Not quite there. . .

The good news is that the lid and bottom of the butter dish still fit, even after firing them separately. The bad news? I think the glaze color is just fine. A little bit "meh". 

Still. A useful replacement for the earlier broken one. And not completely embarrassing.
 

The bowl adventures continue. The bowl below is pretty close to the one I made for my Grand Son for his birthday, though I used a white stoneware rather than the more rustic Brown Speckled. I don't like that lower unglazed foot as much as I do on the less contrast-y brown speckled clay, but it's a perfectly usable and technically proficient bowl. It's a good 6" across, so it will make a good rice or noodle bowl. I've thrown another one that is the brown speckled, but it's still in the greenware stage.

Now. Back to replacing my favorite mug. We're not there yet, and I am aware of my more-than-exacting standards for a favorite mug now.

The two hand built mugs in the previous post were glazed. The cone shaped mug has one more firing to go, but the other one is shown below. 

I like this mug. The brown speckles come through nicely with the green matt glaze, and I like the mixing of the 3 glazes, with the top dipped in Arctic Blue and Ancient Jasper. It also feels good in my hand.

There is discussion among potters as to whether a mug handle should easily accommodate all 4 fingers, or 3 fingers, with the little finger on the outside. I know. We really have bar fights about this sort of thing. One potter said that women generally prefer to have their pinky out, and men prefer all four fingers underneath; but my sample doesn't support that. I find I naturally accommodate any mug that I love, though I do like a smaller more graceful handle than the one on this mug.

What I also am not crazy about is that it feels just a little too large. The next one will be the same clay, but I'll make it 1/2" smaller in circumference, and maybe also 1/2" shorter. The search for the perfect mug continues.

The bottoms of the mugs are shown here too. It's not terrible easy to see, but I think you get it. It's the same philosophy as putting something lovely on the back of a brooch or pendant. The wearer/user knows it's there. It's like the smug satisfaction one gets from wearing good underwear. I know. I say that too much. . .

Winter settling

First, the studio report. I decided to continue with some handbuilding via this butter dish. It's still greenware (in the kiln to bisque as I type), but I was pleased. I accidentally broke another butter dish. There is a lot of that going on these days. That piece was a very early piece that I had made in a class. It resembled a coffin, and I think this one is a little less suggestive. The lid fits perfectly, which always makes me a little nervous. What if firing alters that? Well. We'll see.

I made some truly terrible rice bowls a couple of years ago, and I've been wanting to replace them ever since. The success with my Grand Son's bowl gave me confidence. This bowl is also pretty large. . . 6" diameter. . and I'll try to make one to match in size, if not glaze. I've found that I love this glaze in bowls, but not as much in smaller items like mugs. I'm not sure why. It looks a little ponderous on smaller pieces?
 

 

We finally went skiing recently. We hadn't skied since prior to Covid (in Idaho), and 7 years later I can say honestly that I doubted our abilities. But we were fine. The snow was incredible (15 or more inches in the past 10 days or so), the hill peopled but not crowded, the blue hills just our speed (ok, a little challenging), and we were able to keep our legs under us. Mostly. We did discover that those muscles you use while skiing don't keep themselves.

The ski hill we went to (about an hour and a half west of us) had a beautiful lodge. John had bought the lift tickets prior, and we went to a machine, he scanned a QR code, and it spit out our lift tickets. Easy. Things have either changed a lot in 7 years, or the East is ahead of the West on such things.

There was also a beautiful pub for apres. Yay. I had forgotten how it feels when you are THAT tired, but so relaxed. I also revisited that place where all of your focus is on the 10 feet in front of you as you go hurtling down a hill on skis. Right, left, right, left. Pay attention. Keep your head in the game. No political turmoil, no end-of-democracy thoughts, no worry about the children. Keep you head in the game. 

There was also a large stone fireplace on the first floor of the lodge. It was reminiscent of Sun Valley, not of our Boise local hill. 

I didn't learn to ski until I was in my late 40's, and I had also forgotten what a gift it was to actually look forward to winter. We'll go again. I'm not sure how many more winters I'll be able to ski, but best keep it going as long as possible.