Maia plays with Legos

Craig has a Sun Conure named Maia, we bought her around Easter time. She's a neat little bird, very attached to him, and she likes me too. I was doing some moldmaking with Legos the other day, and she was very interested.... so I gave her some to play with. That little ratchet jaw of hers can take chips out of Legos! So I had to take them away from her.

"What's that, Mom? Can I have it? Please?"

"It's Yellow! Like Me!" 

"Doesn't taste like banana... actually, it doesn't taste like ANYTHING!"

Pour Horse Pottery-- a new blog

I'm not one to jump into new technology. I stick a toe in the water, pull it back out, look for sharks. Go up to my ankles, stand until the tide pulls most of the sand from under my feet. Then, and only then, do I venture out to my knees.

Knees, mind you. Nothing higher. Can't tell what's in that foamy water down there. Could be starfish, could be stingrays. Caution is the name of the game.

Sometimes, because of that, I hang back and see what other people are doing, and how it works for them. Let them find the hazards! I'll be waaaaay behind them, still rolling up my pant legs and stowing my sandals on the cliff.

When I started Yasha's Bonsai Blog, I didn't know for sure what I wanted to write about. Or whether I would write at all, once the novelty wore off. Would blogging become a burden? An unfulfilled promise, like many early business endeavors? Or would it take over my life?

The answer is, neither. It's not a burden, and it doesn't take too much time. With a decent camera, and a better understanding of how to edit and upload photos, it has become a very easy way to communicate with people. Not too many people follow the blog, but enough to make it worthwhile.

But now, my ambivalent name (intentionally non-Pour Horse since I was wary of having to do a lot of business posts) is becoming a problem. It just doesn't tell anyone exactly what the blog is about. So I have decided to split the blogs. Yasha's blog will be about the dogs and home life, cooking, etc. Even a little more personal stuff... I may share more fun things there. And the new blog, Pour Horse Pottery, will be all business, and all ceramic ideas/techniques/tips. It will also be a place to discuss older molds, such as the PH editions, and the Marcher Ware editions. A place to chronicle the factory information. And a place to show off new work!

So please join me over there....www.pourhorsepottery.blogspot.com I'll begin posting tonight, and will set up all of the feeds and subscriptions in the next few days.

See you there! Have a great weekend!
Joanie

Super-Matte on a September Day

(click on photo to enlarge)

When is a matte glaze even more than a matte glaze? When it is 'super-matte"! A load came out of the kiln this morning with two matte glazes pieces in it, and I am stoked! They are not what I was intending to do.... but the kiln gods were kind and they decided to give me a special present!

This Toot Sweet, by Adalee Velasquez, is a Traditional SCALE miniature mare, which means that she is about the size of an Owynn, a bit smaller than a Dafydd. With a kind, gentle expression and an explosion of typically mini hair, she really has a lot of fun possibilities. I will be producing a few for sale (because I made the master mold and traded labor for one mold) and this is the first one that I am offering! She's up on MHSP now.


(click on photo to enlarge)

What is so special about this glaze finish? It makes her look like a Royal Worcester or an Animal Artistry or Horsing Around matte bone china! She has a much whiter, cooler tone to her colors, and the feel is delicious! It is smooth but very, very thin. All of her details stand out like a crispy bisque but the glaze is smooth enough to cover and protect her. Her eyes are glossy, and her nostrils and hooves are satin finish, little touches that give her a realistic feel. As I explore this new glaze, I will be playing with those kinds of details.



(click on photos to enlarge)

The other horse to come out of the kiln in super-matte is a Dafydd, but he was already spoken for! He looks so much like my RW "Palomino" that I wish that I could keep him! :-)


(click on photo to enlarge)

Joanie