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Preview Up

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Below is a preview of some of the Year of the Rabbit pots that will go on sale this Thursday.  I have a few mugs in the kiln and another plate.  There are a couple more tankards too.  It's hard to get a good full shot of the mugs and tankards but you'll get the idea.  There will be multiple views of each pot when it goes online Thursday.  For now, click the images below for larger more complete image.

[gallery link="file" order="DESC" columns="2" orderby="title"]

To go to my Online Shop click HERE.

Working in the Warmth

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I had a great day in the studio today.  The kiln shut off early this morning so the studio was at about 80 degrees when I went in.  So nice not to be in a cold space.  I made some serving bowls and tankards, yunomis, some tall footed bowls and a jar that I thought up while going to sleep the other night.

No pics of any of that though.  You get to see pots all the time here so I thought I'd do a little selection of images from around the workshop.  Click for larger images.

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I feel like I'm getting back in the swing of things.  I have a few glaze tests in this load that I'll get to see tomorrow.  Until then..

Tuesday. It's no Snow Day for Me.

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Today feels like another day in Limbo for me.  Anytime we get any trace of  snow fall things pretty much come to a stand still in Cleveland County.  We had more than a trace Sunday night.  I think we had about 5" here which has now been topped with ice from last nights frozen rain.


I guess I still feel like I did when I was a kid and school was out because of the snow.  That meant I just got to lay around the house, read a book, drink cocoa, go out and romp around.  Basically do Nothing.  I can't really do that now as I have realized that I have quite a few pottery commitments on the near horizon.

So yesterday, after a bit of sledding with Sarah, I hit the studio and knocked out a few boards of pots. (see above image).   If I can add another 8 pots to that today then I'll have one order completed.

Sarah was off work yesterday and will be home today too.  She has been invited to a trunk show at a local gallery in Feb. so she's been at her jewelry bench working away.  It's great to have her home and in her studio.  We were both full time artists for many years and had a nice routine of working here at home together.  It's great when we can revisit that time.  Yesterday we had lunch together and then a short nap before both returning to our studios.


You'll see in that photo below that we have an antique sled.  My cousins and I 'borrowed' a couple Coca Cola signs one year when we were kids from a local store.  I was spending the weekend with them and we had a big snow.  We didn't have a sled so we found what we could.  That thing would probably be worth a little bit of money if we had not later used it as target practice with our pellet guns and ruined the paint job.


Here's a sneak preview of an unfinished Year of the Rabbit dish.  This shows the rough layout done in pencil.  I think I have 2 that are this size plus a few mugs and tankards and a few smaller plates.  These are going up on Etsy on Jan. 20th.



Short Video

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Super quick clip of me working on a cup.  I'll try and do a better one with some close ups tomorrow.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaB-1dOd_PY

Also stay tuned for a preview of the Year of the Rabbit pots, they are almost ready to fire!

Wheels are Rolling

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I 'm happy to say that Sarah and I both are feeling better.  I hope that's it for my getting sick for the year!

I've slowly worked my way into the studio this week.  I threw out some junk and tidied up a bit yesterday.  I had a couple of boards of greenware that had been sitting for ages that I decided to recycle.

I have started decorating the Year of the Rabbit pots!!


I got really excited after I got the first one done!  More to knock out today and tomorrow.  These will go up on January 20th in the Online Store.  I'll try and give you another peek as I go.

I will also have a few Valentine's Day pots up.

My pal, Brad Lail, and I went to the Mint Museum on Tuesday to see an exhibit of contemporary British Ceramics.  I left my camera in the truck! so no pics.  I think I'll be going back though.  There were some really nice John Maltby trays that I want to see again.

Today I'm meeting the Thrown Together crew for lunch.  We'll be talking about our Spring Sale among other things.

So the wheels are starting to roll now.  I'll be full on track by Monday for sure.  Thanks for checking in.  I'm looking for ward to posting more often.

First Monday 2011

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Hello folks.  I have been under the weather for several days now but thought it would be good to get online and touch base here on the ole blog.


I want to thank everyone for continuing to come around and read what I put up here.  It's going on 6 years now that I've been blogging.  Hopefully I can come up with some fresh material in 2011.

Twenty-ten was a really good year for me and my work.  I'm so grateful to be able to make pots and have a job that I love doing. I've also been blessed with a loving wife, a great family, a nice place to live, food and clothing and many friends.  I don't take any of that for granted.

