San Carlos | Mexico | Winter season coming to a close.

I had a good season down here in San Carlos.  One of the things I enjoyed again was ceramics, and it's a good social time.  I made the tile above and plan to get a wooden plaque to mount it so I can display it at my camp.  I'm not crazy about a few of the colors, but you don't know exactly what shade it will be until it comes out of the kiln.

One of the great things about this area is that there are people who care about animals and help with fostering and adoption.  Through San Carlos Pet Adoption, I was lucky this year and fostered a little kitten that I named Chico.  He was a fun little guy and he was with me about 7 weeks.  A very nice local man adopted him and I could tell by the way he acted with the kitty that he would give Chico a good home.  I sure do miss that little guy, but I've decided to travel without an animal.  Of course, if he had not been adopted, I most likely would be leaving town with him.

This little guy was adopted by my neighbors, also through the Pet Adoption - a real cutie.

For a few days, I was able to dog-sit for one of the dogs I took care of last season.  He's a sweet dog and easy to take care of, and he has really pretty flowers in the garden.

The scenery here is great, no matter what time of day.

There is all sorts of music here, most of the larger restaurants have live music and I was able to see quite a few groups.

I'm leaving this weekend and have been doing all my chores to get ready.  My tires are all aired up, fluids checked and my truck even got a wash and wax.  Adios, San Carlos!  Hasta la vista!

Ceramics - Final Projects

 

 

Since my time in San Carlos will be coming to an end in a few weeks, I have finished my projects for this season.  My little lizard above is about 5 inches long and he gets to hang around inside my RV with some of my other projects.

 

 

This is an Indian pueblo scene, about 5 inches wide.  Pueblos are mostly brown in color, but I chose to make this one more colorful.

 

Above are two magnets, the larger one is about 2 inches tall the other is a bit smaller.  The tile is just about 4 inches square.  The photo below shows a soap dispenser done with a glaze that has a blue base but has chunky pieces in it that melt in the kiln and turn into different colors.  Those glazes come in all colors and they're fun to use - I like to see how they come out after being fired.

 

Since I will be moving around this summer in my RV, I will be packing up my little treasures each time I move so they will all stay intact.  If I had been living in a house, I would have done larger projects, but these will be a great reminder of our ceramics group and the fun we had while doing these projects.

 

The show and sale is coming up next week and there are some amazing pieces that will be on display.  I will be there, taking photos, as usual.

 

 

Ceramics - Part 2

 

I have been enjoying my ceramics sessions.  Every member of the group has been requested to make a piece for the show and sale that will be held next month.  My choice is the bowl above, which is probably about 10 inches across.  The glaze I painted it with has little chunks of different colors which, when fired, make spots of different colors, creating this spotted look.  Unfortunately, this was taken by my cell phone, and doesn't show the true colors of the spots, which were bright green.

 

 

 

Lizzie is about 8 inches long and hangs around my campsite.  He was fun to do, but didn't turn out exactly like I wanted him to.  However, I keep hearing other members of the group saying that things don't usually turn out like you expect them to.  Still - he's cute.

 

 

This is my dragonfly - my favorite color.  He's now hanging around inside my 5th wheel.  I did two of these, but one is for the show/sale.  The photo of both of them is not as good, but is shown below.  These things are so shiny and reflective that it's hard to photograph.

Now I'm on to other projects, having fun along the way!

Ceramics - Project #1

 

When I got to San Carlos and knew I'd be spending several months here for the winter.  I decided I needed to fill some of my spare time with interesting things.  One of the clubs here has facilities for ceramics, something I'd never done, so why not try it?  I'd like to think I'm artistic in some way - still searching!

 

My first ever ceramic project is this southwest designed plate, 8" wide.  Very detailed work, silly of me to pick such an intricate piece.  Naturally, I see some problems and will treat that knowledge as lessons for future projects.  Future projects will probably not contain such intricate work!

   

This is what it looked like when I finished the 3 coats of glaze before it went into the kiln.  Colors were muted and more like pastels, but they say you never know how it will come out until it's fired.  Only some of the glazes had actual color tiles.  Most of the colors are selected from a printed catalog.

 

My next project will be a lizard - I'll be doing him Mexican style, bright colors.  I have already cleaned him up, which took hours.  When they come out of the mold, there is a seam in the middle which has to be leveled.  Sometimes there are void spots that need fill work or blobs that need to be smoothed out.  I was lucky the plate was ready to go, not so with this next project.