Pottery – Mugs Summer 2013
Playing around with some mug shapes. Handles are still too big. Cappuccino mugs are finally a usable size. Standard mugs are a little too big. Glaze for cappuccino mugs:Glossy white poured inside.TFH Tan dipped outside. Glaze for standard mugs:TFH Tan dipped 100%.Tenmoku sprayed on top. Should be much heavier next…
Pottery – Misc Pieces from Summer 2013
Narrow-Top Vase w/”Japanese” Craving The piece was thrown from white clay then covered entirely in blue slip followed by porcelain slip. The carving was done by making quick strokes of varying depth with a wooden coffee stirrer. Glaze is a moderate spray of Chinese Clear. Wine Cup w/”Japanese” Carving These…
Pottery – Using “Fake Ash” to Produce Runs
These two pieces were glazed identically. The glaze was made to run using “fake ash” as a substitute for wood ash. Cushing Matt was selected as a base to help contain the run. Dipped 100% in Cushing Matt.Fake Ash sprayed rather heavily over the 1/3 stopping on the shoulder.KC Beautiful…
Ecuador – Misahuallí
Only one day of rain out of 17 in the country. But what a rain it was. The river swelled and turned brown from run-off, everyone huddled under what little roofs and over-hangs there were around the town, and even the monkeys were nowhere to be seen. The monkeys? Yeah,…
Ecuador – Puyo
The road to Puyo winds further down out of the Andes and through single and double lane tunnels. The rough hewn walls of which leave evidence of either blasting or manual excavation instead of modern boring machines. The longest of these measures almost 1km. There is really not much here…
Ecuador – Baños
Our final night in Quito was the first time I have had decent pizza outside the US. The most rewarding part was what I did not receive from it: the shits – as has been the usual outcome of the formula: (me) + (pizza in other countries). The next day…
Ecuador – Quito
Uh-oh Sarah is sick, maybe with a flu. She is the trip guide so if she is out then fun may not happen as easily. I will need to entertain myself for a few hours tomorrow before we leave for Baños. Hopefully I won’t get into trouble. Quito is not…
Ecuador – Galapagos to Quito
One last, 2 hour, 5 am water taxi and we are back on the main (most inhabited) island of the Galapagos. Nothing too exciting today, just nominal tourist stuff: shopping, eating, hitting a beach. The beach was the reward after tough, 40 minute hike. At this point we are tired…
Ecuador – Galapagos 3
It is cold. And we are on the equator. Who would have thought? The temperature is completely driven by the currents and the sun and right now there is a cold current passing through. Oh, the sun. It is just a wee but strong. During mid day there is a…
Ecuador – Galapagos 2
White-knuckled and bone-jarring is how the Ecuadorians like their open ocean taxi rides. These water taxis are former 20-25′ day cruisers outfitted with huge engines to plane over the 10′ surf between the islands. Out of three rides two included a passenger vomiting (one was Sarah). Personally I find them…