Pots in Use.

Michael Kline has these pics up on his blog this morning.  Ha. I'm not exactly sure what's going on here but those hamsters guinea pigs look cute on that plate of mine.

If you have some of my pottery I'd love for you to send me an image of it in use.  You can email me at ronpots2 at yahoo dot com

I'll post the images here on the blog.

5 Good Hours

I had 5 hours of wet clay time in the studio today.  Sometimes 5 focused hours can be more productive than 8 hrs of mucking around.  I happy with what I got made.  The plan is to make as much as I can today and tomorrow and then play catch up (chasing plastic).

Getting the clay prepped takes up a good amount of time. In the old days a 'ball boy' would have balled the clay and brought it to the wheel for the thrower.  Of course I'm a one man operation so I don't have that luxury.  Below is clay prepped for plates and mugs that I'll make in the morning.

All this is in preparation for my Holiday Sale which is the weekend after Thanksgiving and the first weekend in December.  I also want to keep some pots back to put up on Etsy.

Squirrels

I had a good laugh with a couple who came in the booth on Saturday.  The wife noticed how some of my squirrels reminded her of an Eddie Izzard skit.  They asked if I knew who Eddie Izzard was and I said yes that Sarah and I love his comedy.  Here's a bit of Eddie's squirrel act. (rated R for language).

So funny.

Folks like to tell me how much they either love or hate certain animals. Squirrels especially.  I like squirrels myself.  I think they are pretty amazing acrobats and survivalists.  Sure they may raid your bird feeder, but if you put a big pile of cheeseburgers out in your yard everyday I'd sure be over there!  And I know they destroy wiring and insulation and such too, but come on man, you're a human, surely you can figure out a way to keep them out of your attic. (Maybe not, squirrels, or their ancestors, have been around longer than us)

Anyhow, it's cool to be making things that people are drawn to and that they relate to in some way.  I even had a lady tell me, I'm gonna buy my husband a squirrel mug just to torture him.  True love.

The CPF

Here's a not so great shot of my booth from yesterday.  I had one more table display set up to the left but didn't get it in the shot.  The spaces in this part of the show are long and narrow.  I kind of like it because it gives folks plenty of room to come in and look around with out getting in each others way.

Anyhow, I had a really great show.  Thanks so much to everyone who came out and bought pots and to the organizers of the event.  Thanks also to the volunteers from the Arts Council.

I sold mostly plates, bowls, and mugs.  The plate stand was a nice addition to my display and I think it brought folks in from the aisle.  My understanding was that attendence was up this year to around 2100 people.

Today I have to unpack the truck and take inventory.  I'll be back to making tomorrow in preparation for my Holiday Sale which is the Friday, Sat, and Sun after Thanksgiving as well as the first weekend in December.  If you'd like to be notified please sign up in the right side bar.  More details later.  Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Glazing.

Sarah came in and snapped a couple photos of me last night while I was glazing.  Then she went to bed.  I had too much tea and was up till 2 am.  I got some good reading in though.

I'm off to set up at the CPF today.  Show is tomorrow.  If you are in the area it's well worth coming out to the show.  Click Here for info.

Waiting

I'm waiting on this bisque kiln to cool enough for me to unload it.  Looks like I'm gonna be out here later tonight glazing pots so I can get them right back in the kiln.  I'll do a bit of a quicker firing than usual and probably unload these guys just before the show opens on Saturday morning.

I rarely push things like this to the last minute.  I never did when I salt fired.  I was usually a day or two ahead.  Oh well.  I used to kid my friends Jen and Sandy about getting pots out of the kiln at the last minute.  Now here I am...Ha.

Well not much excitement to speak of.  Bye for now.

Plate Display

This is my new plate display shelf that I built today.  It will sit up on one of my table top displays.  It holds 12 plates.  I don't have 12 plates at the moment but hopefully will have over 20 by Saturday.

