Pottery and Festival Fun

I've been a little quiet online lately, but that only means that life has been wonderfully busy.  The hubs is off galavanting around the world, and I've been all over the place! 

I'm getting some of my pottery inventory together for one of the most fun festivals I've had the pleasure of attending, the Heart of Virginia Festival.  This festival has always given me great memories from when I was younger.  I'm from a small town in the middle of Virginia, and every year the town and surrounding counties throw a great party on Main Street and High Street, and have a huge fireworks show in the evening.  This year will be the first time in a while I've been able to attend as a vendor, and I'm really looking forward to showing every one at home what I've been up to. 

Lately, I've also been trying to make a set for our house.  I've settled on a really cool green celedon glaze on the white stoneware I've been using, and I've really liked it.  For some reason I accidentally glazed one of the bowls blue, but it kind of made me want to have a mix n matched set with blue and green!

One of the things I've been told is to always split one of your peices in half to see whether your pottery has even walls, the shape of the foot, and other information you can glean from the expereince.  Well, I've always been stubborn and not done this, but it seems that this dishwasher casualty forced me into this excersize.  Looks like I need to work on trimming the bottom of my walls so they are even with the rest of the walls!

To go along with the set, I've also been working on some plates.  It's been a while since I threw plates, so I'm a little nervous on how they turn out.   I had also forgotten how much trimming is left over when you work on plates.  After 6 of them, I had enough clay to make a few more!

Another fun project I tried was a side car salsa dish.  I think overall the design was a success, though the excecution could have left a little to be desired.  This particular one got  a tiny S crack in the big bowl.  So now, it will live a life as a guitar pick and tuner holder. 

Among all of the pottery I've been working on, I've really enjoyed doing the mugs.  Mugs are so much more personal than any dishware you use.  You not only put something you're about to consume in it, but you hold it, and put it up to your lips.  Using a mug comes with trusting the person who made it and to me, its a great honor to have earned that trust.