Beautiful colors along the lakefront bike trail this morning.
Especially these statuesque, mature gingko trees still hanging onto
their leaves in splendid golden colors. More beautiful colors this fall…

Another night of stamping in the studio. More pots… more stamps… more fun!
Still working to get some new work ready for the holidays. I have three glaze kilns lined up
in the coming weeks… gotta get the pieces thrown, stamped & trimmed…
and dried in time to get them bisqued & glazed for the kiln firings! Busy, busy…

Back in the studio… replenishing he inventory… making more mugs!!!
After the pieces are thrown on the wheel, I allow them to dry partially so that they are
malleable, but not squishy. Once they are at the proper stiffness, I stamp the patterns
into the sides with my handmade stamps. After stamping, the bottoms of the pots
need to be finished to give them a more professional look.

I place the pieces back onto the wheel upside down and re-center them.
They are affixed to the wheel surface and then spun really fast. With a sharp trimming
tool, the clay is cut off the sides and bottom into thin ribbons of clay.

As the cylinder spins, and the ribbons of clay removed, you can finish off the bottom,
the sides and create a nice footring. The footring is the circle of clay that is left on
the bottom for your pot to stand on. This is your last chance to “finish off” the pot
before you let it begin to dry. Once dried… it’s off to the bisque kiln firing.

Dark this morning. Cool this morning.
With dark clouds on the horizon this morning.
Still a wonderful morning to be on my bike!

Still getting ready for next weekend’s Art In The Barn… and tonight I was glazing!!!
I typically start by inlaying glaze into all of the stamps by filling them all
with glaze and then wiping off the top surface… allowing the glaze that is actually inside
the stamp to stay there. I find that it really helps accentuate the stamp pattern!

After the stamps have been inlaid & wiped, then they each get a liner glaze on the inside.
Some of them might even get a little accent color sprayed on the exterior… and then every
pot needs to be wadded before it can go into the soda kiln. Still have a long ways to go…

Another beautiful morning… another beautiful sunrise…
only made better because I was on my bike…

Okay… so a week in the woods, a week of pedaling… and a week of death.
Yep, as many of you may know, I have an odd obsession with roadkill.
I’m intrigued by the drama of death, the final pose, the choice that was made
to even try to cross the road… and the miracle of nature and how it reclaims its own.
So as I pedal the miles, I frequently stop to “memorialize” those who’ve passed.

So… let me share some of my peculiar obsession…
for the squeamish… read no further!

This morning’s sunrise wasn’t too shabby either on our side of the lake…
I just wonder what was going on over in Michigan?!