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More deliciousness

Don’t you just love it when you remember to save a chunk of your Christmas Ham to glaze it in January for more deliciousness!

Where did the baby photos go?

I’m so sad and in despair….I can’t find Baxter’s Baby Photos, they have to be somewhere. Bloody technology. Backed up to google and they’re just gone.

UPDATE: Pics still missing but here he is and this is the one I was the most worried about finding…My Baby Boy I miss you and like I suspected my life isn’t the same. All My Love xoxox

Pottery and Ukelele Fixing

A few weeks ago I put some terracotta pieces into the Paeroa Society of Arts members exhibition 2020 to try and get myself back into the swing of things.

Of all things to come home with, it was a Ukelele.

I was telling one of the visitors at the exhibition that I had been trying to learn on my Mum’s Ukelele. After a quick race to the car he came back with a Ukelele….. for me to take home no less! Humans can be so lovely.

Anyway, I overdid it with the tuning and broke the bit that had been fixed at some stage. How could I do that ?!

Thankfully today, I finally finished fixing it and while not tuned properly, it does sound like “my dog has fleas” when plucked. I can now return it in good shape to that kind stranger.

As for the playing that will take me a wee bit longer!

Harvesting my Garlic and Red onions

I have always wanted to grow garlic but you know how it goes, the shortest day when you are supposed to plant the garlic comes and goes and then it’s too late again. As well as loving garlic, especially roasted whole, I have always wanted to plait and store my own garlic and to harvest of course you need to plant.

Very few things went right this year but I did plant the garlic on June 11th and it’s now December 12th, so they have had a good six months of growth. Besides that, they were starting to look brown and horrible so they looked ready, the longest day isn’t until December 21st but today was the day. I accidentally pulled out a few of the red onions, so it was their turn too.

Normally I would have my best friend Baxter Baby to help with these kinds of things, digging included but today it was Daisy the cow instead.

My little garden success, all done and hanging in the wood shed.

Till next time from xox

Making Mushrooms in 2020

Well 2020 is definitely here, with a vengeance. Enough is enough.

Time for pottery=hope=happy=creative=joy=healing for the soul=reprieve from the crazy as world.

Here they are, the terracotta mushrooms I am getting ready for the kiln. Amidst the chaos I don’t know when it will happen exactly, but it will!

I am nothing if not determined, all these babies need is some under glazing done first to give them a pop of colour and of course some dots.

They are sitting in front of me right now, trying to tempt me into action!

Salad bowls in the garden?

I know, right!

I had one of those “oh no” moments that i sometimes have when i opened the kiln on Sunday, now i can officially say i’ve processed that little bump and it’s all good.

But oh, the waxing! The wax was meant to mask off the flowers from the dipped blue glaze. Geuss what i learned this time? you can’t see where you put melted wax and i missed a lot of spots.

So that’s how i will end up with salad bowls in the garden and not in the exhibition 🙂

Blue and Green Glazes

I put one of my bits of broken pottery in the last firing as a test, they might not come out the same, since i won’t be doing a hold which will make the firing lower and the results different.

But i like some of the blues and greens for the next lot of birds, and we will see how they go.

Maybe thet’s why i liked chemistry as a kid? the experimenting is fun part!

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Pottery for the exhibition

That is except for the lidded jar! I love how the copper carbonate came out, the actual jar and lid though, are fused together and can’t be opened 🙂 woops.

edited for blog

This one was a bit of a learning curve with the firing temperature, doing a hold may have been a mistake because I over-fired the clay i think? There are a couple of things i don’t like and will try to re-glaze and no holding on next one will help.

A few more things to fire but I’m nearly ready for the big day!

Paeroa Society of Arts Exhibition 2019

Counting the days to my members exhibition at the Paeroa Society of Arts fom 9th of February to the end of the month.

It has been a long time since i have really done much pottery and it is amazing the things you forget, like how good it is to just get all muddy and play like a child, I need to not forget that the most!

Other things, like how i mixed a certain glaze colour i might always forget, thank goodness it is just a hobby, because i don’t expect me to do things the same way anyway 🙂

Like the last time i got stuck into the clay, i still love flowers, butterflies and plaques and things for the garden. I have also been playing around with cups, bowls and lidded jars on an old foot powered wheel, that i really love using, i feel so much more connected and peaceful, i have to say, i am no more skilled but i enjoy it more.

I have also been inspired by a friend who really misses using an Indian Matka to store water in back home. It draws out toxins like chlorine, imparts minerals from the clay into the water and also cools it down, used a lot in India where refrigeration isn’t commonplace. The two i have made, one for the exhibition and one for my friend, i made by hand (so not perfect but neither am i) not too bad for a first try. I used the coiling method and paddled them with a bamboo spoon and a riverstone, a fun method.

Well, i am off now to try and figure out how i made my nice light blue for a salad bowl with flowers on it, wish me luck 🙂

Terracotta Shoe Planter

This one is a request so i hope i do it justice 🙂

I have been on another mission that’s left my creative nerves frazzled so it took me a while get started but more about that one later.

I have the original broken one so that gave me a chance to make an approximate pattern, which was really lucky being the first one. The clay has been cut shaped and rested so tonight’s goal is to put it all together.

Here is how it’s going so far…..