Feeling lost and celebrating a find!

This is one of the saddest days of the year for me.  I used to adore Valentine's Day and celebrating love and romance.  These days, not so much.  I would rather stay at home and eat a peanut butter sandwich for dinner than go out and see all the couples gaga about each other (or at least putting on a good show).

Yes, I love my family and friends, but I have nobody to call my own.  Simply telling it like it is.

OK, enough about my intense dread of this day.

The find is thanks to my sister-in-law Jan.  She noticed a pair of plates advertised by one of the local antique shops in my home town.  She thought she recognized them and posted them to my facebook page.  Sure enough, they were plates that, along with Laurie - another sister-in-law (and probably others as well), I helped produce in 1990 while working for my father-in-law.  My contribution was the decorating.

Long story short - they now belong to me and safely made the trip via USPS.

inspiration?

What inspires your creativity?
For me, I envision a piece and then try to create it, whether it is beaded jewelry, paper arts, pyrography, or pottery (to name a few). The finished piece does not always end up as envisioned, which is alright with me, I usually like it better.
Sometimes I see something that inspires me to create something else.
Right now, I am not seeing anything that inspires me to actually get in gear and create. And I have a show to do in 2 months! That is not a lot of time!
Yes, I have made this or that, and done a little, but then I lose all interest and momentum.
I have it set in my mind that I will spend Sunday morning creating. I re-set my work table so it is ready, my molds have been cleaned and my clay is ready and waiting... and once I get started, I should be able to do a little each morning and evening during the week (unless I have a class to teach at the store). Sounds like a plan...
One friend on Facebook suggested I try to slow down the rest of my life to find that creative vein again, unfortunately, that is much easier said than done these days. Someone else suggested I find a bigger shovel to dig myself out of this creative slump I've been in.
I'm looking for feedback. If you have any additional constructive suggestions for lighting the spark of creativity, please let me know.

The Fox and the Fish

A little over a week ago, I was test firing a new terra cotta clay. For some reason, I have been wanting to make a fish for a few months now (since Art Camp). I proceeded to roll out a slab and cut out a fish (Bass). When the Bass was completely dry, I prepared to fire it. At the same time, I finally fired the small fox head I had made in Art Camp.
I had been carrying around a small ball of clay while checking on the students' progress. As I walked around, I fiddled with the clay, and the result was a fox head. I finessed it and kept it on my work table here at home for 2 months. It was definitely dry... but for some reason, I was wary. When I loaded the kiln, I put the fox head off to the right and the fish off to the left. What you see in this photo is the remains of the fox head and the bare spot the fish shielded. The photo doesn't show the fine details. It literally vaporized! There is a fine terra cotta clay dust covering the entire shelf except for where the fish was and where some larger pieces of the fox landed. Unfortunately, the heavy debris you see near the fishes tail broke the tail off. But there are creative plans for the remainder of the fish...
The good news is, I am glad I got the new terra cotta clay, it survived the firing, which is why I wanted to stop using the old clay (which the fox was made of)... I had too many things explode on me in firing...
A little more good news, I have found another resource for black porcelain (that is closer to home, so lower shipping costs!). I still have to do the glaze test firing to see how it works with my glazes and also how black it actually gets. Those results will follow in a couple of days...

Art Camp Part I

I know... I have been remiss about posting... one of the reasons is that I was teaching clay at Art Camp last week.
It was the 6 - 9 year old group... there were 11 wonderful kids.
The photos were from Day 4... we made slab-built mugs and then glazed some pieces from earlier in the week.
I had a great time. And I give a lot of credit to my trusted assistant/camp counselor - Michael. He sure had a way with the kids...
Tomorrow I go in to load everything into the kiln for firing. With the humidity, thigs were drying slowly. After this week off... I have the 10+ group next week.

Is it June already???

I cannot believe how fast the time goes.

I have a batch of stoneware that will be firing the end of this week... I am being extra sure that they are dry from glazing before firing them. I don't have a deadline looming, I just want to get some stock made.

I am getting frustrated with the Ebony Porcelain company... I am looking for updates as to when it will be available again... nothing. I leave messages on the voice mail and send emails but no reply. I think I will mail a hand-written letter this week.

My current goal is to cast Stoneware product until the end of the month of June and then start making a small selection of Terra Cotta product.

I need to make things to fill the void of the Ebonyware...

If anyone out there knows of another source for a cone 6 black casting porcelain... please... let me know... I am having withdrawal symptoms, I have used it for nearly 20 years!!!

Birthday wishes to all of those with June Birthdays... you know who you are... I am trying to be better about sending cards... I make lots of them, but send very few.