"turtle" bottles

I was hoping to finalize the project till the end of september but I realized that, as of this weekend, just one out of third is completed.. Therefore, a bit of disprited, I went into my studio yesterday.. and instead of trying something new, I decided to use some of my former knowledge on surface design which mostly I have learnt in workshops..

In those workshops, not only I learned a lot from the "clay" people that I met, but also I learned more about myself.. In a completely new environment with new people, you have a condensed period of time in which you need to learn and try. This makes you focus more, consider from a different angle, try new ways and push your limits.. I joined 3 workshops so far, in Italy, England and Hungary and each&every one of them has a remarkable impact on my works.. As I have said, not just the topic that I have been taught, but I think whole experience makes the difference. I will write in detail my workshop experiences later, in case some of you might be interested joining one of them...

This weekend, mostly I used techniques that I learnt in Peter Beard's workshop 2 years ago.. we had made tens of test tiles when I was there, but for the first time, I applied them on an actual piece..

I am quite happy with these funny little ones, they are about 15 cm high.. and looking like turtles... don't you agree?

art deco bottle

Last saturday I have completed the bottle I started.. But, I couldn't find time to install the image, because right after it is finished, I set off for Paris, actually for Disneyland!!! we were back on thursday but I am still trying to recover since these 4 days were truly exhausting but full of fun... therefore, with a bit of delay, here it is: No28. Art deco porcelain bottle...

too hot to work

We waited for the summer so long.. and it arrived.. what an arrival!!! for the last few weeks, we are dealing with extremely hot weather here in Istanbul.. unbearable.. it is impossible to do anything.. Every single move should be avoided unless it is utmost necessary! that's why I have dedicated my last weekends not on working clay but leisure.. near to the pool!!!
But yesterday I decided to go back to work even though the temperature was 37°C with 90% humidity.. I summoned up my courage and entered my studio! I kept working with porcelain or I should say I tried to.. I only threw 3 parts of one bottle in whole Sunday.. I threw one part - got out of the studio urgently - looked for somewhere less suffocating - drank something cold as much as possible - rested a bit- went back to studio.. within this cycle, I managed to throw the parts but not to combine them and complete the whole piece..
if I could gain my strength again, I will be back to studio, high possibly on Thursday evening and complete what I started...
so, ...to be continued.