August in Seagrove, NC

Jeff and I have really enjoyed being home for the month of August. We do miss our family and friends, but we haven't missed the stress of packing and hauling a trailer to a show that is 800 miles away. I know there are a lot of people who make a living traveling to shows, but I just don't have it in me. I am thankful for opportunities this year that allowed us to stay home.

We have been enjoying our garden tremendously! While some things were not too successful... green beans and scarlet runner beans, we've had a great crop of okra, tomatoes, and basil. Jalapenos are starting to come in and there are lots of ghost peppers that are so hot no one can eat them! Poblanos will be ready for chile rellenos very soon. Once again there is butternut squash that grew from the compost. It looks like we will have more than last year. Jeff gets credit for growing the vegetables. He is diligent with organic pest control and keeping down the weeds. I just pick and eat! 

Pitcher by Dan Compte, bowl by John Baymore - both NH potters

I am still spending time with painting practice, but I have been side tracked with a new obsession...

Washi Tape! I bought it to tape down paintings while I work. It holds well but is easily removed. If you search Washi Tape ideas on Pinterest, you will find a plethora of fun things to do with it.

I made my school teacher sister a "back to school" set. The clothes pins are great for pinning papers to a "clothesline" or for holding bags closed. The pencils were wrapped in tape and then covered with a thin coat of matte medium. The binder clips speak for themselves. Jeff says if anything sits around too long I will wrap it in Washi Tape!

Real Flowers...

A walk through the yard this morning.

 The magnolia is looking a little beat up after the two hurricanes last fall. Fewer blossoms, but each one beautiful.

 Yarrow by the front steps.

 The herbs are doing great this Spring. Sage and thyme.

The lilies are just starting to bloom. Their scent reminds me of suntan lotion.

The field next door was hayed late last week, while we were loading the gas kiln. Jeff and I were both sneezing up a storm. Yesterday they rolled it into bales. I love seeing them scattered across the landscape. We are breathing much easier now.

Goodbye April, Hello May

April sure did fly by. It was a busy month for us with orders, Empty Bowls, and the Celebration of Spring Potter Tour. In between making pots we needed to clean up the studio, gallery, and yard.

I had it in my head for some time now, that I wanted a picnic table in the front yard. A place for pottery guests to rest or even have a picnic. As many know, dining in Seagrove is rather limited, but when the weather is good it's a beautiful area to picnic. We bought a picnic table kit from Lowe's. The price was right but it needed some elbow grease. Lots of sanding and then a coat of weather seal before assembling. When we were finished, we realized the seats are too low. The pre-drilled holes were an inch lower than they were supposed to be. Even with the extra inch the height would not have been great. Jeff is going to take it apart and drill new holes.

Next on my wish list is to hang a swing from this giant tree! They now sell a swing that comes with tree-friendly straps. Finding someone with a tall ladder (or a boom truck!) to hang it, is a whole other conundrum.

The Spring tour was successful. Our sales weren't any better than the previous year, but we sure had a lot of people through the gallery. At the end of the weekend we were happy and I got some work completed by giving carving demonstrations.

Today we are glazing and loading the kiln. If at all possible we will fire tomorrow.

Celebration of Spring in Seagrove

 We are getting some beautiful light in the studio in the late afternoon. I probably could have turned off the spot lamps and carved in the natural light.

Jeff and I are working on some collaborative pieces in preparation for the annual Celebration of Spring Studio Tour, here in Seagrove, NC. It's a great weekend to visit pottery country. Lots of demos, studio tours, and snacks to keep you fed throughout the day. Save the date:

April 22 - 23, 2017

Most shops will be open 10-5, with a few open earlier.

We will have tour maps at our gallery to start you on your way.

Michèle Hastings & Jeff Brown Pottery

505 E Main St.

Seagrove, NC 27341

A Potter's Life During the Holidays

This is my world these days. The piggy bank orders keep coming in! Lots of them are personalized and the interesting thing about this year is that many of them are for twins. As I was typing that I realized that I forgot to stamp two pigs with the names "BEN" and "MAX"... I ran out to the studio and did that right away, before they got too dry. I always enjoy learning what names are popular right now. I think I shipped 10 finished pigs this week, and assembled twenty more since yesterday afternoon. Tomorrow I am moving on to salt pigs.

While I was assembling the piggy banks, Jeff went to town hall and helped replace light bulbs in the town of Seagrove's holiday lights that line Main St. The lights will be placed on the utility poles, prior to the holiday parade this weekend. We enjoy living in town and are happy to volunteer for the community. The beautiful thing about Seagrove is that you can live in town and still enjoy a rural lifestyle.

Have I told you lately how much I love our new home and studio? 

