Surprise from my Kiln

I finally picked up all my pots from the kiln. I had about 12 pieces waiting. I am always amazed at the process. The clay gives structure and form to the pots, the first bisque fire prepares the pot, the glaze gives definition and the final firing brings it all together. As I follow this graceful shape through the days of drying, glazing and firing that would ultimately bring out its true beauty, when it finally emerges from the fire I am truly humbled!

The waiting is the hardest part for me but the process teaches me to be patient and let things take its own sweet time. Truly meditative in many ways ….

Here are some pieces to share …

Fresh off the Potters's wheel

After a very long time I decided to go to the studio and throw some pots on the wheel. The last few months have been crazy busy with work and life that I hardly found the time to come to the studio. The best part about coming back was that I received a WARM welcome from my very dear potter friends. They had missed me as much as I had missed them. Love you guys!

I am always surprised by the meditative effects of working on the wheel. This is my Oasis of Calm for sure! The clay and the wheel never lets me down and I can always find peace here no matter how hard it gets. This is mindful meditation.

I have already started dreaming about the different kinds of glazes and the different ways I would be finishing these pots. Will keep you all posted but in the meantime here are some pictures to share:

Pottery Update

This week I collected all my glazed, fired and finished pieces from the studio. I had experimented with so many different kinds of clay and glazes that I have now lost track of which of my pieces have what glazes on them. The clay gives structure and form to the pots, the first bisque fire prepares the pot, the glaze gives definition and the final firing brings it all together. As I follow this graceful shape through the days of drying, glazing and firing that would ultimately bring out its true beauty, when it finally emerges from the fire I am truly humbled !

I have called these the “Jodhpur Collection”. These are the kind of raw earthenware pots you will find in Rajasthan, India. I have made quite a few of these and I now have a whole collection – some yet to come home from the studio. I will post the entire collection when I get them all. They are all mostly made with black or red clay with a white underglaze.





And ... these are some of my other pots made out of white clay. This time I used some of the dipping glazes that had iron oxide in them. I love how they came out.

Pots Out of the Kiln

Finally, my first set of pots came out of the kiln. You know, they actually have a name for these kilns at the Art Studio. They call it "Bertha" and "Myrtle" and belive me "Bertha" and "Myrtle" are very popular and they fill up REALLY fast! For me waiting on these pieces is like christmas time. I am like a little kid anxiousy waiting and dreaming abut them until I actually get to see them. Here is my first set of pots - the rest will be ready next week.

My Pride and Joy!

Just a quick post to show you all how my pots turned out. I was extremely happy with the glaze and the finished pieces. Next up - I am going to work with "Red Clay" and make some Indian styled terracota pots with mirror work and all. Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated with Indian Pottery and the art of pottery making in India. So, I am going to try my hands at making some.

All those unfinished projects , oh my !

My goal this weekend was to to complete all those half done, medium done and rarely done projects sitting on my dining room table desperately crying for attention. The past two weeks had been "CRAZY" busy for me with tax deadlines, voluntereing at Full Frame and coupled with the fact that I was gone for a week on business to beautiful Seattle, WA. Some of the things I tackled this weekend were to screen print the rest of my cushion covers and to glaze couple of my bisque fired pottery pieces sitting on the studio rack. And of course ... how can a weekend be ever complete for me without making some lovely cards using some of the gorgeous stamp sets I own. Hope you like them all!





I screen printed the birds on the fabric and then used the leftover paint on the screen to print some cards.





Oke-wyme clay


White Earthenware clay finished with Terra Sigillata.

More Pottery

Some more of my wheel thrown pottery pieces in progress. I have close to 9 pieces waiting to be finished and glazed. For these projects I primarily used a clay called "Oke-Wime". This is a highly sought after clay in my studio and it has a good body to it, so it naturally lends itself to throwing and hand building.

I am especially proud of the lids in these pieces. I used to be so scared of lids in general until I saw how easy it is to throw them on YouTube. I was able to make decent looking lids wathing the demo on YouTube. Thanks YouTube!!!

Finished Pieces

A while ago I had shared some of my work-in-progress pottery pieces with all of you. I have had many of you ask me how they turned out. Here are my finished pieces for your viewing pleasure.

My Clay Creations

My pottery pieces are coming along fine, although my teacher keeps saying that I need to throw atleast 300 pots before I can start calling myself a potter. I am at my49th one now, Whew! Not sure if I will get there but for now I am just happy with my little creations. Pottery as I realise is a very contemplative and meditative experience. Youtube is a great resource for learning techniques and new pottery skills.

Here are some of my Greenware ready to be bisque fired. I will post pictures of them after they are glazed.

Lucky Bamboo Container

Handmade Pottery



A wheel thrown pottery with black underglaze and clear transparent glaze on top. Clay is speckled brown and high fired in the kiln. Perfect to house those small "lucky bamboo" plants.