Thursday, December 13, 2007

My First-born Pot!

OK, don't laugh. Seriously, if you laugh, you will hurt my feelings. In Tuesday night's pottery class, we glazed our first pot, and tonight, I got it back after firing.

Before I show you pictures, let me explain. This piece is only the third one I threw, on my very first night of class. After doing two others, I was tired and I really goofed it up, so it is pretty wobbly. Next, I was trying to do a black cat silhouette with a rubber stamp in black underglazing, as a sort of signature, and I had too much glaze, so it made a big smear. I decided to do a random pattern of black splodges instead. Finally, I didn't really choose my colors carefully. Some people were working with "paprika" and "sea foam," so I just used them since they were out.

OK. Enough exposition. Here is the finished piece, from several different angles:

What is this supposed to be?
A "salsa dish"
Yeah, right.

Oh, what the hell. Go ahead and laugh. I did.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

It's one hell of a salsa dish and no one should laugh at it. Good for you! You have to promise to show us the "good" ones, too!

Susan Gets Native said...

I didn't laugh. Really!
I think it's pretty. It reminds me of some North Carolina pottery we have.
If that's your first attempt, I can't imagine what your next ones will look like!

KatDoc....Super Clay-Thrower!

Kathy said...

It looks really nice to me!

Marvin said...

Cool!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I only giggled at your supposition that we would laugh. I think you did a great job for your first effort. I will be looking forward to seeing your latest masterpiece.

I dabble in watercolors. I wouldn't think of putting up one of my pictures on a blog. You are very brave to me.

Anonymous said...

Why on earth would we laugh? Don't you know that smeared glazes and black splotches are sold here as ART? That's what makes a unique piece. You have made a wonderful bowl and should be very proud.

Thanks to your inspiration, I'm starting classes in January from one of our wonderful NC potters.

Anonymous said...

I didn't laugh. I kind of went 'Oooooh! Cool!'.

Believe it or not, this is something I would buy from a local handcrafty type store, if I were traveling and wanted something locally made. The special thing about it is that it *is* unique. I'm not into factory made, *perfect from all angles*, *there are a million of these out there* kind of crafts.

PS. I would never put salsa in it. I would set it on its own shelf to admire.

Mary said...

I like it, too! But I did laugh at your comments about it. Display it proudly. If you ever quit your day job, you have something to fall back on.

Kathi said...

Dear All,

Thank you for your sweet comments about my little pot. You are too kind.

Holly, you don't have to buy one, I will bring you a pot when I come to Maine next summer. (But, I want a massage in return!)

Mary, it's funny you say that about "if you ever quit your day job..." I have just about decided that when I retire from vet med, I want to be a potter. Until I started this hobby, I never thought about retiring or what I would do when/if I were to ever quit. Now, I have a goal. I want to work for about 15 more years, and I figure it will take me that long to get good enough!

Anon: Glad I have inspired you to take a class. I expect a full report!

~k