The last few days we have been hearing about the major winter storm that was coming. I was particularly concerned about the possibility because I had quite a bit of work that was in a state of limbo either waiting to be trimmed, decorated, or handled. I also had the last couple of batches of recycled clay that was almost ready to be wedged up. If the storm acted like it was supposed to then there was going to be a lot of ice on the roads when I woke up this morning and I wouldn't be able to get into the studio to take care of it. Thankfully with the aid of a couple of halogen construction lights and a fan most of the work all came to the ready stage at the same time. Wait, did I say thankfully? Yesterday was an insane hectic time trying to get everything ready to go so that on the off chance that I couldn't make it into the studio, I wouldn't end up with lots of work that was to dry to do anything to.
The first thing that I took care of was the recycle. To be honest this was still slightly to damp to wedge up but... better to wet than to stiff. It is going to sit for a month anyway so if it will firm up a bit during that time and it will be wedged again anyway.
I also got the last of the mugs trimmed and handled. I normally don't trim mugs I simply thumb them off, but these were for an order and I wanted them to be perfect. Plus they had firmed up a little to much on the base so thumbing was going to be challenging. I managed to remember to get a video of the handle pulling trick so that is up as well. I also got the last of the order mugs decorated. I think that they have some nice possibility.
Half of these have the Om sign and the other half say Namaste. I had hoped that I would be able to find a stamp for them that had a higher relief, but they honestly are rarer than I thought. I have some ideas on how to make them stand out more so it should be all good.
My greenware shelves are all full, or as full as I am willing to let them get.
If I let stuff get to far back on the lower shelves then I have trouble getting them out without them breaking, plus that is about 4 kiln loads to bisque let alone glaze so I think that I am going to be taking a bit of a throwing break until this is all cleared. I have studio chores that need to be done anyway and now is as good a time as any. I need to get a couple more plaster drying bats made, I am also going to make a couple of hump molds as well. It would be nice to be able to do some slab work.
These plates represent the last of the throwing that I am planning on. The one on the front left is a drip tray, I have a vase that needs to be fired and it has a super drippy ash glaze on it and I don't want to risk ruining any kiln shelves. As it is I need to grind most of them during this break anyway. I am slightly concerned about the plates. This set should be fine but the first set was almost ready to pop off the bats. Once they do that they need to be trimmed but I am not going to be able to get to them right away. I spritzed them down and then covered them really well with plastic, now all I can do is cross my fingers and pray to the pottery gods that they are okay.
The storm was supposed to start last night and dump a good amount of ice on us over night. Well when I woke up this morning at 6 everything was clean and dry. I figured that the weather folks were up to their standard 40% accuracy and I figured that I was going to be able to go into the studio after all. I got the coffee started and then got Millei ready to go out. This is our normal routine and we have it down to a science. It was 6:12 when we were both dressed and I stepped outside. At that time there was a random flake of snow or two, no big deal. By the time we were halfway through our walk around the park the snow was starting to come down and at 6:30 when we started to head back every flat surface was covered with a solid blanket of snow. I figured maybe we were gonna get some snow after all. I came back inside to get some coffee, check my email, and try again to rectify the continuing drama between my bank and Etsy. I think it is finally taken care of and I am FINALLY ready for people to start buying on Etsy. That and reading all of the other potter's blogs that I follow ate up about 2 hours. At that point Millei came in to the room to ask if she could go out again. I wasn't really surprised by this, she loves the snow and truthfully I have a hard time saying no to her about going out into it again. What did surprise me was, I hadn't been paying any attention to the outside up to know, WOW... it was almost whiteout conditions. So I bundled up and grabbed her leash and my camera. We got outside to find that the snow was belly deep on her and she was having to deer hop to get through it. Not that she minded at all.
It is important to remember that this is 2 hours worth of snow that started out as bare ground. By noon it was not showing any signs of stopping so the decision was made to start shoveling out since it was only going to get deeper and possibly freeze hard. I am not sure what the exact official snowfall total is but I do know that it is high shin deep on me and still coming down. Also the city has stopped clearing roads until the sun comes back up so it looks like I am getting 2 days off in a row. So yes winter was coming, and it brought its entire extended family for a reunion, and I think that it may be looking to move in. Now if you will excuse me I have to go find a particular groundhog and make some dinner plans with him.
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