Happy New Year to All!

the last few pots of 2011

Last year we were in NH for the week between Christmas and New Years so we didn't know what to expect for gallery traffic or sales this week. We have been pleasantly surprised and have enjoyed meeting new people and making a few good sales. We have enjoyed the week with a healthy balance of slacking off and working. Jeff has been making mugs by the dozens and getting his tools organized around his wheel. In between cooking (and eating!) good food, I have finished some carved vases...

I have about a dozen finished and played around a little with the designs. I have sold quite a few of these in the last few weeks.

When the last vase was carved, I got busy throwing some shallow pasta bowls. These will also be slipped and carved. You may recall that the last round of these ended up full of shards from a re-fire explosion in the kiln. Only one survived and it has already found a new home. Today I will throw a few more. I am trying really hard to stick to working in a larger series rather than jumping around to every new idea that comes into my head. Perhaps this is my New Years resolution!

On a final note... I am paying closer attention to my Etsy shop. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas I was listing items everyday, my sales increased as did my traffic. I use Google analytics to track my page views. When I list items my traffic is anywhere from 24 to 60 hits a day. I didn't list anything this week until yesterday and my traffic had dropped steadily to only 8 visitors. After yesterday's listing I was back up to 24. If I want to increase my sales this year I know I have to stay on top of it.

I think that may be resolution #2.

the replacement

Last month I got an e-mail from Apple saying that my first generation iPod nano was being recalled. They said that the battery could over heat and catch on fire and they were going to replace it! The thing was more the five years old and only had a 2g hard drive.

Apple didn't say what they would replace it with... did they have a stockpile of the originals with better batteries that they would send out to the masses? I mailed the old thing back to them and yesterday my replacement arrived...

A new 8g nano, the most current version! My only worry is that it is so darn small that I might lose it...

The iPod on the left was John's and it's 3 years old and that is about the size of my old one... look how tiny the new one is! It does have some cool features... like a pedometer and a clock that you can change the face on...

There are 18 different clock faces including Minnie & Mickey and Kermit the frog! I must say I am impressed that Apple replaced a well used iPod that spent lots of time in clay studios with the newest version and a bigger hard drive. It feels like I got a bonus Christmas present :-).

great minds think alike...

We had a Daniel Johnston & Kate Waltman Christmas. Jeff gave me one of Kate's casseroles and I presented Jeff with a Daniel vase. A pottery couple gives gifts to each other from another pottery making couple! Inside the casserole were beautiful earrings by Rick Elkin. I am feeling spoiled (and enjoying it!)

Christmas eve was very merry for us... especially after a couple of pomegranate martini's...

It's back to the studio for us today. There are vases waiting to be trimmed, slipped and carved. Maybe I will experiment with some new designs.

tourtière!

I grew up in a French speaking home, yet never learned to speak the language... I was the headstrong baby and thought my family should stick to English.  During dinner, when the conversation switched to French, I was certain everyone was talking about me... I am quite sure I was right!!! I would cover my ears so I didn't have to hear all that babble. My mother said that someday I would regret not learning the language and she is right, as mothers always are.
That little tidbit of info brings me to the subject of this post...

tourtière

It wouldn't be Christmas for me without French Canadian Pork Pie (tourtière). My mother always made a bunch of them for the holidays. Many times she served them as a late supper on Christmas day. After we kids were all grown and gone, she would have a day after Christmas lunch that included pork pies. There was always extra for any of us who wanted to take one home. Over the years there were alway spouses or significant others who weren't as excited about them as we were... I guess if you didn't grow up in a French Canadian home, this combination of spices may not be appealing.

I won't be in NH for the holidays this year so last night I made a pork pie. I thought I would share the recipe with you...

these are the spices you will need

1 tsp. all spice

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground cloves

poultry seasoning - I didn't measure, I just shook a bunch in!

salt and pepper, again no measuring :-)

You will also need two 9" pie crusts... make your own or buy the Pillsbury pre-made, which in a pinch aren't bad!

