Can't Escape the Trees

Pairc Naisiunta Chill Airne
Ireland's first national park,
created in 1932

Mary and I drove through Kilarney National Park last Thursday night. We spent the night in a hotel, and got up early the next morning to take some pictures in the daytime. The trees above reminded me of the trees that my son, Levi, created on some of the awards for the Uwharrie Mountain Run (right picture).

Mary and I got back home late Wednesday night, and I got back to pot-making Thursday and today, focusing on making some bowls and vases with my tree motif stamped on them. I've got an order for several pieces, and the bills didn't take a vacation while we did. So, it was back to work.

It felt good to get back to work. My body needed a break after working for two months on the Uwharrie Mountain Run awards. My shoulder is feeling strong.

So, I made six bowls and six vases in the past two days. Impressing the trees into the clay is quite time consuming, as is shaping the pot after stamping. The stamping distorts the pot and I've got to work slowly at getting it back into shape.

Below are some pictures of a vase that I stamped today. You can see how the shape changes as I work on it. After the stamping, I use a rubber rib to even out the distortions while the wheel is off, then I begin shaping with a wooden rib from the inside, using my left hand, while keeping the pot steady with my right pinky, I think.

I could have taken more shots of me working on the vase, but I decided at the time to just get pictures of the pot. When I'm working on shaping with the wheel on, the trees disappear when I take a picture because of the movement of the pot.