New Cards

My new business cards just arrived.  I am sooooo professional now.

Hump Day

It's been quite a while since I've made any spouted pitchers.  I remember after going to a  Jeff Oestreich workshop with Tom Gray years ago.  We both went back to our studios and made J.O. inspired pots. (As I'm sure many other participants did)  Anyhow, lots of potters make something similar to these and mine are not totally original at this state by any means.  I'll have to get them all slipped up and drawn on in a day or two.

I'm taking 4 different herbs that my acupuncturist recommended as well as one prescription med. daily.  I need something to keep all those bottles in so I made this wonky little dish for myself at the end of today.

I've got all the plates footed and things from Monday slipped and ready to deco.  That will happen tomorrow.  It's been a good week and still two days to go! Yea.

Out in Town

Just in from a meeting at the Arts Council.  Afterwords I took a stroll across the Square and snapped this photo of the Historic Cleveland County Courthouse.  Nice isn't it?  We have a beautiful little downtown.

Off to teach soon.  I got my mugs handled and also feet cut on the yunomis today and made some earthenware plates.  Everything under plastic now until tomorrow.

See ya.

Experimenting

I spent a lot of energy today throwing some 10 lb dishes and messing around with handles on them.  I think I made 10 or 11 and only kept 3.  Still it was good to experiment but maybe I should have chosen a smaller pot.

My plan was to throw the dish and attach handles while it was still wet, getting a bit of distortion into the pot in that process.  I've been doing that with my jars lately.

I tried a number of things on this first pot. 

This one  ended up with a wild rim, no handles, and not what I wanted.

After cutting these handles out I folded them over but not with success.  The handles looked fussed with and not tall enough after folding.  I may give this another chance but next time I'll let the pot set up for a couple hours before folding the handles over.

I'll add some handles to this square dish tomorrow.  I've made smaller ones like this so it was a bit of a challenge to make it from 10 lbs and not look too floppy and loose.  I'll see if I like it tomorrow, if not it can go in the pugmill.

I kept the two dishes below also.  Both have been done before.  I don't know if they will get handles or not.  Probably not the wavey one.

Back in the Groove

It was a beautiful day here today.  I think it must have been in the high 60's all day.  I worked with the studio door open and let the sunshine in.  After lunch I took a little siesta out in the yard.

Molly hung around all morning.  I think she actually slept behind the studio last night.  She and Karma seem to be getting use to each other.



I got all the stoneware plates and two jars out of the way first thing this morning.  After working up some earthenware I made some yunomis and some mugs as well as a few pitchers and some 10 lb platters. (next post).



It feels good to be getting back in the groove.  I'm going to  concentrate on getting a kiln load made this week.  That way I can fire next week and hopefully get some new work in the Etsy shop.

Coraline

Sarah and I went to see Coraline last night.  I love stop animation and this film delivered in so many ways.  Beautifully crafted.  The 3D effects were pretty remarkable too.  I think the last 3D movie I saw was JAWS 3 .  Whew, that's been a while.  Anyhow, any time I go to see something like this I try to clear my mind and get back into my 1o year old boy head.  It makes it more fun.

I read the book by Neil Gaiman just last week.  The movie deviates a bit from the book.  I rather like the story in the book more to tell the truth.   And I think the book is more creepy since I envisioned all the characters as humans (not puppets).  That said the movie in itself is pretty brilliant.  Highly recommended.

Need to Test

I really need to mix up some tests today.  Well it could wait, but no I need to do it.  I hate mixing up 100 gram batches.  The worse part is having to sieve them.  I do have a small test sieve but that's still a pain for just 100 g.  I wonder if I could just whip them up with a milk frother???  Anyone have any ideas on this?  Basically I am running some line blends using different colorants and Mason stains in my clear glaze.  I know how to do all that, I just hate the sieving part. Oh yea, I already said that.

Local News

I made the local paper two days in a row.  No, not the jail log.  Below is  a link to the story that appeared in today's Shelby Star.

Click Here.

Molly

Yes, Sarah has named the cow.  Molly.  That's a good name I guess.  I don't reckon we'll be eating her.  Who knows how long she'll be around, she came through this morning after 8, and usually comes back through about tea time.  (Just in case we need milk ya know).

