In progress// First draft for nose, lips, cheeks and ready to move onto those eyes. The finicky work of moving and building up clay is bananas (this is 5x speed!!) but oh so rewarding. These eyes are on the sculpting table first thing tomorrow. 👁️👁️ . . #humansculpture #pinchpot #sculpture #potteryprocess #ceramics #potteryvideo #sculpting #facepot #facesculpting

Glaze day // Today is finally the day to sit back and add colour to the little pot heads, head pots. The finished friends will be available at the Friday September 16 Inglewood Night Market where I will be with the lovely Alberta Potters Association tent 🥰 See @inglewoodnightmarketyyc for event details! . . . #headpots #bisque #potteryprocess #glazing #ceramics #pottery #sculpture #faceplanters #pinchpot

After // Fresh from the kiln. ️ The skin tones are much richer than I could hope for and I’m so thrilled. The mix between pupil and non-pupil pots is really working for me. I’m now ready to glaze the rest of this batch of sweethearts to ready them for adoption. I will have these at the Inglewood nightmarket in Calgary mid September and in the online shop afterwards. Those red lips on the third friend are so vibrant and I’m here for it but I’m tempted to add some gloss rather than the matte What do you think? . . . #pinchpots #handbuiltpottery #pottery #ceramics #headpots #facepots #faceplanters #littlepots #handbuilding #sculpture #yyc #yycart #AlbertaMade

Pillar / in progress, stack o’ heads. I have no idea if this will work, if they will be stable at completion, if they will work functionally or artistically. Yet I can only imagine what fun treasures each will eventually hold and what you will trust each to contain. I’ve been working with a different set of reference models for these three wee pots (they are VERY small) and I am loving the wide smiles and softer cheeks. . . . [image text: a set of three small white clay pinch pots, each stacked on top of each other although you can only see a small bit of the top pot as it is mostly out of frame. They sit on a dark charcoal work surface, littered with sculpting tools and surrounded with clear plastic in the background. Each of the bottom two pinch pots has a serene human face sculpted into it with open eyes, a nose, and lips.] . . #pinchpots #yyc #sculpture #facesculpture #humansculpture #facepot #headpot #pillar #ceramics #pottery #ceramik #ceramicprocess

Making // fine, make more of us but can we watch something OTHER than “90 Day Fiance” while you work??? No, no we may not. #TrashTv #PotteryProcess #Sculpture #ceramics #clay #pottery #keramika #pinchpottery #facesculpture #humansculpture #pinchpot

Watch me start the eyes and plump some cheeks – 8x speed 👁️👁️ White ceramic clay sculpting of my latest face pot friend. My reference photo has beautiful plump cheeks and large eyes. I’m excited to flesh out the kids. #potteryvideos #sculpture #ceramics #pottery #ceramicsprocess #facesculpt #keramik #pinchpot

Very much in progress // I haven’t been sitting with clay for at least a couple of weeks as we battle the ‘Vid. From throats coated with brambles to heads full of rocks and chests on fire, we’ve been consumed with naptime and Neocitran, our pre-trained immune systems battling this Omicron as it invades. My system is more invested in destroying itself so I’m behind the others in the household in recovery, my cough still too impressive to take into public. Today I haven’t slept for 18 of 24 hours so I sat at the clay bench instead and formed the beginnings of a mighty schnoz and mouth and eyes before finding that I needed a rest. I’ll continue tomorrow or the next day because these eyes still need focus. . . . #pinchpots #faces #facesculpting #sculpture #clay #ceramics #pottery #humansculpture [Image description: White clay, grey in colour, sculpture of a humanoid face with lips, nose and eyes with no pupils taking up a third of the screen, looking towards the right. A scrap of clay lays off to the right on the black table top. ]

Learnin’ // I’m taking a sculpture course through the University of Saskatchewan and my first challenge was an ear. In class we have moved on to nose & mouth but I’m refining some details on this ear before allowing it to slowly dry for firing. 🏻 I’m enjoying learning something completely new to me as I’ve always worked on ceramic functional pieces. The new advent of video online learning has brought Adrian Golban’s instruction and direct critique into my kitchen! 🏻 [Image description: A large ear sculpted out of grey clay on a black and plywood surface, surrounded by thin plastic.] . . . #sculpture #ceramics #humansculpture #facesculpture #pottery #UofS #EarSculpt