Sarah had a severe sinus infection all last week and I came down with bronchitis and high fever.  Sarah is almost back to normal and I went to the doctor yesterday so I should be up and going in 3 days or so.  I rarely get sick (knock on wood) so when I come down with something it really makes me see how good it is to be well.


As far as Pots go, my Year of the Rabbit Ware is ready to be decorated.  I plan to get that done this week and get everything fired.  I plan to have those pots in the Online Shop by January 2oth.

I'm also going to make a few special pots for Valentine's Day.  These may go up around the same time as the Year of the Rabbit pots.

Well that's all for now.

Peace and Happiness to you all in 2011.

Doug Fitch and Hannah McAndrew Workshop

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Many of you know Doug and Hannah from their blogs.  I met them both here on the internet some 5 or so years ago.

I'm happy to announce that they will both be coming to the US in April, 2011!!!


Jugs made by Hannah McAndrew





I have planned a one day demonstration workshop for them here in Shelby, NC.

The date is April 23rd, 2011.  The workshop will be held at the Cleveland County Arts Council in historic downtown Shelby.

If you are interested in receiving information on this workshop please send an email to

ronpots2 <at> yahoo <dot> com

with Workshop in the Subject line.  As soon as I get my registration forms together I will send them out to you.  (Hopefully in the next week or so).

Jug by Doug Fitch


Cost will $85 per person for the workshop.




This is a great chance to meet Hannah and Doug and see them make and decorate their pots right in front of your eyes.  It should be a really fun day.  I can't wait for them to get here!!

If you'd like to learn more about Doug Fitch visit these sites:

HERE

or HERE

For more on Hannah:

Click HERE for website or HERE for Hannah's blog

or HERE for her online Store.

Let me know if you belong to a guild or group of potters who would like to receive information on this workshop.  Tell your potter friends too.  Thanks!!!

Back to making some pottery

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Just a short clip of what I made today after lunch.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZKU3d3MoFE

I'm looking forward to getting my Year of the Rabbit pots decorated.  I'll be focusing on those as well as a group of pots that will be going to Lillstreet Art Center Gallery.

It's time to apply for some shows for 2011.  Tomorrow I'll be going through my photos and hopefully knocking out the application for Art in the Park which is in Blowing Rock NC.  There is a show there each month May (I think) through October.

Here I Am

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Things here are still pretty busy as some of Sarah's family are still in town.  Really it won't wind down till after New Year.

Christmas was extra special this year.  It snowed!  I've never had a white Christmas so it was neat to have a big wet snow on Christmas day.  We didn't have our usual sleet/freezing rain mixture to ruin it either.  It's all melting away now but it was beautiful while it lasted.



I got a Mac laptop for Christmas.  It's pretty cool.  I'm having an adjustment period though.  I'll get used to it.  The Macbook doesn't have an SD card slot which is disappointing.  I have a USB card reader but it's just one more thing to keep up with.  Also I need to decide what program to use for editing and saving my images.  I use a cheap program on my PC now that is so quick and easy.  I'm gonna miss it, I guess until I figure something out on the Mac.


I've decided to wait until just before the Chinese New Year to release the Year of the Rabbit pots.  I have a few more to make.  I want to have some backups to try some designs on.


So today there will be a bit of work out in the studio.  I still have to get it all back in working mode.


I have some good ideas for future blog posts and hopefully I'll shoot some video soon too.  Maybe with the new computer I can jazz up the videos some.


All for now.

Year of the Rabbit Pots

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I mentioned in my last post that I had something in mind for the New Year.  I'll tell ya what it is but first I have to tell you how it came about.

Some years ago I saw some pots online that had been made to commemorate the millennium.   Below is a millennium tankard made by Clive Bowen that is shown on The Pottery Studio's site.


I was disappointed that I hadn't thought to make any Millennium pots!  Ever since then I've wondered what I could do that would be like that.  So just last week I realized that 2011 is the year of the rabbit according to the Chinese Calendar and I've been drawing some rabbits on my pots recently so why not make some pots specifically for the Year of the Rabbit.

Today I threw the pots.


The plan is to get these finished and decorated with special Rabbit decoration and to include the year 2011 in the design.  There will be a limited number of these and I'll put them on sale in my Etsy shop.  I have never really done any commemorative work before.  Slipware pots certainly have a history in commemorating special events so it seems appropriate that I should pursue this a bit.

