Making Work For Raku

I am still making things for a raku firing. Switching to hand building is an adjustment for me. It seems like it takes for ever to finish things. I am sure if I had a slab roller, and hand built more often, I would become more efficient.

For now I continue to slog along. I will roll more slabs out tomorrow and there are always piggy banks to assemble while waiting.

On the home front, Jeff and I decided to take advantage of the warm weather and grill pizza. The crust came out amazing! I decided to finally take other baker's advice and buy King Arthur bread flour. Why didn't I listen to them years ago? It's more expensive, but not outrageuos, and definitely worth it. Now I can't wait to bake some more bread.

Don't let your head swell...

This was blogger awards week. No one told me, and I didn't even buy a dress to wear to either party. Heck, I didn't even have time to wash my apron.

The first award bestowed to me was from Feedspot's Top 50 Pottery Blogs, where I ranked #16. A few days later, Pottery Making Info announced their list of Top Pottery Blogs of 2016, this year I moved up in the ranks from #11 to #9.

Award Acceptance Speech:

I would like to thank all my readers for hanging in with me through the exciting times, as well as the mundane and often boring times. Thank you to Feedspot and Pottery Making Info, for spreading the good word of pottery bloggers everywhere. Most of all I would like to thank Jeff Brown for all of his support and creative encouragement. You push me to the next level in creativity, and encourage me to continue with all this blogging stuff. 

and now it's back to work...

Jeff and I are planning to do a raku firing in the spring. In between making work for orders, we will be making things for raku. This week I worked on a tile with ginkgo leaves. I finished carving yesterday. It will get cleaned up once it's dry. Carving on this groggy clay is a little challenging. The carving tool doesn't flow easily through the clay. Next on the "making" list is orbs. We should have our new raku work available for the Celebration of Spring Studio Tour - April 22nd & 23rd.

Burning Stuff Up

This was definitely a week on fire for us. Jeff helped David Stuempfle with his wood firing on Monday, we fired two bisque kilns, the gas kiln, and squeezed in a raku firing yesterday.

Lori Buff, posted on her blog about the raku kiln she recently built. Hers looks so shiny and new compared to our rehabbed electric kiln, turned raku kiln.

The kiln is say "Ohhhh, I am getting hot!

My friend Bonnie came over to fire beads and pendants. She had a lot of beauties and was very happy. I had mostly vases and of course I committed to one matte luster glaze. I hadn't used this glaze in a long time. It seemed thick, so I thinned it down... but alas it was still too thick. There are some nice colors but lots of bubbling. I think I can sand some of these down and save them. On a good note, the area around the kiln is clear of "stuff", the leaves are raked, and we are going to fire again very soon.

I mentioned in my last post that this was a week of changes for us. Jeff was supposed to be headed for South Korea tomorrow morning, The festival in Mungyeong was postponed indefinitely due to the horrific ferry tragedy. The whole country is in a state of mourning and all festivals, concerts, and political events have been cancelled. This will be a bit of a set back for us financially, but we have gotten over the shock of it and are moving on. It's out of our control. It's a different culture and they deal with national tragedies differently than we do in the states.

We also got the news that my mother will not be coming home. She is still in the re-hab facility and will be moved to assisted living in the near future. I have to force myself to call her because I can't stand to hear her sounding so weak. Dad says she sleeps for a good part of the day when he is there. I am thankful that she isn't in pain.

Enough gloom and doom...

Tomorrow is the Celebration of Spring Studio Tour in Seagrove. The weather is going to be great and I am sure there will be lots of people going home with new pots. We'll be here in our studio giving demonstration. The lawn will be mowed and the flowers are blooming!

And sometimes we work...

 I really have been getting pottery made in between all the cooking and eating that's been going on around here.

Mugs with stamps. The stamps will get some black (or maybe a color!) underglaze and finished with nuka... at least that's the plan right now. I reserve the right to change my mind.

I am still working towards a raku firing. Quite a few beads and pendants are done. I am planning to incorporate raku beads onto these vases, something I have never done before.

One of these looks very phallic... I am sure you can pick it right out.

This orb took forever to finish. Mostly because I had to keep taking breaks from it. It's the largest one I have made thus far. Now that it's done Jeff said, "Make a BIGGER one!"

Not today, maybe tomorrow.

How to Make a Bead rack for Raku Firing - Sunday Ceramics

 A couple of days ago I posted that I was making some bead racks for raku firing. A few readers asked if I would post some photos, so here they are...

I start by throwing bottomless cylinder. I keep the walls thick in hopes that doing so will make them last through a few firings. Occasionally I have squeezed them into a square shape, this time I didn't get back to them until they were too stiff to alter. I also made two cylinders that will stack on top of each other, therefore creating extra room in the kiln. 