Smooch // The second series of heads is coming together nicely. Working lips first on this one. Who will it be??? . . . [Image description: a white hand holds a rotund pinch pot made of grey / white clay at an angle. A pile of sculpting tools lies to the side. The pot has a sculpted pair of closed lips on the lower third of the pot.] . #ceramics #sculpture #headpot #facesculpture #pinchpot #keramik #plainsmanclay #potteryprocess #TheHeads

Say cheese! // Fresh Outta the kiln. . . . #MakeNewFriends #pinchpots #sculpture #yycartists #ceramic @albertapottersassociation #albertapotters

Glaze test results // I’m contemplating glazing half my head pots in a clear glaze with no dimension for a cold alien feel, and for the other half, I want a range of rich skin colours and “life”. I did several tests and well, lucky me that failure is part of the journey to success. These are my favourite results thus far. The right result, a thin tenmoku, has shine in the deeper crevices that I’m not sure if I’m a fan of yet. The matte RIO warm brown tones on the left is the only truly successful glaze test that seemed to capture the nuance of rich tones within the same face. I now know what doesn’t work in my glaze and underglazes “kitchen”: other tests came out quite green or jaundiced, or my wiping was far too aggressive leaving the colour to fade completely after firing. My clear glaze on top of the testers almost always turned my browns to greens, or even clear (as seen on the top of the left pot), a glaze chemistry fascination. I’ll keep working and practicing and testing but I’m quite excited about finding one that has such potential. 🥰 (Tagging @liz.larue.7 so she can see this process update!) . . . #sculpture #pinchpots #facesculpture #clay #ceramics #ceramicsculpture #potteryprocess #redironoxide

Workin’ // It’s gonna be 34C (93F) again today and I’m heading out to lay in cold water after this pot is complete. How are you keeping cool, friends? ️ [Image description: Freshly created grey clay empty pot with a human face sculpted onto the front. A white clay covered hand holds it in front of a background that contains a hanging brightly coloured pink and turquoise beach towel.] . . #pinchpot #headpot #claylife #plantpot #handmade #canadianceramics #sculpture #facesculpting #facesculpture #facestudy #pottery #ceramic #ceramicpots #handbuilding

I make heads so they can grow hair // I was in grade four or five when my teacher handed out raw chicken eggs, and we drew faces upon them. We then blew them out so they were hollow, and carefully peeled off the top bit of shell. We crafted the fanciest of toilet paper roll pedestals for our eggs, then propped them atop and added soil and grass seed. Adding a bit of water, they were set upon the classroom ledge and we were asked to dig into our wee selves and find patience. Within days, we had the start of grass shoots and within weeks, were able to trim and style our little egghead’s grass hairdo. 🥚 I can only assume this is remnant sweet memory and bliss from that project. You never know what will stay in a young artist’s heart, only to arise again over three decades later. 🥚 . . [image description: Two white plant pots with faces. The left contains a jade plant and the right contains a delicate circular vining plant with multiple strands down the pot’s “face”. They are perched on a white shelf in front of a bookshelf] . . #sculpture #pinchpots #houseplants #handbuilding #KeepArtInSchool #canadianceramics #pottery #ceramics #cone6oxidation

Hot Sunday // And when it is hot, we make empty heads in the shade on the deck. It’s 32 C here in Calgary, and I may now just pour myself a cocktail, and go lay in the shade with the hose misting me. Because WOW. ️ . . . #pinchpots #sculpture #facesculpture #facesculpting #CanadianCeramics #AlbertaPotters #plainsmanpottery #handbuilding #ceramics #pottery #studiolife

Heading into bisque // I keep meaning to run a bisque kiln but then I make more heads that need to dry first, which extends the wait. I’m learning patience. And how to make duck lip poses in sculpture. Both give me mixed emotions. 🦆 [Image description: three different sizes of white clay pinch pot with humanoid faces sculpted onto the front.] . . #ceramicartist #handemadeceramics #ceramicpots #ceramicplanter #ceramicstudio #ceramicsculpture #claylife #pottery #potteryart #handmadepottery #handbuiltpottery #sculpture #functionalpottery #potterymaker #potterymakers #potterymaking #potteryprocess #pottersofinstagram #potterslife #AlbertaPotters #canadianceramicsstudio