The latest in pottery

 We have been firing every two to three weeks. Our goal is to try to get orders back to a 4-6 week delivery time. Now that our shop is open 4 days a week, we will need to make pots to restock the shelves as well.

I had an order for a Bull piggy bank. They buyer didn't want white with black spots so we settled on this combination. I am really pleased with the results. They raise cattle so this is going to be sitting in their kitchen. 

This glaze is so hard to photograph. I thought it would be easier outside but I still got the reflection of the trees and sky. We have a dulling spray for photographing shiny glazes. I think I will give that a try to get some better photos before he is off to his new home.

I hadn't made coasters in a long time. A friend of a collector contacted us and ordered a set to give her as a gift. Once I am in the rhythm of making these, I like to make a bunch. The bottoms are covered with cork to protect furniture. I hope to get more in the next firing. They are great for filling up space. They can be stacked on top of each other since the glaze is only on the interior.

 

The weather has been so nice here in Seagrove, that it's been difficult to stay inside and work. The gardens are constantly calling us!

Garden Inspired

 Last week I completed another tiny accordion fold book made from playing cards.

front

inside

back

The garden papers that I am using came from a miniature book of papers that I found online. It was so adorable that I had to buy it. It's about 2" x 1 3/4".

The papers are quite eclectic and there are quite a few fun ones. Some of the papers are translucent. There are so many that it will probably take me years to use them all!

Dreams of Travel

 

I enjoyed every minute that I spent creating this little accordion folded piece! I am not sure what to call it. Is it a card or perhaps just a tiny bit of art? 

Inside

 When I started to create, I envisioned an imaginary passport that would take me on a trip to France.

The core of the project was created with playing cards that I covered in gesso and then connected using bits of cloth and washi tape. The collage was created using a combination of wine bottle labels, flowers from a tiny book of papers, and stamps.

I wanted a vintage feel so on the opposite side I applied crackle paste and lightly applied a gold wax paste. I used distress ink on other areas, including the ribbon, to give it that aged appearance.

Jeff cleaned out a drawer the other day and found a few more old boxes of playing cards. He has donated them to my cause. Now I am waiting for a delivery of assorted, cancelled world postage stamps. I ordered them for $2.00 from an Etsy seller. I can't wait to start creating with them!

Travelers Notebook

 

My latest book binding project was a midori aka travelers notebook. If you aren't familiar with this type of notebook, it's a cover utilizing elastic cord to hold the signatures and also to wrap around for a closure. Traditionally the covers are made of leather. The elastic cord allows you to add and remove signatures as needed.

I made my cover out of a cracker box that I covered with gel print papers. The signatures were assembled and saddle stitched using copy paper scraps that I save when printing shipping labels. I try to print two labels per page to prevent waste but occasionally one item needs to be shipped so I have a stack of half sheets next to the paper cutter.

It took me forever to finish this little notebook. I wasn't happy with how I assembled the cover. After gluing it down I realized the spine should have been a separate piece from the front and back. It would close a little more neatly if I had done that. It sat on the table for weeks before I could bring myself to finish it. I made it for myself so no one else has to deal with error! The next one will be better.

I'll use this little book to keep track of how much water I drink each day, as well as a log for exercise and blood pressure. Yes, their is a phone app for most of those things but I prefer to put pen to paper.

Spring Adventures.

 I thought I should begin the month of April with a blog post. Each month I say I will do better but I always drop the ball. Lately the weeks fly by while Jeff and I try to squeeze in everything we want and need to do. We have enjoyed time spent outside getting our garden beds ready for vegetables and flowers. Jeff does the veggies and I manage the flowers. I have the front flower bed ready for sowing seeds. I will do the usual zinnias and this year I am adding nigella, which I have never grown before. It's supposed to give me some nice flowers for cutting, as well as some interesting pods to add to arrangements. The variety I chose is called "LOVE-IN-A-MIST". Who couldn't resist that? I had to replace my sage plant. The last one died in the Fall. It seems I can only manage to keep them for about two years. I also bought a lavender plant. I have never had good luck with them. This year I am going to plant it in my small flower bed next the the vegetable garden. I am hoping it will be happier there.

Amid all the gardening, pots are being made and fired. We have ramped up our firing schedule and are feeling like we are getting closer to being caught up with orders. We unloaded the kiln on Monday and I was finally able to fire mugs and a bowl that I made more than a month ago. 

