I made these sea fan dishes a couple of years ago, in anticipation of doing a raku firing. We never got around to that firing and I was tired of looking at them on the shelf. I had Jeff take them to a wood firing he was doing with our friend Paul. The small one on the left came out okay. Of course the underside is beautiful. The one on the right was very "dry". We re-fired it in the gas kiln last weekend and it looks much better.

I might put the small one in the next gas firing to give it a little more juice on the surface.

I have a larger one that may be a lost cause. It suffered some significant warping, which didn't surprise me. 

Here in central North Carolina we were spared any real affects from hurricane Dorian. We were thankful for some rain, we really need it. Our gardens are a little happier today. Jeff brought in this yellow watermelon the other day. The last one didn't have much flavor. This one is a little bigger and we hope a little tastier. I'll cut it open today for an afternoon snack. I'll let you know how it goes!

Face Jug Re-Fire

Jeff and our friends Paul Haigh and Rose Hardesty, fired a wood kiln in Carthage last month. Luck would have it that it was during the hottest days of July, not the best time to wood fire. Unfortunately they didn't get the reduction they wanted. It's hard to fire a wood kiln that your aren't all that familiar with. Paul had a deadline to meet so Jeff offered to re-fire his face jugs in our gas kiln. Paul came to the studio and loaded his pots in the afternoon. Jeff gave it a good pre-heat until bed time, then continued the firing the next day.

It was a lot of fun to see the door come down, revealing pots that are nothing like we make!

Paul was really happy with the results. He had some Green Man jugs that were just fabulous.

The tiki jug really looks like it was carved from wood.

I had a couple of  lackluster wood fired plates that I made two years ago and were re-fired in this recent wood kiln... they were now fired AGAIN in the gas kiln. Two of them actually look pretty good. I will get some pictures once they are sanded.  Third times a charm!

Pottery

Yes, I still make pots! This little piggy bank came out of the kiln this week. I just love how the glaze has some nice purple blush in all the right places. It's already boxed and ready to head to it's new home in Illinois.

Fire Away...

Jeff worked into the evening, loading the kiln and bricking the door, while I cooked dinner in the warm kitchen. Hmmm... I wonder who got the better end of that deal?! He lit one burner and "candled" the kiln for a couple of hours, turning the gas off just before we went to bed. Early this morning he turned one burner back on. We always fire slowly, and this time probably a little more slowly. Jeff has a vessel sink in there that is being re-fired, hence the extra caution. I am sure the firing will go late into the night.

Warning: Politics are Involved in this Post

I typically avoid posting about politics, but the HB2 law, that passed in North Carolina has me more than a little concerned and I feel the need to talk about it. This law might be referred to as the "bathroom law", but it extends much further than that. I am sure you all know the details and if you don't here is a link to an article in the Charlotte Observer that breaks it down quite well: Understanding HB2. 

I feel like the state has taken a backwards step in time, and a lot of people are going to be affected, not only LGBT, but businesses across the state. Everyday new companies and organizations are boycotting North Carolina.

How will this law affect our pottery sales here in Seagrove? Only time will tell. The annual Spring Studio Tour is next weekend. We really need this boost in sales after a lackluster holiday season and a slow winter. I hope that pottery collectors realize that the small minded decision made by NC legislature is something that Jeff and I are against. North Carolina needs our vote, please continue to support us.

In order to lighten the mood, I'll end on a humorous note...

The local grocery store is now selling paper products by the pound! I wonder if it's a better deal that way? :-)

Celebration of Spring in Seagrove!

The Celebration of Spring Pottery Studio Tour is my most FAVORITE event of the year! The countryside is green, the flowers are blooming. It's a perfect time to get the spring cleaning done in the gallery, rearrange inventory, and put out new pots.

Happy couple with a new vessel sink for their bathroom remodel

It was super busy day. Barely enough time to eat lunch in shifts. We still have some nice pots available and day two starts tomorrow. If you are in the area, please stop in!

Tea Time

Sophie and her "Uncle" Phil enjoy afternoon tea.

Our "Mug for Moving" campaign continues. If you would like to  help us out AND acquire a wonderful, new, handmade mug... click here:  "MUGS FOR MOVING"

Who's in your dish drainer?

I haven't had a dishwasher for nearly five years. Most days I don't miss it at all. Washing dishes by hand gives me extra time to spend with my favorite friends.

Off to a good start...

