I digress. I didn't do a lot of studio work this past summer, but just got a batch of work glazed and photographed. I'm not sure why I go to the trouble now, except that it's habit, and I like seeing it on paper. Much of the work was in porcelain. I'm still using applique with botanical motifs, but I feel that urge fading. [Though to be fair, my very favorite mug is still one of the green/brown Cala mugs. . ]

Porcelain Bowl with spoon cutout

Another method I've been working on is slip-trailing. It's particularly handsome on porcelain, I think, though I'm always hesitant to glaze that bright beautiful white. The bowl on the left is only glazed with clear glaze on the inside. The vitrified unglazed outside has such a tactile feel. Some people hate it, but I really like it's rough smoothness

Small Porcelain bowl

 

Below is a smaller bowl that I glazed inside and out, then rimmed it in Emeraude. . .my favorite glaze (along with the old Ancient Jasper) for running; or in this case creeping.

Porcelain mug, left hand side

 

 

Finally, my favorite porcelain in the batch. Again, this mug is only glazed on the inside. I've been drinking from it, and the jury's out. It's a good size, the handle feels just right, but I'm afraid that the unglazed outside may stain with heavy use. It shouldn't, since it's fully vitrified, but it has that feeling. 

Porcelain mug, right hand side

It's interesting on all sides, and unlike the botanical mugs above, it's a right-and-left handed mug, since the slip trailing is really low to the surface. I also smoothed the "dots" of slip trailing on this one so there wouldn't be too much relief. Too much relief, as we all know, can just be annoying. Smile.

The buttons below are part of my maker self too. I just finished a linen dress ("Mom-green", my younger daughter calls the color), and needed buttons. I have so many choices now, but decided I wanted metal, not enameled, instead of ceramic. I found a package of Precious Metal Clay, and voila. 

 

Fine silver buttons

 Buttons for the dress. Fine silver. Who else has such amazing details in their life? Not that anyone ever notices. But still. As I used to tell my clients: You know it's there. It's like wearing really lovely underwear. (Though we will not go there.) Lucky me.