Friday. Getting Ready for the Next Firing

It's been a great week.  Things in the studio have been going well and steady.  I'm making some nice pots that I hope will really shine once they come out of the kiln.  On a personal level I am working on internal growth, doing lots of journaling and reading.  I've felt 'up' the past few days which is awesome.  I feel like there is some space opening up within me, allowing me to see and think about my life more clearly.  I'll not go into too much of that, but suffice it to say that I'm doing well and that I'm grateful for all that I have and that I'm capable of.

Ok. So.  Pottery.  I'm hoping to load the soda kiln over the weekend.  Yesterday was spent waxing and glazing most of the pots for this firing.  I still have one more bisque load firing today.

I have yunomi going to Akar late next week for their upcoming annual Yunomi Invitation exhibition.   That show will open in May and I'll be sending 5 of my faceted yunomi.  

Karma got a new bed this week.
 

She's very happy with it as you can see.  She and Peety have a nightly ritual where they taunt each other and run around the bed room.  Here's a moment I caught last night.

Ok.  Enough of the cuteness.  I'm off to wad pots and finish cleaning up in the kiln shed.  Have a great weekend and stay tuned for a post on the loading and firing.

Thursday Catch Up

It's been a good week here.  I've gotten lots of pots made and we had a beautiful, wet, fluffy snow last night.  Sorry, no photo of the snow.  I tell ya, I'm just not in blogger mode the way I used to be.  I'd have gotten right up and photographed all the white goodness if I was.  Oh well.  

I did take some pics in the studio this week and that's what I'll share.

I've been having fun making jars.  The ones in the back and front are relatively new.  Or sort of, I made similar footed jars like those in the back years ago.  We still have one that we keep our coffee beans in. I think I made it in 1997. 

Here's the coffee jar.

I started loading a bisque today.  The tall pots are new and I can't wait to fire them.  I have three more in the works.

Here I am putting a texture on one of the tall vases.

And lastly...it's important to pay attention to the bottoms.  Watch any potter pick up a pot and the first thing he or she will do is look at the foot/bottom.  Here's a nice wire cut texture on the bottom of a recently made mug.

That's it for now.  Hope you all have a great end of the week and weekend.

Second Kiln Load and Quiet Inspiration

It was a very good day in the workshop.  I had a morning of hauling and stacking wood, going to the grocery, working out, and coaching a class at CrossFit Shelby.  But after lunch, by 2pm, I was in the studio with clay pugged and ready to make pots for the second firing of 2015.

I started off making yunomi, which in Japan are everyday cups for hot tea.  I love making this pot.  I have been faceting these lately, cutting the sides to give nice edges for the soda glaze to enhance in the firing.
 

After the first few I was really getting into the feel for them and then on number seven I hit upon with this:

A totally new facet method for me.  I came to this by playing with a tool I made and using it in a way I had not before.  Observation, play, and taking a chance let to this new discovery which is very, very cool and exciting.  Yay!!  When these things happen it just makes me smile from ear to ear and feel really grateful for the process of creativity and discovery.  Needless to say I made a few more, with a couple failures, before moving on to some other pots.

After a couple hours I had the start of my next kiln load.  I'm hoping to fire at the end of this month.
 

About 65 more pots to make but that's a good start for sure.

This past Saturday, Sarah and I drove to the North Carolina Pottery Center in Seagrove, NC for the opening reception of Quiet Inspiration: Japanese Influence on North Carolina Potters.  The show looked fantastic.  I have three pots in the show.  

The turnout was great but I didn't get any photos.  I did shoot a bit of video.  I wish I would have gotten all the pots shot and some of the crowd as well.  But here's a little film showing what I took:

I have a full day tomorrow to work in the studio.  I'm planning on making the most of it.  Stay tuned for some pots.  Who knows what the day may hold?