Killies.com breeding bowls

[timebomb]

Hi, folks,

My wife, Sally went back to pottery classes a few weeks ago and she decided to make some special breeding bowls for me, personalised ones

The process of making a bowl out of a lump of clay can be very tedious. The bowl has to be left to dry and fired once before it can be painted. After painting, it has to be fired again. The whole process can take several weeks as my wife can only attend pottery classes on Saturdays. Here are the steps:

First, she has to knead the clay:


Then she puts a lump of kneaded clay on top of the wheel and centres it. Centering the clay on the wheel is an important step. If the clay isn't properly centred, it will wobble, a lot


Then she starts to create the shape:



After shaping the clay, she leaves it on a shelf to dry.


The bowls don't look like nothing much now at this stage. But after they are dried, she scrapes off the excess clay and using a tool that looks like a eardigger, she personalise the bowls


She then dips the bowl into a pail of paint:


This is how it looks before it goes into the kiln:


This is how it looks when it's all finished:


She made 5 bowls. This is how they look before firing:


The completed bowls:


I like to give a bowl each to 4 people in this forum. They are, in alphabetical order, Chen Jianyang, Tyrone Genade, Wright Huntley and Ronnie Lee. I'm sure you will agree that without these 4, this forum would be a very quiet place. The bowls are a token of my appreciation for their support and active participation in the discussions here. Keep up the good work, guys.

Loh K L

PS* Tyrone and Wright, 2 of the bowls didn't turn out well after they were fired. The "killies.com" logo isn't very distinct as the paint chosen wasn't of the right colour. My wife said she will make better bowls for you 2. Please be patient. I'll let you know when your bowls are ready.

[ruyle]

KL,
I want to place an order for a Killies.com sake set! Am I out of line
to say your wife's skill has greatly improved? Beautiful bowls! The two
you gave me back when, are in Thailand with my wife. She never let me
place them in a tank, only rose buds went into them I wish I'd taken a
pic to show you.

The four people you mentioned are well-deserved choices and indeed this
place would be dead without them!

My congrats to your wife, KL.

Bill

[timebomb]

Bill,

My wife is going to make a bowl for you too and it's going to be a big one which your wife can use to put rosebuds. But there's a catch. I will send Tyrone's and Wright's bowls to them by post but in your case, you have to come and collect it yourself.

This is so you will definitely come and visit me one day

Loh K L

PS* Ronnie and Jianyang, I will leave your bowls with Eco-Culture, probably by tomorrow evening.

[ruyle]

Bill,

My wife is going to make a bowl for you too and it's going to be a big one which your wife can use to put rosebuds. But there's a catch. I will send Tyrone's and Wright's bowls to them by post but in your case, you have to come and collect it yourself.

This is so you will definitely come and visit me one day

You got a deal! I won't tell my wife so when we visit, it will be a surprise
for her

Bill

[erikthur]

Very nice indeed *yellous*

[stormhawk]

Thanks KL,

Your wife's really skilled at this and I liked the stylised script on the bowls.
I'll arrange for pickup with Ron and will take images of the bowl once its in a tank.

[keehoe]

KL,
I want to place an order for a Killies.com sake set! Am I out of line
to say your wife's skill has greatly improved? Beautiful bowls! The two
you gave me back when, are in Thailand with my wife. She never let me
place them in a tank, only rose buds went into them I wish I'd taken a
pic to show you.

The four people you mentioned are well-deserved choices and indeed this
place would be dead without them!

My congrats to your wife, KL.

Bill

Hahahaha. Loh, I would like to order a set of Killies.com sushi plate.
Killie and Sushi, perfect combination.

Joke aside. Your wife skill is fantastic. So far had tried her cooking and seen her pottery. You are a lucky man. (I am sure there are more reason than this two that i had mention.)

[timebomb]

You are a lucky man. (I am sure there are more reason than this two that i had mention.)

I don't need more reasons: I need only one. We have been married for about 20 years but my wife still thinks the world of me and that, I think, makes me a very lucky man.

