Treasures of the Earth - Opening

Last night the Treasures of the Earth Pottery Sale and Exhibition opened at the Cleveland County Arts Council in Shelby, NC. It's a unique exhibition as the artists set up their own displays and leave them there for the entire month. The reception was well attended, despite the pouring rain. There were quite a few red dots by the end of the night and we felt we were off to good start.

Ron Philbeck's display is across from us. It was nice to see his new pots in person, for more about them click here.

We unloaded the kiln the night before the show. It was a good firing and there was no time to take photos before some of the pots were sanded, priced, and boxed. I have quite a few of the blue and shino flower bowls with handles. What didn't go to the show will get listed on Etsy this weekend.

The square soap dishes came out great. I am using a new wax and was a little worried about the rims.

I had a few ginkgo leaf vases in this firing, I wish I could have gotten a better picture of this one.

It was fun to leave town for the day. Jeff and I have rarely left the home and studio since before the holidays. If you are in or nearby Shelby, NC be sure to stop in at the Cleveland Arts Council to see Treasures of the Earth, info about the show is over there on the right sidebar.

Today it's back to everyday life. We have enough pots glazed to load and fire the kiln again this week.

vases

This is what I have been up to the last few days...

I am liking the form on the left....  sure wish I had a wood kiln to fire them in.

some day, sigh.

And the results are in!

I am now getting around to taking some photos from the firing this week. 

 I am happy with these flower & leaf carved bowls. Only two got into this firing, but there are more on the way. We had some really nice reduction this go around. The shinos are lookin' lovely.

 This baker was a re-fire. It is one of two. When it came out of the first firing, the turquoise was almost black. The shino on the interior had some crawling near the seam. A little additional glaze corrected that problem. As for the turquoise, it's not exactly the color I like but it looks much better. I re-fired another one and it has also been saved from the seconds shelf. Sometimes there is hope for re-fires!

The gloss greens were looking really good on everything.



About half of the wall pockets were fired and they are already in the Etsy shop. Clicking on the photo will take you to the listings.

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.

Mashima

While Jeff was away in South Korea I read the Newberry Award winning children's book, " A Single Shard"by Linda Sue Park. A customer recommended the book to me and being a big fan of children's lit, I had to read it. I thoroughly enjoyed the story which wove a tale of the introduction of inlay work to South Korea in the mid to late 12th century.
As you know, Jeff came home with lots of little pots. Many with sgraffito designs and a few with porcelain inlay, also known as Mashima. He chose these pots because he knew that the carving and inlaid designs would inspire me...
I did some reading online as well as referring to my "go to" book for surface decoration, "Surface Design for Ceramics" by Maureen Mills. Maureen is the head of the ceramics department at the NH Institute of Art. I decided to try two methods of inlay. First was from Maureen's book, using a slip trailer to inlay the porcelain into my carved designs:

This worked best for vases which needed to be trimmed prior to the inlay. It was easy to clean up the excess slip with a scrubby but I did have some issues with the porcelain and stoneware drying unevenly.

Next I did some tiles where I carved them when moist and applied the slip with a brush immediately after:

Once the tiles were almost dry, I used a scrubby to remove the excess slip and reveal the inlay pattern:

This method was quickest for applying the porcelain slip and for the most even drying of the two clays, but it was a lot of work to clean up. I am not a fan of creating so much dust, I did it outside and really should have worn a mask. It was so darn humid today that I couldn't bring myself to wear one.
I am going to try two different glazes on these. Temple white, which is a translucent glaze and Celadon.

Jeff and I also collaborated on this little teapot...

Korean teapots are very small... this one fits in the palm of your hand. It was quite challenging to carve a design into!
Jeff may have been the one that made the trip to Korea, but his visit has inspired us both!

working quietly

These are a few of the pots I have finished during the last week...

There is one more ware board of vases on the shelf... I sure wasn't very productive this week! My goal was to make enough work to fill the bisque kiln before Jeff returns.
Time is running out.