Earth Day Giveaway and Mother's Day

I am few days late to wish everyone a Happy Earth day but everyday should be Earth day.
This year to celebrate Earth day, I am giving away reusuable foldable tote bags with your purchases in my Etsy shop

Even the small steps we take to reduce the number of plastic bags we use can make a huge impact on the plastic wastes. I know several plastic bags do get recycled, but that costs energy too. So why not walk around in a fashionable tote bag at your local farmer's market with a resusable bag?

Every purchase of $50 or more gets one of these tote bags for FREE

And every purchase of $100 or more gets an upgrade to these animal print bags.

And don't forget, Mother's day is just around the corner!

These lidded teacups are sure to make her happy.

HURRY UP! This offer is valid only till 30th April!

Soap Dishes with New Recycled / Upcycled Glaze

I have been making soap dishes for a long time now and I love their simple design and at the same time they are very practical.
The deep grooves help keep the soap high so it drains and dries the soap well. They have very smooth glossy glazes which makes them very easy to clean. And if you love automation, just stick them in the dishwasher to clean them. :)
And the feedback I have got for these is just amazing. Custmers love them and keep coming back for more.. either for their other bathroom, kitchen or as gifts. Read through some of the feedback I have gotten with pictures sent by my happy customers.

"Well made, sturdy, great design and functionality. I love the two tone veriation that looks great with the tub and am so glad I got two for my master bathroom!"
"Wonderful product!!! So well made and generously-sized, these soap dishes are more like beautiful piece of art. Seller was great to work with - attentive and responded quickly to my request. Highly recommend!"
"Love my soap dish! I used it today for the first time. Awesome quality! Quick shipping. Arrived safe, all in one piece.I will definitely be purchasing more from this artist!"

The main reason of writing this post is that I am introducing a new glaze color for my soap dishes. And it is just not a new glaze recipe.. it is very special. While working in the studio and clean up glazes, I always saved up the glaze which came from spraying glazes or cleaning pots. To this I also added glazes that I wasn't using any more. Rather than just dumping this in the environment, I tested and tweeked it. Low and behold, I have this beautiful deep blue grey glaze which has some specks of brown. I looks beautiful over the white glaze and also has some white specks in it if you look closely.

I cannot replicate this glaze ever, but I have 5 gallons of it. So I should be able to make several soap dishes.

So don't waste your glazes. Mix them up and see what you get.

I would love to hear what waste material artists recycle in their studio and upcycle it to create truely unique work.

When Potters Play Together

... we sure can have fun.

It is always a joy meeting other potters and chatting about pottery. We all lead pretty busy lives but it is great to hang out in the studio with another potter. I have been fortunate to hang out in Ginger Steele's studio from time to time. After the Christmas season was over, I made a trip to her studio in Oregon and we experimented with making sculptures constructed with coils.

Check out Ginger's cookie jar with the dog head. I am too embarrased to show what I made. It was a pretty saucy diva sculpture which unfortunately cracked on my trip back home. In any case it was fun and a good exercise.

A week back, Ginger visited our home and our goal was just to play in clay. We extruded some of my pillow shapes and this what Ginger made out of one of them.

I wanted to make some rectangular trays and she helped me make a plaster mold for that and I love the way the tray came out. Look out for these in my shop in the near future.

Ginger liked my extruder dies and had a design in mind for oval casseroles. We went through the process of designing it and I made the die for her which worked like a charm. Here is the casserole I made with that die. I am waiting to see what Ginger makes with that die in her studio.

It was time to spice up Ginger's Etsy shop. So we took pictures of her pots. I showed her how to edit them using picassa for Etsy and we listed her pots. Check out her shop. Really lovely work.

We had a great time and are looking forward to the next time we can play together.

A Great Wedding Gift!

It always thrills me more when people buy my work as gifts. One can always spend money on themselves, but when they spend it for someone else, it shows they have confidence in their purchase and the the receiver is going to love them.

And of course it is great when people combine different items as gifts. This last order was just the perfect gift for a wedding. Sugar creamer set, a butter dish and salt pepper shakers.

Wouldn't this be just great for a wedding gift? Other popular items in my shop for gift are my Oil vinegar bottles, teapots, set of mugs.

Best wishes to everyone receving these gifts!

Gift Certificates! Now Available

Still wondering what to buy for Christmas and just cannot decide with time running out? Here is an opportunity to purchase a Gift Certificate from my shop Creative with Clay and give the gift of unique hancrafted pottery to someone you care for.

These certificates are redeemable towards any item in my shop and shipping. I have certificates of different amounts listed in my shop under gift certificates.
Feel free to contact me if you would like a different amount and I will be glad to make a special listing.

And if you do see something you like in my shop, there still is time. Order before December 20th to get your order before Christmas.

Best wishes and have a great Holiday Season!

Potter's Guage

A simple tool which can save you a lot of time and frustration when trying to throw similar sized items on the potters wheel.

Previously I used a chopstick that is fixed on the splash pan with a wad of clay. It is efficient and super cheap and quick to set up. Several potters use this technique and they will agree that they have knocked the chopstick off its position once in a while.

Of course there are wonderful guages you can purchase but it just a lot more fun making your own. I spent 10 minutes in my garage and found a a few items which worked perfectly for this. The base is a heavy weight steel which came in the packaging of something I purchased earlier.. can't remember. It is really stable and all I did was attached a scale with a bolt (a scale not for measurement.. but that is the only thing I found with an already drilled hole) And then just attached a light weight iron rod with a clamp and I am done.

Just finished throwing these tealight candle holders with this guage and they came out great.



They make perfect diyas for Diwali.


I would love to hear about tools that crafters in all media have made themselves.

A Glimpse into the Past

I was recently asked by Evelyn Carnes (a friend I made on facebook), “When did you first start making pots?” Coming to think of it, I was making pots in my head all my life ever since I was a kid. I didn’t get to actually sit on the wheel and play with real clay till 2001. So it has been roughly 8 years now. I was looking at some pictures of my work from the first two years of my making pots and it is amazing how much my work has changed. I decided to share these here. You can see some distinct influences in my early work from potters like Nick Joerling, Steven Hill and also my love for high reduction fire and anagama.

These pieces were given as gifts, sold or I have them to remind me where I came from.

Indian Wedding

They sure are a grand affair! Lots of food, lots of people, great clothes, tons of color and great source of inspiration like the henna pattern above. I am sure this pattern will make it to some of my pottery soon.I was going through some pictures of my brother's wedding which happened in Dec'2007. I had to do a double take on this picture of my cousins standing on stage next to my brother and his wife. The colors, patterns, designs looked so similar to a recent picture of butter dishes I had taken. Looks like my butter dishes are off to a wedding too. Do you see the resemblance?

Charan at the TideFest

I am going to have a booth (#68) at the TideFest at the Gig Harbor High School on December 6th and 7th (Saturday 10-5; Sunday 11-4).

The address is given below and you can also visit the website at http://www.tidefest.org/

Like always, there is more new work that I will be showing. Attached is a glimpse of my new soup bowls. My butter dishes and sugar creamer sets will also be available for purchase.

Attached are some pictures of my booth too.

For shoppers who can't make it, I also have an online store that you can visit at http://creativewithclay.etsy.com/