Cay Denise

Here are the first 10 of 22 pots made in my Beginning Wheel-throw Pottery class!  Of the ten, two have been done in the same-colored glaze.  Among the glazes used were: Perky Purple Blue Celadon Lehman's Shino Butter Monterey ______ (oops, didn't jot down the last part) It's amazing what the glaze does for each piece.  'Butter' was used for the two on the lower right of the photo that are speckled.  I like how they came out...earthy.  My favorite result was the Perky Purple.  It is a matte color and has a very smooth finish.   I'm thinking about creating a signature for my pots including a date reference and a pot number.  That way, I'll be able to place them in chronological order and more easily see my skill development over time. The rest of my pots from the class are on the studio shelf awaiting firing.  The next batch are in even more different glaze colors.  Ooh-la-la...the possibilities!

Today was the last session of my five-week class that ended with the process of glazing our pots.  The process involves waxing the pot bases, dipping the pots in glaze, cleaning up the glazed areas once dry and filling in holes in the glaze from the clamp used to dip the pots that end up leaving a mark(s).  There is also the need to smooth out the inside of the pot as well as the exterior before placing the pots on the shelf for firing.  All of this is quite a bit to pay attention to. Pictured are my 22 pots thrown and fired during the five-week class that are now considered bisque.  Ten of these were glazed and readied for their second and final firing.  I paired an older pot with a newer one coloring both with the same glaze.  (You can see a couple pairings in one of the photos below.)  I want to see if the roughness of the older pot versus the later one, typically smoother, will handle the glaze differently.   The other 12 pots have waxed botto...

The Palo Alto, CA annual Clay and Glass Festival is a wonderful outdoor event with works that are high-quality, imaginative and varied, and it is a delightful visual feast!   The 2025 event is now history having happened over this past weekend.  So if you missed it and live nearby, I highly recommend making a plan to attend next year's event.  As you can see in these photos, there is a wide range of work to be appreciated and that is also available for purchase.

My beginning wheel-throw class ends next week.  At this point, all our beginning pots (mine being quite rudimentary) have been trimmed and should be glazed next week in our final class.  Then they are fired again before they can be picked up. It has been a difficult class for me.  Someone asked me today if I was having fun, and my reply was not yet.  But I have been working in class with an instructor, practicing, and studying by watching videos of other potters and keeping notes.  The notes I've made include areas of a pottery studio, how to use the equipment, types of and handling of the clay, the steps in the throwing process, and the craft lingo,  So, beginning is a heavy lift with all that to accomplish. My handy-dandy tool for documenting my learning is a new zine where I'm including notes, definitions, practice activity, and things to remember, etc. Below is the visible side of the zine.  The back side of it is covered with notes from YouTube vi...

I recently took a zine-making class with Erika Rier.  It wasn't about making mini-zines (out of 8.5"x11" copy paper).  Her course was about the zine type that is done as a collection of print-ready sheets for reproduction by a printer (each sheet has a two-page spread).  So, the original work (on sheets) is not intended as a work of art itself. My effort has been ambitious...a 12-page zine (including the front and back covers).  Oh my gosh, what a lot of work!!  Each student is creating his/her dummy, storyboard, and sheets that will have evolved over the process to the point of having a printable version of all the sheets.   My subject choice was owls.  Doing the detail work is intensive.  Because, for example, lines that continue from one page to a different page (likely on different sheets) -- have to be checked to ensure they connect properly.   Below is a photo of one 'sheet' from the total of six that I'm still working on.  On top ...

Have you ever tried drawing bark as well as different kinds of it?   In my zine-in-progress (from Erika Rier's class), I have a tree and branches as the continuity that ties most of the pages together.  To figure out how to finish them, I had to sketch ideas.  So, I used the internet to find source inspiration and drew this freehand.   To me, it conveys bark in a modern way.  This will work well in the zine even though it will take some time to do. Speaking of bark, what is your favorite kind?  Have you tried drawing it?  

For the last month, I've been working through Lynda Barry's workshop-in-a-book titled "Making Comics".  It is actually based on her college class in which students, from novice to skilled artists, learn to make comics.  Her approach to this subject has everything to do with noticing your life and experiences within it.  It also involves not being embarrassed about making child-like drawings.  Starting out, students create a 'selfie' image following Ivan Brunetti's method for drawing simple characters. It's this character students use for their selfie and daily diary exercises.  I've created one for my work too.  While amassing one's collection of works using this character, it's fun to see how there is a sense of continuity from one image to another.  That's not to say the character looks the same in each exercise.  But isn't that true of us?  We don't look the same every day either.  We change in 'look' from one day to ...