Sign in

smws

@kiaparowits.bsky.social
88 followers 166 following 140 posts

Pottery, drawing, various arts. Love the touch of the handmade. SF Bay area.

PostsRepliesMedia
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
'Good with money': living within your means, having savings, long-term vision with your finances. Can include being very generous with your money when finances allow. 'Being cheap' is not spending much regardless of the circumstances, especially when others do/you're expected to socially.
020 2
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I am probably wildly off, but... if those anything like high-fire reduction glazes I've used, maybe a Tenmoku over a Shino, so the reddish parts will fire dark glossy brown and the light tan will be pinkish to leathery brown on a light clay body without to much iron?
000 0
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
SF in the Presidio looking north over chaparral toward the sunny Pacific
Hillside panorama in north SF looking over the chaparral towards the Pacific on a sunny afternoon in September
001 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Hard to compare, because the difference is the power and desire dynamics, and those things can vary. *In general* men have a stronger sex drive. Imagine a very large, strong man found you attractive. You may like that or not, but can you see how size and strength play into the equation?
100 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
Wait, what didn't you like about that bowl toward the middle of the video? Looked nice enough to me. Was the surface rough?
110 1
Reposted by smws
𝖒𝖚𝖑𝖑 @mudnblood.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Sniffer
242664897 2.7K
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
I love these forms but the twisted facet with small neck on the first one is my favorite. Really nice.
110 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Brown line drawing of a man and woman, both wearing strange crowns, facing each other, with speech bubbles containing bees, petals, stars, curlicues, on alight green background.
000 0
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Wow. That is indeed way crazier than I would have guessed. Amazing work.
030 3
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
"weird" is one way to phrase it. Another is "incredible results from rare fixation on astronomical knowledge for much of your life to the benefit of us all". I'm so grateful you share it with us all.
020 2
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Dang that was an incredible pull. From memory? What a cool specialized flex.
140 4
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 12/05/2026
Wow the feet on the bottom! That's such a dedicated handmade touch. Looks amazing.
110 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 09/05/2026
The irritating advertising theory of grim political calculus.
040 4
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
She's not saying it's not free speech, she's saying it's not peaceful. I can agree with that while still finding the protests worthwhile and the cop to be in the wrong here.
000 0
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
I don't understand why people are so angry at you for mentioning this. There's certainly an argument that yelling that isn't peaceful. If I was on the receiving end of that, I wouldn't feel peaceful.
010 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Yeah for most pottery classes you'd have to start this early, and you want skill levels where participants can realistically make a set. Not every student did it, but the ones who did enjoyed it I think? Teacher was the excellent @finemesspottery.bsky.social so she might know more.
000 0
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
A challenge where we made cup sets in class and then each person who participated got one of the set from each potter (including your own favorite). My favorite challenge. I like to think they're being enjoyed wherever they ended up. High fire stoneware. #ceramics #pottery #cups #handmade
7 tumblers or tea bowls arranged on a pottery wheel head. They're vaguely a set, matte white inside and pale gray with patterns in light green, red, and aqua outside.
1161 16
Reposted by smws
Aled Thompson @aledthompson.bsky.social · 08/04/2025
Hey #PortfolioDay I'm Aled and I'm a UK based illustrator and storyboard artist who's recently just made the jump to freelance. Open for commission at the moment. ✉️- al98thompson@gmail.com linktr.ee/aledthompsonart
A lonely crow perched on a stump in front of a fallen log in a pine forestA pathway through a forest with sunlight shining through the treesA yew tree in the foreground in front an overgrown graveyard with a church in the background.Some moss covered fallen logs in a forest
30991174 991
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
Out of curiosity, what suggests this bee is male?
110 1
Reposted by smws
Aura/Moom @moomanibe.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
I know it's gauche to quote tolkien but genuinely the most interesting thing in his letters to me is this one from 1963 wherein he laid out in very plain terms what I think is THE fundamental thing that makes so much art have a life in your head beyond what you see on a page or play in a game
I am doubtful myself about the undertaking. Part of the attraction of the L.R. is, I think, due to the glimpses of a large history in the background: an attraction like that of viewing far off an unvisited island, or seeing the towers of a distant city gleaming in a sunlit mist. To go there is to destroy the magic, unless new unattainable vistas are again revealed.
151231258 1.2K
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
Is there a way to buy a physical copy of this print?
100 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Well I sure wish this was less prophetic
010 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 10/01/2026
I enjoy the stories and feelings that suggest themselves to me when I see such a detailed surreal picture unconnected to any particular existing narrative or world. It's my favorite type of painting. Familiar sun and sky and soil and plants but all just a bit liminal. Thanks for sharing!
010 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