Last week I decided to challenge myself to eat vegan/vegetarian for one week. I dug out the cookbooks and marked some new recipes to try. It's been an eating adventure this week!

Last night we had a light version of macaroni and cheese from the the Moosewood Restaurant - Low Fat- Favorites. It was delicious and was easier on my digestive system than my usual rich mac & cheese. I tweaked the recipe some by adding sautéed spinach and garlic. I roasted some Brussels sprouts to go with it. We have enjoyed a casserole with bulgur wheat and ground soybean, as well as a spaghetti pie that got it's cheesy flavor from nutritional yeast. Tonight I am making a black bean and lentil chili. A recipe that we eat quite often. Lunches have been tofu salad and pita bread, homemade hummus, and tobouleh. I love sandwich wraps made with the hummus, toubeleh, and bean sprouts. Jeff has been keeping us in beans sprouts these days. He has his sprouting method perfected now. We will take a break from the vegetarian eating on Easter Sunday... I am roasting boneless leg of lamb!

My goal is to incorporate more meatless meals in our diet. This challenge helped me discover some new ingredients and recipes.

Next on my to make list is Laurie's Tomato Rice Loaf. She shared her recipe on her blog: The Clean Green Homestead.

You can teach old dogs new tricks.

 

We have made so many salt pig over the last 12 months. There are usually around 30 in each firing. I am still getting orders for piggy banks, but the salt pigs definitely out number them. When the piggy banks started selling faster than I could make them, Jeff took over the throwing part. I became the person that turned them into pigs and glazed them. He is waaaaaay faster then I am on the wheel. Then when the salt pigs came into being, he threw those too. A few weeks ago it was determined that there were so many orders for vessel sinks, that I needed to pitch in with the salt pig throwing. It took me a few tries to get the shape right and I felt like mine were just not going to look as nice as his. 

He kept telling me they were fine.

He was right. Once glazed, I could hardly determine which ones were mine or his.

I am still extremely slow, but I think they are starting to go a little more quickly. This is a good time for me to work on this, because like last March, our sales have let up a little this month. We are finally catching up on orders and hope to get our turn around time back to 4-6 weeks. I must say 99.9% of customers have had no problem waiting 8-10 weeks for their pigs.

We also have a new glaze in the studio! It's called denim blue. Jeff mixed it up for a sink customer that wanted a lighter blue. I think it will look great on a piggy bank. I am hoping to get one in the next firing so that I can photograph it and start offering this new color. Next on the list is a pink glaze. I get so many requests for pink piggy banks!

I will close with the exciting news that Jeff and I got our first Moderna vaccine last week. We can hardly wait for April 8th to get number two. I am preparing myself for some side effects and I will gladly taking them over getting the virus. Once we are fully vaccinated we will probably re-open the gallery at the end of April!

Stay healthy! Get vaccinated!

Upcycled Storage Box

 I love a "good" box or bag and have a hard time letting go of them. Two years ago I got a new smartphone and it came in a nice, sturdy box. I stashed it away thinking that one day I could put it to use.

Yesterday was that day.

I got out my gel plate and paints and printed a bunch papers. 

I used those prints to cover my smartphone box!

It's the perfect size for storing my Posca paint pens.

I couldn't entirely wrap the bottom of the box because the cover is a really snug fit. I like the bright blue so that worked out fine. The surface on the inside of the bottom was scarred so I cut print down to cover that up. I did the same to the underneath.

Now I am wishing we still had the box that Jeff's phone came in! 

The Winter Garden

 This is the first year that Jeff has planted a winter garden. We are really enjoying it. It's so nice to pick greens for a salad in the middle of February!

We purchased some row covers that make it super handy to access the veggies. A few weeks ago there was enough Napa cabbage and Korean radish for Jeff to make kimchi. We have been enjoying it with a variety of Asian inspired meals.

We have mixed Asian greens and bib lettuce. It's been giving us enough to make salads a couple of times a week. Occasionally I add some store bought baby spinach. We've also enjoyed swiss chard, kale, and lots of baby bok choy. Last summer Jeff purchased jars and special plastic lids for growing bean sprouts so we always have plenty to toss in salads and stir fry. 

The seed catalogs have been arriving since January and some seeds have been bought. Jeff is a really good seed saver so he has a lot of his own stash. 

