Turtles

I attend pottery workshops when I can. The most recent one was taught by Joe Pelka, a local potter who is adicted to caffeine and talking and fun. The workshop was not really for learning pottery techniques, but we definitely had fun making these turtles.

We each made two, and embellished them as we saw fit. The bodies were rather thick, so thick I was a bit surprised they didn't explode in the kiln. But Joe pierced them multiple times on the underside to prevent that. No turtles were lost in the bisqueing process.

I could not help but be pleased when Joe targeted my "dinosaur" turtle as his favorite class turtle of all time. He even made that comment in front of the whole class. *blush* Those words of praise really boosted my creative confidence.

For session two, we glazed our creations. Joe had mixed up about ten different glazes and created test tiles for each so we could see what they would look like. The primary glaze I chose was less glossy, which I later found out was due to his mixing underglaze with glaze.

Joe gave me some words of wisdom. When I showed him my glazing and commented that I frequently go too far, he said, "Then stop." I keep that in mind with more than just pottery.

I named these two guys Michelangelo and Leonardo (yes, after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). They have a place of pride on my coffee table, keeping the handspun, handwoven runner from sliding around.