In a saucepan combine 1 to 1.5 pounds of ground pork, 1 medium onion, chopped, the seasonings and about 3 cups of water. Simmer softly until all the liquid is gone - can take up to 2 hours. When the pork was cooked but there was still water I took a taste and added a little more seasonings... I like my pie on the spicy side. This looks really ugly but your home will smell fabulous as it simmers!!!

While that is simmering...

Peel, cut and boil 2 medium potatoes - drain and mash. Again, the potato ratio is adjusted for preference. When the water is gone from the meat add the mashed potatoes and mix well.

Line a 9" pie plate with dough and spoon in the meat filling, cover with the other dough and cut slits into the top. Bake at 350 degrees in the center of oven for about 45 minutes.

yummy!

Serving suggestion...

Cranberry sauce is really good with the pie... vegetables are often whatever was leftover from the big Christmas dinner or a salad. My Dad likes to have green olives with his and many of us like a little ketchup on top... it seems people of Canadian descent really like their ketchup!

Joyeux Noel!

slowing down

I still have some work in progress in the studio, but Jeff and I have definitely slowed down this week... the pressure is off for a bit. Jeff has been working on his website and we are both still photographing work and building up our Etsy shops.

Yesterday Jeff posted this really cool raku sculpture...

click on the photo and you can see multiple views on Etsy

The other day a customer was admiring it and asking questions about the piece... I overheard Jeff telling her something about "When I was visiting another planet...". Sometimes his imagination really cracks me up!

settling in

When we unloaded the kiln on Saturday morning I had to leave to work at the Co-Op of Seagrove Potters as soon as we were done. I didn't really get a good look at the pots until the next day. 

When I first saw these shino and ash glazed mugs coming out of the kiln I wasn't crazy about them. After handling them, and taking pictures, I have decided that I REALLY  like them! Sometimes you need to spend some time with your pots to appreciate their beauty.

The sugar jar pigs are fun and can also double as "salt pigs"... the woman who placed the custom order was very happy.

I like this shot from behind!

These are listed on Etsy, it may be too late for Christmas shipping but isn't it always nice to shop for yourself?!

the rush is over...

The last pots for Christmas shipping went off to the post office this morning. It's a relief that everything was done in time. Last year we unloaded the kiln the morning before Christmas for a special order pick up. It feels like this year we are ahead!

There has been a long conversation about Etsy on one of LinkedIn's ceramic forums, concerning whether or not it was worth the time spent maintaining a shop there. There were lots of potters who felt it was a waste of their time. This year Jeff and I tried to keep active on Etsy. The site has made some changes to posting that has saved some time. We definitely increased our sales this year and I think we are picking up momentum. Jeff had a really and I mean REALLY good sale this month. All in all we feel it's worth the time. It put money in our pocket that we wouldn't have had if we weren't on Etsy.

We are going to enjoy a slower pace this week. The shopping is done, the tree is up and we are staying in North Carolina for the holidays. Next month I have plans to fly to Connecticut and spend a long weekend with Danielle. She moved to New Haven in November and I am excited to see her new place.
It will be a fun girly weekend... maybe we will take the train into NYC for a day! I will miss seeing her on Christmas, as well as my parents and siblings.

I am ending this post with a couple of random Christmas photos...

My favorite Christmas tree ornament... was my Dad's when he was a little boy in Canada... it was one of a set of three. My sister and one of my brothers each have one. My daughter thinks it's scary! I will be sure she inherits it one day (along with my great grandmother's ugly platter).

When I was little I couldn't wait for this santa to come out of the box and be put in his place of honor under the tree. My parents bought it the year my brother was born (1955). I ended up with it because no one else in the family cared about him. I definitely won't plug him in and leave the house... don't quite trust something electrical that is 56 years old!!! 

and the results are in...

Jeff's been making growlers. The shino glazed one on the right has some nice carbon trapping.

The piggy sugar jars all came out, phew... because one was a special Christmas order. These will also make great salt pigs. I'll get them listed in my Etsy shop this week.

