The Reluctant Potter

I have really struggled with clay during the pandemic. I am not really sure why but I have been drawn to working with paper, paint, and ink. That being said, I have been making pigs. Lots of pigs. The orders are still coming in. There have been a couple orders that excited me. Requests that made me think a little outside the box.

A woman that lives on the coast of North Carolina contacted me and asked if I could do a piggy bank with salt glaze. Since we don't have a salt kiln, I suggested a pig made with STARwork's East Fork clay and finished with a sprayed ash glaze. I sent her examples of mugs and bowls, she loved the look and placed her order. I ended up making three and firing two last week. She decided she wanted both of them!

I had one piggy bank that wasn't spoken for when we fired the gas kiln last week. I decided to give him a dip in the matte black glaze.

I really like this glaze and I am curious to see if it becomes popular with the piggy bank buying public.

The other fun order I had was to make a salt pig to look like the buyers pug dog!

The shino glaze got lots of reduction in this firing and the caramel color is perfect. I also dipped the opening in temnoku to mimic the shading on her dog's face. He is now on his way to Australia. I hope that she loves it as much as I do!

Our gallery is still closed during the pandemic. We probably won't even think about opening until July. Even then it's iffy. There is a studio tour in Seagrove the weekend of July 11th. We plan to participate but will set up our pots outside, on tables, and under our canopy. We will require masks. If there is rain, we will probably cancel. If numbers continue to climb, who knows if this tour will even happen. I am really concerned about this event moving forward. It's not worth risking our health for a few extra bucks.

My name is...

Nuka, I glaze on the second floor... I glaze upstairs from you...

okay, I'll stop now.

Yesterday I spent the entire, sweaty afternoon mixing three different glazes. One of which was nuka. All day the Suzanne Vega song was stuck in my head with Nuka substituted for Luka.

Jeff can take the blame for this silliness...

When he was working at the production pottery in NH, he and his fellow potters passed the time by singing popular songs and switching the words out with pottery terms.

Wild horses, couldn't drag me through clay... Rolling Stones "Wild Horses"
Creamers, Sugars and Creamers, well can you put your hands on your clay oh no... Supertramp's "Dreamers"

Squish the little babies and make them throw cups..... Ween "Push Th' Little Daisies" (google it if you aren't familiar with Ween)

I am sure there are more, as well as the "Movie" versions of the production pottery, but THAT could be a whole other post and I am not going there.


Back to glaze mixing (much more serious business!)... I used to use nuka all the time when I was making pots at NH Institute of Art. It was one of their more consistent glazes so I used a lot of that and spodumene. When something works when you have little or no control over the glaze or the firing, YOU STICK TO IT. I am looking forward to glazing pots with it again, and see what it will do in our own kiln of which we THINK we have control over. I also mixed a batch of glaze called peach blossom. It's one that JZ had tested during the last few months he worked in the studio. He had mixed a small batch and tested it on porcelain...

Looks like the test got a little beat up during the move, but we didn't manage to lose it, or the recipe!

I couldn't find his tests on stoneware, but I am sure it will look great. I think it will be a good color for some piggy banks. The kiln is firing as I type and there are tests of the nuka  and peach blossom in there.

My name is Nuka...