Mixed bag

A variety of finished and unfinished projects to showcase. First up, a new necklace with a leaf...

Then the experimental bowls which all began with me accidentally poking a hole in a freshly turned bowl and having to decide what to do with it...

I really like the one with the flowers, which was the one I put my finger through. There are a number of flaws with the other bowl. It is too thick at the base and doesn't look so great inside, as the little circles I inserted don't sit perfectly due to the cut out circles in the bowl being narrow at the top and thick at the lower part. If that makes sense.
Finally, an unfired item I'm super happy with...

I think it must be the biggest bowl I've thrown yet, great shape, not too heavy. And I've managed to create a parrot that is much more in proportion than anything I've attempted before. Call it a cockatiel if you like. That's what I was aiming for. I find I have much more success by looking at a cartoon character of a bird than by looking at my actual real life birds. My goal is to come up with the "idea" of an animal rather than getting all the details into the clay.

Improvements

Ron Philbeck's cute little birds on some of his work inspired me to get back into putting birds on my bowls. These bowls are much improved from the bowls I was making when I added birds previously. I am so happy with the shape and they are even lighter in weight, especially the base which is often too heavy. The custom made wooden rib tools by Troy Bungart make shaping the inside of the bowls a delight. And Jayne's guidance in turning the edge of the base has done wonders for the outside of the bowl. A bit of underglaze on the birds and into the kiln next week!