And slowly the “flock” is coming together… lots of feathers, lots of wings! The damp box is working great. I don’t do a “lot” of handbuilding… but this commission project requested “birds.”

So I’m giving them BIRDS!!!

It’s been kinda fun to watch these little guys come together. Every little piece you add makes them cuter & more magical.

First it was the tails… but then what a difference a beak can make!

Making leaves & adding heads… and loving the damp box!
Keeping everything in one place and at the right wetness to keep working with things!

Starting with some pinch pots… back to Handbuilding 101.

I’m not sure how long these “birds” will take me, and I want to keep them moist & workable. So I’ve added a plaster slab into the bottom of a plastic container. I just pour some water onto the plaster slab which soaks it up instantly… and a lot more water than you would expect. Then I can just set my pieces on top of the damp plaster, close the lid and everything will be pretty much as I left it… and ready for more attachments!

Still under wraps… procrastinating as usual these days… but gotta focus and get these moving along! Using some photo references to formulate my plan. This project is gonna be “for the birds.”

And no… this is NOT an episode of “Portlandia.”

Some more bowls dry and ready to go into the next bisque kiln. I don’t really “do” nesting bowls very often… but after looking at these “unplanned” ones, I may need to re-think that?!

So I finally got “focused” tonight in the studio and started waxing the bottoms of a bunch of pots. I was kinda surprised… there were a lot more than I remembered making?! But they all look like mine…. so… I’ll keep waxing in preparation for a couple LONG glazing sessions to come!

My studio plan was to do a bunch of glazing tonight… or at least waxing all of the bottoms… well, THAT didn’t quite happen! They’re still all under wraps to keep the dust from getting on them! Maybe tomorrow will be better. Somehow I got sidetracked on a bunch of other little studio projects?!

Still working in the studio on a special commission project… which yes, includes the piece that literally FLEW OFF the wheel while I was working on it a couple days ago! I threw another one as a back-up just in case… but things are fitting together nicely! All under wraps for the night… now I just have to work on the tops tomorrow!!!

So then THIS happened!!!
I was in the middle of a ZOOM chat with my sister & niece Taylor. They were waiting forever in line waiting for carry-out food while brainstorming for Taylor’s homework assignment. I was doing some trimming and then moved on to adding a pedestal to the bottom. I had even turned the camera around so that they could watch. A little pottery demo for them while they waited!

So I had explained trimming, scored & slipped & added a lump of clay to the bottom and was throwing a pedestal foot on the bottom. We even talked about my Giffin Grip and how well it held everything in place. We were chatting. Talking… and I couldn’t find my small red rib to smooth it out?! So I stood up to reach across my table to grab a new rib from the tool wall. You can see it coming, right?…

Well, the wheel was still spinning. I stood up. My shorts got caught on the wet & sticky freshly-thrown pedestal, stuck on and spun around a few times… effectively yanking the whole piece right out of the Giffin Grip… hurling it to the floor!!! With Jen & Taylor still on the ZOOM!!! ugh.

Luckily, the piece is part of a commission and I had made an extra one!!! But I didn’t feel quite safe “giving up” on the extra one so soon in the process… so I threw another one just in case. Just gotta stamp it, trim it, add a pedestal… and hope that the original lid might possibly still fit?!!! Fingers crossed… and another great ZOOM story!!! Eventually I’ll figure it out…