I got this haus-daddy casserole slipped today. Yes, that is an offical size measurement.
Tomorrow I'll be at the Carolina Claymatters Pottery Festival on 8300 Monroe Road, Charlotte , NC from 10 till 4. Hopefully loads of people will come out and buy wonderful, handmade pottery.
Here is one of the square dishes I fired this week. This one has the contrasting glazes.
Totally into this band right now. They recently gave a great live performace for KEXP.
After 16 years of slipping pots I have come up with all sorts of ways to do it. This chicken slab needed to be slipped on both sides and I couldn't do both sides at once and then lay it down on the table. So I came up with this idea and it worked great. Sometimes it's just a matter of standing in the middle of the studio and looking around until I get an idea or see something that will assist me.
So this chicken is indeed going on a stick. Chicken on a Stick! And I have a special place I am going to put it. So you'll have to wait for that.
It's difficult for me to get out of bed early when the weather turns cold. It's so easy just to snuggle up and sleep in. It was nearly 10 when I got out of bed today. Not something I need to get into the habit of.
These bowls came out of the kiln just now.
I like the contrasting glazes on these a lot. I took this from Clary Illian who does this on some of her pots. I'm not sure I'll carry on with it but it will probably show up from time to time. The contrast is nice. My mantra for the last few years has been, "Keep doing what you are doing". I am very impressionable and it's easy for me to want to go off and do something different or want to do what someone else is doing. I do think it's okay to try things, to experiment and get ideas. I do have to remember what is working for me though and to try and grow on my own and in my own studio.
These are spoon rests that had some color tests on some of them.
It's been ages since I made any covered casseroles. This is one I made earlier in the week. I have to get a handle or knob on the lid today and somehow slip this monster.
You can see a little detail there around the base of this pot. I am experimenting with that line. I have put it on some cups and pitchers and vases. It's a bit of a wavey ledge. The plan is to stop the slip above it and use that ledge and the rim above as a frame for the middle of the pot. So the ledge and rim will be clean of slip. Make sense? Just something small but that could make a nice statement on certain pots.
The square trays came out of the kiln today too and I'll try and get a decent photo of them later today. Okay, back to the studio now.
I wish I could throw these like I can draw them.
Man, it's a nice day here in Shelby today. Sunny and cool. Just finished lunch. I have lots of pots waiting in the studio, or I'm actually waiting on some of them. Waiting for them to reach just the right state of dryness so I can cut the feet or slip them. This morning I've made a few trays and assembled some things.
Trays with coil props.
Hum...what is this?
Three casual cups drying upside down.
This will be a chicken on a stick. I have a place in mind for this.
I've got a good inventory of pots at the moment, but I need to keep working on specfic things. I have a list, somewhere. (Note: Find list). Anyhow, I am getting a bit side tracked with just making things for fun. I guess that's okay, yes! it's okay. Good to keep things moving and the creative juices flowing.
Okay, I'm off for now.
ca(I can't seem to get that "ca" to delete. It doesn't mean anything.)
I had some fun in the studio making these this week.
I totally jumped into the decoration today. Loads to do before the Thrown Together Sale on Oct 6th and 7th. I had an order for a squirrel mug so I made sure to get a few of those done today. Here's one...
I have really loaded up my Etsy shop. There is over 180 pots in there right now! I've had some sales this week which I am very thankful for! Check it out if you want by clicking HERE>
Below: Sold pots going off to new homes in custom boxes.
Yesterday I got to go to Western Carolina University and see Linda Christianson. She has been there as a visiting artist for the week. Linda is truly an amazing woman and one of the niceset people you'll ever meet. It was so good to see her cut feet on bowls and finish some of the pots she has been making.
I've taken a class w. Linda before and visited her home in Minnesota a few times. I never tire of watching her make her work. She moves the wheel very, very slowy and considers each line, each movement.
Okay well that's a bit of a catch up for me. Hopefully, tomorrow will be very productive and I'll get a kiln load out by next Thursday. Maybe a blog post before then (fingers crossed)
One of my favorites from the last firing.
Working on the usual in the studio...pots...jars, cups, bowls.
A bit of pen and ink scratchy, scratch this evening.
