It's like riding a bicycle...

Our good friends Bonnie and David came to visit on Thursday afternoon. Bonnie was due for a pottery lesson and despite not having thrown on the wheel in long time she did an awesome job. As we were finishing up for the evening we spied this shadow on the wall...

Have no fear, it just a clay snake!

Bonnie gladly took it off our hands. He will now live in her garden.

Ginkgo Leaves, Snakes, and Pizza...

Last week I threw some bowls and spent a couple of afternoons carving leaves. I knew I had a short window of opportunity to get these done before it was back to assembling piggy banks.

Jeff pugged some clay on Monday and when he was done we attached the die to extrude the piggy bank parts. While we were at it we extruded a couple of different size tubes because I have been itching to make some snakes again. Last night Jeff and talked about snake decorating methods and we came up with some new ideas for a collaboration. I will post some photos once we execute the plan.

I am still experimenting with a cold ferment pizza dough. When I made this batch at the end of last week, it was a little more humid and the dough could have used a bit more flour. The downside was that I make this recipe in the food processor and the bowl just barely accommodates the dough. My food processor is also a very inexpensive one and I could tell it was beginning to strain. I had to scrape out the sticky dough and add the rest of the flour on the board, as I kneaded it. The food processor was a sticky mess to wash. I really would like to invest in a good processor but until then I will mix this dough by hand.

Last night's pie was Jeff's request. Grilled chicken, artichokes, onions, black olives, and lots of tomatoes and herbs from our garden. It was quite tasty, but I have to admit... I LOVE pepperoni!

Time Flies

Has it really been a week since my last blog post? I have been so busy that the week has flown by. In between taking care of customers (traffic is picking up around here) we mixed glaze, glazed pots, loaded and fired the gas kiln. Last night we started to unload the kiln. More than half of it was filled with piggy banks for a wholesale order. The other half was two vessel sinks and some odds and ends.

The snakes were part of the "odds and ends".

It's a good thing my sister doesn't read the blog. She doesn't like snakes in any way, shape, or form.


We had our fingers crossed that this sink order would fire perfectly and it did!

We had another made and ready to go just in case. It is the first time that Jeff and I have collaborated on a vessel sink. This order came from a show last Spring, where we barely made our booth fee. Getting this commission made the show worth going to.
Have a great Sunday, hopefully I will have something to say before next Sunday arrives.

Clay on Fire Kiln Unloading

 The rain finally stopped and the sun came out for unloading day at the Clay on Fire Art Festival...

Lots of new leaf mugs, most by Jeff, some by me.

The coolest booth set up at the show. Terry Childress with his big pots. I did a trade with him for a piece I absolutely love. It's still in a box, as soon as it's unpacked I will get it photographed.

Jeff got to play some blues harmonica with Eck McCanless. 

My snakes have finally been fired! They came out great.

When it comes to wood firing you have to take the bad with the good...

 A shelf fell over in the front and we ended up with a few sculptures.

 This piggy got a foamy glob of drip from the kiln roof. He looks like he has a strange disease.

and these little piggies were just perfect!

A big thank you to Ouida Newell for inviting us to fire with her. We have some great looking pots and we enjoyed a day at her farm!

a present for my sister...

Not really... she would absolutely hate getting a snake, even a fake one. I have made small snakes and a few other animals- sheep, cats, fish (and pigs of course). I brought a few animals to the last show and sold everyone of them. Money in your pocket can often be inspiration to make more!

When I was done pugging clay the other day, I attached a die with a smaller hole to the pugger  and extruded some snake bodies.

I started to hollow some of them out but in the end decided to skip this step on the others. I only dug out a few notches for hanging them on a wall. If I let them dry thoroughly they should be okay.

The texture is white slip applied over a mesh onion bag that I impressed into the soft leather hard body and then peeled off. I have a little touch up work to do on the texture.

One snake is too big to bisque fire in the electric kiln. I may wait for a wood firing opportunity and single fire him. The others should fit in our kilns. I think they would look cool raku fired but also the chances of them breaking would be high... I just might have to take the chance.

Next up...

GECKOS!

what i have learned about NC in 1 year...

after living in Seagrove for a few weeks i posted a list of things i had learned during that short time. since it's been one year i copied the list and added a few things at the end (lines with *)...

the bugs here are MUCH bigger than NH

you can't buy liquor in seagrove ... it's a dry town (i wonder what they sell at the convenience stores?)

the night sounds different... almost tropical (i think it is because of those bigger bugs)

the fruit is sweeter and fresher... i am enjoying lots of blueberries and watermelon this week

there is a lot more pork to choose from in the grocery store

it stays light in the evening a wee bit longer (my imagination perhaps?)

everyone is friendlier... even the people that work at walmart.

the pesticide/insecticide section in stores is HUGE (must be because of those big bugs again)

you can buy snake repellant at walmart (i hope i won't ever need it)

they sell pine needles for mulch at garden centers (in NH we have to pay people to take them away)

biscuits are a food group

*church's have a postcard recruiting program

*cashiers at stores hand me my receipt and tell me to have a blessed day

*greens are sold in HUGE packages just before New Years day

*you can ONLY buy wine (no beer or liquor) in the neighboring town of Robbins (now that's odd)

*i am called Ma'am on a regular basis

*moonshine still exists

*banana pudding is still popular (it had a short stint in the north, about 20 years ago)

*sweet tea is the most common beverage

*fried okra is delicious

*i have considered buying snake repellant (see line 9)

*fall is beautiful

*there really is a spring! (unlike NH)

*winter is short (YAY!)

it's been a wonderful year... i do miss my family and friends in NH and i have made lots of new friends here in the Seagrove area.

Life is Good... just like the hats, shirts & stickers say.

Jeff saves the day!

this evening i was wheeling our large trash can between the house and the studio... just as i passed between the the studio and the area where our electric kiln is, Jeff said, "SNAKE". i looked down and sure enough there was a snake curled up on the ground. Jeff didn't like the looks of it, grabbed a nearby shovel and in no time the snake was in two pieces. we suspected it was a young copperhead so i googled it and sure enough that is what it was.
i took a few pictures but was still shaking so much that they are all out of focus!

from what i read online the telltale sign that it was a young copperhead is that the end of the tail was a light green. this one was about a foot long.

i talked to my sister in NH on the phone tonight and relayed the snake story... she is more afraid of snakes than me. i probably should have not said a word about the incident, she won't want to visit us now!