Here are the promised photos of the pottery pieces I made back in January.

I had written a small stone about them, but working in clay was also a new challenge for me.

Here is the small stone again:

Claywork 

finicky fingers hate
to be sticky.
cautious, they hesitate
to work the clay.

but the brick is cool
and moist, waiting
to be poked and prodded,
pounded and flattened.

hands, suddenly eager, begin
to mold pieces into a plate
to hold penguins as they cuddle
and cluster in one corner

do they fear the kiln’s fire
or are they just a little
too far from home?

Carol A. Stephen
January 11, 2012

Not sure what happened to my penguins. The two larger ones were supposed to be on either side of the smallest, with the father penguin’s wing sheltering the small one, and the mother’s touching the baby on the other side. But I was warned that they may not be in the same place after firing. I still like them anyway!

And, as you can see, the cat turned out to be more of an impression of cat or memory of cat rather than anything approaching a real one, but at least you get the idea. I think.

Carol