Fall Splendor

We are having fabulous fall weather here in Seagrove, NC. Cool nights with warm days in the low 70's. Perfect temperatures for working and sleeping. Yesterday the door came down from the kiln. We took a few pots out that were cool enough to handle. Today we will unload the rest. Jeff and I did a couple of collaborative pots that came out really awesome. One is the ginkgo vase in the photo above. You'll also notice that my pink geraniums with the trailing white and blue flowers is looking great... better than it did all summer! And it wouldn't be fall without mums.

There were lots of salt pigs in this firing. Lately they have been outselling the piggy banks on Etsy. I have a few extra in this firing so that I can have some in stock and ready to ship. Today it's back to piggy bank assembly. I have had a break from them for a couple of weeks and I am looking forward to getting back at it.

It's a Celebration Weekend!

We unloaded the kiln yesterday, in the midst of 90+ degree heat. I had an order that needed to ship before the post office closed, which meant we couldn't delay the job until evening. Overall we had some nice pots. A couple of spots in the kiln didn't get enough reduction. The frustrating thing was the shino glaze on two pots, on the same shelf looked completely different. One reduced just fine, the other, meh. The joys of making pottery!

I was pretty happy with these two...

They will both be available to purchase at our 6th Anniversary Open Studio Celebration tomorrow. I can't believe we opened shop in Seagrove 6 years ago! It's been a wild ride and the time has flown by. There will be pottery demonstrations throughout the day, and refreshments to enjoy. We will be open from 10-5, so stop in for a visit. Our annual sale tent will be out in the yard. Under the tent you will find some nice seconds and other good finds at fabulous prices.

505 E Main Street, downtown Seagrove - next to the big red barn.

It's Official!

Seagrove is the Pottery Capital of the USA!

The town of Seagrove unveiled a beautiful new welcome sign that visitors will see when they exit the highway, coming in to town. There are actually two signs, another on Pottery Highway 705, as you enter town from the opposite direction.

Last fall Seagrove elected Mayor David Fernandez, who also happens to be a potter in town. He has been instrumental in making a lot of things happen here. Along with the new signage, we have large planters, pots, and a pretty concrete table with benches in the downtown area. Then there is also the alcohol referendum that passed last month. It's so nice now to go into the local market and buy a bottle of wine to go along with the fresh salmon that you purchased for dinner. 

Now that's what I call progress!

The Creation of The Whimsical Flower Pig

I unloaded the bisque firing today. Probably during the hottest part of the day. I had a few piggy banks that needed some underglaze application and I was more than happy to do it in the comfort of our air conditioned studio. It's such a treat to work in an air conditioning!!!

I thought I would share the process of creating my "whimsical flower pig" design. When the piggy bank is leather hard I apply a white slip and carve the flower design through the surface of the clay. I then bisque fire to cone 06 and after that, apply underglaze.

I brush black underglaze into all of the carved lines. As you can see, I am not too concerned with precision!

Once all the piggy banks have been underglazed, I go back and give the area a wipe with a moist sponge, to remove the excess.

I am not too fussy with the sponging. I like to leave some of the underglaze behind for a sort of "smudgy" look. I then dip the bottom half of the pigs in our Temple white glaze, the upper half in our gloss green. The overlap creates a nice pink blush. These are fired in a reduction atmosphere to cone 10. Our gas kiln typically takes anywhere from 12 - 16 hours to fire.

I also can personalize these piggy banks with names or phrases. Check out my Etsy shop for more information. 

Family Break

I am back after a brief hiatus from blogging. I had a really good excuse to take a break.

My girl flew in from Connecticut for a few days! This year she got her turn on the tire swing, since the area is now "poison ivy free". We were pretty chill this visit. No huge plans. Just hanging out together.

We took a drive out to the Town Creek Indian Mound in Mt. Gilead, NC and learned a little history about native american life in North Carolina. 

The historical site depends mostly on state funding for operations and maintenance. Sadly, the information building and some of the exhibits are looking tired and worn. 

Danielle and I still enjoyed our visit. We had a picnic lunch on the grounds before heading out to Pinehurst to do a little shopping.

Jeff wheeled out the smoker on Sunday and barbecued some tasty ribs. We had a great feast which included sweet potato salad, caprese salad, and grilled figs with goat cheese.

and did I mention wine?

Sadly, on Monday, I had to drive Danielle back to the airport. Saying good bye is so very hard. The only thing that takes the sting off of it, is that we head north in August and we will have a few days together again.

Prior to the girl's arrival, I worked furiously to finish a whole mess of pigs. In between the piggy banks, there were couple of carved vases... because I can't live on pigs alone. 

Yesterday was spent sanding pots and loading the kiln for a bisque firing. Once that's done, we will glaze and load her up again. Vacation is officially over.

