"Je suis très fatiguée."

Finished the coats on these wall hearts...

Finished glazing with ivory underglaze...

Finished glazing these sculpture toppers...

Touched up and wiped these beads the kids glazed...

Now it just needs sanding...

Finally, I can eat in the kitchen...

Started a basket last night to relieve some stress...

The studio manager is pleased with the progress...

Warming up with a full load...

Still more to do and to glaze and fire...

Now it's time to cast some bases...

Calamity Becomes Closure

The kids glazed these flat "cracker" beads today...

My class is making three large sculpture poles composed of assorted beads. This afternoon, I brought everything home, and started to clean and prep for firing a kiln load tonight. This morning, several fifth graders came into my classroom, before school, and started complaining that they didn't get to do a project like this last year. One student said, "Yeah, you didn't do anything with us." I almost choked on my tea. We worked on so many ceramic projects last year, that it felt like my kiln hardly had a chance to cool down. Anyway, all fifth grader bitterness aside, I hope we make our deadline to enter "Sculpture Is", which is a show hosted by Sierra Azul Nursery and the Pajaro Valley Arts Council. The deadline is looming large! Can't wait to have my kitchen back for actual dining.

I'm finishing the base beads...

Touching up and sponging the kid glazed "onion rings"...

So much to do...

The kiln has a full load for the first glaze firing...

Now, more room for my entries...

Winter White Out

Firing three sculpture pieces at once...

Making sculpture tops and forcing them to dry...

Working on adding color to a wall piece...

Applying and sanding "snowdrift" to a cake stand...

Linen colored underglaze on a cake plate...

Sanded, and then will have a final brown wash...

And now, some real color...

Bedlam

Willing these spacer beads to dry faster...

My garage floods every time it rains. It doesn't need to rain much. And, my kiln is located in the garage. Don't worry, it's up on blocks, along with practically everything else in my garage, including the lawnmower. I really feel uncomfortable running the kiln, when it's raining, for that reason. Tight deadlines are bearing down on us, but so is inclement weather. I know that we're in a drought, but it would be nice for a little let-up from El Nino. Just until mid February...

These pieces will make it into tomorrow night's firing...

These need more time, and the damp weather isn't helping...

Hoping to load these, and to keep the rain at bay until Friday night...

A Day of Service

Continuing work on our class sculpture...

Each student will have a spacer to glaze...

Putting the pieces together...

Waiting for the earlier beads that the kids made to cool...

Taking dried pieces outside...

Construction zone with carrot juice...

A very busy weekend is over...

Way Wet Workday

Drying the bead pieces in the kitchen...

Mitering the edges...

One bead down, three more to go...

Meanwhile, finishing the first fifteen kid valentines...

Putting a bead together...

It's not easy in this damp weather...

Winston stepped on two hearts, while running into the shed...

Working on the last fifteen hearts...

A decorative seal at the top of each heart...

A Tisket a Tasket

Pure color...

Sophisticated palette...

I like to teach my fourth graders about Native Californian basketry. We learn about many different tribes and about the baskets that they made. Each student creates a coiled basket, using modern materials: cotton string, and raffia. It is a challenging project, but the results are pretty fabulous.

Love that orange rim...

Perfect stitching...

Wild colors...

Love the pattern...

Light blue rim...

Love the shape of this one...

Old lady basket...

Careful stitching...

Dark blue accents...