A View from the Wheel

I've had two days of good productive work.  That's beside the fact that I'm not sleeping very well at night and not getting much of an early start.

Anyhow, I'm getting stocked up for the Thrown Together show which is April 30th in Charlotte.  I really hope we have a great sale.  Our guests this spring are Gay Smith and Matt Jones.

So here's a bit of video from my seat up on my treadle wheel.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6tI8a-_7ZA

Happy Monday

I made a nice dinner tonight of roasted Brussels sprouts, pan fried corn and mac and cheese (Ruggles and Rankin baker).  Yum!!  Plates by yours truly.



I picked up the summer seasonal beer from Magic Hat at the grocery today. It's called Wacko and it's beet colored.  It doesn't taste like beets thank goodness.  I had to pour it in that wine glass so you could see the color.  It's tasty.

We have planted lettuces and chard in the garden.  Also some snow peas and spinach.  I can't wait to have some home grown food and for the local farmers market to open.

Speaking of local food, my pal Brad turned me on to this website today.  It's AMAZING, I've watched the episodes on rabbits and spear fishing and making hard cider.  Check out The Perennial Plate by clicking HERE.

I'll hopefully be sharing quite a bit of what's happening in Cleveland County in the upcoming months regarding local food, small farming, and of course eating all this wonderful goodness.

Oh and I made some nice runs of pots today. Yay Monday!!

Fixed it!

Ha. Not really. Sometimes you see a not so good pot with good decoration or a good pot with bad decoration.  It's hard to get both.  I remember a person saying once that a wood firing can make a bad pot look good.  Nope. Not true.  In my case this was an opportunity to play for a  minute and not take things seriously.  Maybe I'll fire this pot and keep my brushes in it.

Thanks to everyone for thoughtful comments on the last post.  It is hard for beginning students to learn to let go or for them to see the benefits of learning to throw well.  Maybe the class is a one time thing for them, or maybe they just want to get a few pots made.  Not all students  have long term goals of becoming a proficient potter.  Some do have pretty high expectations though and that seems to get them in trouble.

I miss teaching on a regular basis.  I had a great group of students when I was at the studio in Charlotte.  I have taught week long classes a couple times at John C. Campbell Folk School in Brasstown NC.  Folks can learn so much in an intensive week long or two week long class.

I also do the occasional weekend demonstration type workshop.  Those are great. So Wadiefong if the studio you belong to wants to bring me to San Fran then I am raring to come!!!

I'm getting a late start to studio work this morning but I am hoping for a productive Monday.  I hope everyone has a great week!!

 

Ouch!

I dropped this pot on the side of the bucket after slipping it.

Just goes to show that anything can happen at any time.

Every so often I get asked to fill in and teach a pottery class when a friend of mine goes out of town.  The last time I did this I had a student ask me to show her how to make a certain kind of pot.  I did a demo for her (with others watching) and then helped her along as she made her own pot.

A short time later another student called me over and said she needed help.  She was trying to make the same pot and part way through it had gone wrong.  It wasn't totaled but it was very much off center and getting wobbly and worse the more she messed with it.

She wanted me to 'fix it'.  (Just writing that made me giggle a little).  I told her she'd be better off re-wedging that clay and starting over.  No, she didn't want to do that.  She said she had two more things she wanted to make before class ended and if she started over on this pot then she wouldn't get to the others.

So I told her, "that's the best it's gonna get."
To which she replied, "But it's not perfect."
"Nope, and it's not going to be, you've passed the part where it could have been perfect.  It's fine like it is,  if you want to keep it you should take it off now."
"Can't you fix it?"
"It would be better to just start over."
"I want to just fix this one and I want it to be better."
"It's not going to get any better, it's too late for that."

It was in pretty bad shape. It was a platter by the way, but being the softy that I am I worked on it a bit and it came out looking ....well it looked crooked and lumpy, but she settled for it. (Settled is right, she was not happy with it. Ha. It's funny, but she was dead set on not trying to make another one.)

Now there are a couple reasons I tell you all this story.  The first is that it's insane to think that something should be perfect, especially when it's the first time you've ever made it and you're not willing to give it more than one shot.  The word perfect shouldn't even be used in pottery class.  I could go on and on about this but I will not.

