Wow! The first week in November is nearly gone. Why is that important? That means it is time for the Footed Pottery Project!

Send me your footed pot photos, please! They can be bare feet, feet that look like sneakers, animal paws, stubby tree limbs, smooth circular rings, or whatever type of feet fits your footed fancy.

Happy Potting!

You have to love a clay body that is named "Porcelain for the People"...or at least look twice. Especially when the label has a Mad Potter-George Ohr lookalike staring fiercely over the heads of Chinese pottery militants (Do you remember your porcelain history?) bearing a banner with the clay's name.

Ok. We have established that Matt, Dave, and Bill (of Matt and Dave's Clays LLC) have a sense of humor. But can they make good clay?

These guys know the science, no doubt about it. And the porcelain they sent me to try out shows that science makes pretty phenomenal clay, too. Check out my Porcelain for the People review for the full scoop.

Photo © 2009 Beth E Peterson

I cut myself while using this razor-sharp pottery knife to open the bottoms of some thrown components to a sculptural piece. I knew something was wrong when I saw red in the white clay body! The good news? I was prepared with adhesive bandages and antiseptic ointment right there.

It was a good reminder though....Pottery demands we be conscious of safety practices and first aid, especially when using sharp knives.

Extra bonus feature: Here are more Wordless Wednesdays on About.com and other Wordless Wednesday Blogs...

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I have loved the graceful pottery dancers that the ancient Chinese potters created for a long time. The ones I love the most are so fluid, you can nearly see them move and hear the music playing. (They were made by pulling the clay to create arms and draperies, just as we pull handles now.)

Imagine how interested I was, then, to read that a Han Dynasty dancer was expected to bring $6,000 - $8,000 USD at auction on November 1st. I don't know how much it actually sold for, but I have to admit... I don't think this dancer is nearly in the class that many of the more fluid dancers are in.

Sculpturally speaking, the dancer at auction is static. The negative space is uninteresting, as well. If you were to create a dancer, what would you do differently?