Last night was pizza night.  Oh boy that was a good pie.

Stiff Clay is NOT my Friend

I was all set to make the last of the plates for the salt kiln yesterday.  I had bought 50 lbs of stoneware from the clay supply house earlier in the week.  I was hoping that I'd be able to use it straight out of the box.  Of course once I opened it up I discovered it was about twice as hard as I like.  Still I wedged it up as best I could and sat down to make the plates.  Impossible.  I couldn't center the hard lump of clay and I just got aggravated the more I tried.  Plus I was thinking, "Man I just went to the acupuncturist yesterday for my elbow and now I'm gonna just make it worse".

So I sliced up the clay, dipped it in water and returned it to the bags.  Maybe on Monday I'll wedge it up and try again.  Usually I would have been able to soak the clay for a few minutes and run it through my pug mill.  However my pugmill is full of earthenware and I'm not cleaning it for 50 lbs of stoneware.

It has always irritated me that the clay company can't mix the clay to come out of the box in a usable, friendly, throwable state.  I know some potters like stiff clay, that's fine.  But I remember from the beginning years of potting that it was soooooo difficult to get anything made from stiff clay.  I see many students struggling also just because the clay is too stiff.   And of course no amount of wedging makes it better.  It has to have water added.

This is just a long time gripe of mine and one reason I mix my own clay.  Of course I could order clay from the company softer, but why pay them for water weight??

Okay that's my complaint for the week.  I'll be glad to get these plates made and get back to my nice, soft earthenware.

Well Received

Last night's opening was fairly well attended and on top of that I sold quite a few pots.  Yea!  Here are some young ladies chatting it up in front of my display.

It was good to see all the potters and catch up.  I'll try to get back up there and shoot some images of other's pots.

My work was well received and I had lots of questions, the main one being, "Why is it is raining socks?"  Duh, isn't it obvious?  I had fun standing back watching people respond to the drawings.  I saw smiles, confused looks, and heard giggling .  Some folks shared the stories they made up about the 'characters'.  So it seems like I'm making pots that are enjoyable on another level other than function.    That's really cool to me.

All for now.  If you want to read a good story about 3 Englishmen stranded in a pub during a snowstrom click HERE.

Opening Reception Tonight

The 14th Annual Treasures of the Earth show opens tonight at the Arts Council in Shelby.  Come on out if you're in the area.  Lots of folks usually turn out for this event.  Good food, beer and wine too. Click HERE for more info.

I was happy with this jar.  I like the deeper and broader lines on this pot.  I am glad I didn't put the black stain on it, as I think it's just fine with the clay color coming through.  Also the brushed slip background has a nice effect.  (All things to remember as I get back to work.)

Amy at Clayworks

Amy Huacani is in my class at Clayworks.  She's making some really nice pots.  Stop by her blog for some pics and updates on what she's up to.

I caught her Tuesday night just after she had finished glazing a group of slipware bowls.  I look forward to seeing them fired.

Playing Around. Color.

These are a bit of fun. I wanted to see what I could do with underglazes, sgraffito, and black stain.  So that's a lot and a pretty interesting end result, but not what I really want.  That duck one totally cracks me up.  Anyhow, I think my plan is to continue to use color in small blotches like I have been.  I need to run some tests with Mason stains and find some colors I like.  Possilbly a blue, red, orange, or redish orange, a yellow or yellow/orange, and a pink ? pink?  hum well maybe it would be useful for the socks and such.

3 Plates

I was happy to finally have some new dishes come out of the kiln.  I took most all of them to the show.  I still have a few that I didn't have room for though.  I'm planning on making up another run and posting them on Etsy soon.  For now here are a few from the show.

I really liked this one with the brushed slip, you'll be seeing more of that.


This one of the Goat and Irons and the one with the Kite and Bird (earlier post) were my two favorites. 

Set up

Sorry for that glare through the window.  Not a very good pic.  Anyhow, here are the right and left sides of my set up at the Treasures of the Earth Show.  It would be a great time to come out and get a set of dishes!

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.