My Crafty Craft Day group got together a couple weeks ago to experiment with clay. Krista got into making pottery about a year ago and introduced us to this fun craft. I had never worked with clay (unless you count making the ubiquitous rope vase in elementary school) and I was quite the novice. Above, Ann and Susan cutting slabs for vases and faces.
Krista has a great studio, lots of light, plenty of space, Pandora streaming, and even wine chilling in the fridge. She's teaching us how to slap the clay.
I wasn't up to the challenge of using the wheel, but Krista has mastered it, churning out bowls and plates and mugs.
Krista had laid out plenty of books for us to peruse, getting ideas about what to make.
I chose to do buttons, as I thought this would be a good beginner project. Keep things flat and all.
Bev and I made dozens of buttons, using various objects for texture.
A few days later, Krista fired everything for us, then we came back for another Craft Day to glaze our masterpieces.
One of Susan's happy faces, before glazing.
We wanted a rainy, chilly day, but the weather was just being too nice, so we decided to set up outdoors and glaze away. I didn't really like the glazing part very much because I just couldn't tell what the colors would look like when fired. Everything was just grey or brown. I'm all about the color, so I was totally out of my element. I guess that's what experience does. You just get to know the colors and combinations that work.
Krista re-fired everything and lo and behold, the colors emerged.
My buttons will someday grace a hand knit cardigan.
And Susan's happy face turned out so charming.
Of course Krista's bowl is wonderful. Next time, I'm on that wheel. I have a great appreciation for the potters I see at craft shows.
Next up on Crafty Craft Day: dyeing eggs with natural ingredients
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