Cooler=Better

What a difference 30 deg made.  The glaze is softer looking and no blisters.  I am happy it was a good firing.  No seconds.  Lots of good plates and a few large serving pieces.

I am off to take these to the show now.  I did snap some pics as I unloaded and I'll put them up later.  I had some funny colorful pots in here, just 3, a bit of a new deco technique for me.

Check back this evening for more.

No Memory

I am pretty much all set up at the Arts Council.  Still waiting on a few things out of the kiln.  I took my camera so I could take a pic, but guess what??  No memory card.  Doy-ee.  So that will have to wait until tomorrow.  For today's viewing pleasure I'll put up a picture of our housekeeper.

Man she's a hottie!

I totally forgot to post any of the new pots from the last firing.  Now they are boxed up ready to go to the Treasures show.  I'll take some pics after I set up today.

Yesterday I glazed the last load of pots and reloaded the kiln.  I inlayed some of the drawings with a black stain.  You can see what it looks like there as I sponge it off.  I've got a few tests in this kiln that I'm looking forward to showing.  I guess I'll unload tomorrow.  I fired a half cone cooler this time.  I've been experiencing some blistering of my glaze.  I also did a 10 min soak at the end.  I'm worried that the pots at the bottom of the kiln may be slightly underfired.  We'll see I guess.

In non pottery related news:
I'm quite behind on the music scene these days.  Yesterday I was turned on to Lily Allen.   I'm liking her quite a lot.  I emailed Gary and he confirmed that she is indeed noteworthy. (if Gary says it's cool it's COOL)

I'm reading Coraline (Be sure to watch the trailer) .  It's been made into a movie ya know.  Can't wait for that.  I love the button eyes....scary.  Oh right, Neil Gaiman wrote the book.

Treasures of the Earth Show

The 14th Annual Treasures of the Earth pottery show and sale opens this Thursday at the Cleveland County Arts Council

The opening will be from 5:30 until 7:30.  It's a great event with many good friends and lots of food and drink.  Come out if you can.  The Arts Council is at 111 S. Washington St.  Shelby NC.

I've been doing this show since the first year.  I can remember setting my work up there and how nervous I was to be putting things out for the public to see.  Now I look forward to it every year as it's my first show of the season and I always have brand new work, just out of the kiln.

Come on out it should be a blast.  The show runs through March 12th.

Gone Missing

I've mis-placed my wallet.  It's very aggravating.  I remember having it Thursday night.  I got my library card out of it and renewed all my materials on line.   I didn't leave the house on Friday until that evening and by then I had noticed it was not on the end table by the couch or on my desk.  So it's got to be around here somewhere.  Agggggrrrrrrhhhh.

Last year I found Karma out in the yard chewing on it.  For now my theory is that she's carried it outside and dropped it somewhere.  I've looked all around out there.  I've looked in the trash too and the laundry and under the couch.

Well it will turn up.  I guess.

BTW, there was no money in it.

I'll have some new pots up to show tomorrow.

Here's the last jar I made for this cycle.  (Just in case you didn't read earlier, those orange marks are ink and will burn away)

Wetter Drawing.

I wanted to post a short video clip of this jar, but I can't figure out how to upload a video to WP.  Maybe I need a plugin.  ??

Anyhow, I drew on this jar while it was still fairly wet.  Nice deep lines.  Good for this scale I think. Not sure if I'm finished yet or not.  I may add more to that checker pattern.

I have a couple more of these to do.  Fun Friday.

Morning Glazing

I made it into the studio earlier than usual this morning so that I could get a load of pots glazed and back into the kiln.  It's not a full load, mostly wide bowls and trays.  Above you see my little containers of dot glaze.  I have a few more but the amber and green are the main ones I use.

I did have a bit of a mix up yesterday.  Or a potential one.  I had made fresh batches of slip and glaze a few days ago, but failed to label the buckets.  Duh! Bad move.  They are both similar in color and consistency.  I was 99% sure I knew which was which, but since I'm a bit obsessive I decided to check them out by running a quick test kiln last night.  I WAS right, but I'm glad I didn't risk it.

Below are a couple of pots I demoed for my class last week.  Good ole slip trailing.  I've got these two in the kiln too.All for now.  Have a groovy Friday.

Moving Forward (I hope)...

Today was spent decorating all the pots I had under plastic from the last few days.  I did make a few pots too, but most of my time was spent coming up with ideas for plates and cups and such.  Above you see my table all laid out with my tools, a comforting cup of tea, sketch books, and pots in progress.  I think it was good that I unloaded a fresh group of pots this morning before beginning this deco. cycle.  I was able to see on the new pots areas that I thought needed work.  I found as I went along today that I was letting go of each pot as a precious object.  I have to be willing to take risks and try new things if I want this work to grow.  Some of these may even get a wash of underglaze color when they are bone dry.  All will get black stain inlay.

