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!

 

There's a new pig in town

Sometimes customers have the best ideas! I usually combine this aqua glaze with shino. The two together are one of my favorite combinations. A customer requested a piggy bank in aqua and white. I wasn't sure I was going to like it. When it came out of the kiln I LOVED it! It's really rockin' some fabulous drips.

This is the larger size pig. I have a few regular size banks, that aren't orders, in the current making cycle. I am definitely going to do a couple in this combination.

The Garden of Eden

"EDEN" came out of the kiln yesterday. Isn't she sweet? The buyer made the perfect choice of color and carving for a little girl named Eden.

March was the month of the big piggy bank. Most every order I had was for our large size bank. The larger piggy banks are about 8" in length and 7 1/2" from hoof to ear. 

The problematic part of making larger piggy banks is that you can't stand them on all fours until the legs have stiffened some. I typically put legs on a few then let them rest on their butts for any where from a half hour to an hour, depending on humidity. The trick is not to forget about them before it's too late to make leg adjustment. I try to get them as wobble free as possible.

After making a round of these hogs, our standard size seems so small to work on.

As soon as this kiln was unloaded we started to load it again for another bisque firing. April is a busy month with the Celebration of Spring Pottery Tour in a couple of weeks as well as our commitment to making 50 bowls for the Empty Bowls event for Second Harvest Food Bank. We are also excited that Jeff's son Matt is arriving tomorrow for quick visit! The extended family is coming for a barbecue lunch on Thursday. Matt leaves on Friday, and we have potter friend from NH arriving in the afternoon... just in time for FireFest at STARworks. Jeff and I are thankful that we now have a larger home to entertain in!

Piggy Production

These big guys cracked me up yesterday when I walked into the studio! I just had to snap a photo. The big piggy banks seem to be growing in popularity. Due to the weight of the their large bodies, I have to attach the legs and sit them on their butts for awhile to allow those legs to stiffen. You can see that the third piggy is "Roman". I have had a quite a variety of names to stamp on piggy banks for this go around. Along with Roman, there is Olive, Viggo, Vincent, Ambrose, and Hubertus!

It's been nice to start the year with lots of piggy bank and salt pig orders, but I have to admit that I miss having a little down time to read a few books or work on other projects. But the bills keep coming no matter what time of the year and with the extreme cold here in the south, I am sure my electric bill will be a whopper!
Income is a very good thing.

Decorating a Big Pig

The holiday orders for piggy banks are starting to roll in. I was excited to get an order for two large piggy banks. These will be about 9" long and 7 1/2" tall when they are finished.

 As soon as the piggy bank is assembled, I stamp the name on the side. I have a few sets of stamps, ranging from a snap together set made for clay, to a variety of rubber stamps in different fonts and sizes. If the pig is going to get a carved design, I cover him loosely with plastic and let the ears stiffen a little overnight.

The next morning I can apply white slip to the body and ears. I really like using these mop type of brushes with bamboo handles. They are the same brushes that we use to apply raku glazes. 

If it's not too humid, the pigs are ready to carve by afternoon. I usually clean up the name a bit with my carving tool. Especially if the any thick areas of slip filled in the impression.

Since creating the first leaf and vine design this fall, I have taken orders for three more pigs with it. It's always fun to have something new to work on.

And lastly I have a Sophie cat update. She is doing much better. Practically back to her old self. I tried to take her photo and she ran away. If you look closely you can see she is camouflaging herself against the dining room table. She hates cameras. Thankfully she has been easy to pill and yesterday she was back to her normal eating schedule. Jeff and I are very relieved. A big thank you to all my readers for your kind words, helpful suggestions, and support.

Wrapping Up

Yesterday was the "big" pack and ship day. We unloaded the kiln on Tuesday night and most of it was orders or Christmas gifts. This year I had a lot of personalized piggy bank orders. I had my fingers and toes crossed that they all came out perfect. I breathed a big sigh of relief when they emerged.
Then it was the tedious part of putting orders together. Many of the "name" pigs were orders of two or more. I wanted to be sure I put the right siblings in boxes together! After packing one pig, I couldn't remember if I had put a cork in it's snout. I hadn't sealed the box yet, but didn't want to un-bubble wrap it, so I dropped a cork into the box just in case! If there was one in there already, they will have a spare.

Jeff and I did a few larger piggy banks this season. The white one didn't last too long in the Etsy shop but I do still have this big blue piggy bank (below), along with the regular size aqua/shino one (above).

Noon tomorrow (eastern time) is the deadline to order from my Etsy shop. At this point I will ship everything priority mail. The post office says you will get it in time for Christmas, but like most government agencies... there is no guarantee! 

Post Celebration Post

I am happy to report that our last show of the year was a success. It was our best weekend in Seagrove to date. Sales were good at the Celebration of Seagrove Potters as well as at our own gallery. The added bonus was hearing that "cha-ching" on my phone alerting me to an online sale in my Etsy shop! Finally having a smartphone helped me manage my Etsy shop while I was at the show. If something sold online, I took it off the display. If it sold at the show, and was listed on Etsy, I could quickly deactivate it.

 

This luscious copper red and tenmoku  piggy bank came out of the kiln that we unloaded on Friday. He is a larger pig - a little over 8" long and was a special order. This is one of those times that the glaze did everything you want it to. I love how the red broke into black around the ears and snout. It ties in so well with the tenmoku belly. One side has some beautiful mottling of white/gray.
Now to see if this can be duplicated...

Hogs, Pigs, and Etsy

Our 4th of July guest has returned home so our photo set up is back out on the dining room table. It would be so great to someday have a spare room to keep it set up permanently... but we are resourceful and make do with what we've got.

One of the big piggy banks is done. The other lost an ear in the bisque kiln but luckily I had back up and number two will go in the next firing. That seems to be the way it goes with special orders.

Salt Pig, Sugar Pig, or whatever you want to store in it Pig. The nice thing is, there is a cork to keep everything inside clean and dry. I am not a fan of leaving food related stuff out without a lid on it, even when I lived up north where it isn't as humid or buggy. Check these guys out in my Etsy shop. 

I will be adding new work from this firing to my Etsy shop over the next couple of weeks. Speaking of Etsy, someone on FB posted a link to an article online that said Etsy is dying. I read the article and then noticed that it was written in 2010... if it's dying, it sure is taking it's sweet time. I have no complaints. Etsy has been a good venue for Jeff and me. We aren't getting rich off of it, but it's been paying some bills each month. It's a hell of a lot easier than packing up and doing a show.

The Invasion of the Giant Pig

The pigs are taking over the studio, not only in numbers, but in size as well! I have an order for two large banks the size of one gallon jugs. Jeff threw the bodies on the wheel and I am assembling them. They are a little tricky because the weight of the jug is too much for the legs to hold up when they are first attached...

I have to get the legs leveled, then wrap the rest of the pig with plastic so that it doesn't dry out waiting for the legs to stiffen. I think she looks like she's waiting for her hair color to set up at the salon.

Jeff made extra gallon size jugs and he is turning this one into a fish bank. He did some smaller ones as well. I will try to get photos today.

 I carved a bunch of ginkgo leaf bowls on Saturday and when boredom set in, I did a little experimenting. Some I like and will do more of, others won't be repeated. I feel if you don't experiment and play with your work, you won't grow as an artist. That's the excuse I use for being a little ADD!