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Linda, Geary, Jeanine, and Denise,
Thank you all so much for your generous comments and I love looking at all of your works as well. This forum is a treasure indeed.
Denise, hi, I don't think I've run across you in the forum yet. Ceramic is a fun medium I did a lot of experimenting trying to figure out how to fire a nearly solid piece without even a single hairline crack. The secret is to steam dry, not air dry them.
The only piece I've ever had break beyond repair was, unfortunately, a piece that was not mine. A young gal had made a bust of her father's dog to give to him as a Christmas present and at that time I used to do some firing for people through the local ceramic outlet. I told her to make sure it was completely dry before she brought it over for me to fire. The day she brought it was a cold (minus 25 degree) morning and I just assumed the piece was cold because it had been in her trunk and it didn't dawn on my that it was still wet. She also was not sure what kind of clay it was or what the cone was. It looked like a terra cotta red, so I mistakenly thought it must be a cone 5 clay. Two days later when I looked in the kiln to take it out, I was mortified to see nothing but a pile of red dust.
To this day, over 20 years later, I still get a sick knot in my stomach thinking about the phone call I had to make to her to let her know that it was ruined beyond repair and not to come pick it up. She was not a happy camper. I never fired any one else's stuff again after that until just this month I fired a friend's first bust and it turned out perfectly, thank God.
The only galleries I showed in were in Idaho from 1990-99. Now most of the work I make are one of a kind commissions, so there are no pieces currently on display at any public locations. I thought about approaching galleries here in Phoenix, but there is so much competition here that I have often heard that the galleries resent being "confronted" by artists every day seeking representation so that has kept me away.
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