Difficult to tell

I don't know... hard to tell if the painting will hang together after firing. Right now it certainly does not. Sorry, discus. We'll see what the kiln gods deliver. The turquoise should darken and the greens fade back.

A fish shop southwest of Pittsburgh has impossibly lovely discus fish. As big as dessert plates, hanging in the water.

This one's mine

Poor fish had an accident and lost a pectoral fin. I'm not surprised: I handled it kind of roughly during the drive to the pottery studio. In fact, I'm amazed that most of these lanterns DID fire safely. Guess I get to keep this one. Please pass the "Gorilla Glue."

Rotten fish

This last lantern is giving me a lot of trouble! I've tried twice already to glaze it, and both times the glaze crackled and flaked off as it dried. The color is "Dark Turquoise," which I've used many times before. Third time will work, right?

Playtime

Like scales glittering in water.

The Gallery

We'll be setting up the show here in 16 days! We want to really transform the gallery into a summer oasis. Here's the view when you first walk in... The current show is works from the BAYarts archives.

I love this plant and the window! Erin has big plans for this spot.

Here's the right side of the gallery. The space is huge, with many, many walls to cover. Lucky for us, we received permission to do some painting. How does "Soothing Green Tea" sound for a color?

And we'll paint a couple of pedestals red for "pop."

Ugh, we had a bad can of spray paint. How can it come out runny and globby at the same time? What a mess!

But I love the "Soothing Green Tea!"

A preview

I'll just leave this here...

Glazed some fish lanterns

Glazed 6 lanterns today... 1 more to do.

The last piece

The last new piece, to replace the dotted tureen with the lid that doesn't fit. Not sure if I'll be able to dry, bisque, and glaze it in time for Feb. 10.

Rainbowfish Bowl

All genus Melanotaenia, and part of the porcelain "Pet Project" series. Shouldn't I be writing an artist's statement for "Small, Good Things???" Yes, I should.

Minor details

So I'm almost finished with wetwork: here's the final fish lantern. I still have some glazing to do, but not too much.

I've got boxes and boxes of pottery. A couple of weeks ago, I culled the unsuccessful pieces (see below).

My main issue was with glaze pin-holing. And some of the bird plates are ugly. And the tureen's lid doesn't fit. Maybe I'd better make another tureen.

I've started gathering display props:

These plate stands are great: they can even hold bowls.

I found stands in 3 different heights for the birdbaths.

These plate hangers were on clearance for $1.97 each!

I found some wooden boxes that can be used as risers or mounted on the wall. I bought some plastic risers also.

We'll need greenery! Lucky for us, I have a lot of pet plants. Hopefully the weather will be warm enough to transport a couple of them.

Gotta wear something green and handmade to the opening.

And we'll need lots of cookies. God bless freezers.