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Kelly sent me pictures of the ‘Coastal Oak’ (that is what I am calling that style/design) table in her home with the chairs and rug. I love it and she is pleased. Here is what she said:

The table looks absolutely wonderful. As you will see in my pictures my dogs love to be in front of the camera. It turned out perfect and just like I had hoped. Thank you very much! The “S” household is extremely pleased.

I had not see the legs on these chairs before. They have a cool rustic character that adds to the whole look. I think the rug and the seagrass chairs are a cool contrast to the various colors/features of the salvaged oak timbers. I am not sure where the rug came from but I think the chairs are from Pier 1.

Update from Kelly: BTW…the chairs are from Pier 1 and the rug came from West Elm. I really tried to put some thought to the look and it all came together as I had hoped.

Last week I bubble wrapped each piece of the table within an inch of its life and then loaded it all in my truck and carried it to the local mailing/shipping shop. The guys at Parcels Too in Trussville were great! They figured out a way to get it to Kelly S. within budget and further wrapped and boxed it up very professionally. The folks at Roadway got to Kelly’s on Tuesday (we had a tracking number so we could watch it travel from here to there) and she was successful in getting it into her house–even if they Roadway guy didn’t think they could do it themselves. I bet she has a pile of packing material–I really hope she can find a use for it rather than just throwing it away. Reuse, recycle, renew.

She is going to send me a picture with the chairs she chose (from Pier 1) and I will post that here when I get it. I think it is going to great with the chairs.

All that remains is a bit of hardware and wrapping it up for shipping. It is beautiful! The oil has soaked in very nicely.

I put a coat of penetrating oil on the underside of the table top halves.

This is the underside and therefore not finished sanded and more rough than the top side but the color is beautiful. I can’t wait to see what the top looks like. Below is a picture of the legs with one coat of oil.

It is just gorgeous. I love the nail scars, the knots, the wormwood, and the grain. This thing is solid and should serve for years and years.

Kelly’s table is coming along and will shortly be finished–literally. Below is a picture of it unfinished and assembled. The band clamps are there to hold the two halves of the top together so I can mark the spots for the alignment pins and other hardware. That should be done tomorrow. Then what remains is a final sanding and a few coats of oil finish.

I can really see how my limited skill as a potter has improved. Of course, I had no where to go but up. I don’t know how it happened but I was able to make some nice bowls that I can actually use as serving pieces. I also made a small plate on the wheel–I am told that plates are difficult. There were so many talented people in my class who made much more difficult pieces, but I am very pleased with the loot I brought home. I love the blue glaze and the red also turned out very rich. I tried some spotting for artistic effect with a white glaze and I kind of like it too.

I finished my latest round of classes at Cahaba Clayworks. Just to finish up my last round, I found my “experiments in shaping” that had been bisque fired and finished them up. I do not know exactly what these might be used for but I think they might have a function as a pencil holder or as a weird flower vase.

This is a lovely glaze called varigated blue. I used it a lot on the finished pieces from this last go round.

It is beginning to look like a dining table, or at least the parts of a dining table. There is only one piece of the 5 left to be assembled–the center crosspiece. I have done the math and plan to cut and assemble it tomorrow. Believe it or not, the trigonometry/geometry I learned years ago does come in handy at times. I used the good old Pythagorean theorum to figure out the lengths of the pieces I will need to form the crossed members of the center support.

This picture shows the underside of one of the top halves. I added some thin strips to the underside. The glue has to be removed and it needs a final sand.

Here are the leg supports. They need some hand sanding to remove glue residue but otherwise these are ready to be assembled to the crosspiece when it is finished.

My college friend Diann could do a mean Cher impression on this particular tune. Not me. But I wanted to post something about a functional piece of art done by my friend and colleague, Jason Burnett that does reverse time for abandoned objects. This piece, called “Steelmaster”, is only the second piece of legit art that I have purchased. I saw it at his first one-man show in Gadsden, AL. I loved it then and kept pestering him about it while I saved a few bucks.

He makes functional time pieces out of found items and random parts. Beautiful work. Jason tells me that the “ears” on this piece were at one time earrings–had to be a product of 80’s fashion. The recessed clock face was a sink strainer in a previous life. Recycled, renewed, and reclaimed resources–it is an example of “green” art. This piece is pretty mild compared to some of the larger pieces he has made. Very intricate and seemingly random, but held together by form and function. If you get a chance to see his work in person, you will see what I am saying.

I took another 6 weeks of “mud wrestling” classes at Cahaba Clayworks. This time my instructor was the very talented Larry Allen. He is a wonderful teacher and I learned so much even though I had to miss a few weeks for travel. I was able to make actual bowls with sloped sides, get some elevation on conical structures, and do some shaping. I also learned a better method for centering and how to manipulate the clay a bit better with my clumsy fingers. Below is a picture of my latest work, minus two pieces that have not been fired yet—but you are not missing much—they are experiments in shaping.

I plan to take another course of classes with Larry later in the fall when my travel slows down. I want to take full advantage of all six weeks.