Updated Events Page

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Hi there folks. Hope you all are well wherever you are.  I have updated my Events Page (right sidebar)  Just wanted to let you know so you can mark your calendars for upcoming or future sales and shows.  I haven't pinned down dates for my Summer or Fall Sales here at the pottery, but I will soon and will let ya know.



So I had planned on going up to see my pal Michael Kline today, but things didn't line up right for me so I had to cancel.  Bummer. Looks like MK had a good firing so get over to Sawdust and Dirt to check it out.

I am impatiently waiting for my kiln to cool. Staring at it doesn't seem to be helping. Guess I'll get it unloaded after supper.

We have a new restaurant in town. Bombay Indian Restaurant.  I am heading over to get some takeout soon.  Sarah and I ate there over the weekend and it was soooo good.  I fear it may not last though.  The servers were pretty clueless and rushing around like mad.  They seemed to have little or no experience.  Not a good way to start off if you are a restaurant owner.  The owner seemed nice, but he should have been cracking the whip.  I'm not complaining because the service was terrible, I just want the owner to hire a good manager and good servers so his place will stay in business and I can go over there to eat as much as possible!!  I want him to succeed.  We need good food in this town!

Well come back later and I'll tell you how my dinner was and you may get to see some pots too.

Bring out the Bubble Wrap

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I am packing up my pots to send to the NC Crafts Gallery in Carrboro, NC .  I have this big box plus another one that I have yet to start on.  The kiln is cooling  with the animal jars inside.  I guess I'm sending about 30 pots total.  Maybe 32.  It should be a really nice show.  I am looking forward to going down for the opening on April 9th.  If you are in the area I'd love for you to be there.  See the gallery's website HERE.

Karma is happy to play with almost anything.  She's had this piece of firewood for 2 1/2 years.  You can see she's rounded off most of the edges by now.  Yes, we do buy her some nice doggie toys but this piece of wood seems to have really lasted.  Maybe I should market it and start selling it at PetSmart.


Which reminds me of THIS!

WikiClay

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Simon Levin and Lloyd Cledwyn have launched a new resource for
ceramic artists.   Wikiclay.com can become a great resource full of useful information that we, the ceramic community build and maintain.  Who better for the job?
I hope you'll make your way over there and contribute, add new information, refine articles or just browse the site.  I'm working on my Artist page now and will add more to it  soon. I also hope to help in some other way by sharing my knowledge or experience.

In addition to Simon and Lloyd, Kristen Kieffer is on board as a moderator.   Help spread the word to others by posting about WikiClay on your Facebook page, website or blog.

Tuesday's Post

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Karma and I just got back from a nice walk.  The birds are out chirping away, we saw a flock of geese fly over and we went by the livestock barn to visit the cows. (Last visitors they'll have before transport to slaughter I'm afraid) (Such happy thoughts here on my blog. Ha. Sorry).


Anyhow, I have a bisque cooling and freshly slipped cups drying in the studio.  It's been a busy day of photographing pots for my Etsy Shop and working in the studio.

Please take the poll over in the right side bar if you haven't yet.  It seems like most everyone that reads my blog is a potter.  No surprise there really, and I'm thrilled to have you all.  Thanks for continuing to visit.  I'm wanting to make some improvements to this site soon and knowing who the audience is will help.  It helps me to put the right content out there too.

I'm looking forward to making a special trip on Thursday. Stay tuned for that, hopefully I'll have a bit of film to share on Friday.

Cheers!

Please Take This Weeks Poll

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Hey folks,
I'm doing a little research to see who's reading my blog.  I know who some of you all are but there's a lot I do not know.  So if you don't mind please take a moment to take my poll over in the right sidebar.  This is just for my benefit, to help me get to know my audience a little better so that I can post things that are relevant and enjoyable to those that come here.  I'll do some more polling in the future, maybe some that are fun, like who's your favorite Stooge or something.  Who knows?  Anyhow, thanks for participating and please feel free to comment anytime.

Drawing Day.

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You can see I've penciled in the designs on these platters.  I finished etching them in and also a group of plates.  All in the bisque now warming up nice and slowly.


I just spoke to Tess at MADE Shop in Kutztown, PA.  I'll be sending them some pots very, very soon.  If you're in that area please visit MADE, it's a very unique shop.  Owners Tess Doran And David Jones will make you feel right and home and show off their offerings.  I'll post again when I send out the pots to PA.  Should be soon.

Homebrewed Cider!

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A couple of days ago a box arrived from Fredericksburg, Virginia.  I knew it had to be from Dan Finnegan! Inside was a bottle of Dan's homebrewed apple cider.  Dan had read here on the blog about how much I loved the cider we had in England and that I was having a hard time finding any in the States that measured up.  Well Dan's is quite fine and even better in the fact that it's hand crafted.  Sarah and I split the bottle and really enjoyed every drop.  Cheers Dan.  Maybe I'll make it up your way in the near future and enjoy another bottle!!

(Yes my laptop is really filthy.)

Good Things

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I was happy to get these jars out from under plastic today and put the animals on them.  The critters will get colored glazes after the bisque.  These are for my show at the NC Crafts Gallery in April.




Thank goodness some things are getting smaller.  I like these cute little 7.5 fl oz Cokes.



