Star Wars according to a 3-year-old

In case you haven't seen this, thought I would post it. It's so cute!

From Streams in the Desert...

God will examine your life not for medals, diplomas, or degrees but for battle scars.




(Art from St. George and the Dragon, Salvador Dali. Yes! I saw it in person at the art museum!)

Christmas Parade Part II

Be sure to note the red bow on the horse's rump on the first picture and feeties hanging out on the last picture.

Christmas parade part I

Went to a Horse and Buggy Christmas Parade last Saturday, and here's the first portion.

Can you find me?

I inadvertantly took a self-portrait. Can you find me?
These pictures were taken over Thanksgiving Weekend.

I would just like to again state that even though I have a good camera doesn't mean all my pictures will turn out great and I'm still learning and am a little disappointed in my skills...and that is one of the reasons why it took me so long to post these pics, Uncle Bob!

There's also a scrawny vegetarian and maybe a sentarian or two or three. Can you find them?

Oh yeah...and I finally got to meet Hannah! We have been reading each other's blogs for a couple of years and finally got to be together in person. Thanks for the brunch, Hannita! You're almost as silly as I am!

p.s. Has anyone noticed my "medical term of the week" I have had on the right sidebar for over a month now?

Out of the kiln

Here are a couple of squared mugs. --an altered triangular-shaped bottle. This is the color of the SB red clay when it is high-fired with no glaze on it, much deeper than when it is low-fired.















--a couple of triangulated cups. --a salt pig and salt kitty, as the ears make it look more like a cat. The tail fell off three times and wasn't balanced very well with one, so I decided not to try to attach it again.
The main technique about doing the salt pigs is learning how to throw closed forms and have the walls be even. Then I cut a circle in them and had the appendages.












The 70-300mm telephoto IS lens I ordered from a local camera store finally came in, and that is how I got a picture of the ducks. It's amazing to be able to take pictures of people across the river, etc. Anyone want to go on a stakeout with me? I'm ready.

Song-inspired bowl and bottle vases

A few weeks ago, I woke up longing for the sun. We had a run of cloudy days, and I was feeling a little down mentally and spiritually. Then this song popped into my head..."Light of the world, shine on me. Love is the answer."





These bottle vases are my first attempt at using iron oxides to decorate. As iron oxides are toxic and gloves need to be worn when using them, guess I've been to chicken to use them before now.





BTW, those are supposed to be the Andes Mountains and llamas. You might be seeing a lot more llamas in the near future, as for some reason they make me happy.

What did I work on yesterday? A salt pig and one that turned out to be a salt kitty.

What happened when I voted...

...at the zoo.

Jenny's taggy fun

Here are my answers to Mama Jenny's blog tag thingy.

I am - for some reason afraid that I will share too much on my blog.
I want - to live in the moment.
I have - trouble making little decisions lately and think that's why I don't enjoy organizing things.
I wish - I wasn't so tired in the mornings and that I had more energy.
I hate - seeing people pick their nose or not washing their hands after going to the restroom.
I fear - germs for some weird reason, not getting sick, but the germs themselves...and also boogers.
I hear - voices in my head with different ideas pinging around like pinballs and wish I could make them stop sometimes.
I search - for God and meaning in the "daily grind" of life.
I wonder - if God has nipples and other things "normal people" don't wonder.
I always - feel like I'm the weirdest one in the room.
I usually - exercise and then eat more calories so that I never lose weight.
I am not - a night owl, but if i arise early I want a nap.
I dance - when I'm alone or with my husband and dog.
I sing - songs to my dog when no one's around.
I never - pick my nose!!!
I rarely - feel sexy.
I cry - only at real-life stories and usually not when watching movies.
I am not always - this insecure about myself.
I lose - things in my purse.
I'm confused - when it comes to space and the "bigness" of it.
I need - more sleep than other people, but then I also need to stop comparing myself to others.
I should - quit comparing myself to others.
I dream - of traveling and making a difference in the world (for the better, of course).

The solution is...

See more Natalie Portman videos at Funny or Die

Tumblers and jar

I like the shapes of these tumblers, but they don't stack very well. I was thinking of water glasses when I made them. The great thing about them is that I threw them and trimmed them in one sitting. Because they were so small, I could dry them with a fan and then trim the bottoms.