Carolina Pottery Festival. Cleveland County Fairgrounds, Shelby NC
Click Here for website.
(that's one of my salt glazed teapots on the website, years ago)

Anyhow I hope you'll come out if you are in the area. It is an indoor show.  I have some really nice pots, get your holiday shopping done early!!

Pots, pots, pots

I just unloaded an nice group of bowls and cups from the kiln.  Here are the pics.

You can see I tested a blue. It's not what I was expecting so back to the drawing board on that one.

Cups. Side A

Same cups. Side B

More cups.

The Carolina Pottery Festival is Saturday at the Cleveland County Fairgrounds.  It's all indoors.  I'm gonna have a killer selection of work so I hope you'll come out and see me there.  From more info click HERE.

Good Monday

I had an amaaaazing day in the studio.  It's great what a fresh start can do.  I got all 21 of the plates drawn on this morning.  I came up with a couple of new ideas including the one above.(remember that red ink burns out)   After lunch it was a glaze a thon getting the bisque out, glazed and back in the kiln.  I finished up around 7pm.  KEXP in Seattle had Devo in the studio for an interview and played lots of good tunes. My dad stopped by too and it was cool to have him hang out in the studio with me for a bit while I worked.

I hope the rest of the week is this good.

Monday, Yey!

TGIM!  It was a bit of a stressful weekend for me.  I'm glad it's Monday and I'm here alone to work.

The voices in my head have been acting up again, mostly yesterday, telling me things aren't good enough, not original enough, that I need more of this or that, whatever.  Aggg.  Finally I took time to stop and find some quiet.  Journalling this morning helped too.  I know that I am where I am right now.  What I have to do is show up and work.  I will move forward in time.  Taking time to be good to myself and to accept where I am will give me space to allow growth.

So I will get all the blank plates decorated today.  I have a bisque coming out too so it's on to glazing after lunch.  Slowly, slowly.

Critical Mass

The studio is reaching critical mass.  If something doesn't happen soon I expect a vortex will open up in there and suck all this away.  I can't stand for it to get this cluttered, with pots in all stages.  I did manage to get all my cups and some bowls drawn on today.  The plates didn't get footed though.  Well there is always tomorrow, and I'll be glazing a load to go in the kiln, which will free up some shelf space.

I didn't get much time in the studio today because I drove an order of pots to Pottery 101 in Salisbury, NC.  It was good to get them there because my work had dwindled way down.  If you are in that area be sure to drop by.  It's a really nice space and the owner, Cheryl, is first rate.  Located at 101 Main Street in Salisbury.

Roast chicken in the oven for dinner tonight!!

Drawing

I started working out some new images in my journal over the past week or so.  I'm shifting my style around to see what I can come up with.  The eyes of my animals have been a concern for a while now.  I stopped doing the cartoony, googlie eyes back in the summer and those were replaced with a dot for the eye.  Now I'm working on some that go beyond the dot, but aren't too realistic nor cartoony.  I am also doing a bit of stippling on the bodies and putting a different energy into the lines that make up the drawing.  I think I need to be drawing more every day, the more that happens the better things get. (hopefully)

New Star in the House

Today this amazing plate arrived at our house.  It's made by Steven Colby and I've wanted a pot of his for a while now.  (I stole this image off Steven's site because the photo I took just didn't do it justice).

I have no idea how Steven does what he does with his surface (and believe me I've scrutinized his process photos on his website!).  He's really a master at layering slip and glaze and whatever else is going on there.

I get the impression that Steven puts a lot of effort into each pot and the end result certainly shows that.   It's very inspiring to me and makes me want to continue to push myself in my work.

Visit Steven Colby's website HERE.

On Schedule

I got my 21 plates made. What's next? Bring it on.

Speaking of plates, I have a little something special to show.  You have to wait till later though.

Tomorrow is Plate Day.

Hopefully by lunchtime tomorrow I'll have each of these pugs made into a plate.

