As I was leaving the studio tonight, I decided to exit through the classrooms to chat with friends and to see if I had any class demos that had come out of the kiln.

Well… I hate when this happens…

Apparently one of them did in fact come out of the kiln. It’s what happened next that I would love an explanation for. My slip demo plate was sitting on the bisqued cart just like this. In two pieces!!! It obviously got broken during the unload, or by a careless student. I understand accidents happen. But they could have at least left a note!

On the good side… at least we can see how even my throwing & trimming were… I guess we’ll chalk this one up to “another” demo. One that I didn’t plan on sharing.

Not me.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’ve made plenty of oval casseroles over the past few years. I love making ovals. All sizes. But for this batch I was feeling a little “ovaled-out.” So I decided to follow the same construction process, but to give them a different shape! A little bit of whimsy for your next casserole!

Casserole #1 – So I start out by throwing a bottomless cylinder on a large plastic bat.

When the sticky squishiness is gone, I carefully shape it into my new “non-oval” shape.

Then some decorative stamping to accentuate the shape… no surprise, huh?!

Then I let it stiffen up overnight… and then add a slab bottom.

I keep it wrapped overnight so the moisture levels can even out a bit. Then, I added some flashing slip accents and left it uncovered to dry overnight. Soon… to the bisque kiln!

Casserole #2 – same process, different shape!

Casserole #3 – Another shape, another casserole. Same process, same fun!

Well, it’s been a long couple days with fingers crossed.
Hoping that the “data recovery specialist” would be able to work his magic to get my laptop computer back up & running AND get all of my files, photos & applications back in place. Good news – everything’s back. Whoo-hoo!  Computer running. Looks as good as new! Huge “expensive” sigh of relief. Immediately after picking it up, I went to the Apple Store to buy a new AirPort Time Capsule to start a regular regimen of backing-up my computer!

So now I’m back in business…
and I’ve got a lot of blogging, a lot of photos to share & a lot catching up to do!
Watch for some “retroactive” posts put back into place as though nothing ever happened!

Another dark morning. I’m really looking forward to the time change this weekend. With the sunrise so late in the morning these days, it’s really tough for me to catch the sunrise AND make it to work on time! But in the case of today… we never really got a sunrise! Just a lot of clouds and one little sliver of orange!