# BettaLover1313's Art Journal



## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Yep, very unoriginal title :checkedout:. I decided to try my hand at some betta art since I've been wanting to do some art pieces with them (no clue why :lol. Anyway, before the spamming of various art pieces, including a quickie of Merlin, here's a bit of my art background:

-4 years of high school art
-Piece featured in the Rockford Art Show (hard to get into)
-Winner of a themed contest at Highland Community College (see image below)


Other than those, I've pretty much just had art as a hobby and do it when I can ;-).

So here are the medias I've worked in before:

Colored Pencil:








Won the theme contest "Give an object emotion". The piece was titled Mournful Tractor.









A more recent piece, though I was still getting back into the groove of doing my art again. This was a contest entry on DA, it was of a deviant's dragon, named Myster.









One of my favorite (recent) pieces. I was inspired by a deviant on DA by one of their art works and I came up with an idea from it based on a world they'd created.









Most recent piece of the horses I work with, a gift for the owner who has allowed me to work with his horses.


Pastel:








Only piece I've done recently, even though I really like this media I find it very frustrating and I need to be in the right mindset to work with it.


Digital Art:








My most recent piece, though not shaded, I'm still practicing in this media.









A shaded piece, ironically both were for the same deviant on DA but for two different contests.


Oil Pastel








This is one of my absolute favorite medias to work in, and I really love it for underwater creatures!









Started experimenting with this media and branching out, doing birds instead of the usual fish! 


Sculpture:








One of my favorite medias, but I sadly haven't been able to do it recently 









One of a recipe box from high school.


Acrylic:








The media that I developed my style from, these pieces always made my teacher scratch her head.









Another of my art style, basically it's just an abstract background with colors and shapes representing the animal in the foreground, but, again, my teacher never seemed to understand this.









My most recent piece, I'm very fond of abstract as well :-D


Watercolor








I haven't had a lot of time to practice with this media, though I really want to! Will probably be the next one I experiment with!



I do photography was well, but no need to spam you all with art anymore ;-). I shall post my Merlin piece below this to separate it from this lot!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Quickie oil pastel of Merlin, I just wanted to see if I could get it to work with the different colors that show up in his scales, and I think I can do it! So maybe a different oil pastel later, but I really want to try watercolor next, since I've seen many beautiful watercolors of bettas, and I can't help wanting to try :-D









(Sorry for the blurriness, my camera hasn't been cooperating as of late :-()


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Phew! Been awhile hasn't it? Well, I've been doing a lot of work with ceramics recently, and FINALLY I have some pieces that are actually finished (some need re-glazing >.<)

So without further ado, three of my six flower coasters (two need re-glazing, the other still needs glazing...)


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

nice work!!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> nice work!!


Thanks!


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## Angelafish (Dec 28, 2012)

I absolutely love your sharks...  
Keep up the nice work! Aren't hobbies awesome?


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Angelafish said:


> I absolutely love your sharks...
> Keep up the nice work! Aren't hobbies awesome?


Thanks! I love doing sharks :-D though I haven't had a chance to do another piece with a shark yet :-(. Hobbies are indeed awesome! ;-)


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## Angelafish (Dec 28, 2012)

If you get a chance, you should try doing a tiger shark... they have the coolest color pattern on their sides!  

And forgot to mention... your pastel work is really cool - oil pastels are so tricky to work with, I think


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Angelafish said:


> If you get a chance, you should try doing a tiger shark... they have the coolest color pattern on their sides!
> 
> And forgot to mention... your pastel work is really cool - oil pastels are so tricky to work with, I think


I have wanted to do a Tiger Shark for awhile! I agree with their stripes being very cool! 

Thanks! They're one of my favorite media to work with, but I can't do some things with them (like furry animals, those are epic fails if I use oil pastel >.<)


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I just now noticed the skunk pic. lol Awesome!


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## Angelafish (Dec 28, 2012)

BettaLover1313 said:


> ]
> Thanks! They're one of my favorite media to work with, but I can't do some things with them (like furry animals, those are epic fails if I use oil pastel >.<)


Lol I think I tried them maybe once... and it was a disaster!  Of course, I'm no artist at all, never took any classes or anything, but I do like to sketch in just plain pencil. I have a lot of respect for people who can work well in lots of different media!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> I just now noticed the skunk pic. lol Awesome!


I quite like the skunk, though my room mate last year said it looked like the skunk was farting out flowers lol:lol:. Now I have problems not seeing that.