I don't bake a whole lot, it's not really my thing... unless it's a yeast bread and that's another story. This morning there were two bananas in the fruit bowl that were past their prime for eating so I decided to make banana muffins. My favorite new recipe is banana, blueberry, and oats. All of my favorites in one muffin. They aren't overly sweet either, just 1/2 cup of sugar. I have used paper liners when baking, but next time I think I will grease the muffin tins instead. These are very moist and they do stick to the paper. I found the recipe on line and if you are interested, you will find it here.

Today will be spent glazing and loading the gas kiln. It should go quickly because it's all orders and there will be no time spent on glaze decisions. I have a list that I will be checking off. Jeff has two sinks that I will give him a hand with. They always make me a little nervous, but it's getting easier with each one we do together.

I love how the tenmoku pigs look with their nuka dots before they are fired. When he comes out of the kiln the dots are quite subtle. I'll post an after photo when he makes his debut from the kiln.
Wishing everyone a happy Saturday.

Gifts

Imagine my surprise this evening when I looked in our mailbox and inside was a box that was addressed to ME! Jeff has been ordering faucets to display vessel sinks, so we have gotten quite a few boxes lately. I saw the return address and it was from blogger friend Linda Starr.

I ran in the house and tore into the box. One of her towers! What a beautiful and thoughtful gift. The glaze on this piece is so warm and toasty. Jeff and I both agreed that at first glance you would think it was wood fired. Thank you Linda for a most wonderful gift.

There was also another surprise in the mailbox. Potter friend Stephanie Young is on a mission to walk everyday. The distance from her house to the post office is perfect for her to get some exercise. She decided it would be more fun to have something to mail everyday. Her mission is to send a vintage postcard from her collection to someone different each day. Today was my day to receive one. It's a card from Rosiclare, IL and the photo is of fluorite crystals. Interesting that this is the subject. It compliments Linda's tower, and Linda is a collector of rocks, driftwood, and all things from nature.
It is truly a gift to have so many talented and thoughtful friends.

P.S. Linda also sent some of those Cherokee Black beans that she wrote about the other day. Now that's a perpetual gift.

Hands in Clay

It feels so good to be at the beginning of the making cycle, seems like weeks since I have touched wet clay. We have another opportunity to put some pots in a wood firing so my mission has been to make some pots that will embrace the magic of the flame.

During the last couple of years I have only made dotted flower mugs for orders. The gray, white and blue from the gas kiln doesn't really excite me... but fired in a wood kiln is a whole different story. The blue turns a deep blue, almost black and the slip gets all toasty, marshmallow like. The last batch I put in a wood kiln had a lot cracked rims. This time I am using STARworks Michfield clay and I think I will have better results. Fingers crossed!

Here are few things that came out of Fred Johnston's wood kiln last week...

 This rattle orb is about the size of a softball. It has some nice coloring from the flames.

Remember the mermaid? She was waiting for months to be fired! She got a lot of ash over the top and I think it plays rather nicely with her oceanic hair.

Two of the porkers went into this firing. One is a little dry so he will get a second roasting either in the gas kiln or a wood firing. I am happy with this little guy. He looks like a yummy toasted marshmallow.

The morning is getting late, the sky is overcast and the air is cool. Perfect weather for studio work. Time to get out there and move some clay. Have a great day.

Labor Day Weekend

We don't have a grocery store in Seagrove. They are building one, but it's been in process for four years now. I might be retired or dead by the time it opens. In the meantime it's about a fifteen minute drive to buy food. This summer there has been a guy in truck parked on the Pottery Highway, about 1/4 mile from us, selling fruits and vegetables. It's been very convenient to buy fresh tomatoes every few days. His prices are reasonable too. We didn't grow tomatoes this year, only basil and greens. Jeff and I both love tomatoes and can go through quite a few in no time at all. 

 A few weeks ago I tried my hand at making tomato pie. It's a little time consuming to put together, but it's worth the effort. I have been using either a frozen or refrigerated  pie crust, to cut down on some of the work. It's a recipe from the infamous Paula Deen so of course you know it's very rich. I cut the mayonnaise in half. I can't imagine it with more than that. I have also added a few strips of bacon, cooked and chopped. The key to a less sloppy pie is to drain your tomatoes longer than the recipe says. I even layer a couple of paper towels between them to squeeze out some more liquid. The recipe says to peel and slice the tomatoes. The easiest way to peel them is to blanch them. Ms. Deen even shows you how to do that in the video.
You can find the recipe here. If you love tomatoes, I think you will love this pie.

Aside from eating, we have been making pots and finishing pots. Right now, Jeff is fast asleep, after firing the kiln overnight. I think I heard him creep into bed at 7:15 am. We have a deadline to meet and orders to fill.

