Thursday, January 8, 2009

2009: year of the polka dot????




(freshly made, unfired pots by Gary Rith)
I have put polka dots on pot for several years, but was sitting there at breakfast yesterday with the banana bread smeared with mixed berry jam and French roast coffee stoking my inner boiler, and a new idea for polka dots popped into my wee little head, so I am trying it out. What you see here is the undercoat, I am not sure how they will look when glazed, but I am hoping they look awesome! Also, of course, I am fiddling around with shapes, and wanted to make a couple of squared off and ripply mugs, which you see here, and I also wanted to make a pitcher where I didn't trim the bottom at all, just threw it and wiped its bottom with a sponge (!!!!!!!!!!!!! potters will know what I mean!)
My pal Heather in Utah has her birthday coming up in a couple of weeks, and as we all know, her beloved turtle Newt passed away, so as you can see I am making her a wee little mug with a turtle swimming around inside.....

11 comments:

Gordo said...

These will be interesting to see the results, Gary.

Anonymous said...

Let us all know how they turn out.

Anonymous said...

ditto gordo.

my sympathy to heather in utah. i had a couple of turtles when i was a kid.

Nancy L.K. Boyce said...

I have a problem with polka dots in my head too!

Matt Grimmitt said...

That pitcher is a beauty Gary, wow very nice. Have you been doing a wee bit of trailing too? Can't wait to see these finished. I'm in the process of taking a rather large hammer to some of my old pots that i'd really rather not see again, having great fun doing it too. My neighbours must wonder what on earth I am doing somedays. hee hee

Lynda said...

I like the turtle a lot. And even though I am not much of a cat fan, the cat below is cute as it can be!

Gary's third pottery blog said...

it is SORT OF trailing---funny thing is, there is this secret little club of potter/slip trailers THAT I NEVER KNEW ABOUT until recently--bet they have a secret handshake and a clubhouse somewhere too....

Farmer*swife a/k/a Glass_Half_Full said...

Okay, you've got circles down and squaring down. What about a heart shaped mouth to a mug.

Remember? A couple of us inquired a few posts back? Just curious if you've thought about it.

I love the spiral pokey-dots!

Anonymous said...

The swirls on the side of that pitcher, and the wonderful lines/shape... I love it! Can't wait to see it fully finished.

Miss Heather said...

That turtle looks so much like Newt. I'm dying, Gary. You don't have to make me anything! That is SO SO SO SWEET!! :)

Dez said...

I LOVE your art work! Everything is so adorable! I'm thinking about getting some of those piggy banks for my niece and nephews. You had a picture of a cup/or/bowl (not sure), but they had duckies (more than 1)that I would love to have.
Also, I am in dire need of some cereal/chili bowls. I would love to have a Skateboarder and/or skateboard as a decoration on these. Please me know if you think you could do that. As Farmer's says: You Rock!