alchemy

I have recently been told about precious metal clay. Wow. The concept amazes me. The possibilities are endless. Then I found out the price. *sob* $65 for 18grams. I imagine that is one, maybe two pendants. Still, I have a big Birthday coming up. So I spent a week searching for information and watching tutorials only to end up discovering that large ceramic kilns are not recommended as the temperature varies throughout them. *bigger sob* Ah well, back to reality. Here is the latest out of the kiln...

Some finished things

So here we have the completed owl for one friend and elephant for another friend. I am quite pleased with the results. I decided to go with the natural colouring to highlight the shape rather than being distracted by colours. Hmm, I'm really loving the effect of lighting I got in the owl photo.

When I think back to my first owl, I realise my aunty was ripped off. This one is a vast improvement. I'd better think about making her another one.
And just for something different here is a bowl finished with tomato red glaze, a colour I have never used as it's just not me. But I'm quite enjoying the change. I like the flecks of green showing through.

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.