After four chilly days of clouds and rain, I am looking forward to Spring.

Still Making Pots

 Anyone looking through my recent posts might think that I wasn't making pots anymore. Since the pandemic hit I have been making salt pigs and piggy banks. We have so many orders that there hasn't been time for much else. Despite me thinking that each pig is adorable and unique, my readers might get tired of seeing them!

Yesterday we loaded the gas kiln. It should have been done the day before but it was cold and very windy. Jeff needed to spray glaze on two sets of canisters and we do that outside. Perhaps someday we will have space inside for a spray booth. The weather yesterday was great. The wind had died down and while it was chilly, the sun was shining brightly.

The back stack was easy, and loaded quickly. 

Jeff played tetris with the bottom shelf of the front stack. He is really good at solving the puzzle.

The front stack was finished by late afternoon. I headed to the kitchen to get red beans started for dinner, so that we wouldn't be eating at 10:00 pm. I have a tendency to start them too late! Jeff took a break, then went out to brick up the door. We did a preheat until bed time, then started firing this morning. During the holiday season Jeff fired overnight. Without the Christmas deadline looming, we felt it was better to start fresh in the morning. 

As for dinner... I managed to get it done by 9:30!

A New Year, A New Start

 Since my "junk journal", that was bound with washi tape, was completed at the beginning of the month, it was time to create a new one. I decided this one would have a coptic stitch binding. I took me forever to put this one together. I worked on it in dribs and drabs for two weeks. 

The paper for the cover is gel printed using multiple layers of acrylic paint and a stencil. The signatures are mixed media paper. The mixed media paper is less expensive than watercolor paper and it should hold up to multiple layers of paints, ink, and pastels.

This is the fourth coptic stitch bound book that I have made and this one has the fewest mistakes! I had one row of stitching wrong but caught it before moving forward so I was able to pull it out and make the correction. I wanted to give it an embellishment so I dug through my bead box and found this little do-dad of beads and copper wire to tie on. I think I made it when I was practicing make swirls with wire. After looking through my box I am inspired to incorporate some raku fired beads or buttons into a future journal.

So here I am with lots of blank pages staring at me. Putting down the first marks are the hardest.

Windows, Paints, and Inks

 I did a thing! I lettered the full length glass door to our pottery studio/gallery. I had been wanting to try this for almost a year. A few weeks ago I ordered the Posca paint pens that I needed to do the job. They are water based paints and easily clean off with Windex. We had a paper "masks required" sign that I printed from the health department that was taped to the door. This looks much better. We are currently open by appointment only. I added that to the window as well, but the glare in the photo makes it hard to see.

I bought the Posca pens in black, red, and white, not knowing which would work best on the door. The black didn't stand out very well, so I went with the white. Originally I thought white snowflakes and black letters.

I then went on to experiment with the black pen in my art journal. I really like how they flow on paper. This is over a sparkly ink background.

I've been experimenting with new iridescent spray inks over a stencil. They were fun to use and I think I can make some neat backgrounds for greeting cards.

I will leave you with a big piggy bank from our firing this week. I have had a lot of orders for the copper red and shino combination. I cross my fingers every time they get fired. There are so many things that can go wrong with the red. It may turn out pink, it may "crawl" all over, and many times the glaze drips down the legs and adheres to the kiln shelf. When it runs, Jeff can usually save it with his amazing Dremel tool skills. Thankfully each one came out of the kiln looking great!

 

Optimistic

 Welcome 2021! I am feeling optimistic as we start the new year. We have a vaccine for covid-19, which means there is hope for an end to the pandemic at some point this year. We will have a new president on January 20th. A president who believes in science, can keep his ego in check, and will behave as a leader should. 

I had planned to finish all the pages in my small art journal by December 31st. I didn't quite meet that goal, but I am okay with it. There were too many pots that needed to be made! I usually take a break once the last pots are shipped by the holiday deadline. This year orders continued to come in and Christmas day was my only full day off. I will admit to taking a more relaxed attitude for the last two weeks. The flow of the day has been an enjoyable one.

Here are two journal pages that I completed during this time.

The entire journal was made using gel printed, mixed media paper. I sometimes have to work hard at how to incorporate the backgrounds into a new artwork. This was one I struggled with and just decided to practice a figure painting on it. Once I got started I liked how the background became the print in her gown as well as her tangle of black hair.

