It seems that my work life these days can be summed up in two words: “slow” and “patience”. Even though I finished the Roundabout cob sculpture back in April, it feels like it doesn’t exist for me because now the production of this work is in other peoples’ hands. I am trying to be content in waiting-mode for my “new” sculpture to arrive—and to get them into your hands. I have no new word of when more resins are coming, and I don’t want to pester Barry over at BearCast LLC so I have not been asking. I did talk to Donna Chaney over at Alchemy Ceramics in the UK, and now the Roundie bone china molds are scheduled to be made in August. Which means we will get the first ones in mid-September. Patience…

You would think that with nothing new to glaze in the chinas department, I could still be productive with my old molds and custom glazes and the fun of customizing the older sculptures. You would think. Instead, I keep having epic FAILS. Like this most recent Halfling Boreas, which I broke at the bisque stage:

This leg popped off right at the join when I was sanding down the legs. I thought at the bisque stage a piece would be “safe” from my mishaps. Not! I tried doing a repair using clear gloss glaze and firing that, but it didn’t work.I may try again next time I have a glaze fire to run.

I am still breaking off limbs when cleaning greenware. It makes me so afraid of these fragile pieces that I’m not loving the process any more. I think I am trying to run when I haven’t learned to crawl, and should stop spending so much time resculpting these pieces because it is so heartbreaking and a huge waste of time to break something after doing all that custom work. I have had some successes with very simple customizations like new manes and tails. I should probably stick with that for now. Like this one:

This “Heart of Darkness” bisque now has a simple loose mane and forelock (instead of braided), and he’s ready to glaze.

This month I switched over my overglaze colors to a new brand of lead-free glazes. After making up new batches of airbrushable glazes, I tried them out last week and I think they will be fine. Different base colors mean I will have to get used to mixing them to the horse colors I want, but that is not difficult. These glazes also fire cooler than the ones I used to use, so firing time will be a little shorter.

The other word to live by for me this summer is “slow”. Because I really don’t feel like working that hard. Paul is in retirement and so, apparently, am I. I am SO glad I got the sculpture done last winter because I am not motivated to do ANYthing. My life has become so deliciously slow and mellow and lazy. Tennis. Summer hiking at the condo in the mountains. Walks with the Boyz. Reading by the pool at the tennis club. Therefore I ask that you, dear reader, might go by that other key word I mentioned, “patience”. Because I have officially stopped making promises of completed work until further notice.