These little pigs were made on August 27th, put outside to dry on the 28th, bisque fired the 29th, glazed and loaded in the gas kiln on the 30th. Lots of other pots were pushed through as well. We keep the bisque under 200 degrees for a few hours. Once there is no steam coming out of the kiln we fire as usual. A blow up is a rare event in the bisque firing and we usually have a few wet or damp pots in every kiln load.

My plan for the day is to finish unpacking from the Lazy Days show. Right now it looks like our trailer threw up it's contents onto the porch. I can't look at the mess for another day. Jeff (when he wakes up) is heading down the road to help Fred Johnston cut wood and get ready for a wood firing this week.
It's definitely Labor Day weekend here at the pottery... we are laboring away as usual.

Four Years

has flown by.

It's hard to believe we have been making pots in Seagrove for four years. It was a good excuse to celebrate. I shook the dust out of the rugs, cleaned shelves and pots, and de-cobwebbed the gallery. It was looking quite spiffy by Friday afternoon.

By noon time Saturday, there was a steady stream of traffic. Jeff threw pots for anyone who wanted to watch, while I was carving ginkgo leaves on plates. Sales were not great, but better then the average Saturday at the end of July. The day ended with Jeff grilling burgers and dogs for a small group of friends who came over to help us celebrate. The weather was perfect and we were able to eat outside without getting eaten alive by mosquitoes.

This morning I am enjoying some quiet time with coffee and the sound of rain on the roof (boy do we need that rain). We don't open until noon today and I am not planning on doing any real work until then. I hope you enjoy your Sunday too.

Getting Noticed

Do you have a facebook page for your business? If so, I am sure that you pay attention to each of your posts "reach"numbers. As we all know, you can extend that reach by paying to boost a post. Jeff and I have done that a number of times and it has been successful. We also noticed that posts with a link to an item on Etsy were not getting a lot of "reach" unless they were boosted.

A couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon an article that said if your facebook post contains a link to something outside of facebook, it will not show up in as many of your fans news feeds. I guess that FB doesn't want you to direct anyone away from them unless you pay them money. But don't despair, there is a way around that!

Back in April I shared a link to a new listing in my Etsy shop to our business FB page. It's reach was 54. Pretty pathetic, since at that time we had about 340 people who "liked" our page.

This month I posted two photos of a mug. I left the post alone, later in the day after a few people had "liked" the post, I made a comment on the post with a link to the mug on Etsy. By the next day this post had reached 1,152 people AND gained us a few more page likes.

We have been experimenting with sharing our posts to our personal pages, but doing it later rather than immediately, or even waiting until the next day.  Since starting our experiment we have gained more than new 50 new likes and each of our posts has had higher reach and engagement.

Etsy links within your posts aren't the only ones that will limit your reach, a link to your blog will too. So again, to increase your reach, post a photo then put the blog link in the comments.

It could be that everyone already knows this, and perhaps I was a little late for the party, but I have been so excited about this discovery that I had to share it with you!

Here is a  mug that came out of the last firing and is now available in my Etsy shop...

This post is part of Sunday Ceramics over at Frogpondsrock, be sure to check out what's happening over there.

Working in my sleep...

Last summer Jeff and I made tons of coasters. Enough to last us until now. I spent a portion of Wednesday throwing a few boards of them. When I went to bed that night I was making coasters in my sleep. It made for a  long night! I don't know why that happens sometimes. I make hundreds of pigs and mugs but rarely dream about them. Part of the monotonous dreaming might be blamed on my decision to slip and carve one board of coasters with ginkgo leaves. A portion of the dreams was working that out. I did try a few different patterns to see which I liked the best... sort of sketch books made of clay. I decided I like the two ginkgo leaves, overlapping. The last four ended up with the Danielle flower pattern, blame it on a short attention span.
Leave it to me to take a simple, inexpensive item, and kick it up a notch! Sometimes it's so hard to leave things alone.

Tonight we are heading to Cedar Creek Gallery in Creedmor, NC. Jeff has a teapot in their National Teapot Show IX, and tonight is the opening reception. I am looking forward to getting out of the 'grove and enjoying a little culture. On that note, I will leave you with your piggy of the day...

Snow Day at the Pottery

food that warms the body, heart, and soul...

casserole on left by John Zentner, plate by Kari Therrien, small casserole by Kate Johnston

When fall arrives I am always happy to take out that old favorite sweater to snuggle into and I am also excited to spend time with my favorite handmade casserole dishes and make some warm, hearty dinners. This week I was in the mood for macaroni and cheese. My favorite recipe is a four cheese recipe from Emeril Lagasse, you can find the recipe here. This week I modified it slightly to make it more affordable. This isn't an inexpensive dish to make. I substituted muenster for the fontina and used a little less parmesan. Jeff likes ham in his mac & cheese so I included it this time. It was the ultimate comfort food!

