I’m quite excited about the firing coming up in late October.  I’ve had some extra time to get pieces together for it, and I feel like it’s paying off.  I think I’m on track to make enough work for my galleries, and have a holiday sale at my studio.  I’ll post dates and stuff like that once I have them, but in the mean time, here’s more of a sneak peak at my drying shelves.

These are the ones that I finished most recently.

Also, in my studio, I have a big white board.  I use it to make random notes to myself, sketch ideas, and just doodle stuff.  I really like the idea I have on there now, but I’ll have to wait and see as to how it comes together.  I’ve been big on antlers recently, but I don’t know how well they’ll survive the firing.  They might just droop.  To avoid that, I’ll have to make them very stocky.  Also, do you you recognize the guy in pink?

This is just to remind folks that the Washington Potter’s Association art show at the Tacoma Art Stop will be having an opening tomorrow night.  It’s looking like it will be a fun show, with 20 some different clay artists.  Two of my pieces were selected to be part of the show – Stilt Beast and Flora Beast #2 – Grazer.  If you’re in the area, I recommend stopping by!

The opening will be from 5 to 8pm on this Thursday, Sept 18th.  The website appears to be down, but  here’s a link to their place on google maps.  If you happen to be going through the area at another time, the show will be up until October 17th, Tuesday -Fridays 9:30am – 5:30pm, Saturdays 9:30am – 4:30pm.

I’ve been starting to prepare for a wood firing next month.  It will be my only chance to fire pieces in time for the holiday season, so I’ve been working pretty hard to get ready for it.  However, I’m quite happy with what I’ve been putting together.  Here’s a shot of the one pieces in progress.  In this shot, I still need to finish the horns, teeth and all of that, but still, I really like its movement.  I’ve since finished it up, including the fruit.  I used a different clay for the fruit, one that will turn black or purple, or maybe just brown.  I can’t wait to see how it comes out.

When I did my demonstration in Pittsburgh, I decided it would be nice to show both teeth and horns.  I did a quick sketch to see what it would look like. (There’s a bit of a ToDo list in the corner.)

Here’s what the finished demonstration beast looked like.  I ended up only having time to finish one of the beasts, and that was even after having taken several shortcuts.

After I got back home, I decided I really liked idea of the two horned beasts.  The interaction of the two beasts was a really interesting problem.  The horns made it difficult for them to fit together, but I really liked their potential.  I decided to start another pair of them back in Seattle.

At this point, the legs are attached, and I’ve pretty much gotten their shapes down.  I really like them!

They have a cute little tails.  This really shows the lean of the one on the right.

Here, they’re pretty much done at this point.  I just need to finish up the horns and the teeth.  The funny thing is that while I originally sketched them out with lots of teeth, I just didn’t think the teeth worked right this time.  In the end, I gave one tooth to each.

It’s pretty funny to see how these guys developed from that first sketch. I’m very happy with them.  I can’t wait to see how they come out of our October firing.