Using a hole cutter, I punched holes all around to support the bead wire. I tested them out and adjusted some of the holes, so that the wire would match up and insert easily. They don't have to be pretty because these racks don't last that long during the raku process. I am lucky if they go through three firings, occasionally they have made it through just one. If you use them in a high fire situation, I am sure they will last longer. We don't use raku clay in our studio. It's too easy to have a mix up and we have found that we had just as much loss with raku clay as with cone 10 stoneware. Something that we did learn after moving to North Carolina is that the Highwater clays we buy don't work in raku. Our locally made STARworks clay handles the process quite well. These bead racks are made with STARwhite with grog. When these are dry I will bisque fire them and then they will be ready for action.

This is a bead rack that has been through a couple of firings. I have started to add a "basket handle" made of discarded electric kiln elements to the top. It makes the ring easier to lift out of the kiln. You can see that this one has snapped off... nothing lasts long through the raku process!

I learned about adding these handles from Tracey Broome's blog. 

What I like about the bead racks is that the heat from the ring ignites the combustible material in the metal can quickly, giving much better results. The beads on their own cool off too quickly on their way to the can and take too long to ignite the paper.

Our potter friend, Sally Cornwall, gave us this pack of high temp wire. She used it at the last workshop that Jeff taught at her studio in NH. She thought I might like to give it a try. You can cut it into the lengths you want. I believe she said it is also less expensive than the straight bead wire. I have a feeling it won't last as long.

I would be happy to answer any questions about the bead racks and/or raku. I would also love to hear if you have a method of firing beads that works well for you.

You can also find this post on Sunday Ceramics. Be sure to head over there and see what other ceramic artists are up to.

Orphans

I am sure this has happened to many of you. The kiln is unloaded, pots are sanded, priced, and sent out into the world. Often there may be a few that are set aside... glaze too thin or bubbly, a crack, or just something about the piece that makes you say meh. The worst of them get the hammer, the others hang around.

It's those "meh" pieces that I call the kiln orphans. 

Jeff brought this porcelain cup into the house a couple of weeks ago and wanted to know why I had left it abandoned on the shelving near the kiln...

First... I am not crazy about the form, second... I can only handle this peach blossom glaze in small doses and this just seems like too much. After moving this cup around the kitchen counter for two weeks, I finally decided to give it a try. I poured in a little tequila, a squeeze of lime, ice, and cranberry juice. I was pleasantly surprised that cup felt good in my hand, particularly the silkiness of this glaze over porcelain. Maybe she wasn't such a bad little cup... or was it the tequila that influenced my thoughts?!

The other type of orphan is the project or idea you excitedly start and don't complete. Two years ago I made some raku fired lamp bodies. My favorite one cracked in the firing and I lost my excitement. The two other lamps just hung out on the shelves collecting dust. Jeff ordered new lamp parts a couple of weeks ago and he decided to wire one of my raku lamps...

I was totally shocked that I actually like it... and tequila had no influence on my decision! Now of course I want to get into the studio and start cranking out some more lamps to raku. I can only hope that it won't take me two years to finish them.

I was tempted to keep this lamp, but I really don't have a place for it... if you click on the photo it will take you to Etsy, because you or someone you know, just might need a lamp.

How about you? Do you have pots or projects, that hang around for months or (gasp) years? Feel free to comment.

Things that bring you joy...

I have been in a weird place this week. I have spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out what my focus needs to be in terms of making pots that sell. In between the thinking, I needed to keep moving forward. There were piggy bank orders to fill and more sponge holders to be made.

Sponge holders are a pain, but I do like throwing them. They are quick and don't require a whole of thinking. The pig are fun to assemble, as long as there aren't 30 of them!

We have had a lot of casserole inquiries, so I have been working on some designs that won't involve a lot of deco work and can be reasonably priced...

It will be really hard not to carve some leaves into those lids!

The real joy of being an artists came late in the day today. Two women came in after 4:00 pm. One  bought the obligatory sponge holder and a small cup... the other asked lots of questions about my raku wall tiles. She asked me to take down a few so she could look at them closely and see how they would look in a group.

She purchased three of them to hang in her newly redecorated living room! She told me that when she saw them she knew they had to go home with her.
It brought me great joy to see how much she appreciated my work and was willing to spend the money on them ($95- $100 a piece)  and I hope that having these tiles in her home will bring her joy everyday.

Raku with the Kids!

Our raku workshop with the kids at Hillsboro-Deering High School finally happened today after a delay due to the hurricane. It was a great group of kids that was really excited about the day...

