July 15th Insta Blog

Sometimes when I'm working I remember the day when things clicked for me. I was making pots in an old migrant house on a friend's farm. I made a board of small crocks that all looked alike, well similar at least. I had learned to put the clay where I wanted it to make those pots. Today I made several boards of pots. They were the pots I wanted to make and at the end of the day I had them. It's amazing to do this work.

July 14th Insta Blog

Worked on finishing up lots of pots today. Mondays can be very productive so Tuesdays are often spent cutting feet, pulling handles, stamping, or slipping. I had a few boards of these sort of bowls to turn. Also attached bottoms and handles to two of these large oval dishes. I coached two classes at CrossFit Shelby today which broke up the day a bit. Tomorrow will be throwing, throwing, throwing. Yay!

New Pots. Video and Images

Today's my birthday!  Yay.  It's been a super day, mainly just doing things around the house and studio.  Nothing pressing, just casual and easy.  Yesterday I got to open a big present, the soda kiln, full of newly fired pots.

Below are some images I shot today.  I meant to get down there earlier when the light was better. 

That's all I have time for right now.  I'm super happy with these pots.  I'll put more info up later about the show I mentioned in the video and the link to Akar.

Gotta run!  Thanks for looking.

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.

Kiln Load Taking Shape

After the last firing I was raring to get back in the studio.  The kiln had produced some really nice pots along with some things that I was excited to explore deeper.  Getting back to work with enthusiasm and fresh ideas felt great and the last couple of weeks have been productive.

There's been quite a lot of tea drinking going on while I work.   The day I took the above photo I think I pretty much maxed myself out with a pot of black AND green teas in the studio at the same time.  Nice to have some good company there as well with the teapot on the left by Brandon Phillips and mug by Will Dickert.

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I've been delving into some altered shapes as well as texture on the pots for the next firing.  I can't wait to get these altered and footed dishes through the kiln.

Yesterday I shot a quick video showing a board of mugs that I had just finished.
 

Time to cook up a pot of tea and get back out there.  Thanks for checking in.  

Second Kiln Load and Quiet Inspiration

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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?

 

Results from the First Firing of 2015

I unloaded the soda kiln Monday afternoon.  The first firing of the year is always eventful for me.  I get right back to work after New Years and make pots to fill the kiln.  I feel fresh and energized in the studio and new pots always bloom like early flowers during this time.  I made jar forms with cut feet and textured bodies, faceted yunomi, a good run of dinner plates, vases, and some medium sized bowls that I had paddled, roped, or altered in some way.  There were also a couple of platters and as always lots of mugs and other standard pots.

Here's a video of the pots after the unloading.
 

I apologize for my poor camera skills.  I have realized I need to move less and let the camera rest for longer periods of time.  Hopefully the next one will be better.

Anyhow, that gives you a good idea of what came out.  Here are a few still photos that I shot today. Click through the slideshow to see each image.
 

Some of these pots have gone to the Cleveland County Arts Council for the annual Treasures of the Earth show that opens tomorrow night.  I have been participating in this show since it was started 20 years ago.  It's always my first event of the year and I always look forward to it.

I am going to put the remainder of the work in my Etsy shop over the next day or so.  I'll keep ya posted as to when they all get listed.  

Quick Movie

I'm quite out of practice on my movie making skills.  Well, maybe they never were that good, but I did post videos often back when I was blogging more regularly.  I mostly use my Flip camera and for a while there the software was acting up.  I think it's back on track now.  These little movies are edited and put together by the Flip software.  My pal Doug Fitch is really good at it.  But it's nice to give it a go here again.  So I hope you'll enjoy, and stay tuned for more.

Reduce the Scope...

I made a trip to Greensboro, NC today with my friend David Caldwell.  We both had work to pick up at Greenhill Center.  It's a 4 hour round trip.  I had hoped to get some pots made today but as it was almost 4pm when I got home I felt like I may as well call it a day and just start fresh tomorrow.

But then I remembered something I had heard James Clear say in a podcast.  One trick he had for meeting his goals was to "reduce the scope, but stick to the schedule".  In other words, choose SOMETHING over doing NOTHING.  So I went out to the studio and made a board of cups and worked on an idea for some dog bowls (yes, dog bowls, they need nice dishes too!).

I was happy to get that much work done.  If I would have not gone in the studio at all today I would have been disappointed.   I know that tomorrow I'll have a full day in the studio and can really get cranking. 

Here is an image of my new soda fired pots in The Shop at GreenHill Center.  I am pleased that they are being shown along side useful, handmade objects for the kitchen.

