Wolf Gift

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I love receiving feedback from friends, family and coworkers. This mug was inspired by a story shared about a coworker’s family member who loves wolves.

Here is another inspired wolf mug:

Grateful for the inspiration

Hues of Red, White, and Blue

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Wood fired pieces always blow me away mainly due to the natural effects of flame, heat, and earthly elements. This cup is from the most recent wood-kiln firing.

Happy Memorial Day! Thanks to the brave men and women who died in service of the U.S.A.

For Sake’s Sake

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Sake Anyone?

We thought it would be nice to create a Sake set for my youngest stepson. I created 4 sets and offered him his choice of a bottle and 2 sake cups.  I decided to enter one of the Sake sets that he did not chose into my company’s Employee Art & Literary Show… and won 1st Place in the Craft Category! What great fun and exciting experience.

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1st Place – Sake Set

Free Range

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This years’ woodfiring was postponed slightly due to flooding.  Two weeks ago the wood firing team commenced the process with storing of wood and loading the kiln. Loading the kiln is definitely a fun event due to the number of good folks who come to help.  I missed the loading because of my 9-5.  For several days, 4 hours a day, the team fed thewood-kiln and last Thursday the kiln was unloaded.  Now the unloading part is the one phase that I haven’t experienced yet so I was “stoked” to get that chance… but as it turns out my hot water tank wanted our full attention that day.  C’est la vie. Now I can change the elements of those suckers! LOL. I vow to experience the unloading at the next wood firing event and then some!   

Christmas Wishes

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A very good family friend loves soup.

I thought I’d design some bowls with a Ukrainian Easter Egg inspired theme.  After researching the meaning of the symbols I realized that maybe less is more? So I focused on good health (wheat, pine needles, grapes), Christ (rose star, fish, fishing nets), and spiritual growth/prayer (ladder), and everlasting life (wave/curls). I even included stars.  Hopefully these bowls turn out well, as the intent of the decorations are my Christmas Wishes for my friend and for everyone.

Merry Christmas!

The bowls pictured have the designs in black, red, and yellow underglaze, all covered in Crystal Clear glaze. They should be ready in time for a holiday delivery. I’ll post the resulting photos once they come out of the kiln.

The bowls came out in time for a Christmas delivery! Two bowls were chosen: the cross of red in center (top left) and the cross of yellow in center (bottom)

I researched the symbols used on Ukrainian Easter Eggs and settled on just a handful that resonated (and that I could try my hand at). One of the resources used was a lovely find, “Pysanky Symbols“: http://bookczuk.blogspot.com/2015/02/2015-version-of-pysanky-symbols-chart.html, created by Amy Romanczuk. According to the blogspot, “Amy Romanczuk is an artist and retired pediatric nurse in Charleston, SC. She is self-taught pysanky writer of Ukrainian heritage. Several of her original design pysanky were accepted into the collection of Museum of Ukrainian Decorative Folk Arts in Kyiv, as representational from artists outside Ukraine.”

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