Branching out in Clay

This began in the second week of October, a new endeavor that I have been wanting to get my hands into for some time.

Ceramics.

It feels *so good* to get my hands into clay and just have fun learning a new medium. There's a real spark of pure joy in learning new things like this for me. Sure, there's a learning curve, the first weeks I smashed 5 of every 6 forms I attempted back into wedges of clay to start over. But clay is very forgiving this way. Honestly it's kind of therapeutic.

Plus there are so many techniques out there to try! Once again, I am super grateful for the wide wild world of the internet, land of tutorial videos.

Here's a hand pulled handle of the first mug I made. A technique I didn't even know existed until I saw a demonstration on YouTube.

Some of my first works are clumsy, to be sure, but I'm happy enough with the progress. I plan to keep many of these firsts for myself and the memories.

I'm very fortunate to have a wonderful little shop down the mountain into town from me. It's not only a place to purchase supplies, it's also a Kiln where a seasoned expert will handle firing pieces for you. Plus this is small business run by a local family! I always feel good about supporting small business like this.

In just a few weeks, I have been able to see my work go from a block of clay sitting on my kitchen counter to finished pieces.

Here's my favorite one from my very first week of handling clay.

It has been pretty quiet from me here on the blog, and I apologize for that. We have had lots going on with builds, animal care, soap making, social visits, general craziness, you know- life. Plus I've been obsessed with my new art adventures here. So what better way to get back into sharing with you then showing you the current obsession? ;)

I'm learning so much! Pretty sure you can expect more clay related posts in the future as I continue trying new things.