Jan 09
This is a purchased piece of bisqueware that I ordered online. I would like to make some of my own, but calculating the shrinkage is too much fuss for my taste. One of the things I wanted to try with this kiln was how the black wax worked. I’ve seen some lovely tiles that use …
Jan 07
The Canterbury Tales: A Retelling by Peter Ackroyd I took a class in Middle English in college, and quickly realized that it was about as comprehensible as Dutch. Unlike Shakespeare, Middle English has to be translated. Too bad, because what I read of The Canterbury Tales seemed interesting. So when I saw this at the …
Dec 21
Hot Time in the Old Town: The Great Heat Wave of 1896 and the Making of Theodore Roosevelt by Edward P. Kohn This was the worst sort of book–not good enough that I really enjoyed reading it, but not bad enough to take it to the library without finishing it. I am not the right …
Dec 18
I’ve made numerous plates like this. They are a great size and shape for pie and small sandwiches. You have to really take your time to keep them from getting warped or cracked, but when they work, you have a set of matched almost-stacking plates. To start with, you need a half dozen blemish-free styrofoam …
Dec 10
My friend Gabrielle brought a magazine into our pottery class with an interesting technique in which the potter painted flowers on white slip using different hues of tinted slips. I decided to try it out. Since we had a myriad of greens, the obvious choice for subject matter was botanical.
