On The Road Again

We're on the road again minus quite a few dollars for a new tire, new wheel, new studs, new axles, and new U bolts. We were pushing a major head wind today and our mileage was for naught, but the further east we go, the lower the fuel prices are getting. Of course, I couldn't help but think of Willie Nelson and his song, On The Road Again.



We planned on stopping in Kerrville before San Antonio because I really wanted to see Gay of Sister Creek Pottery. For the life of us, we couldn't find an RV Park that wasn't full, or was long enough for our 58 feet of length, or had a pull through, etc. etc. I plan on writing the Texas Tourism to let them know they need better signage for RV parks along the highway.


Meanwhile, the other day I thought I should make some slip from the Navajo Wheel clay in case I needed some. Luckily I had a plastic mayonnaise jar I just emptied and thought it would be perfect for storing slip. I slaked some dry clay in a paper bowl, stirred the mixture up a few hours later, and poured it into the jar. The next day I took the jar out of the cabinet and saw it had separated into perfect layers. Hey, I made terra sig and didn't even intend or try to make it. So I decided to syphon off the top layer of mostly water with a small syringe I had in my tool box.


A few weeks ago I read that Tracey Broome had used some terra sig on one of her beautiful large smoke fired pots. Then recently I read that Judy Shreve has been using terra sig on her earthen ware with wonderful results. I didn't measure anything, I just thought it looked good and thought to myself, why not give it a try. I rolled out a couple of slabs of clay and thought I'd make a few tiles. The slabs ended up round so I thought I'd make small bowls from the slabs.


I had collected some artifacts lying about at the trailer repair business (see the rock lying on the table) while we were there and decided to use one of those for texture along the rim of the slab. Then I dipped my favorite inexpensive goat hair chip brush into the top of the mayonnaise jar. Oh, excuse me, I dipped my brush into my perfectly prepared terra sigilatta and brushed the center of the slab with the terra sig. I let it dry to the touch. I noticed it was really smooth and shiny when I applied it. I should have been making terra sig all along it's much better than the lumpy slip I have been making. The terra sig took a while to dry and I didn't want the cats to step on it so I had to proceed sooner than I liked.


I might put a black edge on the rim of the bowl or dab some black slip onto the textured surface of the rim. What do you think? I think the white edge is too light for the center of the bowl. I may have to refresh my black lines, they seem to have been blotted by the paper hump mold I used. In the photo above the indentation of the paper hump mold I used can be seen in the bottom of the bowl. Dang, they looked so good before I put them in the mold, but they were a bit wet. Next time I need to let the terra sig dry before putting them on the molds. But what can I do working in an RV with three cats ready to walk on anything left about.


It's kind of like the bird house I saw at a Texas rest stop, the sign said, "Don't Mess With Texas"; next time I don't need to mess with my terra sig till the proper time.