The fish tray above has the fish drawn in with the wire tool.  Then I used a razor to make incisions that are very fine and narrow.  Two very different lines.

Below....falling irons...

I also used a fine cogged roller to draw some lines.  A new technique for me.

I have lots more to show but most everything has clay burrs all over them.  Oh, and that orange color you see is ink.  I used it today to help me along with planning my deco.  What!? Me planning?  I'm really trying you see.

A Few Pots

I unloaded just a while ago.  Pleased that everything came out in good shape.  I have another load in the bisque now.  I think I'm going to inlay black stain on almost all the pots in the next glaze load.  I'd like to dirty up the surface a bit.  I'm also testing some new colors for accents.  I tried my hand at some underglaze painting on a few pieces.  I don't think I'll pursue this much but it was fun.  I'll post more later.  Now back to the studio.

BTW all these pots are for the upcoming Treasures of the Earth show which opens at the Cleveland County Arts Council next week.

Breakfast

I whipped us up a special breakfast this morning. I got the recipe off the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day website.

Served up on dishes by  Michael Kline (left) and Randy Johnston.

You Complete Me

That is what these mugs said to their handles and the plates said to their feet today.  All these pots had been under plastic for daaaaays.



The kiln is firing at this moment.  I had a big morning of messes, mixing glaze, spilling a cup of stain all over my glaze notebook, and then pouring hot wax all over the floor.  In the end all the pots had a coat of glaze and the loading was a breeze.

So...new pots out in a few days.

I have a full day tomorrow with a board meeting at the Arts Council, a meeting with some Circle members and then on to teach.  I'm gonna try and make one more mess by mixing up a fresh batch of slip in the morning.

New Kitchen Tool

Sarah bought me a KitchenAid Stand Mixer for Christmas.  I had been saying for years how I wanted one but once I got it I thought, "What am I gonna do with this thing?"  I just didn't see me using it as much as I would a large capacity food processor.  So, I asked her if I could take the mixer back and she said "Yes" rolling her eyes as she went on to tell me how hard I was to buy for. Ha. That's true.

So I finally got the processor I wanted this weekend.  We've already made a big batch of hummus and today I made some pizza dough.  I know the stand mixer would have been the charm for all my dough needs, but I only make pizza dough and bread dough, and the bread dough is mixed in the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day method and doesn't hardly take any mixing at all.  I just don't bake many things and I have a hand mixer for whipping eggs and such.

I'm thinking I'm gonna grate some cabbage soon for coleslaw....

Friday, it's Friday. Hooray!

Hey there all you monkeys (and I mean that in the nicest possible way).

Friday is here.  Well it's mostly gone, but it's been a good day.  I helped my father in law install an underground fence for his dog today.  We put in about 1600 ft of wire.  That dog will have lots of room to run and play.

So I'm pretty whipped and I got nothing done in the shop today.  No worries though because this weekend I'll get my pots out of the biscuit, get them glazed and fired and I'll be a really happy monkey.

I'm gonna try and get Sarah to help me shoot a little video of the slab bowl with the cool foot too.

Here are two pics of me decorating.  Maybe I'll get a call from some hand modeling agencies.  Ha!

Later.

Loose foot and drywall in the closet

Today was productive in a few ways.  I got in the shop before lunch and made a run of dinner plates (9), and got some slabs on plaster.  I was inspired by Marky Mark , Doug's pal, to quickly make this little dish.  I draped the slab on a plaster mold, gave it a spin on the banding wheel and cut the rim into place.  I then made a doughnut and threw the foot on. (Still on the banding wheel)  I love the looseness of this foot.  I'd like to get that on my regular plates.  It's much different than a cut foot. 



I headed to town for some errands after lunch.  I picked up the drywall for the upstairs closet while I was out. My dad, brother in law and neighbor came over and helped me get it hung.  It went up quick with all the good help.  I still have to finish screwing it off and I won't starting finishing it until we hang the rest in the stair well.  (which is almost all framed in)  Boy, Sarah is sure gonna be surprised when she gets home tonight!

I sent in my application for Penland today too.  I sure hope I get the class I want.  I've not had much luck with that place in the past.

AND....I have supper already.  Rock on!

Heat 'em up.

I've got the bisque preheating.  These cups were all pretty damp so I layed them over.  (I don't know if that helps or not).  Anyhow good to know that in a few more days I'll have a glaze load coming out.  Lots of plates in this load.

I did some painting w. underglazes on a few bowls.  I liked it, but I have to be careful because I'll be making pots that are too much like Ronnie the Rat.