I have a few casseroles of different sizes and this one is my absolute favorite. JZ made it the last year he was able to work and it's the perfect size, 2 quarts. The cover fits perfectly and the interior is glazed with tenmoku, a good durable surface that is easy to clean. Do you have a favorite recipe that warms your body, heart, and soul? If you do, I hope that handmade pottery adds to the enjoyment.

and where do I begin...

I guess this story starts on Friday...
We left for Charlotte mid-morning, arriving in plenty of time to set up our booth and be ready for the opening of the Festival in the Park at 4:00 pm. Friday night sales were slow and we weren't surprised, it was the same last year. Saturday brought overcast skies in the morning, drizzle mid-day, and steady rain by 7:00pm. The show closed an hour early and we were at Mac's Speed Shop enjoying barbecue and beer by 9:00pm. We weren't too disheartened, last year Sunday was our best day. Sunday we awoke to blues skies and perfect temps. After draining the water off of our tent roof, emptying out the pots that filled with water, and hanging our wet shopping bags out to dry, we were open for business. The festival was packed with people, but not our people! When all was said and done, we covered our booth fee and expenses, and made a little money... but not the kind of money for the amount of work and time put into this show.
We won't be going back next year.

We got back to Seagrove around midnight. I was driving, towing the trailer behind us. Jeff said "Pull into the driveway as close to the big wood fired pot... that's not there".

Yep, that's right. The pot was gone.

This one right here:

By midday we found out that Johnston and Gentithes, down the road from us, also had one of Fred Johnston's big pots stolen from the front of their gallery. These are pots valued at 1000 plus dollars each. We both reported the thefts. The pots will probably turn up at a flea market or consignment shop somewhere. I hope the thief is stupid enough to try to fence them locally. We have posted the photo on our FB pages, hoping that someone will recognize the pot if it turns up somewhere.
Jeff and I are keeping our spirits up and trying to find the humor in our not so fortunate weekend.
Sometimes all you can do is laugh.
And then go back to the studio and make more pots.

Mr. Young is in 'Da House...

and he has been working hard. Robert's been helping us out with mixing glazes and recycling clay. In between, Jeff's been giving him assignments on the wheel. If you are a regular reader, then you know that Robert Young is a ceramics teacher from Guam. He spending a week with us, helping out in the studio and getting an intensive pottery workshop from Jeff.

Yesterday, Jeff had him making bowls using a pointer at the wheel for consistency.

Robert's pots are starting to accumulate!
                                      

This is crunch time for us, we leave for New Hampshire next Wednesday. The League of NH Craftsmen's Fair is a week from tomorrow! We have a kiln to unload and pack today, and the plan is to fire once more tomorrow. Jeff has been putting in extra long days... I think he worked until 2 am this morning.  Robert's been trying to keep pace with him, he will probably be exhausted by the time he heads home.

 Today and tomorrow we are going to take a little time to visit a few potteries. After all, you have to take a break sometime!

Wood firing out at the farm...

No time for blogging these past few days. Jeff and I were back and forth between Seagrove and Carthage, firing with Prissy (Ouida) Newell in her big wood kiln.

Jeff fired overnight on Sunday after loading all day. The two of us took the night shift from 11:00 pm Monday till 5:30 am Tuesday. We slept a few hours at Prissy's then got up and helped with the last shift. The kiln was done and getting "clammed up" around 8:00 pm Tuesday.

Can you see one of my pigs getting roasted in there? He is on the shelf to the left. He should be nice and toasty, being right behind the firebox.

Prissy's barn/kiln shed is AMAZING! It's HUGE! The kiln is on the opposite end of these windows. On this end she has room to host workshops and during the festival that she is hosting next weekend, some artists will set up their booths inside.

antique wood stove detail

When Prissy isn't making pots, she is an antique dealer, auctioneer, and builder... hence lots of cool things to look at in her kiln shed. This chandelier is just one of many, hanging from the beams. Jeff has dubbed it the Steampunk Kiln Shed.

Jeff, side stoking

We are going to unload this big kiln during the Clay on Fire Art Festival this Saturday, June 8th. Festival goers will have the opportunity to buy warm pots, fresh from the kiln. There will be quite a few potters from Seagrove and surrounding areas, along with other craft vendors, as well.  Raku firing, pottery demos, and live music, are all part of the fun. I have all the info in the right side bar of the blog, in the events section. If you aren't too far away, come out to Carthage for the day. Heck, if you are far away, it will be worth the trip!