Happiness is...

A warm studio!

Jeff installed a gas line and this new heater, in the studio this week. The propane company delivered the the tank and did a pressure test yesterday. We were so afraid that the snow storm would delay our delivery date and we're very thankful that they arrived on time. Of course the temps for the next few days will be  50-60 degrees! Winter is far from over and we are now ready for the next cold spell.

It seemed like a treat to work in a warm studio. It was 69 degrees in no time at all!

These are some lunch size plates that I have been working on. They are modeled after Jeff's coaster design. I will glaze them the same way. Ash glaze sprayed in the center, un-glazed rims. This is STARworks East Fork clay. The rims will be a warm toasty color.

I almost put handles on them, but at the last minute decided against it. Maybe the next round will get handled.

Fresh Basil and Arugula Pesto... and I am sharing the recipe!

Danielle and Jason are foodies... they subscribe to all the good food and wine magazines. Whenever I am visiting them in Connecticut, I go through their recent issues and try to snag some good recipes. Last night I made basil and arugula pesto. Jeff was a little skeptical of the combination, but I knew we would love it because we are big fans of both. Last night we had it mixed pasta, fresh tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, topped with garlic sauteed shrimp. The photo is our lunch today, we slightly warmed the leftover pasta (no shrimp - we ate it all last night) and shared a tuna sandwich, served up on our new Tom White plates that we acquired at the League of NH Craftsmen's show. The rerun was just as tasty!
Here is the recipe:

1/3 cup pine nut, or almonds (I used almonds, the pine nuts were too expensive where I was shopping)
Toast the nuts in dry skillet, until lightly browned, let cool. Pulse in a food processor until finely ground.

Add approximately 1 1/2 cups fresh basil, and 1 1/2 cups fresh arugula to the processor, along with 2-4 cloves of fresh, chopped, garlic. Add about 1/4 tsp. of kosher salt (I use Himalayan, that's just our preference).

Grate 1/2 cup of good parmesan cheese, add to the food processor and pulse to combine.

Slowly pour in 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, pulsing to incorporate. Transfer the pesto to a bowl.
The recipe said to incorporate a 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese to the pesto. I forgot to buy the ricotta but had fresh mozzarella. I mixed the mozzarella in with pasta and fresh tomatoes before serving.

The recipe makes about a cup of pesto, use about a 1/2 cup for one pound of pasta... but if you are like me... extra pesto is always a good idea!

Bon Appetit!

A Few Highlights from the Wood Firing

 We are slowly getting the bottom of pots ground, sanded, and photographed. These are listed on Etsy and I will be adding more over the next few days.

In between all that grinding and sanding, I did make a few carved plates with handles...

With all the rain and humidity it has taken forever to get them finished. On tomorrow's list is one quart casseroles with carved lids. I want to get as much of my own work finished before we get ready for the League of NH Craftsmen's Fair in August. It's only Jeff's work at that show so it won't be too long before I will be working mostly as his assistant.... weighing clay, waxing bottoms, glazing pots, and loading kilns. I am praying that this July won't be as hot as last year!

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.

let's try this again

Slump molded plates. I have only made these a few times and have had issues with cracking, warping etc...

and yes the picture above is sideways... I rotated it before uploading it but blogger seems to like it this way. I also did a few small slab pieces with some extra clay. 

These plates are thicker than the last go around. I only made three of the large plates because if this doesn't solve the issues I am abandoning these slump forms. Part of the problem is that the mold is too shallow, which once fire, makes them a little flatter than I would like and then there is the humping up in the center issue. The square dish above should be fine. My friend Steve made those molds and I haven't had a problem with them. This one has little feet underneath as well. I enjoyed making these but throwing on the wheel goes so much faster!

rim detail on large square plate

So along with taking photos, and listing pots on Etsy, that's what I have been up too. 

little by little...

It seems we are picking away at getting this kiln unloaded. Typically I am, "Let me at it, I want to see EVERYTHING right away and while it's still hot".

Jeff took a few photos this afternoon so that I would have something to share here on the blog

I am quite happy with how these plates came out. They are deep and will make nice pasta dishes. It was a pain to glaze the rim and underside shino and the center green. I glazed the shino first (because shino, being the prima dona that she is, always comes first or nasty things happen). When the glaze was dry I waxed over it then poured the green glaze. Tedious, but worth it in the end.

Jeff calls this his "Chorus of Mugs"

I played with this design on a couple of plates and a vase... I have decided to name it "Danielle" after my daughter. It's a girly design and reminds me of her. I'll get a photo of the vase this evening.

This has absolutely nothing to do with the firing...

Tacos on a Kate Goetz, 2004 Watershed Salad Days Plate. This was dinner last night. It looked so pretty and the photo set up was all ready so I set it down and snapped a pic before eating. Jeff and I put a lot of thought into choosing the right dish to dine from each night... one of the joys of owning a great collection of handmade pots.

