It was warmer this morning, with a bit of a “breeze” sweeping across the lakefront. I hope this good weather sticks around for awhile. I love wearing fewer layers in the morning… and I don’t want to have to put them back on again for several months!!!

Well, I guess it’s time to get started, huh?
Receipts. Statements. Paperwork. Everywhere… and April 15th just a few days away!!!

A beautiful end to a beautiful Spring day.
And we deserve it… now let’s just hope it stays for awhile!

I just posted my SECOND pottery video on YouTube!!! Whoo-hoo!!!
And let me just say for the record, this one went a LOT faster in iMovie… and I remembered to shoot the footage in landscape mode so it fills the screen this time!

Click here for the YouTube video : Bowl Stamping by Gary Jackson.

Today I continued working on my latest batch of flower pots. I trimmed all of the bottoms on the flower pots… AND threw all of the drip plates to go with them! And again, by the time I finished throwing the last one, the first ones were ready for fluting, stamping & detailing. I love when a plan comes together.

If all goes well, I hope to finish up the flower pots by drilling drainage holes and then letting them dry. As for these drip plates, they all need to be trimmed with a good “deep” foot. When this batch is done, I’m hoping to make another batch… a little shorter & wider! Similar, yet different. Might be cute as a twosome of flower pots?!!!

This morning had a glimmer of hope… a hint of a sunrise starting early on.
But the clouds won out and we never quite got a sunrise to speak of.

I think it might have been the hint of Spring yesterday that “inspired” me to make flower pots. So I spent the day in the studio throwing tall flower pots. I decided to make them in two pieces, instead of the attached water drip plate version. Today I focused on the flower pots… the drip plates will be another day.

It was an extra productive day today… as I not only threw all of the pots, but I also had the time to stamped them all as well. It was great how quickly they were drying. When I finished throwing the last one, the first ones were getting stiff along the top edge – perfect for stamping. Talk about a pottery assemble line!!!

Twelve Tumblers. Made of Mud. Not that I had to explain…

Tonight I had two little visitors stop by my studio.
My friend Kristen brought her two kids for an afternoon of clay fun. We decided to make mugs with AJ and Lizzy. AJ has played in the studio before so he was incrdibly excited to be coming back. This was Lizzy’s first trip in, but was quick to jump right in. We started by throwing ourt some slabs, and then they “refined” them with rolling pins… and such focus!!!

We then decided that they should press their names into the clay. AJ had done a clay project at a birthday party a couple weeks ago. And when he got his mug back after firing, it wasn’t his!!! Apparently, someone had written the kids names on the bottoms of the mugs before firing, and goofed up. He got someone else’s mug with is name on it. So this time, we were confident to NOT make that mistake again.

After they had stamped their names into the clay, it was time for other textures, patterns & details. Each of them worked very hard & stayed quite focused on their slabs.

Cute how they “almost” work together… with Lizzy always watching what AJ is doing!!!

Once their slabs were all decorated, it was time to turn them into cylinders. So a little scoring & slipping and we pressed the together.

AJ was a bit concerned that it might not hold together…

And when it did… the true AJ showed up again!!!

Then he scored & slipped the bottom of his cylinder so he could attach the mug’s bottom.

While Lizzy was a bit concerned about getting dirty.

Much better after a bit of handwashing!!!

After handles were attached, it was time to start painting. It’s a special underglaze-glaze-combo that is great for kid’s projects. You can paint it on leatherhard clay, let it dry, fire it once and you’re done!!! So they continued to focus as they painted with great detail.

When Lizzy thought she was done painting her mug, apparently she thought it was time to start painting her fingers?!!! Not so concerned about being dirty anymore, huh?

So here they are… two masterpiece mugs!!!
Of course, they could use a bit of touching up and a bit of cleaning around the bottom. But they were thrilled… and now very anxious to get their mugs back after firing!!!

Here’s AJ’s mug…

C’mon… just look at AJ’s tiger!!! Adorable!!!

And here’s Lizzy’s mug!

I met a coworker of my sister a few years back.
They’re both teachers at the same school.
He was a novice potter and became enchanted by my pottery.
He was a fan, and a great friend to my sister.

Unfortunately, he recently passed away from a chronic heart condition. My sister donated a vase from her own “Gary Collection” flowers to be presented at the memorial service. She knew that he would be looking down admiring, and his family will be able to keep the vase as a keepsake for years to come. Such a sincere, loving & thoughtful memento.

A beautiful friendship… A beautiful thought… A beautiful life.