Well, here it is----my newest creation and one that's inadvertently caused me an equal amount of pain and pleasure.

As I was patting myself on the back on what a good job I had done, I suddenly thought to myself, How am I going to glaze this @#$% thing?

If I want to use two colors, no matter what I glaze first, it's going to contaminate the other space.  I finally convinced myself that glazing the sky blue and the tree ......... I don't know, some tree color, it might look contrived or cheesy.

So I opted for butter toffee for everything, but with a pre-coat of cinnamon to darken the creases.

I hope it turns out good---- especially since Dionne said she wants this!  Which is actually big old compliment because she'd previously told me No more pottery please!

I just got my last batch of pottery from Dave...........as usual, there were some semi-stars in the show and a couple of frogs.  However, in all fairness to myself and my artistic growth, I will say that even my frogs are better than the stars of a few months ago.

With that disclaimer in place, here are some photos with accompanying scathing, merciless comments from the individual formerly known as Maya, ordinary mortal, but now an ARTIST.......:))

This one came to me while I was running on the treadmill at the gym........go figure.  I glazed it first, penciled in the tree, then carved it all out with a dental tool I got courtesy of my dentist. Next time I do this piece, I need to guesstimate where the tree will go because I can still see the ground line through the trunk of the tree.

This next one I have to admit, I made up as I went along.......I'm dating myself, I know, but it reminds me of dresses that were in vogue during the Beatles era. Kind of retro looking?  The only negative here is my newest nemesis:  not enough coats of glaze.......evidently, three is not enough.

This one took years off my life.......I'd been carrying this around in my head for some time, but hadn't worked out all the kinks.  For example, next time, ALL the grass will end up at the top ---- none of this sky all the way to the ground business.  It literally took hours to glaze around each blade of grass (not to mention glazing inside each blade in two shades of green).

This piece is the second I've made in this style and it would have been perfect had I added one more layer of glaze ............ grrrrrrrrrrrrr

This next one was supposed to be my sunrise piece........anyway, it looked like a sunrise in my head.  It doesn't really now that it's done, however, it's not bad.

I had a lot of hopes for this last piece, and while it doesn't look bad, it doesn't look like the picture I had in my head.  For starters, the leaves bled into the background and I don't know why........too much glaze?  The tilt?  Who knows??  Then the yellow obviously needed at least 1 or 2 more coats......live and learn----first time with that color of glaze.  Lastly, I wanted the red tips to make a statement and they pooped out on me.......maybe another 2-3 coats?? Who knows..........

No matter the warts on my pieces, this is still my best batch yet.  I am improving and I love it.  I am so grateful that I've found something I can do with myself when I retire ----- because Howard's right:  I have trouble sitting, doing nothing.

I need to stay busy!!