feb-march making
short update on stuff i'm making
written on 2026-03-14some stuff i made recently (last two months). i am writing this while trying to port all my iphone photos to my laptop. now playing...space 5 by nala sinephro
favorite view of a pinched cup i use for coffee at work. laguna bmix fired in cone 10 reduction with a medley of glazes on here...i love this little cup i pinched it while watching heated rivalry and feeling delirious. didn't think i would like the purple/pink hues as much as i do.
an in progress coil built rice jar for my dry rice storage. it was interesting to build this as a means of challenging my typical methods of working (fast/sloppy/complex)...i resolved to add 1-2 coils per workday. grow slow and deliberate. i did not end up doing that but it got very tall over the course of a week and a half and i kind of wish it was more wide now? i'm stuck because i want to add handles/attachments but i'm kind of bored with it...:'(
i really adore this tray. i made it as an inlay demo for class. one of several gas firing tests (the others not pictured); i initially tried to do some wax resist/carbon trapping text on the tray but it didn't show up, then at the last minute before the firing sprinkled some soda ash in the corner. interestingly the soda seems to have trapped some carbon? i love how the placement of the soda ended up over the star and how the movement of the glaze adds to the composition of the piece. i just know i'll try to recreate this but it literally is just one-of-a-kind. i will probably keep this forever...
not something i made but i replaced the rubber gasket on my used espresso machine. to quote sav, this disassembled diva...she was leaking and shitting while pulling shots and i caved and spent more than i did on the actual machine on parts. a great exercise in patience as i dropped a screw and an allen wrench in the machine body, in the process of trying to retrieve both i turned her upside down and shook her vigorously and managed to twist all the pipes and wires around such that i couldn't reassemble the machine. it's okay now tho
finally, the white whale of my early 2026 was this wall mounted cup shelf that i've wanted for my space for a long time. what could have just been a simple wood glue project was of course needlessly over complicated by me, but it is 90% done (in that i still have to do sanding and finishing but i am just waiting for the weather to get nicer again). this shelf is complicated because of its joinery and my absolute lack of skills. none of the joints fit well and i did have to hammer some of it in forcefully. lots of chipping and nothing is the right size. lots more sanding than i was hoping. but mounted on the wall it makes me really happy and i can finally reclaim some cabinet space for dishware. the plan is to build a stand for espresso machine underneath it :) i also gained some exp mounting things into the wall yay!
honorable mentions but not pictured
- jorts i sewed together from a pair of jeans i got out of a free bin while on a field trip during my senior year of college. so i have had these jeans for probably 6 years and never worn them and have attempted to alter them many times and then i just said fuck this they will be jorts. and jorts they are. they look kind of dumb and i embroiedered some cheesy stuff on them while i was playing but they're kind of fun to wear.
- blue jeans where i patched up a giant hole in the ass, the patch is falling apart because i refuse to patch up jeans the right way, but hey whatever i'll patch them up again. just playing and insisting on having a third pant in my work rotation
- several gas fired small dishes/whatevers, cool but i just don't have pictures of them. one of them got hit by a fallen sculpture (kiln disaster) and has a bite out of it and i actually like it a ton because the sculpture caused a ton of carbon to get trapped.
to come
- i want to complete a ceramic/wood coffee table at some point this year -- or at least start one. my aim is to make the legs out of ceramics and the table top with simple plywood/some cross beams...and solicit friends and loved ones to paint/decorate tiles for the table top...will i do it?? we have yet to see...rice jar coil pot gave me a lot of confidence though.
- i'd like to make a console/shelving unit for random stuff in my kitchen/living room area. and just to display a growing collection of ceramics/handmade wares
- more tester dishes, including a foray into porcelain experimenting based on ling long ware? henry from the studio suggested i find rice powder (this is different from rice flour, which makes gunk??) and mix it with clay to create bone china. i kind of didn't understand what he was saying. i have some dishes drying that i'm curious to see...i used rice to make some simple patterns and i'm worried it'll crack before i take the rice out.