I’m so terribly pleased with my latest pottery piece.  Pleased, and a bit shocked at how well it turned out.  This is my first attempt at a serving platter, and is also my largest piece thus far.  It constitutes 3 weekends of studio sessions, and is intended as a gift for my Aunt Janet, who is a collector of gorgeous pottery by artists so far my superior that I hesitate to call my work pottery at all.  Still, I think my poor little offering won’t be so outclassed as to shame me - after all, I’m still pretty new at this stuff

Do please click on the photos to view larger versions, I think the detail in the glaze is worth it!

In other news, holy cow is Anaïs ever ridiculously preggers!  Here she is at a local artisan show with some of her latest samples - she’s been moving away from the hardcore bike messenger market (though of course she still makes those amazing bags) and trying her hand at some kinder, gentler designs.

Pottery Night, starring Sophie, Kristien, Dad and Jef!

Dad shows off a shockingly good caricature of his brother:

I finished Xmas presents for my sister and mom:

Jef made some hilarious critters which I think he called skrogs:

Sophie directed:

…and also made a rather impressive little mouse in a house:

Afterward we ate too much Chinese food and Sophie taught Jef to play Pattycake:

The rest of the night went a lot like this:

Our Intrepid Explorer (and trusty Sidekick) make note of items of interest along the trail:

Our Intrepid Explorer greets the natives:

O.I.E. wrestles the fearsome man-eating polar bear statue:

O.I.E. asks if you would like to trade this land for these precious items:

Not only how I’m feeling these days, what with the whirlwind pace of my organic chemistry course, but also descriptive of this evening’s pottery session.
Anaïs and I mutually dominated the glazing table tonight. Here are the results of our handiwork, before firing. The two bowls in the front are Anaïs’, and the assorted stuff in the back is mine.