Work in Progress

A grey day so here's some grey clay!

It has been relentlessly dull today, a very low cloudbase hiding the tops of the hills right to the coast this morning.   I took Jamie to a midday appointment in Dolgellau , normally little more than a 30 minute drive but stuck behind a tractor for almost ten miles around the coast, it took 50 minutes today.  Blah!  Thankfully, having allowed a bit of slack, we arrived less than ten minutes late.   I dog-sat in the car and ate my lunch, Jamie picking up a healthy looking sandwich from the bakery before we headed home.

This afternoon I spent almost a couple of hours at pottery carrying on where I left off last night.  The 'fishbowl' needed quite a lot of bullying int shape as the two halves had not quite met while the decorated plant pot holder needed decorating and assembling.   It's a good policy to be working on more than one piece at a time, allowing drying time without wasting time.   Hand building with slabs (rolled out clay) works better if the clay has begun to dry a little at the assembly stage.  It gets a bit stiffer and is less inclined to collapse.   This makes the job a lot easier.  Both pieces are at home now.  One for decoration to be added, the other for some fettling to improve the finish.  Jobs for tomorrow.