Sunday, September 21, 2014

Ups and Downs

This week was a mix of good and bad news, in the ceramics part of my world.

I was phoned Wednesday, only 1 week before my class was scheduled to start, and after two months of waiting, the news was that the class was cancelled due to lack of enrollment.  That was a big disappointment for me, since I've taken Wednesdays off work, to do ceramics.  Even if I could switch to another day (and rearrange my schedule at work) - the class I would love to take is Tuesdays - then I wouldn't be able to do both the class and drop-in session.

The good news is that I've signed up for January already, and the class is all about building bird baths and other items for the garden, which is PERFECT for me.  So in the meantime, I'm a little unsure of how I'll proceed, whether I'll still do the open workshop drop-ins on Wednesday afternoons, or possibly enjoy some Sunday afternoons, if my family will let me.

On the happy side, I delivered Shadow Splash to the Shadbolt Center today, she'll be on display as part of a ceramics student exhibit there.  I'm so happy.  I'll be happier once I see her there.  I'll be sure to take photos, and let all my friends and family know!

Today since I needed to deliver her anyhow, I stayed for the 4 hour open workshop, and managed to start and pretty much finish quite a number of pieces.  There were only a few people there, and I kept my head down and focused.  I made 2 bowls with leaf impressions - 1 with strawberry leaves, the other with my beloved Davidii involucrata (dove tree) leaves.  Then a rectangular plate with stamps and rollers (like the one which disappeared during the summer session - see the first photo in this post).  I also made a few leaf cutouts (trying out some new stamps/cookie cutters I bought online from China), some with a hole so they could be used as charms/pendants, and some little "fossil" fragments, using my fossil stamps.  Then a bowl made from a sunflower leaf.

As always, I learned from my mistakes.  Today the sunflower leaf bowl proved to be a challenge for me.  I should have shaved the deep vein in the middle before pressing it, since that large groove became the weak point, and the bowl started breaking down the middle several times during construction.  I don't know that it will even make it to the bisque, since it seemed to be breaking again as I carried it into the cellar.  If not, at least I know how to make it next time.

I was so focused today, I didn't even take any photos.  Now I wish I had.  So hopefully I will go back soon, and check on my items, as well as on my sweet Shadow Splash.

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