apple picking season! (and it's 90 degrees outside).

in New Hampshire apple picking is a fall activity that usually requires putting on a sweater and driving to the local apple orchard... in Seagrove, North Carolina the apples are ripe NOW. as a matter of fact some of the apples on the trees here at the log cabin are getting a little sparse.  i decided that today was the day to pick some and bake a pie (before the squirrels get any fatter from eating them!).  instead of putting on a sweater, i donned shorts and a tank top to make the trip to the front yard. i picked a basket of apples, came inside and cranked up the AC for an afternoon in the kitchen!

this is an assortment of granny smith, red delicious and winesap... all organically grown, which means they may not be perfect looking and require some trimming.  this basket yielded enough to make a big apple pie and a crock of applesauce.

and BTW, jeff is smoking ribs AND a pork shoulder today... dinner is going to be awesome... don't you wish you were my neighbor?

birds, plants & pottery

we have hummingbird feeders in various locations around the house and studio... the birds are so entertaining.  here in seagrove we have a different species than the ones commonly found in NH... they aren't quite as colorful but still beautiful...

...and very difficult to photograph! (the bird is on the left if you look very closely).

the garden surrounding the entrance to our gallery... some larger birds have been enjoying jeff's birdbaths

porchulaca growing in the garden... this is the first time i have grown this.  i love not only the flowers but the beautiful leaves as well. 

and i really did get some work done in the studio...

i think we will have another bisque kiln to fire this week!

a trip to STARworks = new clay

yesterday we decided to close the gallery for a couple of hours and head to STARworks, in Star, to get a few hundred pounds of clay... aside from mixing their own claybodies with local clay, they are also a distributor for Highwater Clays.  i really wanted a few boxes of orangestone but the were out... they are expecting a delivery next week, so another trip is in our near future.
  since we were at STARworks in march they have developed a few more of their own clays so we decided to give them a try.  i have been experimenting with a darker clay and applying slips... so we came home with a few bags of this...

you gotta love the name... Grogwemee! i threw some platters and a couple of bowls with it... still have not settled on wether i like it or not.  i may not decide until after the work is fired.
we also purchased a few boxes of Aurora and Phoenix by Highwater.  i made a few pots with the Aurora today and really liked the way it threw.  tomorrow i will give the Phoenix a try.

it is 9pm and jeff is still out in the studio finishing pots...

hopefully he will come in soon and cook me some dinner :-)

fall is just around the corner...

The Seagrove Area Potters Association has a website and jeff & i are now listed on it.  click on the view potters alphabetically, then click on michèle hastings and jeff brown on the drop down list.  this site lets us upload events that we will be participating in.  the next two events for us will be the NH Potters Guild Annual Potters Market on October 30th in Concord, NH and then the weekend of November 19 -21st the Celebration of Seagrove Potters.

BUG encounters...

i mentioned in a previous post that the bugs are really big here in NC.  there are also bugs that i have never encountered before.  here are a few of our bug encounters from sunday afternoon...

jeff found this one in the yard... luckily he was dead.  this thing is HUGE!  even jeff had never seen anything like it.  if you know what it is please comment and let me know.

this one is really cool looking.  he wasn't very big, maybe 3/4" long.  we don't know what this is either

this spider has taken up residency on the porch.  it was hard to get a good picture because her web is up quite high.  jeff said this was a garden spider.  it's web is very intricate... she sits on that spiral and waits for her victims.  the spiral is very white and perfectly formed... at first glance, it almost looks like a plastic spring.
there are lots of blue tailed lizards (skinks) around, they move to quickly to get pictures.  so far i have seen only one snake... thank goodness!!!

putting the parts together

one of my favorite things to make is oval bakers.  i make them in two parts... i throw the bottoms and the tops separately on the wheel...

the tops are bottomless cylinders that i alter once they have set up a bit... depending on humidity it may not be until the next day...

i place the altered cylinder on top of the bottom, tracing around it with a needle tool.  i make a mark on both the top and bottom so that i can line them up properly when attaching them.  after tracing the oval i cut through it using an exacto-knife, it is little finer cut than a fettling knife.

i score both sections and depending on the dryness of the clay, either moisten the sections or use slip... to attach.

i smooth the inside seam with what i call i little wooden finger tool (sorry i didn't get a picture of it) and also my own fingers.  i smooth out the outside connection with a rib and my fingers.  i used to put these together at close to leather hard stage and then used the pony roller with WD-40 to smooth the seams.  i find working with the clay a little wetter gives me a little more fluid look.

this is a new shape, a little different than my "standard" oval, now i have to re-think the handles... that is my mission for tomorrow.  on a side note, these were thrown with laguna b-mix.  jeff and i will be wood-firing with our neighbor dan in september.  b-mix looks great in a wood-firing.