I wanted to explore circles a little more and incorporated them into two different spreads. I painted a thin layer of gesso over the gel printed pages before I began. This added a little depth to backgrounds. The small circle pattern in the spread above is a raised texture. I created it using a stencil and molding paste. The spread below was created with the old photo in mind. The photo is of my sister and me, taken in front of my brother's mustang. I am quite sure we were headed to his high school graduation. My mother made our dresses. Mine was a knit material that had a rick-rack trim. I remember that it was itchy and that I never really liked to wear it. Anita's dress was madras plaid in orange, yellow, and blue. It was way cooler then mine.

I have just one full page spread left to create, and this little book will be done. Time to start binding another. This time with plain white pages.

Letting Go

 

Last night I finished another spread in my art journal. I needed to relax after a few intense days of glazing and loading the kiln for the final firing of holiday orders. I downloaded the new YoYo Ma and Kathryn Stott album, Songs of Comfort & Hope, and it was perfect music to listen to while painting. I didn't have a plan when I started, I just let go and this is what happened. It may be my favorite spread in the journal.

I worked on another spread over the last two weeks. I went in with a plan and it just didn't seem to work. I left it for a few days, mulled it over, then when in and reworked it a bit. I am still not happy with it. Not sure if I will share it here. Art journals are like diaries... there are somethings that you are not comfortable sharing with the world.

The Countdown to Christmas Deadlines

 We are in the final push to get orders out in time for holiday gift giving. The post office has been doing a dismal job with deliveries. Once a package leaves our studio, who knows how long or what route it will take to get to it's destination. I keep my finger crossed and keep an eye on tracking. I can't even begin to count how many missing package inquiries I have made in the last few weeks.

While I haven't had any piggy banks or salt pigs in stock for months, there are still lots of nice pots in our gallery.

We have been open by appointment only since the end of November. It has been working out well. Shoppers have the gallery to themselves, everyone is wearing a mask, and we have contactless payment through Square.

I decided to run a report on the Square app and compared sales from the first weekend in December of 2019 to the first weekend in December, 2020. We sold more in 2020 than 2019! The people who called and made appointments were either past customers or people who saw our work online and were very interested in making a purchase. It felt so much safer than dealing with people in and out all day, sanitizing the door handle, if the door couldn't be left open, and reminding people that our emergency occupancy was only three.

Jeff and I have been very thankful that our online sales have sustained us over the last nine months. We are hopeful it will continue and that we can all get through this winter safe and healthy.

Art Journal Escape

 

Your probably wondering if I am still a potter? I guess you could say I am a pig making potter, since that is pretty much all that I have made since the pandemic hit. In between there have been a few mugs, cheese stones, and spoon jars. The spoon jars have been glazed and on a shelf since summer. One of these days there will be room for them in the kiln!

This week I managed to finish a spread in my little art journal. I worked on it in dribs and drabs over a period of three days. I loved building up the background with layers of gesso, old book pages, acrylic paint, and my new neo-color II pastels. This is also the first time that I experimented with modeling paste and a stencil. That is how the textured circles were created. I am definitely going to do more with that on the next spread. I already have a plan in my head.

The Holiday Season Begins

We usually host Jeff's family for Thanksgiving. We've had as few as eight and as many as seventeen.

This year, it was just the two of us. We felt it wasn't safe for a family gathering. Especially when you consider the ages of the majority.

Still made two pies. A pecan, with nuts from our own trees, and a pumpkin pie. 

Since it was just the two of us we opted for an evening meal, which meant we could have an appetizer lunch! Brie en croute and grilled figs from our trees. Jeff popped a bottle of champagne and we made mimosas.

We have a friend that lives alone so we packed up his turkey dinner and he picked it up curbside. While we enjoyed a quiet Thanksgiving for two, I know that isolating is harder for people who live alone. It hurt my heart that my father spent the day quarantined in his room at the nursing home. He has always gone to my sister's house and enjoyed the day with them. They have a covid outbreak at his facility which means he can't leave his room for anything. I hope he doesn't have to spend the whole winter that way.

Orders have been steadily coming in. I had to cut off Christmas orders on November 16th. New orders will ship mid-January. I am hoping to make something other than pigs after that!

I hope everyone who celebrates, enjoyed their Thanksgiving day.