I think I'm in love!

I posted this dish a week or two ago in the leather hard stage. Often, this is the romantic stage with pottery. Either you are in love with your piece - it is smooth, dark, and cool but still flexible enough to bend to your will; or you hate it. Occasionally you might let the hated ones grow on you, but by the time they are bone dry, you should know whether or not the relationship will work.So, this little guy passed the love test and went on to be bisque fired and then glazed and fired again. Sometimes, at this stage, you fall right back out of love. Some pieces go bad in the glaze firing and disappoint you with blisters or pinholes or even (gasp) cracking. I always wonder what I did to make them hurt me so. But this little guy was true to my heart and came out perfect!

Challenges

The Etsy Mud Team has regular challenges that encourage members to try new things and step outside their comfort zone. The January challenge is a salt and pepper shaker challenge and members have been trying all sorts of designs.

Antonia turned many of us on to a stopperless salt shaker design that dispenses salt from the bottom. (Note the suggestive last image in her listing.) The shaker is thrown in one piece with a funnel going up the center. The shaker is filled and emptied through this funnel.

I decided to try throwing a stopperless shaker and had a good time with it. I wanted the sides of the shaker to be carved, using our wave stamp as inspiration. When I shared this with Alex, he wanted to do the carving. We decided by collaborating on this project, we could both participate in the challenge. So... here is our entry! It is ready to go into the kiln for the bisque firing and then we'll pray the glazing is spectacular.