Rice Bowls & Show and Tell
Set of 2 rice bowls with chop stick rests
In my mind, there’s no better food than anything Asian – I could probably eat a derivative of the Asian food every day of the week as long as it contained rice. Maybe I just like eating food with chop sticks. 
I’ve been throwing a little bit more than usual as I reclaim clay and decided to turn some bowls into rice bowls – I’m not sure if they should be larger or not. What do you think? These probably hold about 2 – 3 cups of food and measure about 6″ wide at the rim and 3.5″ high.
Rice bowl
Do you know what I hate? When my chopsticks slide off the side of my bowl and hit the floor – so with that in mind, I added 2 little chopstick rests to each bowl. I contemplated adding a divot to the opposite side for the chopsticks, but after testing it out, the bowls don’t really need it. The chopsticks can rest either as shown, or inside the bowl in more of a vertical fashion. I might make a few sets of these to sell at the Colorado Potters Spring Show – I wonder if I could find some chopstick wholesale to include with the bowls if I look hard enough.
Next up, “Show and Tell” (though isn’t my blog all show and tell?):
Before – oval serving dish
Remember this little oval serving dish that I made about about a month or so ago? I decided it looked a little plain so I decided to add a decal to the piece which dresses it up nicely.
After – Oval serving dish with water lily decal
Much better! I’m also pleased to be getting a lot of mileage from my water lily sketch that I made using my Bamboo Fun Wacom Tablet. After assessing my studio glazes, I think I need to expand my glaze palette. I’ve found that a good contrast between glaze and the sepia tone of the decals works really well. I’d like to add a good matte white, maybe closer to bone/off white. Actually, what I’d really like is a nice reduction look off white with little crystals…probably more difficult to achieve in oxidation. But, I can still wish.
Porcelain pendants with laser toner decals
People reading this who know me in real life are probably laughing at me right now – I’m adding decals to everything in my studio, much like I “marbleized” everything in my home several years ago when I was really into faux painting. 
I can’t help it, everything that I make without a decal looks naked right now. Since taking this photo, I’ve added bails to the pendants and they’re now available in my Etsy Shop – or they will be after I write this post.
We’re headed up to Steamboat Springs tomorrow for a little spring skiing. I’m bringing my laptop because supposedly, the condo where we’re staying has wi-fi. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share some photos of one of my favorite areas & a really gorgeous part of Colorado with you.
Have a great week,
~Cynthia
Let’s Play True Confessions…
I’ll start off my little game of true confessions. I’m a procrastinator! There, I said it and the truth is out in the open, though I’m not proud of my procrastinating tendencies. I haven’t gone into my studio for a number of reasons, but the main one being that it was a mess. I couldn’t find anything, and frankly I just decided to play the avoidance technique card. Here’s the problem though… I am getting cranky. Cranky, because something is missing in my life right now – mainly manipulating clay into something, anything.
So, yesterday, I cleaned for 2 hours until I could find my wheel, until I had put everything away in its rightful place, so that my studio could function again. Once I finished and gathered up stray 2 pound bags of used clay, I wedged up some porcelain. Man, the clay hard as a rock from neglect! But after banging it around a bit and forcefully wedging it, the particles aligned and were once again malleable.
Throwing on the wheel is a bit like riding a bike; once you learn, you never forget. It took me a little longer to throw the first bottle, but I think I’m back in the saddle. Yippee skippee!
So, why did I decide to finally tackle my studio and get back to work? I think sometimes, I make things harder than they have to be. For example, Tuesday after I subbed all day long, I went for a run around 5pm. What’s so spectacular about that? I’m a morning runner and the mere thought of running in the heat and after working all day makes me nauseous. But, guess what? It’s all psychological for me. I told myself that if I went out and needed to walk, that would be okay. But, I didn’t have to walk. I ran the whole way and my dog was uber thankful after being cooped up by herself all day long. Afterwards, I told myself, “see that wasn’t so bad, tomorrow you’re going to clean up your studio!” And, I did. Whew…
Do you have anything you’d like to confess?
~Cynthia
