Thursday

Today I am a little disapointed to admit to the naked hamburger we cooked at 10pm. I know you were hoping for so much more...but glad because we went to Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. I loved it, high entertainment, lovely colors and interesting little details, I am a big fan of Burton. My only complaint was the ending. I won't spoil it for you, but the ending was a little too "I will miss you the most, Scarecrow" mixed with a bit of Ronnie Howard's "Hero gets a parade"...and the shock of an Avril Lavigne song blasting out after only orchestration the rest of the film was a surprise. It deserved better than it has been getting in the press. Think of it as a creation, becasue that is what it is all about!

Raku of the day (and it won't always be Raku) is one I worked on in my mind for a few months. I wanted to make a porcelain trivet that was 2 lizards intertwined and very Aztec-looking. I couldn't get my enthusiasm up for the project, not sure why, but several attempts are still in the basement (I mean The Creation Studio) Then I got an idea from my Pottery teacher, Brett Thomas (Happy Birthday to you) and made a lizard mask out of tape and used it on a bisqued  tray. It was an experiment because the commercial glazes I use are very colorful, but flat. Brett suggested I use the clear crackle over them to get more depth and give them some character. So I tried it with blue, green, and red. Then a real leap of faith to use a glaze that my other pottery teacher, Rich Farrow, had just mixed up that morning. (I trust him, he is very, very good with glazes.) And I got a piece that I really love. You have to see it in the sunlight, there are gold flecks among the greens blues and even some reds.