Stoner

1. We got up early this morning to go have breakfast at the waffle place and there we ran into Chris and Lu Ann. They changed tables so that we could sit together and chat. (Chris has changed jobs and Lu Ann is almost done with her pre-requisites for her next degree.)

2. For breakfast, David and I shared a couple of waffles, one savory (topped with spinach, poached eggs, and green chile cream sauce) and one sweet (topped with macerated cherries and goat cheese, melted butter and syrup). We each had a London Fog to drink.

3. After breakfast, we parted ways with Chris and Lu Ann and Dave and I went to the studio.

This is one of the mini-masks out of last week's kiln. Looks like a stoner, no?

The red cast to his eyes and teeth are from the Gerstley borate that I used. I had no idea it was going to do that, but (in this case anyway) I kind of like it.

I worked on some small Christmas ornaments and on my sculptures a tiny bit. Dave trimmed some pieces that he threw last week.

Judi came out with Crunch to chat and we decided to go to lunch after a bit.

3. For lunch, we (Judi, Paul, Dave and myself) went to a new-ish restaurant in Nob Hill called NOSH Jewish Deli & Bakery.  I've never really been exposed to Jewish food, but I'm familiar with the concept. I ordered matzo ball soup and a sweet noodle kugel, crisped up on the grill and served with maple syrup.





(I was still pretty stuffed from breakfast, so Dave ended up eating most of my kugel.) Dave had a tempeh reuben and coleslaw. Judi's chopped liver looked really good, so I ordered some to bring home for dinner.  The place was a little too loud to linger, so we came back to the studio to work.

4. So, the work.

I've been experimenting with this new style, something I learned when I took the Janis Mars Wonderlich workshop at Santa Fe Clay back in June/July, which was--what?--four and a half months ago? And these are the first finished pieces that I've gotten since then.

I say they are finished, but are they?
 
One of the things we experimented with during the workshop was multiple firings. I had long been used to the usual cone 06 bisque then cone 6 glaze firing, with a very occasional rebisquing for various purposes. But Janis fires to cone 3 first then does subsequent rounds of cone 04 or 06 firings to refine her surfaces. I've been toying with a similar firing schedule, but it's gotten to the point where I don't know how to tell when something is finished. I mean, it's finished when it feels finished. But does any of it yet feel finished?

(All the above pieces are in the 2-4 inch range, by the way. They're intended as hanging pieces.)

I'm totally second guessing myself here. The uncertainty is maddening and exciting both (a new place to have to learn how to listen to myself).