The ash glaze decided to act up on some bowls. Icky bubbles.

Ash glaze over shino. One of the few without bubbles.

Carved vases were all fine... look at the little pig trying to get in on the photo, what a hog!

I am working at the Co-op of Seagrove Potters gallery today and Jeff is at our studio for the kiln opening. All the new pots are outside under the tent and there is a warm fire & hot coffee inside the log cabin gallery. We will start happy hour a little early today with wine and cheese from 3:00 to 6:00. If your in the neighborhood stop in and keep Jeff company... I will be home at 5:00 (and ready for a glass of wine).

Cheers!

flames & firing

flame out the top peep towards the end of the firing

Peter asked some questions yesterday about burner failure systems...

Not a great picture in the dark but you can see how the wire connects from the baso safety valve to the thermocouple inserted into the burner. John and I had taken the burners to a welder and to retrofit our existing burners to the new safety system. Thermocouples are relatively inexpensive and we keep extras on hand. Safety is important, gas can be a very scary thing!

A quick peek in the kiln this morning and the shino is looking good, can't wait to unload in the morning.

the last firing of 2011

Last night Jeff and I bricked up the door of the baby gas kiln so that we would be ready to go this morning. I woke up at 6:00 am without even having to set the alarm! I crept down the spiral staircase in the dark and slipped out the back door in my jammies to light the burners. I fed Sophie then crawled back into bed and dozed for a short time. At 8:00 I nudged the burners a bit. All the while, Jeff is snuggled in bed, fast asleep. This routine is so much easier than when I was in NH and I would have to get in the car and drive 4 miles (in my jammies) to light the burners... never mind the fact that this time of year it was really, really cold out! The positive side of that situation was that after the second set of burners were lit on the big NH kiln (4 burners) I had to stay the day to tend to it. That meant there were no distractions (like laundry) and I could make more pots or do some cleaning up. I had no choice but be more active in firing the kiln. Jeff would check on me and give advice. He was usually there when the kiln went into reduction. Jeff was teaching at NHIA back then so I always wanted to be done before he was off to teach. I have been a slacker with this kiln, letting Jeff handle the work of firing. I do most of the loading, which for some reason I really enjoy. My New Year's resolution will be to master firing this little kiln!

I wasn't sure if I had ever shared a picture of our very high tech door bracing system... towards the end of the firing it it hard to keep this door tight, so Jeff came up with this solution. Sort of reminds me of my brother's erector set when we were growing up!

and now for a little advertising...

We are having a very laid back Holiday Opening on Saturday & Sunday. The kiln will be unloaded in the morning and there will be hot coffee in the gallery for morning customers. On Saturday, 3 -6 pm we will be serving wine and cheese. If we are feeling ambitious we may do a raku firing on Friday and that means some new tiles and pendants for the weekend. There are lots of other kiln openings in Seagrove and it will be a perfect way to finish your holiday shopping without the stress of the malls.
Here is a list of potteries that I know are having openings (and there may be more!):

Dean and Martin
Bulldog Pottery
Ben Owen III
Donna Craven
David Stuempfle
Johnston & Gentithes
Chris Luther
Seagrove Stoneware

a present for my sister...

Not really... she would absolutely hate getting a snake, even a fake one. I have made small snakes and a few other animals- sheep, cats, fish (and pigs of course). I brought a few animals to the last show and sold everyone of them. Money in your pocket can often be inspiration to make more!

When I was done pugging clay the other day, I attached a die with a smaller hole to the pugger  and extruded some snake bodies.

I started to hollow some of them out but in the end decided to skip this step on the others. I only dug out a few notches for hanging them on a wall. If I let them dry thoroughly they should be okay.

The texture is white slip applied over a mesh onion bag that I impressed into the soft leather hard body and then peeled off. I have a little touch up work to do on the texture.

One snake is too big to bisque fire in the electric kiln. I may wait for a wood firing opportunity and single fire him. The others should fit in our kilns. I think they would look cool raku fired but also the chances of them breaking would be high... I just might have to take the chance.

