Finished Pottery

I finally picked up my finished pieces from Mashiko this past weekend. I took a pottery class (in Japanese and didn't catch much of anything...) there in mid-June and was waiting for them to be fired. They were ready in August...but I didn't have time to pick them up until now.

I made three pieces: 1 bowl and 2 cups. You can clearly see that my throwing technique is elementary (notice the huge divet in the bottom of my bowl and mug on the left). Regardless, I had a blast making them and when I get back to the states I plan on signing up for a class where I can understand what's happening. I think my favorite piece is the bowl. I love the dark glaze and the size. I'm excited to use it for something! I think it'd be especially cute even filled with water and a few floating candles.

After we picked up these little gems, Ryan wanted to try his hand at painting his own pottery. He picked out a mug to paint and I chose a medium-sized plate. It was super duper fun! Let's be honest, Ryan isn't the most crafy guy in the world. But his mug turned out pretty awesome, I was pretty darn impressed!

Well, that's all for now folks. Hope you're enjoying your weekend! Ryan's coming back from work in about an hour and then he's taking me out on a hot date. :) I should probably go change out of my pajamas.

this is linked to: Metamorphasis Monoday, Mad Skills, Motivate Me Monday and Making the World Cuter

1 year until we're MARRIED!!

In 1 year, I get to marry this guy!!! I'm so excited and can't wait to get hitched to Ryan, he's the best!

We decided to have a little pre-annivseray celebration and went to Mashiko, a small town known for its pottery.

The main drag had tons of pottery shops and galleries. It was lots of fun looking through hundreds of clay pots, cups and peices of art.

Of course, we wanted to start the day off right, so we went to a local cafe for some coffee and lunch...and cake. Delicious cake.

Next up? Make some pottery! Ok, Ryan wasn't quite as interested in doing pottery as I was, so he went to a museum down the road from this little pottery studio. Before we left, I had done some research on an English speaking pottery class. Unfortunately, it was no where to be found when we arrived. Luckily, we stumbled across this place, and even though my instructor only spoke roughly 10 English words (hello, yes, no, stop, be gentle...), I muddled through my lesson and made 3 pieces. One bowl and two "cups". I say "cups" only because you could fit at least 3 cups of normal coffee in each of the two "cups" I made. Good thing I like lots of coffee.

The class and experience were so much fun! I would love to try it again sometime. I won't have the finished pieces for about a month (at least that's what I think she was trying to say), but I'm so excited to have pieces that I've actually made! For the bowl and one "cup" I chose a black glaze, and for the other "cup" I chose a natural glaze. I can't wait to see how they turn out!