Scotty dog

An addition to the group of animals for friends. I did attempt a Japanese flying squirrel but was trying to be realistic and it failed. I realised I do much better when producing the essence of something rather than a realistic representation.

Best bowl ever

I used my new custom tools this week and wow, what a difference. As one of the others in the club said, sometimes it is how a good quality piece of equipment makes you feel that makes the difference. And I certainly got a lot of enjoyment out of the look and touch of the tools. I wasn't really sure what the surfboard was for and thought it was for making a "rim" at the base of the bowl, but I got the idea to try it on the rim at the top instead of using my fingers. This was brilliant! Check out the results...

Chook bowl!

So out of the kiln this week came a cat, a hand pressed bowl and finally the chook bowl I have been wanting to make.

Apologies to cat lovers, as the cat looks slightly pig-like. I was copying a cartoon cat and it sort of failed in the translation. Very happy with the chooks though.

Pink cockatoos!

Nothing clay related here, but the excitement of adding two baby Major Mitchell Cockatoos to our bird family. We had to apply for an import licence, get the breeders to obtain an export licence, then travel five hours by car each way to pick them up. It was all very well worth it. They are perfect.

In these first photos they are on top of their travel cage after their trip here.

Here they are in their new aviary.

And here they are on their stand in our house.

Cuteness! (An advanced wildlife licence is required to own these birds in our state.)

Update on my custom tools

They are finished and in the mail!

Simply gorgeous.

Troy Bungart

You've got to love the look, touch and smell of well turned timber. How cool would it be to have your own pottery tools, custom made in exotic timbers, with the grains highlighted and just the right curves and edges for your pottery making needs? Troy Bungart (http://bungartstudios.blogspot.com.au/) makes this possible. I found him on etsy and I have now ordered some tools after much drooling over the types of wood and the possibilities of tool shapes.

I have no photos to show you yet and I'm not sure about the legalities of posting other people's images so a photo of the tools will have to wait. In the meantime here is some wildlife found in our back yard:

A dragon and a dinosaur!

Animals for friends

Do you know someone who collects frogs or owls or elephants? Not the real thing, but miniatures in ceramics, or wood etc? A while ago I made an owl for my aunty who collects owls. It has been on my mind to make an elephant for someone I work with as she collects elephants. Then I thought why not make an animal for each of my workmates, depending on their interests. So at the moment there is a cat with underglaze at the studio waiting for clear glaze and a second firing. Here at home I have just made an elephant and an owl:

I am still undecided on whether to colour them or just clear glaze them for that lovely stoneware white colour I am loving right now. I think probably the latter as my shaky hands makes underglazing quite frustrating for me. Expect an update.