Squished pots

2014 is off to a busy start, with many orders to fill. In between, I had to squeeze in a few "I just want to make them" pots.

 It felt like forever since I made a covered oval. I am going to fire it in the gas kiln with green and shino glaze. Since I only did one, I was happy as a clam that the lid fit well. I tend to have more trouble with the lids rocking on the more elongated ovals. There is less fussing with them when it's a gentle curve.

Sometimes these small bakers are a curse. I hope they won't be this time, because I made quite a few, only committing three to carving. This is a shape I haven't made in a few years. They are done by cutting a crescent out of the bottom, then squishing them into the oval shape and filling and compressing the spot where the crescent was removed. The perfect scenario for a bottom crack. I was extra diligent with these and I am keeping my fingers crossed for nice bottoms. When they were done I decided that making them in two pieces is probably quicker and less problematic.
Sometimes I have to learn the hard way.

evolving

 This week I took my carved bowls in a new direction. I threw a whole mess of bowls and couple of platters, with wide, thick rims, and then slipped and carved them.

As I worked on these today, I was thinking about glazing. My first thought was shino interior with gloss green rim and exterior... which means a lot of careful waxing and perhaps stressful glazing maneuvers. After contemplating that a bit, I have considered glazing them completely with the gloss green.

Would that make them boring?
Opinions encouraged and welcomed.

Time Alone

I have had the hardest time getting back to clay after my unexpected trip to New Hampshire. Everyday something seemed to get in the way. Yesterday I finally got into the studio and finished carving some tumblers that I started two weeks ago. I can thank the cold, damp weather for keeping them at just the right carving consistency all this time.  I managed to throw some mugs and a few other small items as well.

Jeff and I haven't been able to connect a whole lot while he is in S. Korea, although I did get an e-mail last night and he won the bronze metal in the throwing competition! Last year he won the international potter prize, so this is one up from that... he was in with the Korean's this year. He said he practiced a lot on the wooden kick wheel this week, since he knew what was coming. They all went out to celebrate with a traditional meal that included a big bowl of wriggling and squirming, octopus tentacles. Jeff said that he did try one!

Speaking of food...

Cooking for one isn't nearly as fun as for two. It seems that I have cooked a couple of things and then eaten it for days on end. Last night was sauteed chicken in a sauce with pesto, fresh tomato, capers, and wilted swiss chard. I served it over tortellini with asparagus on the side, in one of my favorite Becca VanFleet bowls. It was the best meal I have had all week. I managed to make a smaller amount so there is only enough left over for lunch.

Sophie has been a whacko this week. First Jeff leaving, and them me, has messed up her schedule. She doesn't seem to know when it's time to eat or sleep... and let's face it, those are pretty much her only activities!

I don't mind alone time and sometimes crave it, but after the two weeks that I have had, I am anxious for Jeff to come home tomorrow... and, I want to get my hands on those paint brushes that I am sure he is bringing back!

new pots and new pigs

A pig in sheep's clothing...

I am assembling piggy banks this week and trying to keep it interesting!

Here are a few photos from the firing.

This platter was my favorite. I made it months ago and finally got around to glazing it.

The pink on these pigs was the result of gloss green over Temple white. I never expected it to turn pink, I thought it might be a light green. The cross over on the mug below is the same combination. The one thing I learned from this is that I can now create pink pigs for those that have been asking!

A firing means new pots in the Etsy shop, be sure to check it out over the next few days.

getting back to work and trying out some not so new ideas

It seems like Jeff and I are having a hard to getting back into production. We really need to get ourselves back on track, because of orders to fill, as well as shows to get ready for. I feel like I have been moving at a snails pace., but some work has been getting done.

I started incorporating leaves into my pots shortly after moving to Seagrove, starting with slip resist (which I still do) and then adding carved leaves. From the very beginning, people were asking if I did ginkgo leaves. So many potters (and jewelers) use ginkgo leaves in their work, that I was resistant to the idea. After more requests this week I figured I may as well give it a go...

