New Form of Watercolor

Okay, I don't REALLY know that this is a new form of watercolor, but it's pretty neat.  The girls must be experiencing Spring Fever, too.  They were very excited to see that the snow had melted enough that they could get into our small garage.  That's where the sidewalk chalk lived for the winter and they were anxious to use it. 

And even with the driveway wet, they had a blast!

And the driveway was not the only thing that was colored!  Unfortunately, since it was Sunday night, I did not have time to wash the jackets prior to school.

Bisqued!

Check out the bisqued pieces - especially the color of the mugs.  The green ware really was slightly green to start (see previous post) and now it's more of a terra cotta red!

And the girls' pinch pots turned out good - just as expected!

Pottery

I have had a good time recently regarding pottery.  I took an "Intermediate Pottery Wheel" class at our local pottery studio in Wykoff - Blazing Star Studio.  It was a lot of fun and I learned some different techniques and how to do some new things.  My goal now that the class has ended is to improve upon what I've learned and practice.  One of the other good things about the class was the social aspect of it - working in my basement can sometimes get a little lonely.

In addition to the class, I finally did some meaningful work with the clay I harvested from Dad's property.  I took this clay from near his creek early last summer.  I remembered this clay from my childhood.  I had played with it a bit during my "exploratory missions" in the woods.  Of course, I had no thoughts about how to work with the clay further.

After I harvested it, I worked to take out as much foreign materials as practical, then rehydrated it and finally made it into a workable body of clay.  All this took a bit of time, mostly because it was gardening season and I just wasn't getting into the studio.  So, I finally worked with it on the wheel a few months ago and saw that it seemed to be okay with the wheel.  At that time, I felt I needed to practice some more before I seriously tried to do anything with that clay. 

And now that I have been doing some wheel work and feel better about my own skills, I worked with Dad's clay some more.  And it is very interesting to work with.  Now, I only have experience with two commercial clays, so it's not like I am very experienced when it comes to pottery.  However, it is fun to see and feel Dad's clay.  It seems very easy to work with, but has a limit of how much it will withstand before getting too wet and tired!

The first thing about the clay is the color.  Clay seems to come in many colors.  I have worked with a pale grayish clay and one that is more red in color.  This clay is more yellowish with some green in it.  I am not sure this is very appetizing...but who needs appetizing clay?

In working it up, it seems easy to center on the wheel. 

And when I opened the piece, It acted like it was dry, although it was not.  But when I worked with it and recentered it, the clay came back together.

And from then, it seemed to work very well as I made my first coffee mug.

After I finished a couple of mugs, I was able to pull some handles.  Yes, those are handles hanging from the table - this is a G-rated show, people!!

Additionally, I did a pot project with our Girl Scout Daisy troop - we made flower pots for a future plant project.  So, we made the pots by hand at our last meeting.  Here is where you can see the difference between the clay colors.  And notice the eclectic shape of the handles on the test mugs!

As I write this, these items are bisquing in my small kiln.  I really have no idea to the specifics of how to fire Dad's clay.  I am starting as a bisque to cone 05 and will see what happens.  I don't really expect much to happen at this level.  But, thanks to Michael at Blazing Star, I will probably put a piece of test clay in a glaze firing to see if it can withstand a cone 6 glaze firing.  This will give me an idea if this clay will be considered a stoneware or an earthenware clay and I'll have a better idea how to do the glaze and final firing.  Apparently, an earthenware clay will basically melt in a cone 6 firing.

It's neat for me to think how much I've learned in pottery, but it also leaves me with knowing that there is so much left to learn!



Very Neat Webcam!

Check out this website - it's the Raptor Resource Project webcam on an eagle's nest at a Decorah fish hatchery.  It might seem a little boring, but it is mesmerizing to watch the eagles sit on the nest.  I have seen when one parent comes back to the nest to change positions with the one on the eggs.  As the one on the nest moves around, it is often moving the grasses around to keep everything snug.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/decorah-eagles

To Sell or Not

Okay, I've been back and forth about selling a bike for quite some time now.  It started when I bought my tri bike over a year ago.  I said I'd sell one (Joe's idea), if I bought the new one.  I put it off for a while, lending it to my brother-in-law for last summer's Minneapolis Duathlon.  So, he borrowed it, but didn't ride it.  I have it back, now, and I'm still faced with the potential sale.  Joe says we should sell it.  Of course, he has a bike in the basement with ZERO  miles on it!  Those on my side say you can never have "too many" bikes - I only have three!

So, with that said, if you know of anyone looking for a 54 cm '05 Trek 2100, just let me know.  It's a sweet bike, but really it may be slightly large for me.  It has some miles on it, but not a huge amount, and is in pretty good shape.

By the way, here's a photo of Joe's bike, in case anyone is interested in that one!

Happy New Year...Almost

And here I sit at the end of another year.  What a year this has been.  I had a load of new experiences this year - some good and some not so.  I'm sure most people can say the same about the year-gone-by.  It's not necessary for me to list my personal experiences, but maybe it's important for me to reflect and grow from them.  It's what we do with those successes and failures, good experiences and losses that makes us who we are.

I am not one who has traditionally set new goals for the new year.  When I was young, I tried it a few times, but just didn't make it work.  So, I avoided the hyped-up new year's resolution junket.  But now, as I "continue to mature," I see more use for having frequent goal-setting activities.  And if I can use the renewal of the calendar to my advantage, then that could be a good thing.

So, with that in mind, my resolutions for 2011 are to grow a well-planned garden, play more music, continue teaching (Sunday School and substitute work in the local public schools), continue work with local Girl Scout troops, get back to running (2 months is a bit more than "recovery" from my last half-marathon!), spend more time in the pottery studio (at least until major gardening season returns), play bridge, and renew my focus on prayer and meditation. 

That list seems strangely long.  When I first thought of itemizing the list, I thought it would be just three or four things.  And there are a few more things that I do, besides those eight things.  It's a funny thing, though, I really don't like being busy.  But I do like being productive.  Many of the activities are "productive," but some of them are just for fun.

And something I didn't mention there, is to continue my blogging - both this one and the Spring Valley Gardener.  I need to set a schedule so my entries are not so sporadic!

Well, for what it's worth - Happy New Year!!

No Words Are Really Necessary...