Calavera Mugs! Just In Time for Halloween!

Finally some photos of new work. Mostly calavera mugs, of course, but one or two other things.



I added a third color to my black and white mugs. I like the red, don't you?



What I really don't like is a photo with a clean background. How boring. I took these pictures on the old crap slab roller at the studio with some pots I threw (more on that below) in the background.



Look at that cutie! Wouldn't you like to see that smiling mug every morning over coffee?



About the background pots: I'm calling these "olla pots" which is kind of a dumb name, because olla is Spanish for pot, but the explanation is this: Ollas are the common name for bisqued pots that are buried underground next to plants and filled with water. The water seeps out slowly and waters the plant. I thought it would be interesting to have an olla integrated into a planter, so I made a few.



That's looking down into the pot, so you can see how the olla fits in there. We'll see if they work even. I think they'll be good for growing herbs indoors through winter, since they're self-watering.



Oh, and more calavera mugs!  This is a different glaze combination than I'd been using and I don't like it as much.



These started to get weird. I think I was getting tired when I glazed them.



And these last ones, oy vey.  The strangest of the lot.



Okay, oh! These are what "ollas" look like when they're not integrated into the pot. These will be bisqued and buried in the garden. (Forgive the vertiginous shot there. I've so run out of space in my cubicle that I've taken to drying work on my chair.)



There's an example of a clay doodle, that monster. I made it while I was sitting around chatting with some students and playing with some clay scraps.

And this is what my desk looked like when I left the studio tonight. On the far left are mugs waiting to be glazed. The two bowls are green, still drying--as is the monster. Then of course more calavera mugs.



Everything there but space to work.