I have Crayfish guts in my hair, and a kitten in my lap

Not much to say. When things are going really well, I usually don't have too much to comment on. I did get my first two sad little shrunken bowls back from ceramics. While the colors came out nicely, they were not what I had intended for, and the glaze was too thin in a bunch of parts.

There she is, the very first bowl I ever made. This is my squatty little sugar bowl. That top part was supposed to have a lot of cranberry red on the rim, but the winds got into the kiln, and that makes it hard to get Red colors(I think they mentioned it has too much oxygen, not entirely sure)... which turns them clear. 

I put a Turquoise matte on the bottoms half, dipped the top half in a Patina green, and drizzled it on the edges, then dipped the rim in Red, which ended up turning clear, with a faint tinge of red on the left side of the picture.. better luck next time. I do love the unpredictability of these glassy glazes. The way the glaze runs and combines.

I love how the colors came out regardless, but since the bowl is so small, you can't SEE the colors. I have since learned, and from now on I am making things gigantic so that the 17% shrinkage doesn't end up making everything teacup sized.

Here is my second bowl... which was way too thinly glazed on the inside... resulting in the stoneware orange color peeking through where I wanted it to be ALL turquoise.

I topped it all in turquoise matte(which you can't see at all.. dipped way too thin), then the rim in a Green, and in a Brilliant blue on top, which created a cool starry night affect in some spots where they mixed. I also spotted it in a Crystal black... but the crystal part didn't show up since it was too thin.

Since I have had 2 pieces go through the glaze fire, I have learned a lot about how to glaze properly, Next week I should get 4 more back :)  Here are some process pics.. sorry they are so dark, but the room in dark and I didn't want to go flashing about when people were in there working.

This one has been glazed and is in the fire right now.

This one too.

These two cups are also glazed and in the fire.

See all those spots? Those are Iron Filings that the school gets from an Auto body shop, once Glazed and fired, they should create cool effects on the Glaze. I tried very hard to make nice lips for the mugs so they are comfy to drink from.

Mug number two! Also in the Kiln!

These mugs don't have handles or designs in the picture, but I did the handles and decor yesterday. I will get more pics up once they get out of the first firing.

Also, the first and third mug were such awkward shapes, that when I attached them(upside down) to the wheel to trim the bases(which was after this picture was taken), I had a few issues in trimming. I accidently pushed the pedal to SPEED UP when I meant to push it to stop... making the two mugs fly off at great speed into the table in front of the wheel (yes, I did this twice, at separate times) . They were all mangled and smashed in certain parts. Luckily I molded them back together, and covered up the messed up bits with decor, swirls and little balls of flare. You will see.

Since I was using recycled clay, I also found a press on nail and a seashell in the 3rd mug. That pissed me off a bit, since I had to patch up the holes they made. All is well now though. Hopefully the inconsistencies don't leave enough air bubbles to have them blow up in the first firing. I will find out on Tuesday!

This is a Coil piece, meaning the whole thing is made from coils and balls, which are smooshed together on the inside to hold it together. I also added 3 big coiling legs to the base. When my teacher saw it he said "Wow! Nice piece. I'm scared." Apparently it is possible it might crack because of how huge, and detailed it is(I told you I was going to overcompensate for shrinkage) and how twisted and gnarly the legs are. But if it does make it, it will be epic :)

I also visited the Moorpark Zoo last weekend to get a little taste for where I will be when I eventually get into Eatm. I fell in love with the intimate and quiet atmosphere, and was really pleasantly surprised with how alert and active the animals were. I finally met the Siamang Gibbon that I hear in the mornings in Ceramics class. 

This is the baboon, she made the most hilarious, raised eyebrow, open mouthed, shock face when the Capuchins were causing a ruckus next door. I wish I had my camera out at the moment, but alas I didn't.

This is one of the squirrel monkeys with one of the students. This is the kind of monkey that pooped on me in Costa Rica when I was standing under it trying to get a good picture. It smelled like Fruit.

And here is a pic of their Coyote CJ