Rainbow witch cat blessed my timeline & I up and went for a walk in the evening golden hour. Blessed 🙏 by rainbow cat 4ever
161 6
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
For me also. Some of it is my outlook, but I think a portion is just... how the world is right now: A hard row to hoe. Or apropos to my yard: a hard bed to weed.
010 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
An interesting distinction. Any examples of movies that are objectively good but not *as* personally enjoyable? For me, movies like 'Come and See' or 'Schindler's List' are important, but I'll probably only watch once (because DAMN). Contrast: films like '5th Element', 'Princess Bride'
010 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 25/12/2025
A story so well done that my areligious self can half see the appeal, the heart of the story, the draw of the numinous. Thanks for sharing.
010 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
Happy winter solstice, especially to all northern hemisphere-ites who find this time of short days difficult for the spirit. We're going sunward now! May we travel to spring together.
A colorful drawing of a bearded wizard summoning a small gold fire in greens, blacks and purples, with many abstract designs
031 3
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 21/12/2025
When you show the project of the moment your expression always seems very "somebody just handed me this surprising thing! Please follow along as I involve it in a caper"
000 0
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
I know it's probably just a lot of practice, but I envy the steady hand and precise pressure required for that delicate slip trailing. Wonderful to see.
120 2
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 11/12/2025
I absolutely love the pattern. It clearly took some time, but... worth it! Beautiful.
010 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
I'm too easily cynical about the world at large. I don't know where the road goes and I need to keep that in mind. Sometimes good things happen out of nowhere. #art #landscape #drawing #surreal #lineart
Line drawing of surreal landscape with curved objects and many textures. A tan road leads through it. In the sky a tilted sun face looks upward.
050 5
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
That seems like 11moku at least. Really nice depth. Tenmoku glazes I've seen before don't have that yellow/green tint, more copppery brown/black. Is the recipe different, or it's a whole class of recipes, or it's the lighting?
110 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Ah ok. One of those nice touches that long use will show the benefit of. Striking back against the stripping away of small, beneficial touches of industrial scale slipware.
020 2
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
I'm curious too. The bellybuttons seem probably ornamental? Is the foot drain so that moisture trapped within the foot can escape rather than growing moldy or something?
110 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
I looked around your timeline and saw you're a sculptor. No wonder the sculpted things look good! I'm so glad you're trying ceramics.
110 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
The clay body looks lovely. I think it looks quite close to wood firing also. How do you get the wood ash to stick without just falling off?
110 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Especially like the gecko pot, would love to see how it looks after glazing and firing. I found ceramics difficult to learn also.
110 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
I feel like the huge knife in your PFP should be involved, sometime next month when they actually thaw
100 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Really nice work. Also it looks like you were very lucky with that drip!
110 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
I know I'm not quite black belt with trimming because mine doesn't sound like that. Something to aspire to
110 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
The carbon trapping and the glaze variation from kiln atmosphere is so nice with these. Such a great example of the kind of beautiful variety you get with high fire glazes. You can see how potters get so obsessed with a specific glaze that they play with it for decades!
010 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
Cone 10 reduction fired in a large shared studio gas kiln
010 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
These are some slightly related experiments with shino glazed bowls that some of your experiments reminded me of
Shiny glazed brown and tan bowls
110 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
This time of year can be gray and dark in northern climes. Remember sunlight
Digital painting of a sun-lit woman in profile in a white shirt looking to the right with a glad expression, mostly brown background
030 3
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
I love the variety of color reflected in the metal. Amazing texture.
010 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 02/11/2025
Well, handles came out a bit rougher and bumpier than intended, but they're usable mugs. The slip doesn't quite fit the clay either but the cracking looks fine. #art #mug #pottery #handmade
Pottery mug, white inside, green rim, slip designsPottery mug, pale inside, warm orange outside, blue drips at rim, dimples in basePottery mug, white inside, green rim, sprayers of green glaze over slip designs and blue swirlPottery mug, white inside, blue rutile glaze at rim, curly slip design
081 8
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
The massive conspiracy to get your kitchen projects going might have gone a little far on the targeted disengage-bait. You should see what we have in store when it's time to write again
110 1
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
Your handles, your shapes, the texture, the color: it all works together so well. Always glad to see your work. Thanks for sharing.
000 0
smws @kiaparowits.bsky.social · 25/10/2025
The mouth position at the end is what sells it to me. Beginning of a smile? Smirk? Grimace? You've really cracked the code here. The strategically unkempt hair also. Social media megastar
000 0