Pigs are Multiplying

I haven't been able to keep up with having piggy banks and salt pigs in stock since last fall. When we were firing in the small gas kiln I could only keep up with orders. I am happy to say that now that our kiln is built, the pig population is growing. I like to have at least a dozen on the shelves, and in the Etsy shop, that are ready to go. 

This salt pig is a re-fire from when we were having issues with pin holing in the nuka white glaze. The second firing smoothed out the glaze, but the green always changes color on it's second trip through the kiln. It's lighter and brighter and I am sure someone will love it. Lately the salt pig sales numbers have been creeping up to the piggy banks. A year and a half ago I tried to stop making them, but the public said "No!".

Jeff and I also made the decision to purchase the next size up in corks for the piggy bank snouts. We had a few international buyers mention that they have some larger coins than here in the U.S. This new size should be more universal. It's kind of neat to look back over the years and see how the piggy banks have evolved. Change can be a good thing.

Speaking of change, I forgot to blog about our town election results. The alcohol referendum passed in Seagrove! We will be able to purchase beer and wine at stores within town limits. Now we can also hope for a nice little restaurant to open... perhaps with a micro-brewery... and walking distance to my house. I like to dream big... and if you can dream it, it can happen.

The Count Down Begins!

Our potter guests from South Korea will be here tomorrow afternoon! We are just about ready for their arrival. Our office/photo shoot/packing room looks like a bedroom. The second bath has been painted, and the tub caulked. A few gallons of kimchi are fermenting in crocks... I will let you imagine what the house smells like. I am sure it will make our guests feel right at home.



These are a few more pots from the last firing. The gingko leaf pots will go the show in Southern Pines. The mug was an extra from a wholesale order.

I hope that everyone who has a long weekend is enjoying it. I will try to update the blog while the Korean potters are in town. Have a great week!

Firing #4

I have had so many irons in the fire that I didn't even post the results of the fourth firing of the new gas kiln. Well let me tell you, I was a great one!

Jeff and I collaborated on this large, 18" bowl and we are super pleased with it. Finished just in time go to the East Meets West Exhibition in Southern Pines.

Remember Jeff's tea bowl made with the clay in our yard? Here it is finished. I think it's just "Wow!" I am quite sure that he will send this one to the show as well.
That's all for now, gotta get moving towards the studio. I have bowls that are ready for carving.

How Dry I am...

The little town of Seagrove has an alcohol referendum on the ballot, next election. This is the sign in our yard...

Below is the sign next to my bank and in many other yards...

We need alcohol sales to attract a nice restaurant, so we don't keep sending pottery shoppers to Asheboro for a nice lunch with a glass of wine. Once they leave town, they aren't coming back. Without alcohol sales our new local grocery store is losing money. If the locals need beer or wine, we drive past it and shop in Asheboro, where we can get everything in one stop. Our grocery dollars are leaving town every day. We waited a long time for a grocery store. I would hate to see us lose it.

Do I think the referendum will pass? I am really not sure. It seems there are a lot of old timers against it. I will let you know on June 8th.

Getting Wild

Jeff has really been enjoying digging and processing the "wild" clay in our yard. When the area for our kiln shed was excavated, it exposed a lot of this luscious, orange, goodness. After blunging, screening, and drying on plaster, it was ready to be wedged and thrown.

Yesterday he finished one of the tea bowls he made, using the Mishima technique of inlaying slip. Jeff applies the slip with a brush. Then scrapes away the excess, which also pushes all of the slip into the stamped areas. When it's dry, he will sand away any remaining slip, using a green kitchen scrubbie.

There have been a lot of Mishima instructional videos on the internet lately and I have been a little disappointed when watching them, to discover that they aren't really about Mishima, it's about applying wax to clay, carving a design, and brushing on underglaze. While this technique produces some nice designs, it isn't Mishima by definition. Just call me a purist!

Second Look

We unloaded firing #2 the day before my family arrived. Jeff and I sanded and packed all of the pots that needed to be out the door right away. I had a quick look at some of the pots, before moving on to being the hostess.

This little pig came out of the kiln, and my first thought was, "Damn, the shino isn't coppery-orange".
He was an Etsy order, and I thought I would just fire another, since I had some time and have piggy banks already made. He was set aside, and left on his own for the remainder of the week.
Last night I decided to take photographs of him. After spending time with him, I realized that although it was different from the listing photos, he was really a handsome pig.

The aqua is really bright, and I like the contrast of it against the black/gray overlap of the two glazes. I sent photos to the buyer and she loves him too. Today he is off to his new home.

Many times when I am disappointed with pots that don't turn out as I expected, I have found that photographing them, lets me see them in a new light. I think that translates to lots of situations in life.