Oops!

I do some of my best thinking (and worrying) between 4 am and 6 am. Yesterday was no different. I woke up and suddenly realized that the stoneware plates that I made for an order were supposed to have little slip trailed dots and I had forgotten them! Luckily they hadn't been bisque fired. They were sitting on the ware rack, bone dry.
Typically I slip trail when the pots are leather hard. I learned a lot of slip trailing techniques from a decorator who workded at Salmon Falls Stoneware in Dover, NH. At Salmon Falls, all the decorating is done on bone dry clay, so I knew it wouldn't be a problem to add the dots at this stage. One of the benefits of working on bone dry is that if you screw up, it's easier to scrape off the slip, let it dry completely, then sand the area to remove any color that is left behind. I have had better luck working on leather hard pots. Occasionally, on the dry wares, the slip has broken off. It always seems to happen when your loading the bisque and it's a pain to get out the slip trailer and start doing fixes. These little dots should be fine. If any fall off it's a minor fix.

Balance

After the poor me, I have to make sponge holders rant, I found that I had some time to make just what I wanted to make.

Orbs, rattles, and spoons.

I worked into the evening on Tuesday getting them made and spent part of yesterday afternoon carving them.

I have the opportunity to fire these, along with a few pigs, in a neighbors wood kiln this week.

The rattles sell pretty quickly, especially when wood fired. They are definitely not something that people "need", but after they pick them, hold them, and shake them...
they WANT them.

Yesterday felt like a perfect work balance. I carved the orbs and rattles and also finished an order for flower dotted soup mugs. These are enjoyable to make and don't seem like work. I am not really doing much slip trailing anymore, unless it's for an order. If I had a wood kiln I would do more and probably combine it with carving. Someday we will have that wood kiln. One can never stop dreaming.