Something sort of new...

The personalized piggy banks sell so well that I decided to start offering personalized mugs in my Etsy shop. The first prototype was a gift for my great niece.  I delivered it to her when we visited New Hampshire last month.

Last month... wow. Where did August go? I can't believe it's September already. I am looking forward to some cooler and less humid weather. I am hoping it arrives soon. There is nothing like windows open and fresh air in the house. Especially for sleeping at night.

Back to the mugs. I will offer these in a few more glaze combinations and probably with some other stamps. I will be adding more to the Etsy shop in the coming weeks.

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend, even if you have to labor.

Expanding Ideas

 A few weeks ago I posted a plate that Jeff threw with the STARworks Eastfork clay. The clay carves nicely and the color of the raw clay is gorgeous. We bought just one bag to try and I finally got around to putting it on the wheel and giving it a spin. I think I am going to like this clay!

I divided this little bottle into sections and experimented with some new designs.

My inspiration comes from all of the beautiful pots that Jeff has brought back from South Korea. I look forward to expanding my ideas in this direction.

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.

Back to Work

We had to get right back to work as soon as we got home from New Hampshire. There were orders that needed to be fired and thankfully the pots were already bisqued and some were even glazed. After a day of glazing I was exhausted. I thought I was suffering from travel lag, but then the sneezing started. The next day I realized I had a damn summer cold. A big thank you to Jeff for giving me a break and loading the kiln on his own.

Yesterday we unloaded. I was pretty happy with how these mugs turned out. Jeff already claimed one for himself. The rest you will find in my Etsy shop.

And I finally fired a sheep that I made many months ago!

I have been doing light duty for the last few days and I am mostly feeling better. I dislike being under the weather, but at least I have gotten a lot of reading done. I will be back to assembling piggy banks tomorrow.

Something New

I feel like I have spent the last two years doing the same things over and over. I have had very little time to work on any new forms. One of the forms that has been bouncing around in my head is the conjoined condiment/dip bowl. Lori Buff, Future Relics Pottery, has made some sweet ones, and I have seen a few others around the interwebs. This week I spent a little time playing with the idea.

 I threw the bowls and flattened one side while still on the wheel. I used the insert to the bat system to do the squishing. It's a good surface against the clay, it releases without sticking.

 After many, many days of sitting out (the rain and humidity has been horrendous) they were finally ready for assembly. I scored and slipped both pots and mashed them together really well. I have a fear of them cracking and separating. Time will tell. I only committed to three to start with.

I let them set up under loose plastic for another day, then played with handle ideas. In the end I prefer the middle handle. I wish I had decided that before the others sat too long to remove. But these are prototypes and if the design works, I can make better handle decisions.
Definitely a work in progress.

reflecting on the past, looking towards the future

i couldn't handle listening to or reading about all the media coverage of 9/11 this weekend. it was hard enough to live through and i am not interested in rehashing it for 24 hours. i turned the radio off in the studio and worked quietly. 

our pottery is across the street from a church and late Saturday afternoon i heard lots of happy sounding voices. i went out on the front porch of the gallery to see what was going on...

how sweet... a wedding. it made me smile. this young couple's anniversary is 9/10/11. it should be easy for all to remember. 

until 10 years ago i had difficulty remembering the date of my parents anniversary. now i never forget. 

it is 9/11/54. yesterday was their 57th wedding anniversary. 

the quiet in the studio did lend itself to new ideas...

flowers carved through slip... i have salt glazing in mind for these. i didn't go crazy making a lot, since i want to see some results first... who knows what direction they will lead me to.

gotta fill that kiln...

i should have fired this thing 3 weeks ago...not even half loaded yet. i need to make 8" pots to fill in some spaces. the next kiln will be smaller...

finished these on tuesday...FINALLY.

...too bad they aren't 8" :o(

new wood fired work

jeff brown fired these for me in a wood kiln in londonderry, nh...i wish i could have particitpated in the firing but i was out of town that weekend...

small cups - white stoneware

sea fan - stoneware

remember the cake stands? this one slumped when drying...it was fired upside on seashells (see the impressions the shells left?) the wood kiln twisted it in a cool new direction!

small bowls with wheat glaze interiors - white stoneware