Name your pig

 We unloaded the gas kiln in the late afternoon on Sunday. Most of the load was orders and it was a great firing... thank you kiln gods and Jeff, who stayed up all night to get this firing done before his trip.

These are few samples of the "personalized" piggy banks. I was relieved that "Anne" came out perfect. This was a re-do. I totally forgot to add the flowers to the first one, and didn't realize it until it was bisqued. If you know someone named Anne that needs a piggy bank without flowers, I have one ready and waiting for glaze! At least Anne is a common name. I am sure it will eventually sell.

 I had some fun with the underglaze on this piggy. It will be available in my Etsy shop tonight...

I took Jeff to the airport yesterday and he landed in Tokyo in the early morning (our time). He is staying with a potter friend in Naga and will visit Mashiko tomorrow. On Thursday he will fly to Seoul. It was a stressful week preparing for this trip. There was so much to do and we both came down with head colds at the beginning of last week. We felt like we were moving in slow motion. To save our sanity we took some things off of our "to do" list. We postponed the stripping and painting of the kitchen cabinets job. Better to focus on getting healthy. The cabinets can wait until Jeff returns.
I am certain they will still be there, in all of their peeling paint glory.

My consolation prize for staying behind was a shopping trip to IKEA! Since I was already in Charlotte, it was an easy decision. I didn't go crazy but did come home with new towels and shower curtain for the main bath, along with place mats and a runner for the dining table. I will actually NOT have a "photo taking set up" on our dining room table anymore! We have a good size office where we can keep it set up and out of the way. Now to see if we will actually eat at the table...

Good Earth at 505

 Our new home was connected to town water prior to our closing. That means a long trench to lay the new pipe... and there was a lot of good looking clay dug up during the process. Jeff brought some back to the studio in February and did some testing. It fired to cone 10!

 Last night I was at the house shampooing carpets, before I left I bagged up some clay for Jeff to process.

Sort of looks like pumpkin pie

All wedged up... we have dubbed it "505" clay, since our new address is 505 E Main St.

Jeff made quite a few purty little cups.

This little cup, made with our 505 clay, was fired in the wood kiln during FireFest. I believe that this is also the glaze that Jeff made from another clay, also found on our property. It's glazed with nuka. The clay fires in wood to a nice toasty orange. We are going to fire a bisque this weekend so that Jeff can take few of his cups, made with 505, to Mungyeong, S. Korea. While there, they will be fired in one the traditional kilns in the area. I can't believe how quickly this trip has come up. So much to do and so little time!!

Deadlines

 Jeff leaves on Monday for Japan and South Korea. We have vessel sinks and piggy banks that need to be shipped before his trip. In order to get everything in the bisque firing, Jeff did his creative kiln extension trick...

A layer of brick with some fiber and we were good to go!

I thought this piggy bank order came at just the right time...

Yep, there is money in pigs! The piggy banks sure helped us purchase our new home. Jeff and I also joke that they bought us a brick house. As the story goes, the little pig that built the brick house was safe from the huffing and puffing, big bad wolf.

Flashback to the 60's!

 Lot's of my friends have been asking when they will see interior photos of our new home. First of all, it's been empty for 2+ years, and prior to that was a rental. It needs a thorough scrubbing from top to bottom, along with some new paint. I didn't want anyone to see photos until some of that work was completed.

 This is our main bath... don't you love that retro green?! The porcelain and tile cleaned up pretty well and we will live with it until we can get new vanities. I think I know someone who can make me a vessel sink. The master bath is a lovely pink, or perhaps we will call it salmon.

Can you believe the original cooktop is still there... and it works?! Today I scrubbed most of the grub off of it. A little polish, new drip pans, knobs, and we are good to go. The wall oven is not original. It's a newer model with a black front. While searching for cooktop parts online, I became engrossed with all the websites devoted to retro kitchens and baths. Around the time this house was built (1961) pink kitchens were very trendy. I like to think it explains why the interior of our cabinets are painted pink. Perhaps the Mrs. wanted a pink kitchen but the Mr. said no. I like to imagine that the pink interiors were a compromise!

The dining room needed the least amount of work. I cleaned the wood work, shampooed the carpet, and already moved some pottery into the china cabinet. Luckily, both Jeff and I think that the cherry blossom wallpaper mural is pretty cool. We are going to leave it for awhile. Jeff is going to make stoneware knobs and pulls for both the china cabinet and the kitchen. The kitchen cabinets need to be stripped and painted. When it's done I'll post a before and after photo. The before photo on it's own is too scary.

***Celebration of Spring Studio Tour Update***
Day two of the studio tour was very rainy, but the people still came and bought pottery. It was the best Spring studio tour yet. Even though we sold LOTS of pots, we still have some nice ones left. We plan to stay open throughout our move. Come to Seagrove, buy some pots, and we will have less to move. If you can't come to Seagrove, our Etsy shops are open 24-7. The goal is for our new gallery will be ready by mid-June.

Celebration of Spring in Seagrove!

The Celebration of Spring Pottery Studio Tour is my most FAVORITE event of the year! The countryside is green, the flowers are blooming. It's a perfect time to get the spring cleaning done in the gallery, rearrange inventory, and put out new pots.

