Happy News!

Jeff and I have been really excited about the collaborative works we have been creating. It seems like nearly everyday he hands me something and says, "Carve some ginkgo leaves on this." We have been so happy with the pots that a few weeks ago we decided to apply to Piedmont Craftsmen, here in North Carolina. Jeff spent a few nights photographing our work (he is a much better photographer than me) and uploaded the application. 

This week we got our letter of acceptance! There were 68 applicants this year, representing a variety of craft media. We were one of twelve that were accepted. This is the first part of the jury process. In November there will be a physical jury during their annual show. We are feeling pretty confident about the next step.

That being said, we got right back to work, glazing and loading the kiln. These pots are pretty labor intensive from start to finish. The interior is glazed in tenmoku and then the rim is dipped in the same glaze. The excess is sponged off prior to the ash glaze being sprayed on. Despite the drizzly weather, Jeff managed to fire the kiln, starting around noon yesterday and finishing in the wee hours of the morning today. We will anxiously await the door coming down on Sunday night.

Wood Fired Mugs

 The week before Christmas, Jeff helped David Stuempfle fire his anagama wood kiln. We were both able to get a few pots into the kiln. It was a five day firing with the unloading on New Year's Eve day. It seemed it was days before I had the opportunity to spend some time with them.

 These are a throwback to my "button" cups that I was making 6+ plus years ago. They lend themselves much better to this wood kiln than the ginkgo leave carving.

 They are made with Laguna B-mix. If it was B--mix for wood, they wood be a little darker in color.

Overall, I am quite happy with the results. Clicking on the photo above will take you to my Etsy shop, where I will be listing a couple of these over the next few days.

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!

Wood Fire Love

 A couple more pots from the wood firing.  Most of the the square dishes (I think there were five) came out quite nice. A couple of the handles were buried in ash, losing their texture. I may try re-firing one of them in the gas kiln to see what happens.

I LOVE the Albany slip on the interior! 

Through the Fire Box

Jeff was on the late night stoking shift, at the wood kiln, and snapped this awesome photo with his phone! I especially like the "hot" lady sculpture and the face jug, grinning in the heat.

While Jeff was on kiln duty, I worked in the studio, then settled in for the evening with a dinner of leftovers, while streaming "Breakfast at Tiffany's". I am not sure if I had ever seen the movie in it's entirety! I enjoyed it, but found the stereotypical portrayal of Holly Golightly's Japanese neighbor rather appalling. There is also lots of littering in the movie. Every package that's opened and cigarette put out, is tossed carelessly to the ground. Those are just some of my pet peeves and perhaps I noticed them more because of it. I just might stream some more classics when I get the time. Readers, if you have recommendations, please post in the comments!

Our "Mugs for Moving" campaign continues. Thank you to EVERYONE who has ordered a mug. Jeff and I decided to add a give away to the fun. When the campaign ends (probably late spring), we will choose one contributor at random, that will receive a collaboration pot from us. We haven't decided what it will be, but are bouncing around a few ideas.
Click on this link to place an order: "Mugs for Moving"

All mugs will be shipped by late summer 2015

Glazing for a Wood Firing

Jeff and I have the opportunity to put pots in David Stuempfle's wood kiln, and help with with the firing.  At the last minute Jeff suggested I make a few square bowls using STARwork's Seagrove Clay. I kept the decoration simple. Stamps but no underglaze or slip. I hadn't used the fish stamp in a long time. Maybe it's time for it to go back into the rotation.

Since there won't be time to bisque fire, these will go into the kiln raw. Liquid wax was applied to the rims and handles and then the interiors coated with Albany slip.

 A few weeks ago I had thrown some vases and pitchers with the Seagrove clay. I had time to slip, dot, and bisque fire those pieces.

It's hard to believe that the pots above will come out of the kiln looking (hopefully) like the mugs below!

The magic of the kiln.

"Made in the Carolinas"

We had our 2 1/2 minutes of fame last week! Jeff and I were featured on "Made in the Carolinas", a segment on TWC News. I blogged about the filming last month, and weren't sure when it would be aired. I can't embed the video in blogger, here is a link if you want to check it out:

Gypsy Potters Drawn to Seagrove, NC

The segment brought people to us all weekend. It was pretty exciting and perfect timing for our "Mugs for Moving" campaign. A big GIANT thank you to all who purchased a mug or two this weekend! We are off to a great start, but still have a ways to go. If you would like to learn more, read my previous post or click here: Mugs For Moving

The first bunch of square bowls are out of the kiln. I am very happy with how they turned out. These are a nice size, they hold about 16 oz. Perfect for salsa, dip, and serving veggies.  This weekend I made a few more to put in the wood kiln at David Stuempfles. Imagine them all brown and toasty. Stayed tuned for more about the wood firing.