Angelafish said:


> Lol I think I tried them maybe once... and it was a disaster!  Of course, I'm no artist at all, never took any classes or anything, but I do like to sketch in just plain pencil. I have a lot of respect for people who can work well in lots of different media!


It is a hard media, fur and backgrounds besides water give me trouble, but I'm working on that slowly but surely! My worst media is honestly watercolor, I can't seemingly get the hang of blending the colors, but I do love some of the techniques like sprinkling salt on the paper when the paint is still drying! Really, it all boils down to practice. Right now I'm learning a lot about clay just through trial and error, particularly in throwing, since I've never done that before.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Farting flowers! Rofl


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Just some photography pieces from my art trip to Chicago (may be repeats if you've read my other journal).









Where does the sky end and the water begin?









Love this shot of Chicago!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Cool pics!!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> Cool pics!!


Thanks


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

Very nice work :thumbsup: I especially like your abstract pieces.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Romad said:


> Very nice work :thumbsup: I especially like your abstract pieces.


Thank you!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Several of my glazed pieces have finished firing, so I'll be getting pictures of them today (since I forgot my camera last night >.<) and I'll hopefully be posting them here tonight! :-D


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

I need to stop saying I post things at a certain time since it usually fails XD. Anyway! Here are the ceramics that were recently fired/finished.

Candle Holder










White Lion-still selling this one at the clay club sale this semester, but not fond of how high the wax was on the bottom of the lion (not on there anymore-burned off).










Black & white dog-not sure if I'm selling this one since the floppy ear broke off and the apoxy glue just made a mess of it so that the dog just doesn't look very nice, in my opinion.










Phoenix-my personal favorite, though I wish the plant I had sculpted with this hadn't broken off/since lost in the first firing.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Nice work!!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> Nice work!!


Thanks!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Possible new DA betta comic based on my boys-Merlin & Dragoon:

Meet Merlin:









Let me know what you think! This is meant to be a simple style of drawing.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I think they're cute!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

I'm thinking of going back to hand drawing it. My hand's too shaky for a mouse and the shaky lines really bother me, but overall, I do like how it looks! Maybe I'll try the next one with colored pencils (that way I can get more color too!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

More ceramics! Several of my pieces were fired and I finally got around to taking/uploading the pictures!

Flower Coasters-Remaining 3










Full Flower Coaster Set










Strange Vase (I say this since the gold was actually supposed to be a reddish-brown-darn white >.<)










Leaning Vase










Taco Bowl (as what it was called in the studio, the green is actually supposed to be the same red as the vase-darn white covering too well >.<)


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Nice pieces!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Thank you!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Just a small, quickie piece for the lion site I'm on.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Song Stuck in My Head: Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
Listening to: Totalbiscuit on Youtube-WTF Is...Elder Sign Omens ? 

Currently working on something similar to my old style, though it's not really just an animal with an abstract background, it is similar. I just finished drawing a running giraffe and my intention is to give it a fantasy feel to the picture. I'm trying to figure out what colors to do the giraffe in. (Really don't want to stick with regular colors. I was thinking purple and something else. I really don't want to leave it white, as part of the page is remaining untouched, but I'm not really sure what to do :/. Good thing I've got time to think about it, as I don't foresee me having anytime to work on it tomorrow.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Sold two pieces that I glazed (didn't make though) at the Clay Sale today, so I'm very happy. I'm hoping more sell tomorrow, but if not, at least I made a little extra cash that will cover my cost of making pieces in the studio. 

I decided that the giraffe is going to be more of a fantasy piece that I'm going to title "Bring the Dawn". I'm hoping it turns out as I want (intend to work on it this weekend or sometime early next week).


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Good to hear that you sold two pieces of your artwork! I'm sure you'll sell more.


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## JustinieBeanie (Apr 22, 2013)

Nice work! I especially like your pastels and the ceramic white lion. That skunk pastel is so cute, we have a skunk that has come to visit our yard quite a bit lately, just the way you've pictured him is exactly how our skunk visitor would posture himself.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> Good to hear that you sold two pieces of your artwork! I'm sure you'll sell more.


Thank you! I only sold one more piece that I just glazed. There were lots of comments about my actual pieces that I posted here, but none were bought. Oh well! Maybe next time! This time around, people were more interested in functional pieces rather than decorative, and I didn't have many functional pieces. Next time I will though, since I already have 7 of 8 bowls fired, and I intend to do more throwing on the wheel.




