Back to the Studio

I was in Wisconsin and Michigan last week for my friend's wedding and associated vacation time. (I scheduled some posts during the trip so it would look like I was working.) When we arrived in Milwaukee I noticed that the airport shop with the cheese-heads, overpriced snacks and Packers gear had started selling t-shirts for clay artists. How considerate.

This is obviously a t-shirt for ceramic artists, right?

This week I did get back to the clay. I was able to work in the studio all week, though I'm feeling a bit gloomy about how slowly things seem to be progressing. I recycled some clay, made some bulbs from molds and worked on two larger pieces. I started the two larger pieces with clay I don't like and I'm not sure if they are worth finishing.

bulbs for a January installation

The bulbs I am making from molds are to be part of a wall installation for my show in January at Columbia Basin College. I need 100 of them. I formed about a dozen this week and I had another dozen from last summer that weren't quite finished. They are in the kiln today.

my awesome homemade spray booth (always wear a mask, everyone)

Part of my depression about getting work done in the studio this week stems from the fact that I don't really like glazing, but in order to reclaim some work surfaces (not to mention motivation), I need to get it done. I glazed most of my functional work yesterday and it is in the kiln today. I am finishing off most of my small incomplete work from last summer and hopefully having all that done should make me feel better as I start new work next week. Also, I should be able to get it off of my countertops.

peeling tape resist off yet another boring functional piece

In part because of the incomplete work, I seem to have cluttered up every space in my studio so extensively that I don't have room to put out and examine the bike parts to plan my pieces.  The mess makes me sad and slow to work. I should probably go clean, but I feel too gloomy to start (the classic paradox).