Worked more this evening on framing upstairs.  I'm framing in the stairwell now.  Tomorrow I'm gonna hang some drywall.  Yea!

Teacher's Pots

Awhile back Gary Rith asked me how I knew Clary Illian  and today he asked about Linda Christensen.  Here's my response (and then some more I just added at the end)

<<Hey Gary, You asked about Clary Illian a while back and now Linda. When I started making pots in 1992 I met a few well known potters, Will Ruggles and Douglass Rankin, Michael Simon and Ron Meyers. I also discovered Warren Mackenzie early on. I saw from these folks pots the kind of pots I wanted to make. So for several years I attended conferences and went to workshops where I could see these folks make pots and listen to them tell their stories. I’ve had workshops with Linda C., Clary, Will and Douglass, and Mary Law as just to name a few.   I’ve seen Warren work several times, as well as Ron Meyers (I’m sort of a groupie with Ron, I’ll go anywhere to see him work), Michael Simon, Randy Johnston, Jeff Oestrich, and many others. You prob. see a pattern here. Most of these folks are from the Leach/Hamada ’school’.
Anyhow by now I’ve visited most of these folks at their homes and studios and gotten to know some of them rather well and some only in a small way. We have LOTS of good pots in the house. Lucky for me I knew a good pot when I saw one back in ‘92. I’m still trying to impart some of the qualities of these pots into my own. It’s nice to have so many to live with and to teach me.>>

After writing Gary I set the table up with a bunch of pots from around the house.  These are my teachers. The people who made these are the potters mentioned above, plus a few extras.  I love using the pots we have.  There are some of these that are show pieces, but we have tons of bowls, mugs and plates that I can study while using them.  I feel like over the years their qualities just seep into place with me.  I've never made pots to become well known or rich or whatever.  I fell in love with pots because they were beautiful and useful.  I have always just wanted to be the local potter, putting pots in folks homes.  I have enjoyed getting pots further out in the world and getting to know more and more people and potters who's work inspires me.  It's a journey and I guess I have a long road to travel (hopefully) to learn to make the best pots I can at any given time.

There's a man who has helped me and encouraged me more than any of the folks above though.  He is a potter from Seagrove, North Carolina who I met early on after I started making pots.  He took me in like a son and has always been there for me to help with pottery related things as well as personal things.  His name is Tom Gray.  And he'll get a post all to himself.

A 'Lid' of Tea

I just learned a couple of weeks ago what the 'lid' in "Score a lid", means.

Of course I knew it had to do with drugs but me, Mr. Naive, thought it had to do with cocaine or something.

A more experienced person (who was born at least 15 10 yrs before me) told me it was a measure of marijuana used by dealers.  So he could get a "lid" of grass for say,  $15.  My source said that during his time the lid was a standard mayonnaise jar lid.  Okay. So much for drug trivia.

Above you see that I prefer to partake in less controversial and perfectly legal substances.  This is ginseng tea.  It's oolong tea covered in ginseng powder.  My friend Amy once said after drinking this tea, "This must be what doing drugs is like!"  Sweet Amy.  She's right though, this is gooooood stuff.

So I have a lid of tea there.  That should last me many days, with multiple infusions, and cost about 10 cent a cup.

Man, you just never know what I'm gonna put up here on the blog, heh?  Well maybe later I'll post some pots.  Oh, now for another cup.  (I'm not addicted to this stuff you know)

[Cup by Linda Christensen]

Border Patrol

Karma caught this intruder trying to come over our border today.  Luckily there was no breech.    The intruder eventually moooved away.  I don't think she was ever very frightened.

(We live just down the road from a livestock barn, so we often get stray cows and goats wandering around here. )

Deco. and Veggie Burgers

Sarah shot some more images of me drawing on pots today.  I've easily got a kiln load of pots made now.  I'll fire a bisque this week and have new pots out by this time next week.

I've been looking for a good veggie burger recipe.  I've had a few good veggie burgers at resturants over the years.  The most recent was a hempseed and millet based one at The Laughing Seed in Asheville, NC.

I've made a decent chickpea pattie in the past.  But it wasn't what I was looking for.  Last week I made a terrible concoction of a millet based 'burger'.  It had carrot and shredded beet in it.  It looked like raw meat in the bowl and unfortunately still looked that way after cooking.  Plus it was mushy.

Today for lunch I made these patties.  I used sauteed cremini mushrooms, onion, green chilie, crumbled temph, and an egg.  Plus some soy, salt and pepper. Oh and some crumbled crackers (didn't have any breadcrumbs).   So they were pretty good on a bun with some avacado, spinach and sprouts.  Still searching though.  This is getting close.

Tomorrow is a big day!  I'm gonna be glued to the television.

Serving Bowls

Man, there's nothing like glistening white slip on pots.