JustinieBeanie said:


> Nice work! I especially like your pastels and the ceramic white lion. That skunk pastel is so cute, we have a skunk that has come to visit our yard quite a bit lately, just the way you've pictured him is exactly how our skunk visitor would posture himself.


Thank you! Your skunk visitor sounds really cute (though I hope he's not making a pest of himself as the ones in my area tend to do by burrowing for food).


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I have 2 pieces given to me from people I knew in college. One is a coffee cup and the other one is a bowl. I use the cup for pens and stuff and the bowl had shells in it.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> I have 2 pieces given to me from people I knew in college. One is a coffee cup and the other one is a bowl. I use the cup for pens and stuff and the bowl had shells in it.


Ceramics are really useful pieces! I'm still shocked that we had as much left over as we did (and of the better pieces/those made by more experienced people, not just mine and my friend's stuff.


Well, the fates of several of the ceramics pieces were decided today since my mom came up to visit:

Dog-going home. The apoxy glue just spread everywhere on that one ear that chipped off, and though the overall sculpture is cute, that ear and the apoxy around it make it unfit for sale.

White Lion-Also going home with me. I think it's adorable, and though I wish the wax hadn't gone up so high, it's a nice sculpture that I can find somewhere to put it.

Phoenix-Apparently, people didn't understand it was a Phoenix, so this one went home as well with my mom. It's more a piece that is significant to me than it would be to others.

"Taco" Bowl-Officially my new brush bowl-which I have now warmed up to. I do intend to make more of these bowls, but I will do a better job glazing than on this one.

Everything else except for one item that I made which I never took a picture of (for good reason) is going to be put into the next sale. The one item that I despise/get the dang-est of comments about is going to be in the "end of the year destruction" that occurs when people do not claim their bisque items and/or anything that we don't like. This item was SUPPOSED to be an ice cream scoop, but due to people messing up the lids of the glazes, it got the wrong glaze and just looks like "a pile of poop", and I can't see it selling, nor anyone wanting it, or even using it as a paper weight, so it's being chucked. Harsh. Maybe, but it really is a blah piece that no one shows interest in apart from commenting that it's neat that I achieved that shape...that's about it. 

So, yeah. I finished glazing several pieces today and started glazing the bowls for my mom now that I know what she want, so it's now a matter of patience and being consistent in what I do with these pieces and their glazing as well as other pieces to follow with her full dinner ware set.

I do intend to start working on my watercolor tomorrow in between my research paper and my accounting homework, so I might have that done by tomorrow. I also have some pictures to upload still from before the sale, so I need to do that as well.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Sorry about the ice cream scoop. Lol Wow, a whole dinnerware set? Cool!!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> Sorry about the ice cream scoop. Lol Wow, a whole dinnerware set? Cool!!


Yep! She's always wanted one, so I decided to make her one :-D. Just finished glazing the bowls today!


Speaking of time in the studio, I went there today, and I finished a lot of glazing and threw some more "taco" bowls (I'm thinking of changing the name to something else, like brush bowls or something) but I threw two of them (aka I messed up on actual bowls XD). I was very sad when I messed up the one bowl that got turned into a taco bowl, since I accidentally cut the clay off the bottom portion, so folded it became! It was so pretty though when it was whole!

I, unfortunately, had to throw away one of my pieces. I'm hoping to remake it later, but it just wouldn't glue together :-(.

The ice cream scoop has been given another chance thanks to one of my friends saying to wait at least until after our Clay Sale in February. 

I didn't get to work on the watercolor today due to how long I was in the studio & doing my homework, but hopefully tomorrow before I go to watch _Frozen_ at the dollar movie night!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

You've got to post pics of some of your dinnerware pieces.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> You've got to post pics of some of your dinnerware pieces.


Once they get fired I shall post pictures . Not sure how to do the plates yet while sticking with my mom's choice of colors & pattern though, but I'll figure it out...I also have to master tall cylinders too >.< still challenging to keep the top even without it going all haywire!

Went to the studio again today and threw three new pieces: a jar, a vase, and a...thingy (I don't know what to call it XD), it's one of my abstract pieces so who knows what it'll start being called! My taco bowls got the name around the studio and now it's stuck. Glad that I did find a use for it though so that I can tell people, "Oh, you know, they're brush bowls" :-D.

