Made By Hand

There's a cute little shop in the Del Ray section of Alexandria called A Show Of Hands.

 Everything in the shop is made by hand and they've got some really unique things, including a few select pieces of Julie LoRusso "new vintage" jewelry. If you're local, pop in and poke around. Some of my favorites were the original paintings behind the register and knitted baby clothes (so cute).

Speaking of hand made...

Drew and I have just returned from our second day at the community center open pottery studio

My first attempt at doing something creative was in my late twenties throwing on a pottery wheel. I LOVED it and spent many many hours hunched over a wheel in this studio.  But, the process is somewhat involved with several steps and if you miss the timing on one stage your piece will be ruined.  I.E. you can't really have a social life if you're spending all your time a community center art studio.

I never did hand building before, but since I got special permission for a child to come in during open studio, we're on a very short leash and he's not ready for the wheel yet. So building by hand it is!

First you roll it out

Then you form it into something.

Then you put it in the kiln room and wait for it to be fired

Then you glaze it, and it goes back to the kiln room for another firing.

These glazes don't look anything like the colors they'll be once fired.
It's very exciting to see what they turn out like. 

Hopefully we'll be able to pick up our less than perfect masterpieces on Saturday.

Like I said, I have too many hobbies :)