Second Class, July 12th, Busy Night

I feel  a sudden wave of self imposed pressure. Our rattles are leather hard and it is time to carve a design, but I wanted to trim and throw.  Ginny carved a design of clouds and flowers inspired by Tibetan Buddhist art. She is introducing a type of finishing process called tera sig. An abbreviation for Terra Sigillata, a slip painting process that goes back to the ancient Romans and Greeks. It is a buttery ultra refined slip that when burnished will  have a high gloss finish. I am designing and carving my rattle but my mind is elsewhere. I want to trim the containers I threw last week, and throw some more pieces. The rattle is carved well enough ( I'm not completely happy with it) and I move onto trim last weeks work. The trimming went well but I didn't leave room for a foot. Trimming with out a foot is much easier to do. When finished I carved and altered the pots; trying to make them more interesting. I managed to have time to throw 3 new pieces. The Raku clay I used was less gritty and easier to throw. The pieces I threw were larger and more interesting than the week before. All in all a busy but successful night!