Can we send JD Vance on the next moon mission? Leave him there
.
I'm enjoying making with this very sandy body
.
I find faceting somewhat challenging
.
Not the doing, but after
.
Lengthy trimming needed so they're not too heavy
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Decided to make a largish platter like the fired one on the right
.
Just a little deeper and fully slipped with porcelain
.
Maybe spray some helmer
.
Fire it upside down in the middle of the anagama
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

You can't leave me alone for five seconds
.
With a squeeze bottle
.
What could I have been thinking
.
Not much or too much, take your pick
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Three of a set of six freshly-turned bowls
.
Impeachment? Congress is dead
.
25th Amendment? There are only self-interested suckups in the executive
.
Thanks John Roberts, for putting our very own home-grown war criminal beyond the law
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Debating if the lugs should come off
.
Firmly concluded a knob would be better than a strap for the lid, though
.
Still need to trim to fit
.
Funny, the proportions look too squat through a camera, just right through the eye
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Three-piece jar today
.
There are always slight imperfections to revel in
.
A little more refining, then I'll throw a lid
.
Handle across the lid
.
Trim
.
Two lugs
.
End the forever wars
.
They break people
.
And the crockery
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Coffeepot and pourover thrown from "Bruiser"
.
Still need to trim the lid and the flange on the pourover to fit the gallery
.
But that needs to wait until the clay is hard leather
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Bmix bowls slipped with Troy porcelain
.
Done with white clays, gonna move to dark iron-bearing ones for the rest of this throwing cycle
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

A bottle vase thrown from 6lbs/2.7kg
.
It weighs about ⅔ that now
.
Around ½ that after turning
.
Should be quite a bit svelter at the waist when the trimming is done
.
Probably side fire it, so the ash drips run horizontally
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

More lb mugs today
.
Handles take too much time
.
If I did this for a living I'd starve
.
And if we had a true democracy we'd have leaders by sortition or maybe those who wanted to lead would have to be thoroughly scourged first
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Fourth and final ring on this five-section pot, thrown with 26.5 lbs/12 kg over a few days
.
Trying to look past the imperfections and cramped proportions
.
Liked the first one better
.
Maybe handles would help
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Third section attached

Fourth will have to wait another day or two
.
The one thrown last month is up on a high shelf awaiting biscuiting
.
That slight bump at the rim?
.
Shouldn't be a problem
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Base and first section of a multi-part pot, thrown with eight and five lbs of a white stoneware, Sheffield's Wood Light

The ring section is inverted on top of the base. That's a bubble level on top of the bat holding the ring section, to aid in making sure the parts are joined plumb

Bat is now wired off the clay ring. Uh-oh. If you look carefully at the port side silhouette, you can see some slumpage agoin' on

Back to square one. The pieces were a little too wet to work but I tried to throw them higher anyway. Mistake, obviously. I tried wiring off a few inches, but the problem was really at the join. You can see the wall gets thicker intentionally toward the foot, to insure sufficient support for the weight of future clay above. The extra is trimmed off at a later, drier "leather hard" stage. Not this one, though!

Things don't always go to plan in the studio
.
Impatience is an issue
.
Going fast = breaking things
.
And you're back where you began
.
Good thing it's just clay
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Easy to look
.
Hard to see
.
Music a balm
.
Clay a solace
.
Slipped coffee carafes and a water pitcher
.
I could have practiced strokes and enzos a little more before dipping the brush in black slip
.
Anyway
.
SOTU 2nite 4 USians
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Viewed from certain angles it appears ok
.
Just like the Democratic Party
.
But in reality, it's barely acceptable
.
Just like the Democratic Party
.
I'll work with it, hope it improves
.
Just like . . . you know what, by now
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Sprayed a flashing slip, added some brushed mason stain (plus finger-swiped porcelain on the beer steins), then blew a different flashing slip over that
.
Say no to turning warehouses into internment camps
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Future utensil holders
.
Think I might pull handles for the two on the right, have them double as beer steins
.
Each thrown with about a kilo of Sheffield's Wood Light
.
I used to simply enjoy throwing
.
But it's become a refuge
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Simple handles for simple mugs
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Now for a couple of handles
.
Three, maybe
.
Takes the mind off contemplating this stage of fascism lite
.
Then I remind myself, "Self, there is no such thing"
.
Dammit, now I have to distract myself all over again
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Four sections in
.
The hardest part's over, changing direction
.
Debating how far to close it in
.
And whether it should be one or two more sections
.
Enough to take my mind off good ole 'merikan fascism for a few hours
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Decided to throw a section pot
.
Three sections in, two to go
.
Enough for today, I'll finish it tomorrow if I don't have to spend all day throwing snow
.
Oh yeah
.
Fuck ICE
.
Get outa here with the Grab n' Go Gestapo
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Lid trimmed, flashing slip atomized, mason stain brushed, porcelain finger swiped
.
Gotta stop somewhere
.
This seems like the spot
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Large cannister in the offing. You can see the knob just doesn't cut it

Leather hard lid atop a blue bat on a pottery wheel. The lid is attached to the bat with coils of clay. Hand holds the knob cut off the lid. The newly-thrown knob attached to the lid is some three times larger

The new knob now looks much more in proportion to the rest of the cannister

Looking with a critical eye
.
Realized the knob on the lid was too small
.
There, it's much better now
.
Still have to trim the lid to fit the gallery, do the deco
.
Don't think I'll make more of these for the next firing
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Where it stands with the cans
.
Jim Dugan mug and sponge for scale
.
I now remember why I don't often make these
.
They take too long
.
Lids still need to dry a little more to trim
.
Have yet to turn the big one
.
Tomorrow
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Decided to throw an 8 lb can to go with the 6 and 4 lb can
.
They look better at larger scales, I think
.
Only had time to turn the bottom of the 4 lber
.
Wrap it up, tomorrow then
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Couple of freshly-thrown cannisters and lids
.
The larger was thrown with a little less than a kilo more than the smaller
.
I'll leave them to set up, trim them tomorrow and add lug handles on the bodies, knobs on the lids
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Future whiskey cups form up
like cavalry
.
In some imagined Hetairoi battle phalanx
.
Sometime down the line, if they survive the flame
.
They'll mow you down as you mow them down
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Downed spruce in a friend's yard

Spruce, limbed and bucked into 3 ft/1 m bolts. Decided against standard 4 ft/1.3 m bolts to save my back

All that's left in the yard is sawdust. Slash consigned to a low spot in the woods

Trailer's loaded with logs, ready to head home

Friend lost a spruce in a recent wind storm
.
One thing about wood firing a kiln in Maine--there's no shortage of fuel if you have a chainsaw, pulp hook, trailer and pickup
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Nothing thrown by hand is identical, not really
.
Matter of degree
.
Certain forms seem harder to get close
.
Like these miniature onggi shapes
.
For liquor, not kimchi, obvi
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama

Four-bowl set
.
Had to re-throw the largest two because they were too short
.
Not about to cut down the rim on the largest, even though it's still a little tall
.
It should shrink some more, anyway
.
Time to slip it
.
#pottersofbluesky #ceramics #pottery #woodfire #anagama #noborigama
.