Another snow day...

This is the scene we woke up to this morning! I shot this photo looking out from the kiln shed into the backyard. The heavy wet snow has completely transformed the shape of the cedar tree. Throughout the night we could hear the snow slide off the metal roof of the house, and land onto the porch roof with a loud thud. It's hard to tell just how much snow fell. It looks like just a few inches. At one point during the night it sounded like it was raining. The temperature is hovering around 32 degrees. Next week it is supposed to climb back up into the 50's. I am definitely ready for warmer weather.

While the weather may stop people from driving out to Seagrove for pottery, the Etsy shop is always open. Isn't it great that you can shop for a new mug, wearing your pajamas, and curled up on the sofa?

Our 15 minutes of fame...

actually it's more like 3 minutes!

 Richard Green, from Time Warner Cable News, spent some time with us yesterday afternoon filming for a segment of "Made in the Carolinas".

 We were in the middle of loading the gas kiln, which isn't too exciting, but Jeff stopped and threw some pots. I am not sure when this episode will run, but it will also be posted on youtube.

While walking back and forth from the studio to the kiln, I noticed that the daffodils are starting to peek out of the ground. I have been in North Carolina nearly five years and I still find it so exciting when I see this in January! We've had some gorgeous weather with temps hovering in the low to mid 60's. Perfect weather for getting the kiln loaded.

Oops!

When the last bunch mugs came out of the bisque kiln all I could say was, "Oh Sh$%t!". The slip trailed dots were supposed to be white and everyone of them was blue. I had even emptied my slip trail bottle and refilled it with the fresh batch of white that I had mixed the day before. The mistake came because I had also just slip trailed an order of blue dotted flower mugs and left that bottle next to the white. They were even LABELED and I still screwed up. In the end I decided I like the dark blue against the lighter blue underglaze.
Some mistakes do turn out ok.

The Old and The New

I seem to always be on a quest to come up with new ideas for piggy banks. I decided to glaze a couple of them like my water color mugs. Not only am I looking for new colors that will appeal to buyers but also trying to keep myself from becoming bored with the little guys.

I like the new blue and white, but will always have a soft spot for plain old shino, dusted with wood ash.
I will be adding more "ready to ship" piggy banks to my Etsy shop, and there is still time for special orders for Christmas delivery.

and the door is down...

Front stack, minus Jeff's re-fired tea bowls that he snuck out before the door was completely down (note empty space on bottom shelf).

The back stack... some wasted space at the top but we needed to get a sink order out as well as a few smaller orders. I haven't taken the big bowl out yet. I am waiting for Jeff to get home from his wood kiln stoking shift. I still try to baby my shoulder from extended reaches for heavy things.

I was holding my breath for this pig as a cow order. The last one came out HIDEOUS. The nuka glaze obliterated the lettering as well as the "pink" on the snout and inner ears... the black spots bubbled in many places, the underglaze was too thick.

 For the second attempt I applied white slip to the entire pig when it was leather hard. After it was bisque fired I applied the underglaze and then glazed the whole thing with Temple White. I slipped the pig because the Temple White glaze is translucent and would have made the pig look more gray than white.

I was excited but hesitant to take this piggy bank order. I thought it was a fun idea, but many underglazes burn out at ^10-11. I made it clear to the buyer that I don't electric fire and that I didn't have an underglaze that would fire to a true pink. I am happy with the final result. I hope that she is too.

Making it Big

 Jeff's been in the studio making big pots. We are excited to put some pots in David Stuempfle's wood kiln this week. Jeff also made a few large cache pots that I didn't get photos of before they left for the kiln. David fires slow and long and most of the pots will not be bisque fired.

I spent the weekend throwing some small bowls off the hump and then moved on to making rattle orbs. I am taking advantage of the Japanese maple tree while there are still leaves on it.
When I get the chance to wood fire, I make things for me. Not meaning that I will keep them, but rather I make things that I love to make with no worries about whether or not they will sell.
... but they usually do.

Cheese is the way to my heart...

add a little wine and I will be yours forever.

I have been slowly getting the  stoneware cheese boards fired. Flat items are such a pain to fit into the kiln. They take up so much space. This one is about 10" in diameter. You can chill it before serving, to help keep the food colder longer - you also can place a brie on the board, place it in the oven and warm it until it starts to get gooey.

The ones I have made thus far are prototypes, so I have some variation in sizes and thickness. The one in this photo has the proportions that I am going to stick with. Both the size and the weight feel good.
It's Sunday, so you will find a link to this post and lots of other good ceramic blog reads over at Sunday Ceramics, hosted by Frogpondsrock. Click HERE!