Happy couple with a new vessel sink for their bathroom remodel

It was super busy day. Barely enough time to eat lunch in shifts. We still have some nice pots available and day two starts tomorrow. If you are in the area, please stop in!

Tea Time

Sophie and her "Uncle" Phil enjoy afternoon tea.

Our "Mug for Moving" campaign continues. If you would like to  help us out AND acquire a wonderful, new, handmade mug... click here:  "MUGS FOR MOVING"

Patience is a virtue?

I am loving this new batch of spoons that came out of the wood kiln that was fired during FireFest at STARworks. I like them so much that I want to keep them... but I will be strong and put a price on them. Well, maybe I will keep one.

There is so much that needs to be done at our new house and it's making me crazy to not be there every minute! But alas, there is a studio tour this weekend and I have to prepare for that, as well as piggy bank orders to complete. It doesn't help that the house is just a mile from our current location, making it all the more tempting to sneak away. I need to be patient. We knew that the timing of our closing would be squeezed in between studio tour preparations, and Jeff's impending trip to Japan and S. Korea. Yep, he leaves in less than two weeks. It's a good thing we aren't under pressure to move out of here! Our goal is to be completely down the road by June 1st.

I am both exhausted and exhilarated, just thinking about it.

Seagrove Potters Celebration of Spring Studio Tour & Kiln Opening

April 18 & 19, 2015

1423 NC Hwy 705

Seagrove, NC

Open both days - 10am - 5pm

The Celebration of Spring Studio Tour is my favorite event of the year. The countryside has sprung back to life, the grass is green, the trees are leafing out, and lots of flowers are blooming. It seems that no matter what the weather, there is a good turnout for this event.

Along with our "standards" from the gas kiln, we will have lots of new wood fired pots in the gallery.

If you are a tea or sake lover, Jeff has some real beauties from the last two wood firings.

There are 40+ potters on the tour this year. Many will offer demonstrations, refreshments, and door prizes. I will be working on carving a large ginkgo leaf bowl, and I am thinking Jeff will throw something big on Saturday afternoon. We have tour maps available in our gallery. Round up your friends and family and make Seagrove your destination this weekend!

We are on the move!

We closed on our new home today!

We are very excited to be moving one mile up the road, which keeps us on the Pottery Highway.

If you are familiar with Seagrove, you might recognize the beautiful barn that will be our neighbor. The house needs some TLC, but we are up for the challenge. The in-town location is perfect for business, yet we have a little over 2 acres and a very private backyard... lots of room for a big garden.

I think there is going to be some celebrating around here this weekend!

I am still here...

Life's been crazy! I will post more on that later. We did manage to get out of town last Saturday night, and head over to FireFest at STARworks Center for Creative Enterprise. This is where we buy our clay, but it is also a business incubator with lots of other cool stuff going on, one of which is FireFest. FireFest is a two day festival celebrating the role of fire in the creation of art. Along with lots of workshops, there was glass blowing demos, a wood firing, an iron pour, music, food, and beer. 

Each year at FireFest, a large ceramic sculpture is created and fired. This year, Seagrove artist, Carol Gentithes built a sculpture of a magical tree trunk. It was wood fired in this bottle kiln, during the festivities.

The sculpture's unveiling was the grand finale of the festival.

It was a sight to behold, under a fabulous, full moon.

Jeff went back to STARworks today to help unload the wood kiln. He was able to snap this photo of the finished sculpture, in daylight...

The Early Years

A few months back, potter blogger Lori Buff, posted some photos of her early pottery and sculpture from her high school days. It was really fun to see her beginning work as a budding young artist. As most of you know, we are getting ready for a move. I have been slowly weeding through "stuff", determined to de-clutter my life. 

Unfortunately, I am also hopelessly sentimental.

I have come across two pieces of early work that I have schlepped around for more years than I care to count...

 I made this weed vase in 9th grade. It was in Mrs. Costa's art class. She was the most inspiring and encouraging teacher that I ever had. She was also a potter, with a studio at her home. I had my first wheel experience in her class. I was the only kid that had a successful pot that could be fired. I don't know what happened to that one, but I have hung on to this slab built piece. It has had a place in many of the homes I have lived in. The macrame was replaced sometime in the last ten or twelve years.

The story of the lidded jar:
I made this jar during the first year of pottery at the NH Institute of Art. It was the first thing that I ever made a lid for. When the academic year ends, NHIA has an exhibition of the continuing ED student work. My teacher was none other than Jeff Brown. He asked me what I was submitting to the show. My reply was, "Nothing, I am don't make pots good enough for a show!".

He was really disappointed.

He said that no one from his intro to wheel work class was putting anything in the show.

I felt really bad, so I agreed to put this piece in. It obviously didn't sell because all these years later, I still own it. The next year I was much more confident and submitted a goblet for the show...
and was totally shocked that it sold! I interrogated all of my friends, certain that it was one of them that bought it. So far I haven't seen it in anyone's cabinet.

As much as I cringe at some (most) of my early pots, it's good to have them around as reference point... or heavy weapon should I ever need it.