Photography setup

My photography setup consists of a light tent, 2 daylight bulbs, graduated black background, a tripod and a Canon 40d with a 28-70mm f2.8 lens

Bursera ariensis progression

Purchased these seedling in 2001, this transformation is regarding plant (a)

Shortly after bring these plants home I saw this baobab online and thought the growth habit (a) was simlar


This is it in 2003 after being in the raised bed for 2yrs


In 2007 I dug it up and placed low in a 10" shallow pot


2008 I staged in this shallow tray to train the roots

2009 staged in one of my creations. For some reason the right side of the canopy did not leaf out yet, so it will not be going to the Inter-City show this year. I'm planning on removing the lower branch on the left, will make another fine tree in time.


The pot is 12" wide x 1.5" deep oval shaped

Clay of the month

Normally I would not purchase a white clay but my local supplier has monthly specials, Arctic White was the special for July and at $5 for 25lbs I'd give it a try. It's a smooth ^6 body and easy to throw with.

3in red iron wash


3in manganese wash

6in pot I call it the zebra
12in red iron and manganese wash

Making paperclay

Last time I used toilet tissue for the paper this time I'm trying news print. The clay is Cassius Basaltic, a dark brown nearly black ^5 body.



Just add water and wait a few days.



Added mixture to a 5 gal bucket an pureed for about 15min



...and this is the end result. I'll let it evaporate some before mixing with the clay

3 slabs

Just finished 3 slab pots, the smallest is 3" square, the largest is 12" and is 4" deep

Handbuilding over the holiday

We are at our place in the mountains for the holiday and brought 75lb of clay to try various handbuilding techniques. I usually don't have time to experiment when I'm at home so I do it whenever we come up here. Have created 16 so far, pinch, drape, press, slab, stretch and combinations.

A few slabs I rolled this morning and will assemble tomorrow morning before we go out on the lake.

Two small slab pots made with leftovers

Various pots, a few pinch, a drape, a couple of stretched and a a few slabbed. Will take better photos when we get hom on Monday