Next up...

GECKOS!

3 years...

It has been three years today since John died. i had a long post written but decided i wouldn't publish it. i think i just needed to write it.

These are photos taken by my brother... he and his wife were on in Tulum, Mexico when they got the news that JZ died... 

We all miss you John and hope you are rockin' & rollin' wherever you may be!

the giant fun factory machine

While the bisque kiln was firing and before we started to glaze, I felt it would be a good time to pug many months of two potter's clay scraps. When I turned the pugmill on it made a horrible sound... I quickly turned it off. Jeff heard the noise and said he hoped it just needed grease.

Seagrove Hardware had lithium grease and in no time I was back to work. Luckily, grease was all it needed. She's an old Bluebird pugmill and I was a little worried!

when all was said and done i pugged about 200 pounds of clay... thankfully my arm didn't fall off.
... I love seeing all this freshly plugged clay, makes me want to get back to throwing pots!

strange visitors

Yesterday afternoon I busy throwing pots in the studio when I heard the gallery door open. I looked up from my wheel and saw a guy in a suit walk in... then two more suits behind him. My first thought was oh  no, it's a group spreading the word of their religion, how am I going to get rid of them without being rude? THEN I noticed they all had name tags and I thought detectives? Are they here to question us about something??
I said hello but wasn't too quick to get up from my wheel. They finally wandered down to the studio door and one of them asked if they could come in and watch. That is when they told me who they were...

FUNERAL DIRECTORS!

Our studio is across the street from the Whynot Church. They were there for a funeral and where early, so they decided to come across the street. They watched me throw a couple of bowls and asked lots of questions about firing. They joked about one of them having a crematorium, how hot it got and could they fire pots in it?! The crematorium owner said it gets to about 1800 degrees - I told him he could only do low fire work. :o)
They didn't buy anything but it definitely was the most interesting thing that happened on a slow Sunday afternoon.

on the home stretch

It's been long days in the studio this week... we have several orders to complete in time for Christmas shipping, which means we need to fire the gas kiln one more time very soon.
I spent the last two days carving flowers through slip, which also means I dreamed about carving through slip as well...

Sometimes dreams can bring new ideas. Last night I dreamed I was carving lino blocks of this flower design to make note cards. I have not done any lino block printing since high school and I woke up sort of excited about the idea. Like I really need one more thing to start experimenting with! While laying in bed contemplating the whole idea, I realized that carving some tiles with this design and raku firing them might work well. That's probably a more realistic endeavor right now.

I know we have been spending a lot of hours in the studio when the dishes start to pile up out there...

and I noticed this morning that I missed a few more cups!

a new twist on pigs

Sugar jar piggies! I had a request on Etsy for my pig banks turned into sugar jars. Jeff used to make sitting pig banks so I had him throw & alter the bodies, then I added the piggy parts. Next time (if there is a next time!) I will do the bodies as well. They look sort of silly with their big snouts but I think in the end they will be cute. I will probably list them all on Etsy when they are done.
I also had a custom Etsy order for a black and white pig so I finished some banks yesterday as well...

by the end of the day I was tired of looking at pigs.

getting ready for winter

The back door to the studio was in rough shape. The plywood was delaminating and we spent last winter keeping the draft out around the edges with bubble wrap (potters are creative). Last weekend Jeff's brother John came and installed a new set of double doors...

outside view

inside view - notice the rolled plastic shade above? last year Jeff created that to roll down in front of the door to lessen the draft... we may keep it there for those few extra cold days we may have.

Jeff bought one door at the Habitat for Humanity Restore and the other was purchased new at Lowe's.

Having double doors is handy when we have to move big things in and out. The lever handle will be easy to use with an elbow when carrying ware boards of pots outside to the kiln. All that is left to do is stain the exterior to match the used door and give the inside a coat of paint. They almost seem too pretty to be studio doors! Thank you John for a job well done and thank you Jeff for doing the finishing touches on them this week.

wood fired tumbler... available in my etsy shop