I spent the first half of the day at Shiloh Baptist Church (Old Site) celebrating the life of Mrs. Mary (IB) Bridgewater, an extraordinary woman of 85 who touched a huge cross-section of our community. She led an amazing life of service to anyone that crossed her path. I feel fortunate to have known her just a little bit. Her only daughter, Pamela, was the U.S. Ambassador to Benin and Ghana and Mrs. B. traveled the world with her, making friends with heads of state, royalty and common folk where ever she went.
I got to the studio mid-day to work on a few things.
Every year the lady bugs return and it can feel like working in a war zone full of kamikazes. They are on the pots, the windows, the throwing water…they’ve even invaded my cup of tea. This character was walking along the coil that I applied as if it was a lady bug highway.
I put a handle on the bottle from yesterday and then went to work turning it into my version of a ‘Bartman’. The handle is a little undernourished…I’m still finding a comfort level with this scale. I over did the next bottle I handled, leaving more clay than it required. Sometimes the ‘pendulum’ effect prevails.
I couldn’t avoid adding my version of a pulled strap handle. I then finished it off like the German pot from yesterday’s post and I’m not too sure that the transition is as graceful as it might be. Still, I’m always willing to try and be wrong. In fact, I’ve built a career on that very idea!
I also have this big fat vase going…like the bottle above, it’s made from 12 lbs. of clay. I don’t often make a vase out of this form (by that I mean such a minimal neck as wide as this)…it always seems to ask for a lid but I’m glad that I resisted. It’s like an old crock ready for a cheesecloth cover tied around the rim. M-m-m-m pickles