I had some small plates at the Sale and they were a big hit. These are 8" in diameter. I had one person buy a small plate and bowl as a place setting for his daughter.  That was a great idea and one I hadn't thought of.  (Note to my marketing department)



I'll be photographing pots for Etsy this week as well as getting my pots packed up for the NC Crafts Gallery show.  I also hope to head up to Bakersville in the next week and deliver pots to Crimson Laurel Gallery.


Successful Spring Sale

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This corner shot of the showroom is a small representation of the great pots that Jennifer Mecca and I had here yesterday.

We had a fine turnout and a beautiful day.  Thanks to everyone who came.  We had a lot of folks that drove from quite a distance.  It means so much that they would come so far to see and buy our work.

Jen and I had fun spending the day together and visiting with everyone.  I expect we will do something together again in the future whether it be another show or maybe even a workshop.

So this week I'll be back to work and blogging will resume it's usual format of what's happening in the workshop and what's going on in my head.  I know there were quite a few posts about the Sale over the past week and that may have gotten old for some of you.  So thanks for sticking with me.

I'm a Happy Potter

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Okay folks here are some of the pots just out of the kiln and I think they are pretty awesome!   This first platter is about 16" in diameter.  I'm gonna start making these bigger next week.  I'm digging the deco. Yes that's pink!  I'm totally cool with that!



This next one is 14" in diameter.  I really love those thick wipes around the edges. More of that in the future.



This bowl is deeper but hard to tell in this photo. It's a nice size serving dish, 12" diameter.



If you remember this post from way back you will see I finally got around to making a similar pot.




There were a few more pots in the kiln but these are the eye catchers.  Come on out to the Spring Sale on Saturday and one of these beauties can be yours.  (If I can let go of them by then, I do like them a lot! Ha.)

A Couple of Bisque Pots

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I unloaded a bisque this morning of platters/shallow dishes.  I was going to wait until after the glaze firing to post any images but I had to show one of these off even if it was just a bisque dish.  I am so excited about these!  Just look at all those lines.  I would have never dreamed I'd be doing deco like this.  Hopefully it will keep getting better and better, but for now I'm super proud of my pots.  I should have some glazed pics by early Friday b/c I glazed and loaded today.

Oh okay here's one more....

Quick Preview

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I'm pretty excited to see all these pots.  I think this is the most I've ever decorated any load of pots! Crazy!

Jars

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Threw these jars today.  They are for my show at the NC Crafts Gallery in Carrboro, NC .  The  show runs through the month of April with the opening on the 9th from 5 till 9 pm . I'll be there!


I'll finish these guys up tomorrow and get some animals up on the peaks.  Check out videos HERE and HERE if you'd like to know how these are made.


Thanks for checking in.

Plates

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I think I'm in pretty good shape as far as plates go.  I'll get these all spread out on a display table for my Spring Sale.  That's this Saturday from 10 till 4.  Today the kiln is cooling.  I'll have new pots out tomorrow and I'll post some images.

I hope some of you will make it out this weekend.  Still tons of cleaning to do.

Interruption

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My glazing session was interrupted by a broken water pipe today.  Thank goodness I know how to take care of things like this.  I can't imagine what it would cost to call a plumber in but I'm guessing this mess would have ran me upward to $200.  Anyhow I got things all fixed up and now the glazing is finished and the kiln is on.

I'm looking forward to turning the clock forward tonight!! Yay, one more hour of daylight!!!

Next Saturday is my Spring Pottery Sale w. guest Jen Mecca.  We are like the dynamic duo of pottery so get on over here and check it out if you are nearby! We'd love to have a big day and send lots of our great pots out to new homes.

Well, Sarah and I have two Ikea wardrobes to put together this evening.  Our upstairs renovation is coming to a close and it looks amazing!!!  I'll try and post some pics soon.  Thanks for checking in.

Happy Days.

End of Week

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Friday. Wow, it seemed a lot like Monday seeing how I had my big two days off in the middle of the week!

So I've been making some platters/shallow dishes this week. I have 4 of the 9 pounders, which are abuot 14.5 inches in diameter and 3 of those big boys made.  The big ones are just over 18 inches and have a nice tallish foot on them.  I can't wait to get them all deco'ed up.  You can see I drill the foot rings so they can be hung on the wall.  That's always a good selling point.  I'll try and show how these are wired after I get them fired.

I am really liking the pots I'm making these days!  I unloaded a bisque this morning and even that's exciting.  I love seeing the clay after it's turned bright red and the slip is nice and white.  Loving bisqueware is a big deal, who's ever loved bisqueware?  Well, me now.


Here's some breakfast from last week.  Happy Friday!!


P.S. Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes here and on Facebook.  Thanks too for checking out the interview on Connie Norman's blog.  Be sure to visit Connie's site often b/c she always has great posts.  You can see her amazing pots here on her website.

Spring Pottery Sale

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My Spring Pottery Sale is fast approaching and I'm happy to let everyone know that I'll be having my good friend, Jennifer Mecca, as my guest.

The date is Saturday, March 20th from 10 am till 4pm here at the pottery.  The address is 757 Wallace Grove Road. Shelby, NC 28150. You can use MapQuest to find your way.

Jen and I are both working on some really nice work for the Sale.

Be sure to sign up for my e mail list over on the right for future announcements.  Thanks!