Usually one has to wait until next class to trim, then wait until they are bone-dry and smooth the rough edges (depends on the humidity but sometimes takes a few days), then wait until they come out of the bisque fire, then glaze them, then wait for them to come out of the kiln...And that's it!




Am not excited about this jar and I think I know why...While I was trimming the lid it flew off the wheel and onto the floor (the clay keys weren't on good enough or something). That's why the handle isn't parallel. Remember, there are over 300 ways to ruin a pot, and that's one of them. Sometimes they turn into happy new techniques but not this time!

Praying mantis on the porch

Was pleasantly surprised to find this guy yesterday while taking the dog out yesterday. According to Isabella Rossellini , if this is a male he hasn't mated yet because his head is still intact.

p.s. This was taken with my old camera, as I don't have a macro lens for my DSLR yet.

Out of the kiln

Here's the saki/Red Bull set I made this summer. I have never drank saki, so I teased when I made it that it probably could be used for Red Bull, but I have never drink/drank/drunken that, either.

For those who know the lingo, I threw the cups "off the hump" out of one piece of centered clay. It was kind of hard to know where to cut the bottoms off. I also used the checkering tool from my dad's stuff (used to texture gun stalks I think?) to texture them. (Thanks, Sheri, for thinking of me when you saw it.)
This is a cruet or whatever you want to call it...I know the flaws and showed the good side.

Multicolored sgraffito bowl

If you received a homemade card from me within the last few years, the chances are very good that it was distressed. That was my favorite technique when rubber-stamping. What is this distressing technique? It's either rubbing off the edges or adding ink to make it look old or worn...antique-like. Well, I kind of combined my favorite technique from pottery (sgraffito) and my favorite technique from paper arts (distressing) on this bowl. Even though it has shiny glaze, I rubbed off the black slip on the edges to give it some more character.

What I'm listening to...

Still enjoying those mums...

Thanks again, Pearly Girl!

Note to self: Please remember to not buy one of those cheapy coiling garden hose/sprayer combination thingies next spring because they don't even last the whole garden season before the sprayer breaks and it's totally useless because another want can't be screwed on and the whole thing has to be thrown away as one unit which is a waste of money and waste of environmental resources, etc, and then you will have to either get the old garden hose out or fill the water jug in order to water all the patio plants and herbs. Thank you "self" in advance for remembering this next spring.

Three handles again

Here's a pot I forgot to post from this summer. The glaze ran on the bottom, so was disappointed at first (but what pot is perfect?). Still have a saki set from this summer on my shelf waiting to be glazed and am working on lots of things now. Stay tuned for bowls (one I can't post because it's a gift (Oh, I hope it turns out!)) and tumblers that have yet to be bisque-fired.

Am comtemplating the struggle between wanting to throw perfectly but still wanting it to look like it was made by human hands. As Naomi the "Queen of Glaze Combinations" stated, the potters' wheel is a machine, so that's another thing to ponder. Blah, blah, blah. Those are my deep personal thoughts and thanks for letting me share. Goodbye for now.

Am still alive...

...just need some time away from the computer and blogging right now. Thanks for looking!

State fair experience

Here are a few pictures from the state fair on Sunday. Thanks to Aunt Jan and Uncle Bob for showing us around your stomping grounds and to my Kansas Mom for a pleasurable day. If you plan on going, I would suggest getting the apple dumpling ala mode. It's delicious!

Have been a little busy and/or needing a break from the computer, so that's why I haven't been posting as frequently.

Camera talk

Why I want a telephoto lens...After cropping down the pictures, this is as good as they get. That's a coyote and two deer.



I did have some that turned out last week.

Am figuring out that after squinting one eye for about 20 minutes to look through the viewfinder, the eye that I squint gets a little blurry. Am going to have to get used to that. Does this happen to anyone else with a DSLR?

Also finally realized that when shooting outside I should take off my polarized sunglasses or I'll be disappointed when I upload the pictures. I did buy a neutral-density filter and polarizing filter--hence the vignetting in the last picture. I have at least three filters on the lens.