 This is a pot created by a student who participated last year, but wasn't in the advanced ceramics class this year. He asked the teacher if he could make some pots and fire with us. We were happy to have him come back and take what he learned last year, one step further.

 fire & flames!

and look, even Santa came to the firing!!

sketches in clay

I have had this form dancing around in my head for a few weeks now. Since we have been in a glazing cycle, I hadn't touched moist clay in over two weeks. This weekend I decided to throw some slabs and get started on this idea.

I have used sea fans in a number wall pieces as well as some dish forms. Often times they are raku fired and occasionally wood fired. My idea was to take two slabs and join them together to form a vase.

I like how it looks at this angle, when I see it from the front I think it is too wide. Another concern is it's stability.

I am going to work on a few more next month and see where I can go with this form... for now Jeff and I need to make 50+ mugs & cappuccino cups for a coffee shop in Greensboro. The sure money stuff has to come first.

We also have a kiln to unload this afternoon... check back later for an update.

tired of mugs...

It was a lazy rainy day and when I finally wandered out to the studio I just couldn't bring myself to finish the last board of mugs. I wrapped them back up and made some pendants to raku fire. My jewelry display is a little thin, so it was time.

I have never sold a pendant on Etsy, they have all sold at shows or here at home. I am going to give it one more shot this winter. I think that there is so much jewelry on Etsy that it is hard to get noticed. There are also a lot of sellers practically giving away ceramic pendants. Another problem I have is taking good photographs of jewelry.

Jeff has been busy making goblets along with all those mugs...

This is an order that we will bisque and ship off to a potter who glazes them and sells them at Renaissance fairs. He usually sends her a few dozen at a time. I still find it odd that potters have other people make their pots. I have learned in the last year that it's more common a practice than I knew. I am not complaining... it's income for us!

slowing down

I still have some work in progress in the studio, but Jeff and I have definitely slowed down this week... the pressure is off for a bit. Jeff has been working on his website and we are both still photographing work and building up our Etsy shops.

Yesterday Jeff posted this really cool raku sculpture...

click on the photo and you can see multiple views on Etsy

The other day a customer was admiring it and asking questions about the piece... I overheard Jeff telling her something about "When I was visiting another planet...". Sometimes his imagination really cracks me up!

a little off track, but shouldn't we all follow our bliss?

the celebration of seagrove potters is just 10 days away. my goal was to finish up functional work that typically sells well. i loaded the bisque kiln the night before last and we fired it yesterday... while the bisque fires jeff is making lots of  bowls for the next bisque. we should fire the gas kiln 2x n the next week...  anxiety is building about not having enough work ready, along with both of us being on planning committees for the show...
so while the bisque fires what am i doing?

when jeff came out to the studio he was all excited about how i had spent my time... his response was "looks like we will be doing a raku firing next week!".

i am really drawn to these raku tiles... i like the tension between soft and hard... bricks, gears, screws, sea fans, leaves, and lace.

something tells me they may take over the studio in the next few months...

snoku in New Hampshire

a few pics from the "snow day" raku workshop at Sally Cornwell's studio in Wolfeboro, NH...

pots by Doug Blum

the workshop was on Sunday, the day after the storm dumped about 2 feet of snow on us... by morning the sun was out and it warmed up into the 40's... there was lots of melting. thankfully, Wolfeboro rarely loses power - we had family and friends scattered around the state who were without power for many days.
it was a great trip but we are glad to be home in Seagrove, NC!

Raku Workshop

jeff and i offered a raku workshop over the weekend. typically the people who come are potters at various levels, from beginners to professionals who arrive with bisqued pots to raku. this time it was totally different!
we had a group of women from Pinehurst contact us and ask if it was possible for them to come and learn the process... they were not potters and had no pots to bring. we had quite a few pots bisqued and ready to go so we said sure, come on over!

we set up the glazing area on the porch and there was a nice breeze blowing all day. they were eager learners who asked great questions and weren't afraid to try techniques like wax resist and pouring and splashing glazes. midway through the day they took a break and had a picnic lunch on the porch, then went out to visit some nearby potteries.
they all had fun, were a little leery of getting too close to the fire and smoking cans, and each went home with a couple of successful pots.
on sunday we had some more pots of our own to finish so we went back at it and fired until about 9:30 pm.

we use shredded paper in cans for reduction, this time jeff tried the paper in sand, and putting the trash can over the pot method... we have a friend in NH who does this.

jeff's smokin' hot tile

beads and pendants

one of jeff's lamps... unfortunately a cracked lamp

it was a fun and exhausting couple of days, up next weekend... salt firing.... YAHOO!