Tired as a dog

Well, I didn't get pictures done because the kiln took a very long time to cool and by the time I unloaded and reloaded it, I was beat.

My friend Ron talked about having to be a plumber and there were several comments on his blog about what a jack of all trades a potter has to be. Today I was the painter, the go-for, the landscape person and the handyman, and I managed to make a few pots.

Here is what is going on: We had the trim on the building painted a few weeks back and I have stewed over whether to paint the shutters. Once I decided "yes", then it was "what color?". I even went so far as to take some old paint and paint foam core board and stick it outside to see if I liked it against the brick. So today I made the big leap and bought red paint, as in Ruby Red paint. I took down one of the shutters and hauled inside to try it out. In the middle of the first coat I was having a rather desperate conversation with myself, because I was saying "Surely it will dry darker than this" and "I did buy paintable shutters before, didn't I?" as the color was very dramatic in the paint can and seemed to want to slide off the shutters instead of adhere. By the end of the evening it did seem to be a bit darker and was drying, so maybe there is hope.

I also wanted to have a painted decoration framing the front entrance that would have vines with teacups and teapots and mugs and plates sprouting off of it and the background would be the color of the trim, so I had lumber cut and started priming it.

Landscaping was pulling up the rest of the weeds in the bed where we pulled up the knarly looking privet hedge and spreading out 10 bags of mulch. I am sure it was a comic sight to anyone on Hwy. 74 around 4:00 pm today.

On the kiln front, the sumi-e plates were not exactly what I thought, but I did like the plum branches. My favorite before they were fired was the Chinese lanterns, but there wasn't enough yellow underglaze for me. I will have to mull on them awhile, letting the reality and the vision settle down together. I will try it again but will use a clear glaze over them as the subtle amber was so subtle you can't really see it. I have a few more ideas to work on this little series.

Had some warpage on the large handbuilt plates for the dinnerware set. Don't know if it is the glazing or the drying, but will attempt another firing on Monday. Maybe photos will follow tomorrow if I can work photographer into my job descriptions.