Tea Party

This teapot is finally finished!!! Fired to cone 10, glazed with a celadon glaze.

I wish I had better photo skills!

It has little Asian style cups to go with it, I'll photograph them eventually. I even made a little creamer and sugar to sort of match.

I met a nice woman the other day, we traded yarn for "bits and bobs", or this and that, I love the yarn I got and I hope she enjoys the odd assortment of things I arrived with. I'm saving the pretty yarn for my better weaving skills time-to-come. Anyway, she told me about some visitors she has met and who am I to say she hasn't met them? Even if they are from the Pleiades. Huh? Really, who does know? Maybe we'll have lunch one day and I can learn more, that would be nice.

The nubby boucle yarn on my loom will make a nice thick towel but I don't like the texture, it's like a towel you can get at Safeway...that kind. The yarn is very fun looking before it is woven, so much to learn , so many yarns to try.

I am putting myself in that scary place of being judged. I have applied to be part of a show at our local art center, Sanchez Art Center...I'll find out at the end of April if I got in. It's called a 50/50 show, I must make 50 pieces of art in 50 days. What a way to challenge myself, I'll be heartbroken if I don't make it and panic striken if I do...go figure.

I Did It My Way...Or Ta-Daa!!!!!

This is my first project done from scratch and I did it my way. I didn't use no stinkin raddle or nothing. Just held the "cross" in my hand, cut it, carefully threaded the reed. I'm not sure I breathed while doing that for fear of losing the cross....then I just threaded the heddles, tied onto the back beam, and what do they call it??? beamed the warp I think. Woo-hoo you go grandma!!

Deborah Chandler describes this method in her book and I could read the words but....until doing some loom work myself, well, it skeeerd me.

I emailed my teacher and told him I did this (he emailed first...asking how I was doing)...I know he probably wouldn't approve, BUT, it worked on my loom.

This piece is also riddled with mistakes but I sort of like the mistake near the hem, looks like I did it on purpose (if you didn't know better). The selvedges are ok, I have stopped fussing about them, they are what they are. I put some nubby warp on my loom. Probably a mistake. Gotta learn things the hard way, at least that's been the case so far.

Instant Gratification and Patience

Pottery is instant gratification. Touch it and you leave a mark...and that's fine, a mark. But I'm talking about making something you want to keep; more than just a mark.
Pottery is needy. I can't just leave it alone after making a mark. Throw a pot, undercut it, leave it on the bat long enough to dry for trimming. Now, don't wait too long and don't do it too soon, it just doesn't work like that. Needy...come and look at me, come and check my condition, hurry...wait...do this now then come back and do something else with me. Timing is everything. Oh, don't fire me yet, wait until I'm ready...that kind of thing.
Ah, but weaving waits.
Have I found balance at last?
Is this what heaven is all about?
My very, very first project almost all alone (is this good?).
I measured the warp and dressed the loom all by myself. All alone, no one else, just me. Thank you my weaving teacher and Debbie Chandler!
Drat, I can't find my camera to post a bragging photo but I will...later...

The Avett Brothers - Paranoia in BB Major

wORTH hEARinG***

Weaving Perfection?

So, when my teacher left me last week he said something about my next project being perfect. Perfect is not in my vocabulary anymore, not when it applies to me anyway. I don't do perfect, I don't even try for it, I just do the best I can at any given moment.

When I put the word out that a teacher was desperately needed it was just to teach how to dress the loom. Now I see how things work...well, pretty much. And I need to do it a few dozen more times until I become more confident. I'll need my teacher again I know. For now, I need to go it alone for a while. I do hope he doesn't take it personal! The word perfect did alarm me though...

My fear of the loom is pretty much gone, it is slowly becoming my friend.

My fish is so large it may just barely fit into the kiln, no room for the tail, maybe I'll weave him/her a tail, I don't know!

Look Ma, I'm Weaving!

My warp is finally on the loom! I threaded it wrong in more than one place, a thread was crossed, one was just hanging out and it didn't have a home. (I took it out and let it hang behind). These are just practice dishtowels for goodness sake! The weft color is yellow, I am doing a 2/2 twill pattern. What a thrill to see it emerge!!! I missed threading one dent; you can see a space on the right, it may fill in once its washed. There are 2 dishtowels on this warp. If someone paid me by the hour these would be the most costly dishtowels on earth!
One woman that sold me a book about weaving gave me some sage advice. She said that I should develop appreciation for the warping process since that is the *most* time consuming part of weaving. I suppose if I hated it and couldn't wait to get it over with then weaving wouldn't be much fun *most* of the time I spent doing it.
Well, I really TRIED to appreciate it, I think that's what she said, I don't have to love it, just appreciate it!