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You know what I like about October? Halloween. And you know what I like about Halloween? It gives me an excuse to repost this gif starring my hockey mask and chainsaw earrings. (The gif was created by the fine folks at Spring, the Instagram-like shopping app.) The combination of a hockey mask and a chainsaw has come to be a recognizable reference to movie serial killers, even though it muddles together two different horror flicks. As I wrote in 2014 when I introduced the earrings, the character of Jason Voorhees in the Friday the 13th movies wore a hockey mask but wielded a machete. The chainsaw belongs to Leatherface of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre series. Leatherface does wear masks, but his are made of human skin. But the Jason/Leatherface blend of killer accessories dates back at least to 1993, when The Simpsons used it in its “Cape Feare” episode. You can see how the earrings look on here. If you’re not into slasher movies, I’ve got skull jewelry (for every budget) that’s appropria

I’ve been a fan of RuPaul — Nicki Minaj’s real inspiration — since “Supermodel” in 1993. I mean, a song that shouts out my beloved Linda Evangelista? After that, when RuPaul told me, “You better work,” I got to work, dammit.

I was happy that after eight seasons of RuPaul’s Drag Race, RuPaul won his first Emmy for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program statuette. And he won it in style. As Deadline Hollywood reported:

“Earlier this year I was quoted saying I’d rather have an enema than an Emmy,
[RuPaul] said while accepting the trophy. “But thanks to the Television Academy, I can have both!”

Summer is here and fresh blackberries are in season. Today we share with you a recipe from the Bottle Pros cocktail kitchen. It is a wine based drink that employs the flavors of blackberry and black pepper.

Ancho Reyes is a Mexican liqueur made from Ancho and Poblano peppers. It is a sweet and subtly spiced with a hint of smokiness. Ancho Reyes liqueur adds a great lift to many traditional cocktails and works particularly well in Margarita’s.

“What about you? Do you hate big bags, love them, somewhere in the middle? For clarification, I’m not talking about a big bag for work or travel. I mean to carry to a lunch date or a day shopping, etc. To carry it for the style of it, not necessarily b/c you need to carry a ton of stuff.”

Nobody does a show better than Chanel, and this year the brand is back for Cruise 2022

All clays except terra cotta and sculpture are recommended for wheel.

Sand Clay. A finely grogged clay. This clay is beautiful, it looks like wet beach sand when left unglazed with a grainy, speckled surface. The speckles do not show through glazes and underglazes applied over this clay body but it will bring the color of glazes down.
Cone 6 Shrinkage 13.5% Absorption 3.0%

Brooklyn red. Standard 308.
This is one of the most widely used clays in public studios for a reason. It is a brick red stoneware body with fine sand and fine grog. Very resistant to warping and bloating. Yields a beautiful dark reddish brick color and can bring depth and richness to the glazes applied to it.
Cone 6 Shrinkage 12.5% Absorption 2.0%

Dark Brown Clay.
People love this clay because it is so dark. This clay creates major depth and richness in color as it greatly affects the glazes applied over it. The clay is smooth and plastic and good for all

Last Friday’s Zoom topic is on for today. Betty Woodman!

Born in Norwalk, Connecticut, Betty Woodman attended the School for American Craftsmen at Alfred University in New York from 1948 to 1950. She has taught in the Fine Arts Department of the University of Colorado.

A leading ceramist whose inventive forms and painterly use of color have won her international renown, Woodman began her career making simple functional pottery. Although her ambitious experiments with clay have wrought great changes in her work, it still refers to some practical function even if her baroque, expressive forms are no longer strictly utilitarian. Woodman's art has been inspired by diverse sources, ranging from Etruscan and Minoa to Tange and majolica ceramics.

The recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1980 and 1986, Woodman has also been a guest artist at the experimental atelier of the Manufacture National de Sevres in France.

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Cone 6 White porcelain. Wins most vitrified award. Super smooth and creamy. Glazes are bright and brilliant on this clay. Great if you are staining clay bodies with mason stains or oxides (Nerikomi/Agateware).
Cone 6 Shrinkage 13.0% Absorption 0.3%

630
Gray (White) Stoneware. This is the clay we used to provide in the communal buckets. Contains fire clay and mullite which (supposedly) enhances thermal properties. Fires grayish and the fired unglazed clay looks like white stoneware at cone ten. This is a good clay for beginners because the grog in the clay helps prevent cracking during drying.  Some people have experienced bloating issues with this clay body.

Cone 6 Shrinkage 13.0% Absorption 1.5%

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Ivory (White) Stoneware.
A very smooth, plastic throwing body. This clay doesn’t have grog so it is more prone to cracking during drying, dry slowly to avoid this, not having grog allows you to sponge smooth t