If I expect to get the new Black Cats into the kiln, fired and to ART IN THE BARN, I had a lot painting & glazing to do tonight. So I started by painting the cats with underglazes.

And then a thin coating of low-fire clear to cover everything. Yes, do no adjust your TV, these are indeed green. It’s a special low-fire clear that goes on green, but works great for my single-fired terra cotta projects giving things a beautiful clear shine.

A Facebook update from “Finding Forever” Cup Exhibition
founder Pam Kinsmith… who is watching & waiting for more cups to arrive…

Cups now here from North Carolina, New Hampshire, Florida, Utah, New York, Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts and Texas! I hear ones are coming from Georgia, Vermont, Wisconsin and Minnesota!

C’mon you Potters in other states… REPRESENT.
Send a mug for a worthy cause!!! All the cool kids are doing it.

Click here for more information on donating.

My box of mugs finally made their way to Massachusetts to “surprise” fellow potter Pam Kinsmith. She’s been coordinating a wonderful fundraiser called “Finding Forever” where all of the donated mugs & cups represent a child in the Foster Care System. So I decided to send a trio that show how children of “different colors” can still make up a beautiful family if adopted as a trio. Appreciate them each for their differences, love them for their similarities.

I also sent a matched pair of “twins” which I hope will get “adopted” together as well. I would have for these siblings to get split up – which I sure is a problem within the Foster Care System.

You still have a few more days if you would like to donate a mug or two to this wonderful cause. I have also collected a few cups form other potter friends at Lillstreet. I’ll be shipping those soon… and will definitely give you a sneak peek of those ones too!

If you would like to donate to “Finding Forever”, click here for more information.

As the sun continued to rise, a few wispy clouds flew into view just in time for a quick color change. Floating through the city and out over the lake.

Around North Avenue Beach House, there is this wonderful single tree in the middle of the path. Kind of sad being separated from the other trees and surrounded by cement. Still regal & proud with its tree silhouette

Who knew that further down the path on my way home I would ride through some low-lying areas that were covered with fog?! Now I’m sure there is some meteorological reason for why this happens. But I’d like to think it’s just morning magic. So that’s what I’m going with. And I love when it happens… especially when the sun hits just the right spot and the fog lights up and streams through the tree branches creating these wonderful shadows.

Hey Fellow Potters – You still have a few days to donate a mug to “Finding Forever.” A fundraising event similar in style to “Empty Bowls” but this time to benefit the kids in the Foster Care System. I’ve already shipped a few of my own mugs to organizer & potter Pam Kinsmith. And another box leaving soon of mugs from other Lillstreet potters. So grab a mug, box it up and ship it to “Finding Forever.” Deadline : October 1st, 2014.

Click here for more information from the “Finding Forever” website.

Sure, I should be finishing the Cats… but I needed a little diversion.
And I also need some new necklaces for the kids at ART IN THE BARN. So I started by drawing a little pattern for a new Ghost necklace.

Then I set to cutting them out of a thin slab of porcelain. A little smoothing, blending, bending and animating… and a tray of ghostly necklace started to take shape!

As if I didn’t have enough on my plate already…
for some reason I also decided to make six new Mummies. We completely ran out of them last year at ART IN THE BARN. So if I wanted to sell a “complete set” of Ghouls, I needed to replenish a few Mummies!!!

Tonight after teaching my class, I had to stay late into the night putting final touches on the Black Cats. Detailing, cleaning, smoothing and adding feet & tails.

Each one with a personality of their own.

After finishing all two dozen, they’re sitting out overnight so they can dry up a bit. And then tomorrow night I need to do a LOT of painting with underglazes, add a layer of clear glaze and load them into the kiln. You gotta love single-fired, low fire terra cotta projects in an electric kiln.

And while

This week in class my students tackled adding handles to their cylinders in Week Two. Several of the students had cylinders ready to trim and add handles. So they pulled their handles in the traditional manner, let them stiffen a bit and then attached them to their cylinders. Not a bad start for my beginning & advanced beginners.