Here's another reason for this story.  What if the next week that student came back, unwrapped that pot from the plastic it had been under, turned around, tripped and dropped the pot?  Gone. In an instant.  Is anything lost? No. Some time.  Some clay. What to do? Make another one. And another one.

Making pottery is risk taking.  Every thing about it.  Nothing is guaranteed.  The bisque could over fire.  The glaze could run, or pinhole, or blister.  You may step on the speed pedal and there goes the pot flying across the room.  Drop the pot on the slip bucket. Boom, it's gone.

If any of it was guaranteed then it would be boring and not worth doing.  Just like making perfect pots.

 

 

More Idea Talk. Finishing up some pots.

A clip of me showing some of what I am working on and thinking about.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJH-gToJdks

Here's what I ended up doing with that last bucket shape.

And two of the oval pitchers with handles.

Just a few more pots

Another post of just photos.  You can click on each of these to see a bigger more complete image.  You'll recognize the two jars from the video and then there's the bottle too.

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

New Pots

The next few posts will probably just be images from the last firing. Enjoy.

Tray   13.5 x 12.5 x 2 "

 

 

Lunch plate

 

Mug w. Goat

Try it now.

I didn't realize that I had one of the videos in the last post set as 'private' in my Youtube settings.  Thanks to Carter for notifying me.

So it works down there now and here it is again.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pdlnAXNVqE

Working on the Jar Ideas

Below are a couple of videos of me showing some work in progress and talking about moving these pots forward.

It's good to be in this place of not knowing exactly what to do, or setting up some problems to be solved.  I feel like most of this sort of thing gets worked out in the 'doing' as opposed to the 'thinking about it'.  Both ways are valuable, but for me I have to see it in clay to really know what works best.  You'll see I did some sketching in the first video.  That's an okay jumping off point, but honestly I don't sketch pots too much.  If I do it's just to remind me of some idea that I had so that I remember to make it later.  This leads me to more thoughts but I'm saving that for the next blog post.  It will be about risk and ruining pots and so on.

For now here are the videos.

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

 

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pdlnAXNVqE

Video Tour

Here's a tour of one of our cupboards.  I had fun doing this and I'll do another one soon.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bASe9h6a60

Sorry I used the word 'nice' so much.  I didn't even notice I was doing it until I got finished and watched the video.

I didn't realize the camera timed out about 2 minutes before I finished. So I just faded out at the end.  You only missed about 3 bowls, I'll get them in next time.

Thanks for watching.  That was fun.

I can't really think of a good title.

I did a bit of writing in my journal over the past weekend about where I am with my pots right now and how I'm feeling about my work.  For the most part it was positive and hopeful.  I feel good about what I'm making and the choices I have made over the last couple years regarding the direction of my work.

Laying out drawings in pencil.

I have a desire for a small move in making some new forms.  I'd like to work on a bottle and/or vase form as well as a box/jar.  My thinking is that I'd like to have a few pots that fit into the 'collectible' category.  Pots that function but that have a bit more 'status' than say a bowl or plate.   I have mixed feelings about even saying that since for me the greatest pot out there is the Mug.

Some potters and pottery enthusiasts equate a pot's size with it being more important.  I think that is especially true here in North Carolina.  Not everyone feels this way of course and even some of the folks who make the big pots know the importance of the smaller wares and make very fine mugs and soup bowls.  (If their mugs are no good, I don't care a flip about their big pots!)

VW ad . 1959

Anyhow, I'm not planning on going the big pot route.  I am thinking more along the lines of a nice bottle or jar shape.  Probably not round.  Maybe 9-10" max height.  Hopefully with a nice marriage between the decoration and the form.

Right, so I better get to it. More on all this later. Thanks for reading.

Getting the pots decorated.

(Check in soon for a video!)

Burger Heaven

Sarah and I went into Charlotte yesterday so that I could see the Grainer Collection at the Mint one more time.  Mr. and Mrs. Grainer were actually in the gallery but I didn't go up and start handing them my business card or anything.  I got to drool over the Maltby pots again and look really close at Grayson Perry's large urns with all their insane glaze treatment, gold luster, and decals.

For lunch we went to Big Daddy's Burger Bar on East Blvd.  It was hopping! I have been wanting to go for about a year now.