 I am fairly happy with the first incarnation. I am sure it will get tweaked as I do some more.


When I get a spare moment I have been creating more rattles and carving them. Some will get fired in wood and others I am going to try wadding and firing in the gas kiln.

I like the way the mermaid in the back, right, came out. Her body wraps around the orb, her flowing hair meeting her tail. Not too crazy about her face though. My carving tools aren't small enough to do a good job. Though I did find a different Dolan tool in Jeff's box today that makes a finer line and is easy to control. I will make a few more so that I can practice making faces... although my siblings would say I had no trouble making faces when I was a kid.

Shifting into high gear

This has been the week of the platter. Both of us have spent the last few days throwing them. Unfortunately I lost two of mine to over zealous trimming. Yesterday it looked like we were growing platters in the yard. They were scattered all about so that they would be dry enough to bisque fire today.

Jeff gave me a couple of his to carve. There was a planned power outage yesterday morning, so I worked on the porch so that I could see what I was doing.

The first one has a cool textured rim. It's made with STARwork's new Seagrove clay. It definitely has a different feel for carving. We will save this one for a wood/salt firing.

This one is Highwater Aurora, which is like carving through cream cheese.

Yesterday Jeff organized the calendar with what needs to be thrown next, and created a firing schedule. We need to stay on track in order to be ready for the Craftsmen's Fair in August. I was looking at the calendar this morning and realized that we will be gone for nearly 3 weeks!  I am looking forward to seeing friends and family while we are in NH, but 3 weeks is a long time to be away from Sophie, and I know she will miss us too.

Thankfully we have a great kitty and gallery sitter.

Pigs, Pots, and the life of a Potter

This is a small sampling of what's been happening in studio for me...

 Teeny tiny pigs... I made a few back in March. They sold rather quickly. Someone messaged me on Etsy and asked if I was the little pig maker. She bought the last one (that wasn't on Etsy) and ordered two more. The little pigs are almost harder to make than my standard piggy bank, but I do sell them for less. I think if I keep making them they will go a little quicker.
Some clay artists might say ask why we make piggy banks when we make so many more artistic pots?
My answer is... Piggy banks sell. In order for us to make a living solely on pottery, we need to make pots that pay the bills. I think we allow ourselves the time to make both the pots that sell quickly, and the pots that exemplify our artistic talent. It's all about a balance.

Just work.

In the meantime, we still put our heart and soul into EVERY pot we make.

working...

We are going to be participating in a wood/salt firing in Carthage this summer, so I have been making pots for that in between the usual repertoire...

 The two bottles in the middle were made with STARworks new Seagrove clay. It's formulated specifically for firing in wood and salt. It was so different to throw with after using the Highwater Aurora clay. It's groggy and sandy, and throws quite well.

I finished a bunch of these bowl yesterday... finally. It seems like it was forever ago that I threw them. The humidity meant they took forever to dry enough to trim. These will be shino on the inside and gloss green on the exterior.

Lately it seems the weeks are flying by. It scares me a little because we have a 10  9 day show to do in NH the first week of August.

10  9 days = lots of pots to be made!

an awesome trade

What can you get with a bunch of these?

I managed to get THIS!

One day, in early spring, I had mowed the lawn and commented on facebook that I loved the smell of freshly mowed, wild onions in the yard. Tim Christensen made a comment about how he had been in search of a certain wild onion to plant on his property in Roque Bluffs, ME. I snapped some pics for him and he said it was what he was looking for and would I send him some in exchange for a cup.

How could I say no?!
He asked what I wanted carved on it and I said SQUID!

I met Tim the first time I sold pots at the NH Potters Guild, Potters Market. He was set up across from me. You can see more of his exquisitely carved pots here. You may recognize his work from the cover of Ceramics Monthly a few years back.