Driftwood Handled Baskets

This week I've drifted away from the sgraffito work to making driftwood handled baskets. My intention is to wrap the handle ends with waxed linen thread or perhaps some copper wire strung through holes I've placed in the top of the basket. What do you think? The handle will be added after firing. Above is the first basket I've made.

Here's the second basket. The pieces of clay you see at the bottom edge are temporarily holding the basket up till it dries. The uprights on the side wrap under the basket much like a wooden water basket would be constructed.

 Here is a water carrier with a driftwood handle I made back in college in 2008.

Above is a water bucket I made in 2011.

Gary said he'd go to the beach to collect more driftwood for me if I need it. I told him that wouldn't be necessary. You see I'm a bit of a pack rat. Above is a bin full of medium sized driftwood I collected.

 Here's a bin full of the large sized driftwood I collected.

Here's a bin full of the largest size driftwood I've collected. Some of these may be too large for handles. Hum wonder what else I can use these for? Any ideas?

Here's a small pile of unusual shaped driftwood I've collected. All of this driftwood was collected when I lived in California, and that was many many years ago. Every time we moved Gary asked "what are you going to do with this driftwood". I always answered I'm going to use it for something. Maybe now I'll reduce my stash of driftwood. It's going to take a lot of clay basket making to do so. Oh I also have a small stash of seashells and a few beach rocks. Ha. Up next is a trip to the highest point in Georgia and a trip to see some Native American petroglyphs. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.

Not A Drop To Drink

Our well pump went out today. We judiciously purchased a home warranty when we bought our home which will cover part of the cost. Hopefully we don't need a new well; which wouldn't be covered and would cost a small fortune.

If we need a new well, I'll be carrying water from a stream in a clay pitcher like the one above I made a few years ago. The 10 x 5 inch water carrier is glazed with ohata kaki and canyon yellow glazes; the handle is driftwood I collected from the beach.

I started thinking of all the water surrounding Florida, the gulf, the ocean, the springs, the swamps, all the rivers and lakes. Not having any water available in our home, I immediately thought of the phrase, Not A Drop to Drink. This reminded me of the poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge. You can read the whole poem here.

Just found out there's a Paul Andrew Wandless printing on clay workshop the second weekend of January at the Ocean Reef Art League in the dive capital of the world, Key Largo. Printing on clay is something I've always wanted to explore, but alas I can't find the extra cash to pay for a three day workshop.

I'll revisit water carrier forms as I'm reminded about the necessity of water to human life. A vision comes to mind of one of those wood yokes over my shoulders with a water pail on either end. I have a whole box of driftwood I collected on California beaches waiting to be used. I'd forgotten all about the driftwood till our well quit today close to 5 p.m. So far our heater is holding up but if it quits or we need a new well, it really will be Bah Humbug!