Time for TEA!

Can you see it? Can you see it? Its my teapot!! Yes, the one with the lid, the colored squares, and the squiggles! This is a bit of a sneak preview as the teapot is for the EMT Teapot contest that doesn't start until the 23rd but since its still not in its finished form I thought I'd share my excitement and post the pre-finished picture here. We are hosting the contest on Votigo or something like that where people can go and vote for their favorite teapot. I'll post the details later- for now just get excited. What are the squares you ask? Those are glass. They will melt down in the firing and make beautiful glass pattern in the valley on my lid. As for the glaze- I wont tell you what the colors will be but I will tell you, they won't look anything like they do now. They will completely transform. So.... stay posted for the REAL thing!

Now, did you spot something else of interest in the picture? Well, I had a little mishap this weekend exploding a pot in my kiln that destroyed one of my most favorite pieces. Despite the fact that the exploding pot was about an inch thick (bad) and I rushed the firing (though everything else was fine- I know not to make my pots an inch thick but I also know to fire slowly- oh well) I have come to the conclusion that the underlying problem was the lack of a kiln god. This is not idol worship now, ok, its just a little clay being that watches over a kilnful of its own kind and makes sure nothing bad happens- like a guardian angel. The etsy mud team enlightened me about this practice and I loved the idea! So, having learned my lesson this weekend and inspired by the exploding pot and my teapot that I want nothing bad to ever happen to, I created a kiln god (or angel if you prefer) to watch over the kiln. He is a dragon-slash-dinosaur creature. He will make sure my teapot is just perfect- and all the other pieces in the kiln! This is at the shared studio I work at downtown and I set him on there last night. Today a kids class came through and immediately a little boy spotted my kiln god and was fascinated! So now the next kids project is now making kiln angels! I think this is a good sign. The firing will be a huge success thanks to some excellent potters and a little clay creature. :)

Thats all for now- keep watch for the finished product.

Lisa