chirp chirp

things are flying along smoothly in pottery class this semester.

i was stuck on a non-fussy sort of piece that i could make in multiples for christmas gifts .... 

i tried (and mentioned in the last post) angels ornaments.

too hard.

too fussy.

too much.

so i moved on.

to a bird platter... or kind of bowl... with bird bits.

and i'm happy.

below are two finished birds .... and one that still needs glazing ... he is actually in the kiln as i type.

he's going to be red.

the day i snapped this pic, i also made four fresh ones ... so they are in the bisque fire ... 

ready to be glazed .... 

my christmas shopping list just got cut in half ... 

yippee for that ... 

i'd much rather be at pottery than holiday shopping.

too bad my kids and husband don't want pottery for christmas.

bowl bliss

i like making really, really, really big bowls in pottery ..... 

i'm not so into little fussy things .

i recently tried to figure out if i could make something or other for christmas gifts.

i tried little ceramic angel ornaments. 

i made two.

it took me forever.

they were too small and fussy.

i got them back from bisque and glazed them and got them back again.

i liked them.

but i looked at them and just saw fussy and slow and small.

i gave them away without ever snapping pics.

oops.

they were nice enough.

but apparently the process is just as important to me as the product.

nothing fussy please.

here is the beginning of a bowl ... and a finished one too... 

the one on the left is wet clay.

the one on the right is anne's blue glaze with a brushing of impossible purple over it.

anne's blue is super brownish if you don't add the impossible.

 so big bowls work for me.

plenty of artistic space to mess about in.

nothing HAS to look a particular way (like, no pesky halos ... or unlopsided eyes)

just a bowl.

this bowl has been donated to my church auction party next weekend.

i hope it goes to a good home.

i think it would be good with a salad in it.

or full of fruit. 

apples.

apples would look especially good. 

be awesome. ok.

a pal mailed this to me ... i plan to put it somewhere important ... but so far, it's just kind of floating around in my life on, around, and near my computer and/or calendar..... it's not a bad thing to regularly be reminded to be awesome.

chocolate joy

 if you best pal was having a birthday, and you decided to throw her a party .... excuse me, a PAR-TAY, what would you do to make it special?

well, let's say she loves chocolate .... would you put roses in an MnM vase? and put it on the kitchen bar?

or maybe you'd set a table for a dinner party for her ... and use hershey's bars as the runner? 

or you'd wonder why you bought SO many roses at costco and make a york peppermint patty vase of flowers?

maybe, if your pal was having a birthday, you'd make your kitchen table double sized  so you could invite lots of people to dinner and use 72 bars of hershey joy for the extra long runner?

that runner is way bigger than the tiny happy birthday sign on the wall .... just dug that out of the birthday decorations box, huh?

but snickers? she loves snickers, right? .... so maybe make some special snicker candle holders?

all that chocolate coloring on the table, maybe you need to dig out some martini glasses and some birthday junk out of the decoration box and toss liberally with, wait for it, more chocolate?

so then you set the table with a kind of chocolate pattern: martini, snicker, martini, snicker, hershey, snicker, martini, snicker, martini.

oh, don't forget to get your fanciest tray out and pile it with appetizers ..or snickers ....

and see that double boxed present in the pic above? gloriously wrapped in the funny papers? guess what's in it!!?? more chocolate of course ... andes mints and choco covered cherries ... birthday girl favorites ... and ... guess what every single guest gifted the birthday girl? yup ...

chocolate is grand.

painted papers of the rainbow variety ...

 i have a project going on ... and i have hundreds of painted papers filed on clipboards by color ... but it was easier to paint new ... so i did ....

 happily, the art room floor doesn't mind getting a bit of paint on it ....
i don't think the dictionary minded the paint either.

this is all good news if you are an ardent blog follower (hi mom!) because it means i might actually show you art sometime soon ...

changing seasons ....

i am sad.

i am a summer girl.

summer is just SO over.

i like hot weather.

i like flip flops .

i like days where you just need to be in that tiny speck of shade.

and now it's getting cool.

flipflops are not the appropriate footwear for this weather.

i'm still wearing them occasionally.

don't tell anyone.

well, don't tell the fashion police.

this summer i went on a trip to germany.

i'm not much of a shopper but did happen to find the german equivalent of payless shoes ... 

these orange sandals with sparkling goodness cost 12 euro.

i used to know what that meant in U.S. money but i forgot. 

and now summer is over and i won't be wearing their sparkly goodness anymore.

alas, (love that word) alas, summer is over.

good bye, happy orange shoe joy.

see you in may ... or maybe april .... 

bring on the boots.

birds

 i'm taking a pottery class (as always really) .....
i like to find a thing to make and then make loads of them ... a bit different, but the same idea ....
my current idea is bird.
i like birds.
pottery bird plates.
or bowls.
but birds.
haven't got a finished product yet ... but lots in the works ...
birds.

sharpie this ....

 arts and craft projects make me happy

i love shoe art .... one day, i'll only wear shoes that i've decorated myself ....

tra la la

 when i'm happy, i wear my happiest shoes ...

when i'm unhappy, i wear shoes that make me happy ....

what are your favorite shoes?

dare

done anything daring lately?
had a big dream?
gone somewhere extraordinary?
been skydiving?
made something new for dinner?

10.11.12

i think we are quite fortunate to be at the beginning of a century ... i love that today is 10.11.12 ... next year i will love 11.12.13 .... i might even plan ahead and have a party at 9:10, 11.12.13 .... i didn't think to do it this year ... but next year for sure .... but soon our century will outgrow dates of coolness ... and then no one will think about them until 2101 .... my youngest will be 100 that year .... hard to think so far ahead ... hopefully she'll have a big party ....

so .... back to blogging .... i have loads of photos in my list called "blog options"  .... it is really a to do list of blog topics that i NEVER get to any more ...  this blog portion of my life has slipped to the wayside amongst the twins being in high school, the little one in middle school, and me trying to keep up ... my analogy lately has been treading water ... i used to be swimming along nicely, but i'm in a life moment where i'm treading water .... no great advancement, just managing .... and so it goes ... like all the bits of our lives, it is what it is ... you can work on changing it, but sometimes the muddling through is what you get ... and appreciating what it is or not being too hard on yourself for the lacking of accomplishments is the agenda ...

i've actually been chock a block full of great stuff ... like, exhausted every night, i wind down with a book, and have been reading more than ever .... i'm on track to read nearly 100 books this year ... i'm keeping a list here .... i've read 81, jk rowlings  new book and am on 82, boys adrift by leanord sax and 83 will be girls on the edge by the same author ... these last two are not for feint of heart ... oh my goodness parenting is hard in these modern days!

here's a painting that was commissioned last spring ....  more helpful for the feint of heart than the parenting books...