A few changes

The older I get the more I hate change. Perhaps that is true for most of us. But I think I hate change mostly because I have experienced more of it than a whole room full of people put together. I have moved 50+ times in my life. I've lived in 9 U.S. states and 4 countries. People have waltzed in and out of my life quicker than some change their underwear. That is a lot of change.
But some changes are good, like the kind that indicate we are maturing as human beings and refining our skills. A lot of things in my life are starting to come full circle especially my work and family life, both inspiring one another.
All this leads to some slight changes involving my artwork specifically. I am no longer focusing solely on my pottery, I am also greatly involved in the tatting world. So I am balancing those things with photography, painting, glass and precious metal work.
For the last decade I have been MadMadPotter.Com. This past week my domain subscription expired. I wasn't notified and when I went to renew I ran into all sorts of problems and conflicts which I won't go into. In short I am now JUST MadMadPotter. No more dot com. If you Google me I come up first in all the searches so I don't need to pay tons of money for my own domain anymore. So Register.com you can take your overpriced service and all your fees and shove them you know where.
Anyhow, with a renewed sense of purpose I am expanding my repertoire to include all my interests and I shall share them here. So even though I will remain the MadMadPotter (notice no spaces in the moniker), I will be ever so much more.
Of course I will not be making any changes to my other alias LadyShuttleMaker. That blog will remain dedicated to my tatting endeavors and personal life stories.

Now on to the meat of the post, I would like to start with slumped bottles. This isn't a new idea, other artists have been doing it for years. I had some ideas to put my own twist on this particular endeavor. I have been slumping pretty much any glass bottle or jar I can get my hand on.

These turn into....
...these...
...and this...
...and this.
The spoon rest is one of my twists as well as...
this new design feature. Typically these slumped wined bottles are used as cheese boards, but I wanted to add my own flare. These can also be hung in a window for decoration.

As soon as I can get a group of these together I will be listing them in my Etsy shop.

Returning to the studio after waaaay toooo long!!

I finally got my husband to bring my large kiln back to the studio. This means that I can return to my large projects and crystalline glaze pottery.
I have fired the kiln 3 times since Friday. When I looked at my kiln log I was appalled to see that it hasn't been fired in over two years. GASP!!!!

Of course one year of that was spent in South Korea. Another 6 months remodeling my studio and yet another 6 months being really sick and then pregnant. After begging hubby for several months and not getting anywhere I finally laid down the ultimatum..."Bring up that kiln or else!!!!" ....never did determine what the "or else" part was...but he finally listened and now I am a happy camper!

I cannot tell you how glorious it is to have my studio back. I have felt a bit dead inside for the last two years. The only thing getting me through were my tatting endeavors and thank God for that...but really??, two years is way too long and I hope I never have to experience that again. Experimenting, mixing glazes, throwing on the wheel and hand building, and now working with glass. I am back in my element.

Now..for those who didn't know, I am now 5 months pregnant. Don't worry I employ the highest standards of safety in the studio. It has been a super rough pregnancy so far and I still have yet to gain any weight due to throwing up all the time. But I have been miserable laying in bed or on the couch all day, so I really needed something to look forward to. ..baby needs a happy mom right?
So yesterday was the first full day I have spent in the studio and yes I puked in the middle of it all..but the feeling of accomplishment is priceless and worth it!

Want to see what I've been up to??

I've been wanting to do this for a very long time. These are slumped bottles and they are my very first attempt. Of course they need further manipulation to make them useful which I shall do. Yay for recycling!!!



While in Korea I bought a large BBQ bowl to use as a form for my signature coil bowls. This is the largest I have done at home (did a huge one in college). I have been itching to use this form for the last year. I am quite pleased with the results. It is a very pleasing shape and I plan to do several more. This takes up the entire diameter of my kiln.

...now all I have to do is start listing work in my Etsy shop once again.