Thought I'd try it on a few small tiles. (approx 4")
I think I'm going to go see if I have a blank cup in the shop .... see ya
I've been run out of the studio from the heat of the kiln. I photographed about 20 pots this morning so I guess I'll work on editing them to list in the online shop.
This Alphabet Mug just went up. It's a first. Sort of reminds me of the Schoolhouse Rock series from my childhood.
I have decided to put all my current inventory on Etsy. I had been keeping my showroom pots and craft fair pots separate from the Etsy inventory. I was worried about keeping up with it all but I have realized that most everything needs to go into the Shop. That way it's available for folks to see and buy. If I go to a show I can take my iPad and if I sell a pot there then I can easily take it off of Etsy.
I shot about 20 pots this morning and will put them online over the rest of the week. I've got about that many more to photograph. So I should have almost 200 pots in the shop very soon. Plus there will be a glaze load coming out in the next week too! Wow! Pots galore. Which is wonderful because I have shows coming up.
Last month I asked Hannah if she would mind doing a bit of pottery shopping for me at the Hatfield show. She was kind enough to pick up two pots for me made by the potter Jean-Nicolas Gerard. He lives in France and I love his pottery.
I had my breakfast in this sweet amber bowl of Jean-Nicolas'.
Hannah also picked out this oval jug for me. It's a great, squattly little pot with a very nice spout and thick comfortable handle.
I love the way Jean-Nicolas handles the clay. Very casually, with attention to detail. Not fussy with bold lines and marks. I also have a small cup of his that I got a few years ago. Hopefully I'll visit him someday at his home and studio.
It's been a good day, a good weekend as a whole.
I got around to listing some new pots in the shop today. Five new mugs along with some jars. More to come tomorrow.
I really like this Cat mug. It's a nice size, 10 fl. oz. Great for tea. I don't always take the time to wax out the handle like I did here. That contrast is really cool and I should do that more often.
These tall vases should be ready to decorate tomorrow. I'll be putting some long flowers on them and probably a long neck bird.
Sarah and I had a nice time out last night. Dinner and a show.
These lads were in town. I had heard their music before but never seen them live. Glad I got the chance before they split up or something crazy like that happens.
I shot some photos for the Etsy shop today. Hopefully get them listed over the weekend.
I guess I shot about 15 in all. That's 5 shots for each pot so about 75 photos. I can do it all pretty quickly now. I've been setting up out in the shed and shooting w. natural light. It seems to be working much better than when I was inside using bulbs.
I don't think I've mentioned it on here but we have been getting some work done in the house. We are adding a full bath and guest room.
The space was existing but was not being put to good use. So we have broken down and hired my brother in law, who is a carpentar, to do the work. It's going to be nice, but it's costing quite a bit more than I expected. So long new camper top for the truck and my new craft show booth construction has been halted in mid stream (I haven't mentioned that I was doing that either). It will be nice for us to have a place for guests when they come to visit. We have sort of an open concept type layout here, not your typical 3 bedroom style house.
Sarah is branching out in her job. She is a psychotherapist. She is going to start taking clients in Charlotte one day a week. It's pretty exciting for her. She's really great at what she does. Over the weekend she put together her website. Click HERE to check it out. Of course I helped. :-)
Have a good weekend everyone.
Just a quick video I shot today. Thanks for watching.
Just unloaded a glaze kiln. Here is the Owl dish that I used the wax technique on. It came out just fine but it does seem a good bit different to me than the carved work. First off there's the obvious residual slip from the waxing. I didn't try and clean this up too much before the bisque because I wanted to see how I liked it with some of that left on. It's 'okay' , not my favorite thing though. The big difference to my eye is that the surface is so flat. I didn't realize how much the carved surface contributed to the finished pot. It allows the glaze to have some high and low points and therefore reflect light in a nice way. This pot that was waxed has none of that.
So that said, I'm not sure how much more I'll move on with this. After a couple tries now it just doesn't seem to be 'my thing' for 'my pots.'
I had an order for a tall jar with possum, chicken, and cow images. Here are two that I made. The one on the right will be the one that goes. It's got the best cow.
More plates from the firing. All these will be going up on Etsy this week.
I had a good, full day in the studio. I knocked out the decoration on about 25 pots. Mostly Clothesline patterns but a few other things as well. I'll press on with more tomorrow with hopes of getting a full kiln load ready by the weekend.