Finishing up the pots for the Carolina Pottery Festival.  I have a couple teapots and jars to make after the plates and then it's on to the next lists (an order for Southern Pottery Gallery and pots for my Holiday Home Sale).

Busy, busy.

Relaxing after a juicy cheese burger from my favorite drive in, Taste-T, in Shelby.  Sarah is out with a girlfriend so it's just me and Karma, the cats and The Raveonettes.

Unloading the Kiln

Unloaded a nice group of pots from the kiln this morning.  Many of these pots will go to Pottery 101 in Salisbury, NC.

I loaded a small bisque load so I can keep things rolling along.  More drawing to do today and hopefully I'll get some bowls and cups made.

Vincent van Squirrel

Looks like I left off an ear here.  Oops.  And that line under the chin.  That's a problem with inking in the layout, sometimes it's easy to over look a line (or ear)

Quick Update

Hi folks.  Sorry for the absence.  Lots on the 'To Do' list around here and the blogging has suffered a bit.  I have pots in all stages in the studio right now.  I'll  be glazing today.  Hopefully all the pots that are under plastic can hold out until tomorrow to be footed or drawn upon.

I had a great meeting with some of my pottery pals yesterday morning.  Julie Wiggins, Jen Mecca, Amy Sanders and I met for breakfast and had a chat about what we had each been up to.  We are all really active in the pottery field right now and very excited about the work we are making.  It's great to have such supportative friends who share the same passions and are moving along similar paths.  I'd be up for meeting for pancakes and pottery talk with this group more often, but don't think I could stand the extra calories.

Well I hope you all have a Happy Halloween!  I'll be sending out an e mail announcement of coming events soon, so if you haven't signed up to be on the email list you can do so over in the right sidebar.    I hope to have an online sale in the Etsy shop before December so be sure to sign up if you want to be notified.  Thanks!!

Bluebird workhorse

This is the list I'm currently working on.  These pots are for the Carolina Pottery Festival which is Nov. 14th.  here in Shelby.  I'm moving right on through the list thankfully.

I decided about a month ago to forgo mixing clay this fall and winter and use a commercial blend.  It's from Highwater Clays and called Stan's Red.  I had gone through 500 lbs of it back in late summer and liked it a lot.  I'm pretty sure it's named after Stanley Mace Anderson.  My slip and glaze fit it well and I like the color of the bare clay.   I ordered a ton a couple weeks ago, so I'm pretty well stocked.

Below is my little workhorse!  I bought this Bluebird 440 pugmill very early on in my pottery career.  My mentor, Tom Gray, recommended it and I've never regretted spending the money.

I use this guy every day that I throw.  If I need to soften up my clay I just slice it up and put the slices in a bucket of water.  I pull the clay out a slice at a time  and run it through.  Just the extra bit of water on the surface of the slices is usually enough to get the clay just how I like it.  I can also stiffen up clay by putting it in a bucket with fireclay or ball clay and running it through.  (Tom taught me the trick with the water, and I saw Warren Mackenzie doing the trick w. the dry clay).

I use this machine for reclaim too.  All my scraps go in 5 gallon buckets of water.  When it's all good and wet I move the slop to old bisque fired bowls lined with a scrap of sheet.  The clay  sits there until it firms up and then I run that through the mill with some new clay.  No waste!

I'd recommend a pugmill to anyone.  It saves time and money and your wrists.  I hardly wedge anything under 8 lbs.  I just slice the clay off the pug and smack it into a ball.

Back to the list.

Rainy Tuesday.

I had a dozen cereal bowls, some serving bowls and small dishes to draw on first thing today.  After that I felt like I really needed a nap. Ha.  Well I had some lunch first and then took a 30 min. lay down.  This rainy weather is soooo nice for napping.

After a pick me up of green tea and some chocolate, I made 4 of these 18 lb. bowls, some mugs, small jars, and more serving bowls.  These big bowls are made with really soft clay and I'll probably put them back on the wheel tomorrow and throw them out a bit more.