Linda left a comment about slump molds on my last post so i decided to snap some pictures of the ones i have been using.

in the background are two of the molds i have... one is a square the other hexagonal.  i can't remember where i purchased them from but i do know they were made in Canada.  i also have two square dish shapes that my friend steve made for john.  i wish i had multiples of each shape, it would be much more efficient.

when the weather is dry i can form them in the morning and pop them out by late afternoon/early evening... but when it is humid they need to sit about 24 hours.  i believe these molds are made of pine.

here are some of the plates that i have finished and textured...sometimes i add little feet underneath, but these i have decided to leave flat.  the lower left dish was made using a kiln post for a form... i think i am going to like how that one turns out.
jeff has a slab roller that is missing some parts... some day we will order what's needed and these will go together much more quickly. for i now i use a combination of a rolling pin and throwing the slabs by hand... i suppose it's a good skill to master but i have to admit that i am always looking for an easier way to work!

slip and leaf technique

the japanese maple in front of the gallery has leaves now which means i need to get busy making plates with maple leaf impressions.  they were very popular last year and i don't have any left in the gallery.  i figured while i was making them i would take some pictures and share the technique i use.  it isn't anything i invented but everyone touches clay in their own way...

after the plates are thrown and are still in a semi-soft state, i lay the leaves on to the plates and impress them into the clay with a pony roller

i apply a white slip over the leaves and up to the rim with a soft brush... i then roll a small nylon piece of rope up and down, around the rim for some texture.  i have a rope wrapped and glued around a dowel that was purchased, but for this application the dowel ends get in the way and muck up the rim.  for some things simple is best!

we keep an recycled kitty litter bucket full of slip that we mix up... here is the recipe written right on the lid so that it is always handy.  feel free to give it a try... we fire to ^10.  this slip looks great in salt and soda.

i use this handy dandy kitchen mixer to stir it before using... as you can see it is on it's last leg and held together with duct tape.  i hope i can find another at a yard sale! we use a larger mixer on an electric drill for 5+ gal buckets of glazes.

once the slip has set up i can peel the leaves up, usually quite easily if i slip a needle tool under the stem.

i let the slip set up, for a few hours or overnight (covered in plastic) and then setting the plate and bat back on the wheel and carve and accent ring using a small dolan carving tool.

when the plates are leather hard i will finish trimming them.  when they are completely dry and ready to bisque i will go over them lightly with a green scotch scrubby and remove any unwanted high or bumpy points in the slip.

here is an example of a plate that was fired with wood and salt

this one was reduction fired to ^10 in our gas kiln

we will be participating in a wood/salt firing with our friend Prissy Newell in Carthage at the end of the month... i am hoping this new round of plates and platters will make it into that kiln.

a new direction

i have been working on some slump molded plates/platters this week.  this is sort of new to me... john and i bought these wood forms while he was going through cancer treatments with the promise of him returning to work... two and one half years later and i am finally able to bring myself to use them.  they were still in the box they were shipped in.  

i incorporated some stamps i bought at the NCECA conference as well as some that were made by john. i am sure they will evolve as i work with them further.

taking the slab dishes a few steps further

stamped the interior and cut the rim with my faceting thingy from mud tools...

added some little feet...

and the end result...

on to rectangles tomorrow!

happy, happy, holidays!

this was one of my christmas presents from jeff...

it is my first ron philbeck pot!  i have been reading his blog for a couple of years now and always loved his work.  jeff, being the smart guy that he is, went to my etsy shop and looked at the things that i had marked as favorites and chose my christmas gifts from the list.  he totally surprised me!

i have already eaten dinner on it... baked stuffed chicken, mashed potatos and green bean casserole.  

...and i hear there is one more surprise on it's way :-)

at the end of a long day...

... it's nice to have new pots to show you

this is my first foray into berry bowls with saucers... these were in the salt chamber of the kiln.

handled plate with green glaze on the interior... this came out of the anagama.

it's going to be a PERFECT day.

i have a lot of things dancing through my head these days... even though i didn't get to bed until 1:00 am i was wide awake with sophie at 7:00.  we are tackling putting the studio together this week and our goal is to be able to throw a few pots by tomorrow.  i can hardly wait!

decided to start the day off right... egg sandwich with a little mexican cheese on oatmeal toast with fruit salsa (mango, papaya & few blueberries).  the plate is one of the first ones i ever made... way back when i was jeff's student... the wood fired mug is by tara wilson.

i am a little behind in posting pots for sale on Etsy... but i do have quite a few plates in stock (and lots of mugs!)  send me an e-mail and i can send pictures if you would like to make a purchase.

have a happy day!