Lots of small projects got finished up (and started) this last week. I fired all of the student work that was ready to go, along with my bowls for the Mid City Nutrition fundraiser. I also ordered a basic set of Mayco Stroke & Coat for my colleagues to use during our team building night, where they will paint my hand thrown bowls to donate to Mid City Nutrition. I usually use underglazes to decorate, so I experimented with the new Mayco glazes to get a feel for them. Here is a Scarlet Trillium painted on a white stoneware bowl:

American Wildflowers

I found a charming little schoolbook at the Salvation Army of illustrated American wildflowers. Between my love of the outdoors, my inspirations Gwen Frostic and Eva Zeisel, and love of the vintage, this book hit all the right notes and is inspiring me in a new series of bowls and mugs. In the wake of this inspirational experience, I drew out my plan of action for my new, concise, clear and focused collections that I will mass produce for sale this summer. I would also like to learn how to china paint flowers, as I think this would greatly enhance my thrown pottery. The hardest part of my job is creating new and different pieces that are unique an desirable and adding an extra layer of design on top of a glaze fired piece is not often done in my craft.

April classes filling up

April is shaping up to be a very busy month for me! I am preparing for Art Hop in Port Huron on May 3rd, teaching private drawing lessons, hosting a private 2 night party, and running 2 classes during the week. If you have been thinking about taking a class in April, I have only one spot left in my Tuesday class! May classes are now open and are available to purchase right online.

Runyan’s Super Saturday

This Saturday is one of Runyan’s Super Saturdays, where special savings are offered and the shop is open on the weekend. I plan on picking up another batch of raw materials on Saturday to make a larger batch of butter yellow, which passed the initial firing test with beautiful results. I’ll also be picking up more clay! I think I just like making up excuses to go to the pottery shop…

Until next week!