My first pottery class results...

I've been taking a clay hand-building course this month. It is a looong wait before anything goes from start to completion. First the clay piece has to sit and dry on its own. Then it has to wait for the next 'bisque' firing in the kiln. Then you have to figure out how you want to glaze it. Then you have to glaze it (my goofy black bird took about 3 hours to glaze, believe it or not). Then you have to wait for the next 'glaze' firing in the kiln. Then, voila, you get to see wait sort of damage you have done in the world of art.

The really nice raven piece I did on week two is still waiting to get bisqued, so the schedule depends on have fast (or not) your piece dries on its own. If the raven piece turns out as planned it is going to be really nice. (You heard it here first!)

The two completed pieces I picked up last night were both just thrown together. The Craggy piece was an end-of-class slap together during my first session. And the goofy bird was a random thing from left over 'tile' clay I had taken home to impress my "Two Ravens, Five Ways" poem onto tiles. It wanted to be a bird. It wasn't my decision.

"Craggy" is quite small (thank gawd) about 5" at its longest. The Goofy Bird is 7" long.

In the Craggy thing, there is a pile of 'rocks' (bisqued pieces I broke up). It has been my plan since the beginning to glue into the pile a stark looking wire tree I formed. Now that I have it, I'm not sure. I wanted it to look really 'bleak' and think it worked. The sharp points are really sharp...a look but don't touch sort of thing.

The light areas on the bird are simply clear glaze over bisqued clay. In hindsight, I wish I'd just done clear and not the black...because it seems a tad bit evil with its Darth Vader-esque coat.

I repeat, these were both Slapped together. I've got a small army of more purposeful stuff waiting to get fired: The ravens I mentioned. A porcupine that is going to get wire quills. A mushroom. A monster of a vase with false-hellebore leaves (hand formed and carved) that I assembled last night. My poem tiles. A nest (my actual first piece) with three small eggs. A gondola hook plaque...stay tuned. It could easily be a month (or more) before these go through all the steps it takes to completion.