By the way, Kee Hoe, on our way home from the pottery shop, my wife mentioned your name. She wants to make a bowl for you too. It will take a while, of course as she has to make an ashtray for me first

Loh K L

[keehoe]

You are a lucky man. (I am sure there are more reason than this two that i had mention.)

I don't need more reasons: I need only one. We have been married for about 20 years but my wife still thinks the world of me and that, I think, makes me a very lucky man.

By the way, Kee Hoe, on our way home from the pottery shop, my wife mentioned your name. She wants to make a bowl for you too. It will take a while, of course as she has to make an ashtray for me first

Loh K L

Thanks Mr, MS Loh.

<Another joke>
Just a little request. If it is a breeding bowl for me. Could i have it at least 6 feet tall by 4 feet wide? Kind of hard to fit into those in the picture.

[Piscesgirl]

Your wife has great talent! What a great and thoughtful gift for those folks that have contributed so much to this website. I'm impressed! I will look forward to seeing the pictures of the bowls in their respective tanks.

[selena]

Hi,

Take a look at my juvenile Simp. picturatus with the Killies.com breeding bowl. Still couldn't figure out what the bowl was for.



One of my many males. I have a tankful of males and only one female




Thank you KL & Sally for the lovely bowl and Kjell for the beautiful fish
-----------------------------------
Selena

[timebomb]

No need for thanks, Selena. Just remember to give me your first bag of S. picturatus eggs when you collect it

Kee Hoe, if you're looking at Selena's bowl and wondering what has happened with yours, it's already fired and ready for collection. I'll be picking it up at the end of this week. You are welcomed to collect it on Saturday night or Sunday.

Wright and Tyrone,

If you're reading this, you may like to know your bowls started on its journey to you a few days ago. I sent them by sea as shipping costs by air can cost quite a fair bit. I've packed them in small boxes, buffered with bubble wrapping and small bits of sponges. As long as they don't hurl the boxes around, the bowls should be in good condition when they reach you. My wife hopes you like them. You better

Loh K L

[TyroneGenade]

Hi KL,

Thanks! I will keep an eye out for it!

Thanks a lot!!! Can't wait to get some killies spawning in it.

tt

[whuntley]

KL,

Thanks ever so much!

I eagerly await the arrival of the bowl. The pictures certainly make them look elegant!

Wright

[keehoe]

Thanks KL, But the S.Igneus is not ready. Only the S.MAG female is ready. Saturday should be OK.

[whuntley]

Mine arrived, KL, and many thanks to you and your lovely, skillful wife.

It is even prettier in reality than a virtual version in .jpg. The craftsmanship and design are truly outstanding. [That is coming from someone whose second wife was a professional potter/painter/printmaker who studied ceramics under the famous Bauhaus artist Marguerite Wildenhain!]

It arrived whole and in fine shape, BTW.

Now I have to figure which tank gets it. Well, maybe I'll display it on the etagere for a while, first. Not breeding any divers right now, anyway, but it gives me incentive to try to hatch those brucei eggs.

Wright

[timebomb]

Wright,

Sally, my wife hasn't seen your post yet but I'm sure she will be in high heaven when she does. Thanks for the compliments. She had, in fact, asked me many times if you and Tyrone had received the bowls we sent. She was concerned that you may not find the bowls pretty as during the firing process, some of the paintwork didn't turn out well.

Loh K L

[TyroneGenade]

Hi KL,

I'm still waiting on mine. It doesn't help that I've moved house 2x in the last month, but the Post Office has done a good job of forwarding on my mail so far. It will probably be a while. Also, I imagine there are more ships heading towards America from Singapore than to South Africa. I can't wait for it to arrive.

Keep well

[timebomb]

Tyrone,

A few days ago, the postman turned up at my door and he was holding the parcel I sent you. Seems like they couldn't find your address. What's worse, the bowl was broken into pieces. The long journey from here to South Africa and back took its toll, I guess.

Please let me have your address in Italy and I'll send another bowl again.

Loh K L