I ordered the Sam I Am burger which is topped with American cheese, rosemary ham, a fried egg and pesto.  Oh my, it was heaven.  I'd had a turkey burger w. a fried egg at the Birchwood Cafe in Minneapolis a few years back and loved it, so it was good to have another. (really good...yuuummmm)



Sarah had the black bean burger with green chilies, Monterey jack cheese, avocado, and chipotle ranch.  It was really good too (even though there weren't two meats and an egg on it!!!)

Later that night, after coming back home for a bit we went out to the new Ni Fen Wine and Tapas bar in Shelby.  Jeanette Sun has been missed for some time here in this town.  It's great to have her back in this new setting.  We had some drinks and I was treated to a wonderful piece of Jeanette's tiramisu.  If you live in Shelby, or nearby, please check out Ni Fen, you'll be glad you did.

It was an awesome birthday, spent with my favorite person, my sweet wife.  I got lots of warm wishes on my FB page that really made me feel great.   Well, here's to another year in the making.

(Today: Eat my veggies)

I Ain't Dylan

Not that Dylan

I started putting the white slip on this tray today and I just couldn't help but want to trail some slip on it.  I tried to resist, saying, I need to keep this and draw on it.  Then the little voice way in the background said, Have some fun!

I only had black slip and two different whites so this is what I did.  Hum, maybe not a masterpiece but I did enjoy myself.  My favorite bit is that zig zag of white there in the bottom right.

Like I said I'm no Dylan.

Platter by Dylan Bowen

I think the hard part is knowing when to stop!

Quentin Blake says to stop before you think you should.  Good advice.

What's Happening in the Studio

Glad to be back blogging!  Here's a video I shot this afternoon  of some work in progress in the studio.  You'll see this slab vase at one point in the video and I want to note that after I shot this I went back and added a taller pot to the slab.  That first one was too short and I don't think it would have held the flowers up.  The initial reason for the shorter pot was b/c I was going to cut a window in the slab.  I decided not to do that now and I do think the taller pot will hold the flowers up better. (You'll see when you watch....)

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmxlKx83iys

 

Here's a link to Dylan Bowen's website. If you click on #18 and 19 you'll see the bottle shape like I was trying to make.  He's great with the slip action!! So much movement and energy.

Miracles Do Happen

After 12 days of not being able to access this site from home due to an AT+T server problem I am finally back!!!

AT+T did not make it easy.  I went through all kind of Techs to finally get to someone who admitted that the problem was on their end.  This took several days and I have to say I was the model of patience during the whole ordeal.  Good practice.

So I've got some catching up to do. Stay tuned.

No Access

Hey Folks,

I am having problems accessing this blog via my computer for some reason.  I am at the public library now (on a public computer).  For some reason when I try to go to my blog the server times out.  It has been doing this since Feb. 25th.  I've been on tech support with my host and my ISP several times and both have not provided me with a solution.  Sarah cannot access the site on her computer either.  Any other website comes up.  I cannot get to my site when I am at other locations on my computer either.  Like at the coffee shop or the Dairy Queen (I just pulled in to use their wi-fi).

It's been frustrating not having anyone at my host or ISP to give me a solution.  I ran a traceroute and found the IP address where everything stops.  BlueHost claims that the IP address belongs to ATT and ATT told me no, it was nothing on their end.  If I knew more maybe I could argue the point or get better results.

If anyone out there thinks they can help me you can send me an email at ronpots2 at yahoo dot com.   No need to comment here b/c it will be a few days before I come back to the library.

You can still find me on Facebook until I get this all sorted.

On a more positive note, I had a great visit with Brandon Phillips and his wife for a couple days here at our home.  They were on their way back to Texas from the ACC show in Baltimore.  It was so cool to hang out with Brandon.  I felt like we'd known each other for years.  I'll do  a more through post w. pics when I get things back running smoothly from home.

Okay. All for now.

The Headless Potter

Just a short clip of me (mostly headless) talking about clay.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S05NgPFzUA

Kiln Shed Video

Hi! Happy Wednesday.  I'm having a great day out in the workshop making some bottles and other pots.  I'll have images of that in the next day or two.

For now I wanted to show this video I shot this morning down at the kiln shed.  It shows my salt kiln and small gas kiln.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DCgHQAe4sE

I made the gradual switch from salt glazed stoneware to earthenware in the early months of 2008.  There were several reasons that I changed my work and I think I've talked about this a little before.