i leave you tonight with a picture of my studio mate today...

this little guy sat by my wheel most of the day :-)

dissapointed.

the new SAPA pottery maps were delivered this morning... we were really excited to be on it!  i opened it up and on the right hand side we are listed as Jeff Brown and Michele Hastings, #88 on the map... THEN when you go to #88 on the MAP it only says Jeff Brown...
they left me off   :-(

luckily the county map is being printed in January... hopefully we will be listed correctly there.

the bisque kiln is LOADED!

i have read lots of blogs and facebook posts about bisque firing this week, so i figured i should do the same!  this is the first bisque firing for us since moving to seagrove.  we couldn't fit all of our pots in so i am sure we will be doing another one very soon.
our shelves and posts were still on the bus so those had to be unloaded today as well.  we try to make use of as much space in the kiln as possible... saves on electricity and hopefully the environment as well.  we are careful about stacking... making sure that pots inside other pots are sitting level and bowls of like sizes are stacked rim to rim.  as bisque firing goes, this was sort of loose for us - we had to work with the sizes of the pots we had.  we load starting from the floor ( our kiln is outside under cover) and load to the very top.  we don't use cones in the bisque... only the pyrometer.  we fire to about 1875, always turning the kiln off before 1900.  i can't remember ever losing anything in a bisque firing so this method works for us!

as you can see the cover will JUST close :o)

after we finished loading we got some more yard work done (see earlier post) and jeff installed a gutter over the entrance to the wrap around porch.  when i came out to the porch with my computer i said that i smelled smoke... his reply was that someone nearby was firing a wood kiln tonight... being the pyromaniac that he is, he hopped in the truck to go and find it...

home again...

we had a great trip to nh... the weather was perfect. we had a nice balance of visiting with family and friends, cleaning out more of the northwood studio and spending time at the League of NH Craftsmen's Fair at Mt. Sunapee.
being gone a week means playing catch up with yard work...

we have apples galore... granny smith, winesap and i think some red delicious. the troublesome thing is to rake all the drops off of the lawn before mowing.  an apple picked from the tree is a nice treat after getting all that mowing done.
... and now it is time to load the bisque kiln.

cleaning out the northwood studio...

emptying the studio in northwood has been a daunting task.  much of it is overwhelming.  today i took down many of the postcards and posters that have accumulated over many years.  this one i decided to hang on to... too sentimental to let go of...

a postcard from 1985 - Byron Temple  exhibition, Lambertville, NJ.  The address is handwritten.
John's work was hugely influenced by Byron Temple and i am compelled to hang on to it.  it must have had some meaning to him to have carried it with him from Frederick, MD to NH.  i will carry it with me to seagrove, nc.

a great day at the fair...

perfect weather for the League of NH Craftsmen's Fair at Mt. Sunapee Resort, Newbury NH.

jeff and i did demonstrations

james mitchmeyer giving a pottery lesson

mickey cunliffe our faithful assistant!

we will be back to the fair on wednesday to be "fairgoers" and go through the booths and connect with friends... today is a work day.  back to the old studio in northwood to do some more cleaning out... something i am not looking forward too!

the gypsy potters hit the road (again!)

... on our way to New Hampshire for a few days! Starting today is the League of NH Craftsmen's Fair at Mt. Sunapee Resort.  Jeff and I are both statewide juried members.  We aren't doing a booth this year but the The New Hampshire Potters Guild will be offering pottery lessons to fairgoers all week in Tent X.  Jeff and I will doing demos in the Guild tent on Sunday from 10 to 4.  Hope to see you there!

for the LOVE of FOOD...

tonight i want to share this blog that i absolutely love... this is one of my favorite posts (love the cheetos & britney spears reference) posts have been sporadic in recent months but hopefully the writer is back on track again! be sure to read past and more recent posts.

GO MEAT YOURSELF

enjoy... (and if crude language offends you, you may not want to click on it... or since i mentioned it curiosity may just get the best of you!)

the most recent pizza from the brown/hastings kitchen

weekend update from the 'grove...

i have been enjoying the fabulous weather for the last few days... the temps have been great and the humidity much lower.  perfect working weather...

new bowls with wide rims and textures

handled bowls with some texture... jeff prefers my standard handles as opposed to the free form ones (center bowl) that i have been experimenting with

here is jeff working in his new space... we decided the other day that we are going to enjoy working together in this studio!

saturday night we went to a big party for Benjamin Burns birthday.  he and his wife Bonnie were gracious hosts.  we had a wonderful time and didn't get home until 1:30 am... and we were not the last to leave!  the McCanless bros., Michael Mahan and Jeff entertained us with fabulous music - ranging from Irish, bluegrass to rock and roll.  we met lots of potters and pottery lovers from the seagrove area.

come september it will be our turn to have a big grand opening party!