I'm really excited to do this and I want to finish them ASAP.  My question is this.  Should I wait and offer them when the actual Chinese new year happens on February 3rd or  should I get them out on Jan. 1st??  Either way I thought I'd fire them just as the new year was coming in, so overnight on Dec. 30th or Feb. 2nd.  I think that makes them a bit more special.

This is also something I could do again in a year. 2012 is the year of the dragon!! Wow!!

I'm looking forward to seeing what I come up with for the rabbit deco and overall design. It's fun to have some sort of project to work on here during this time when I have no major commitments such as shows.

Stay tuned, maybe you'll get a sneak peek as these get finished up.

Relays and Rabbits

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Working on something special for the first of the New Year.  Stay tuned.


I replaced the relays in my kiln today. No biggie. Just take a wire off the old relay one at a time. Plug it into the new relay before moving on to the next wire.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUPCHH_fb6s

I ended up not replacing those wires.  It looks to me like they are exactly the same as the 'new/upgraded' ones they sent and the existing ones look they are in fine shape to me.  So I may send those new ones back.

We are off to a party later.  I am looking forward to seeing folks and being in a festive mood. I just made these cheese shortbread snacks. More still in the oven.




Yum.  I am taking those and some pickled okra.  I hope you've all had pickled okra before, if not just come on over sometime and we'll open a jar.

Well that's it for now.

Sunday Afternoon Project

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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWAYnpje3jw


httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6iDto6SwPk


Glad to get that done and when Sarah gets home she'll be thrilled.  She's only been waiting for me to do that for a few months.


I've decided to keep this Pig Plate for myself so I removed it from my  Etsy shop.



It was a toss up between it and the Chicken Plate with the Amber glaze.



I'm itching to get back to work in the studio.  Hopefully this week I'll make a few pots.  First on the list will be some cups and then I'm going to make a board of wine chillers/utensil holders.


2 More Comments

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I just realized that I had 2 comments pending approval for the post I did on Etsy.

Click HERE to go directly to that post if you'd like to read these two comments.

One is from Wadiefong dated 11/28/10 at 6:19pm

The other is from Cynthia dated 11/28/10 at 9:24 pm

Both are a bit lengthy but have some really honest and helpful information.

Thanks Wadiefong and Cynthia, sorry I didn't see these until now.

100th Sale and Other Stuff

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Hey there. I've been off my blogging routine for awhile I guess.  It's sometimes hard to know what to put up here when I haven't been working out in the studio.

I did get out there today to finally draw on that run of cups I made a while back.  They are in the bisque now.

I had my 100th sale on Etsy today!!! Yay!  I wanted to reach 100 before the end of the month.  I was actually sort of challenged to do so by my Etsy 'coach'.   Here is the box containing 4 pots that are headed up to Canada.


I have to admit since that whole big post I did on Etsy I've been trying to put way more time into my shop and it's really paying off.  I'm listing often and renewing throughout the day.  I'm featuring new pots every few hours and posting new listings on my Facebook page. (Not everyone of them but enough to keep it fresh in people's minds)


Tonight I decided to list some salt glazed pots.  I have one up now and one on deck.



I really don't have that many salt glazed pots around here.  I have to say I sat here at the table and held this bottle for quite a while.  Most of my salt glazed pots were sold directly from the pottery between 1996 and 2008.  There are lots of locals around here with some nice RP pots.


I'll be posting this one later tonight.



I think I'm a salt glaze potter at heart.  It was my first pottery love so to speak.  I'm having fun doing what I'm doing now though, but who's to say I won't return to salt glazed stoneware at some point.  I do have plans to fire an earthenware salt kiln with some pals next year. (Yes, I've said that before but I'm really gonna do it this time!)


Sarah and I put up a Christmas tree this year.  It's the first one we've had in 4 or so years.  It's nice.



No presents yet.


I don't really get too excited about all this Holiday stuff. But I'm trying not to be a Scrooge this year.


Okay that's it for now.  Maybe more before the end of the week.

Making Just a Few

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I got back on the wheel yesterday for the first time in a couple weeks.  I have an order for some cups and tankards so I decided to knock those out.  It was quiet and relaxing in the studio and I think my mind was relaxed knowing that all the rush for the year is over.


I also made a jar just for the fun of it.  It's a bit of a Janet Mansfield shape.  I love Janet's woodfired, saltglazed pots.  I especially like the ones that have really got salted and look as though the surface has melted a bit in the kiln.

To continue my Love of  Socks theme I posted this mug in my online shop this morning.