Making bigger trucks is harder. Everything suddenly looks very angular and stiff...so after playing around a bit I realized if I make all of my pieces irregular imperfect rectangles and squares then I have a chance at giving the bigger trucks the whimsicality and personality of my small ones. So...stay tuned bigger and happier looking trucks coming soon...in a month or two you'll see where I'm going with all of this...
Well Snick made it out of the kiln in one piece! I just glazed him...and the dog below which has been sitting on my shelf since the last session. And I put square wheels on a truck which I forgot to photograph..so stay tuned. 
I don't think I mentioned that our Lill Street class is now called "dreams, myths & totems in clay" or is it pillars? Corinne Peterson,our teacher makes very impressive large totems that are in corporatecollections and in many public art displays so she is sharing hertechniques in the class. I just don't think I could commit to somethingthat big with a material so fragile..and me so careless. But there areother women in the class taking the totem theme and running with it. Afew photos are below.
Here's Mary working on a beautiful bird sculpture...(she also has a large totem in the works): 
Natalie's wonderful wall piece, love the stones and the trees:
And Haleh's impressive wall totem...she is much more ambitious than I could ever be with clay.
As I drove to clay class Monday night I decided this dog was asking for wings but being the neurotic artist, I worried it would hasten the departure of sixteen year old Izzy...then thought even if it does, maybe this means I'll be giving her permission to go, in case she's just been sticking around for me. (I know...welcome to the emotional crazy world of my mind and heart!)
Then Wednesday my Mom sent me an email regarding the previous post commenting that the dog looked like Snicker...her beloved big yellow lab that passed away over the summer...and I realized right away it was Snicker and not Izzy and how appropriate those wings were...and that's the reason everyone who saw the sculpture called it a 'he' including me. So this is Snick. My Christmas gift to her and Bill is a portrait of him that I have yet to create but I gave them some drawings as a preview of my ideas:
Snick was not the only family dog to go last year, Willie my brother's dog (who I'm also working on a portrait of) and 2 dogs that belong to my Mom's stepchildren's families Pretty Boy and Nimush the 3 legged dog. That's a lot of new doggie angels frolicking in heaven...and many broken hearts they left behind. Mom, a hospice social worker, has been on me for awhile to design pet loss sympathy cards, and/or a book. Perhaps we will pen one together, but not while my Izzerloo is still wagging her tail on this earth...and I'm happy to say she has been doing pretty darn well these past few months and doesn't look to be taking on wings any time soon.
My wonderful Mom with Snicker, the 'Patron Saint of Stick Chewing' last spring.
My most recent work at Lill Street...Hope this pup is still intact when I unwrap it tomorrow. I have been known to be a little too careless when it comes to clay appendages, but as my wise classmate, Haleh, commented "it really is about the process not the end product".
Some of my recent clay creations at Lill Street, the face container broke into several pieces during firing...I forgot to leave a hole for the air to escape (I tend not to listen very well during technical teaching moments). My wonderful teacher Corinne saved the day by lending me her Bisque Fix, amazing stuff...you can actually 'glue' it back together and refire with glaze. I kept calling it Bisquick by mistake and that made me hungry, my Mom used to make great strawberry shortcake with it when I was a kid - I think I have to go buy some!
This is my longest truck to date...I'm getting much better at constructing them.
My shelf at Lill Street - lots of glazing to be done and only 2 weeks of class left and a trip to Kansas City in between. May have to wait until next fall.
In the midst of all the craziness preparing my new studio space, I still have Monday class class. I have not been super productive the last few weeks so was glad to make this truck the other night...this is the longest one so far..still need to add some wheels and might do lattice or ribs of clay across the cargo area or leave it open...a straw holder..what would you put in it?
This is going to be a container. I will cut the ball footed piece in half and attach the piece on the right to the lid and then do more carving and embellishing to the bottom. Kind of a freaky clown guy. 
This is my class mate Haleh making a very ambitious clay column/stool for her garden. I would never have the patience or skill to pull this kind of thing off! It's fun to watch come together, she will carve on the surface and add glazes. I'll try to post some updated photos as it becomes embellished.
And lastly...this crazy scary lady emerged a few weeks ago. I was in a lousy mood that day (which does not happen to me all that often) and I couldn't quite pin point the reason. I walked into class and jokingly asked if there were horns coming out of my head...and then I made this. And I felt better. Clay is very therapeutic!
Clay class started up again on the 5th. Decided I had better finish this sugar & creamer up before I got too involved in something new so I underglazed them on monday...their faces are straw yellow and should be much more saturated once they are fired, the lighter colors on the hat and handle are chartreuse and again should be more saturated and look more green after firing. 
will need to put a clear coat inside of each so they are sugar/cream ready. 
Rear View:
Forgot to share photos of our fall class wrap up...this was our last night critique and pot luck, we had a pretty fabulous spread for such a small group!