Clay=Freedom

It's a wonderful thing to have all this clay in the studio.  One thousand pounds ready to be made into useful pots.

Having a large amount of raw material really frees me up to start making all the pots to fill the kiln for the next firing.  I'll probably start off with some yunomi and mugs then move to bowls and jars and other pots.  I have a couple shows coming up soon that will require certain pots.  I always start with a 'make list' of things for the cycle.  It will get adjusted as I work over the next few weeks.  Sometimes I'll make less than I planned of one form or completely drop one thing as I get excited or informed by what I am doing on the wheel at any given time.  What a wonderful job!!

 

This, then this, then this...

It's 3:35 pm and I haven't been into the studio all day except for a brief moment to take the plastic off the board of yunomi that I made yesterday.

How to I feel about this?  Shame, guilt.  Why am I even taking time to write this post?  Well, because I think it's important.  Important to just acknowledge where I am in this moment.  And I know that I have at least 5 hours ahead of me if I want to go in there and work.

I didn't get up till 8am.  Meditated, had coffee, journaled, ate breakfast, scrolled through all the crap on FB, uncovered those pots at some point, did dishes.  Then it was off to coach a class at CrossFit Shelby, then my own workout and a trip to the grocery.  I just ate a lunch of leftover really yummy paleo chicken soup.  Ah.  So.

I have sort of screwed up my planning for the week ahead.  It frustrates me to know this.  I like things to line up.  Beginnings and endings.  This, then this, then this.  Well the week ahead is going to be stop and go, back and forth, up and down.  I talked to Sarah about it on the phone a minute ago.  She says, that's okay.  She's right.  I still feel aggravated by it.

This time just after all the holidays is an uphill walk.  Or maybe a slow downhill roll, waiting to gain some momentum.  I'd rather think of it like that.  Ok.  Be good to myself.  Time to go make a few pots and cut the feet on those cups.

Quiet Inspiration: Japanese Influence on North Carolina Potters

I am very happy to be part of this exhibition happening at the NC Pottery Center.  

The Opening Reception is Saturday,February 7, 2015 from 12:00-2:00 p.m. The reception is open to the public and free of charge.  

Featured Artists include: Tacy Apostolik, Cynthia Bringle, Josh Copus, Adrienne Dellinger, Judith Duff, Susan Filley, Warner Hyde, Fred Johnston, Matt Kelleher, Eric Knoche, Jan Lee, Linda McFarling, Reiko Miyagi, Ben Owen III, Ron Philbeck, Akira Satake, Jason Serres, Michael Sherrill, Hitomi Shibata, Takuro Shibata, David Stuempfle, Hiroshi Sueyoshi, Shoko Teruyama

Updated Website and a Return

It's good to have finally updated this website.  I will probably be editing the content a bit over the next week or so as I take some new images and work out the text.  It's so easy to put this sort of thing off for a long time. For some reason though I got online last night and started messing around and here I am. 

I am looking forward to getting back into the workshop this week.  I have to buy some clay as I only have about 50 lbs on hand.  It would be great to fire the kiln at the end of January.  I'm pretty sure I can manage that.  The last firing was a very good one so I'm itching to have some new pots.

I had a very good Holiday Sale here at the pottery in early December.  I am so thankful for those folks who make their way out here to buy pots.  When I first started making pots I dreamed of selling most of my work to locals who'd come here and buy for their homes and kitchens.  I heavily promoted my Home Sales for many, many years.  Sometime around 2008 things changed. As time had passed and my pottery style changed it meant that the price of the pots went up and many of my regular customers stopped coming.  My Home Sales fell from four times a year to only one or two as I was mainly focused on shows and sending pots out to galleries.  This seemed okay for a while but in late 2013 I felt the desire to return to making pots that were more utilitarian and that would be more affordable.   I began thinking of myself as the 'village potter' again.  The new soda kiln came into being and the pots felt true to my inner nature.  It was so good to return to my roots. 

Seeing some old faces at this last Sale was up lifting.  Many folks have stuck with me though the years as I have changed but I got the feeling that for the most part everyone was glad to see the soda fired pots on the shelves.  I am proud of the work I am doing.  As I approach my mid 40's I am more and more dedicated to doing just what I want.  The influence of potters such as Warren Mackenzie, Clary Illian, Joe Bennion and Tom Gray have made me who I am.  I won't let that go.  If anything I hope to move deeper into this work as I sit down to make the next kiln load of pots.