My tie-dye jar (someone else threw, and I'm glazing) should be done tomorrow. I will probably take a picture & share it here if the glaze turns out nicely (just of the glaze though, since I didn't throw the jar). So here's hoping it turns out!

The giraffe is still on my mind, I'm hoping with finals approaching, that I'll have more free-time after tomorrow, but who knows!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

I enjoy seeing your work.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> I enjoy seeing your work.


Thanks! That really brightens my day to hear that! :thankyou:


Well...didn't go into the studio today since I finished doing some more homework, but definitely tomorrow once my last class finishes! Not sure if I'll throw tomorrow or not (probably will), but I don't think I'll have a lot of homework for Thursday, so all should be fine!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

So I'm hoping that the kiln will be unloaded tomorrow/ready to be unloaded so that I can get pictures of my mom's bowls since they went into the kiln yesterday and I was told it'd be ready to unload tomorrow sometime :blueyay:. I'm very excited if you couldn't tell :lol:.

Threw a plate (not sure if I like it) and another tiny jar. I'll be throwing more tiny jars since we're running out of throwing clay & there's definitely not enough to make another plate. 

Anyway! Here's two pieces: one's an older piece and the other is a newer one:

Candlestick (older)










Swirly...sculpture...thing!


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Very nice!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

So...the pieces you've been waiting for!









A shallow dish!









One set of two bowls. The glaze on the outside didn't show through very well, I'm afraid :|, but the inside looks nice with the purple glaze I used!









Mom's bowls :-D


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Very pretty! I love the pattern!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> Very pretty! I love the pattern!


Thanks! 


Decided that the giraffe watercolor is going to have to wait until I go back home Thursday as I want to do a certain technique and I don't have the materials to actually do it here in the dorm :|.

The good news is, I've started 7 pots for the Clay Club & Horticulture Club sale that will be going on in February. I have two pots almost done, two of the four circular ones, while I have yet to start the 3 heart base ones. The reason for the heart base ones? Our sale is Feb. 13th & 14th :-D. Yep! Valentine's Day! We're providing the gifts for the people who forget to grab their Valentines a gift ;-) lol.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Sorry I haven't posted, finals were this week, and even though I have pictures to upload for more ceramics, I wouldn't anything till the weekend.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Only one "new" ceramic today. The one of my tie-dye glazing didn't turn out well, so I'll have to get another picture later.











Not exactly pleased with how this turned out-our under glazes are as finicky as our glazes. I do like how the sky looks though.


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Very vice work!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> Very vice work!


Thanks!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Finished the watercolor yesterday, and though it didn't turn out exactly as planned, and I can see things that I could have done better, I'm quite pleased with it!

Bring the Dawn


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## dramaqueen (Jul 7, 2008)

Very pretty!!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

dramaqueen said:


> Very pretty!!


Thank you! :-D


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Very sorry that I haven't updated in awhile! I haven't done much apart from trying to get things glazed for the Clay Club sale on Feb. 13 & 14th. Right now I have a TON of pieces sitting, waiting to be fired, and only yesterday did I start some new pieces. I did glaze a couple pieces though only a couple are actually mine. The rest were scavenged from the throw-out pile of last semester (people didn't claim their stuff/haven't been back to the studio). So I got those glazed along with other pieces, as I said, but otherwise, I haven't had anything new to report on. Our adviser said that we'd have a firing once the test firing was done so sometime next week or the following I will have work-in-progress pictures...maybe!


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Pieces should be ready to be glazed tomorrow and I threw 4 pieces today, and made a neat slab cookie jar


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Finally some activity from me, right? lol









Fluffy Blue Duckling!









Black & White Taco Bowl/Brush Holder/Vase/Whatever!!!









Cobalt Taco Bowl









Blue Tornado









1st Attempt at a jar (small)









2nd Attempt at a jar (large)









Suns









Little Critters (left to right: Penguin, Hedgehog, Turtle, Platypus, Cat, Bear, and Spotted Pig)

I've got more stuff already glazed, so it all depends on when the next firing is ;-).


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Some new pieces of mine:









Cobalt bowl









Light blue candle holder









My personal favorite, the Nuthatch drinking from a bowl.


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## BettaLover1313 (Apr 15, 2013)

Three new pieces that were fired in a reduction firing:









A bowl I threw on the wheel with our new, red glaze (sadly there won't be any more of it once it's gone).









Another piece made with the new, red glaze. The base is one of our standard glazes called Wasabi.









Last piece with the red glaze. Butterscotch yellow was dripped onto it.


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