One of my very early influences and one of my heroes to this day is Ron Meyers from Athens, Georgia. Ron makes amazing earthenware pots and from the first time I saw him make pots I knew that one day I'd try to make some red pots with some sort of imagery on them.  That desire has always been inside me, to make pots with drawings or painting or what not.  I just never knew how, not until I threw myself into a new body of work.

Another reason for going to low fire earthenware was rising fuel costs.  My salt kiln is built from hard brick and is fired with propane.  It takes a while to heat up all those brick and with the cost of propane rising I dreaded firing the kiln.  It was costing me somewhere just over $200 per firing.  Of course, if I'd been selling plenty of pots then that wouldn't have been such a big deal.  But I think in my mind I was ready to try something new so it all came together.

Switching to a lower temperature and firing in an electric kiln solved the fuel cost issue.  I also found that I enjoyed having a quick turnaround in a small kiln.  This was good as I was learning to work with the new clay and glazes.  I wasn't putting so many pots at risk in a larger kiln with each firing.

As far as switching to a new body of work goes I feel like I'm still moving along in this stream that is decorated earthenware pots.  I certainly could have started decorating my stoneware salt glazed pots, but I had worked in that way for so long that I just felt that I needed to start totally fresh and let go of my old ideas of what I 'should' or 'shouldn't' do.  It was basically starting fresh, new materials, new firing, new decoration.  I already knew how to make the pots, so I didn't have to change my forms.  If anything, earthenware is so much more forgiving than stoneware.  Plates didn't warp and I had no cracking issues or anything of the sort (not that I had ever had too much of a problem).

So that's it in a nutshell.  I may talk more about it again later.  If you have any comment or questions feel free to leave them in the Comments section.  I love to hear from you all!

Ouch!

I was in too much of a hurry to unload the kiln today and suffered a bit of burn. OUCH!

Here are just a few pots from the firing. Most of the kiln was loaded with bowls made by other people for an upcoming fundraiser.

These pots, along with some older salt glazed pots, will be going up on Etsy soon.

This weekend I am attending a workshop with Sandi Pierentozzi and Neil Patterson.  That should be fun and I'll have some photos from that.

Hello Out There

Hey I am hoping that I have a few readers left out there. I don't feel like I've been posting often enough to keep things going here. Oh well, if you're out there then thanks.  I guess I could check my stats but I'll just assume someone will read this.

So what to say? Any suggestions that ya'll want me to write about? Video? Pics? Book reviews? What size socks I wear?

I thought today that I probably could go back in the archives and pick up some things I've written about and re-visit it. Maybe see if things have changed any or just rehash something for any new visitors.

One thing that's been on my mind lately has been my interaction with customers on the Internet. My Etsy shop has been doing well and it's been fun to get orders and then ship those pots off to folks.  What's weird is not having any personal/physical interaction with those customers.  I have no idea who they are, what they are like, what they look like, sound like etc.  Nothing like being at a craft fair where I get to meet folks face to face and have a bit of a chat.

I have developed a closer relationship with a few online customers.  Most of these are folks who have placed more than one order and/or read and comment on the blog.  I've had a few little email chats with these folks and we've gotten to know one another better.  I like that.  I need that connection to the people who like my pots.  And it's good for them to know me too.

What's funny is that sometimes, in the beginning, I know Nothing.  For a while I thought one person was a man, well, turns out she was a female.  Some folks keep their personal identity and information fairly obscure on the Net.  Which is a pretty good precaution.  (I sure don't have much privacy any more on the Web. No wonder I get hacked from time to time. Need to remember to keep my passwords changed)

Anyhow, last week I got an email from someone wanting a Year of the Rabbit Plate like one that was already sold on Etsy.  It was nice to get that request and I told her I'd be happy to make it. This morning I get a call from the persons mother.  She wants to pay for the plate and have it shipped to her daughter.  We had a brief conversation and it was really cool to hear this ladies accent (I think she was in NY or NJ?) and for her to tell me a bit about her daughter.  (I'm sure she liked my southern boy accent too).

So things like that are great.  Even though I don't see these folks in person just something small like a phone call or a personal email gives me some sense of the person.

Well there you go, not a bad post I reckon.  I have the kiln going so you'll have to wait till later for any new pot pics.  For now here's some cups and small plates I made today.