Replenishing

I spent the weekend making those things that are guaranteed sellers. Sponge holders and cheese stones. We were pretty much sold out of both after the League of NH Craftsmen's Fair. After making a bunch of the carved sponge holders, boredom set in and I decided to stamps some using our stamps brought back from South Korea. I had never really used the "dotty" stamp before. I think I will like this little accent. The stamping goes quickly since all the dots are in a row and the stamp has a nice curve to it.

Today was glazing day. Tomorrow we finish loading the kiln. It will be nice to get the heavy work done before the humidity returns with a vengeance on Thursday.

testing 123

I have been using Amaco Velvet underglaze on stamps and carving and I knew that it worked under the gloss green and blue glazes. I decided I would test it on some of the other glazes. The one I really wasn't sure about was shino (first on left) but it looks fine. Second from the left is my wheat glaze that started giving me trouble with pin holing after I mixed a new batch nearly three years ago. We have tweaked our reduction schedule so I decided to test it again. It looks good so the next test will be a little bigger... a sponge holder.

Speaking of sponge holders, as you know I was resistant to making them. But I did make them and they sell quickly. Very quickly.
Just when I was starting to get over the "I can't believe I am making sponge holders" thingy, I read Carter Gillies blog post about the prejudice of this item, along with others... soap dishes, soap dispensers, oil lamps, etc... you can read that post here. It's a very interesting read on "item" making with equally interesting comments.
Later in the day I watched the short documentary "A Potters Meal", about Utah potter Joe Bennion, whose work I so love. In the film Joe talks about only making the things you love or else you will lose the excitement and making pots becomes a chore.
I read and watched all of this while spending a quiet day minding the Co-op shop of which Jeff and I are members. I definitely had too much time to ponder all of these thoughts. By the time I got home I was feeling pretty bad about those sponge holders. I shared my feelings with Jeff and as usual he made me feel better... this is what his response was, I am paraphrasing here:
Making sponge holders (or insert soap dishes, oil lamps, yarn bowls, whatever "item" you make) brings in the money that allows us to make a living in pottery. It doesn't diminish our art, it allows us to live a creative life.
Jeff is right. There are times when all that gets made are orders and items that sell well at shows. In between we set aside time to create new work. We both love to have our hands in CLAY, isn't that's what it's all about?

blogger brain freeze

I have had nothing to blog about these days. I guess I haven't wanted to bore you with the mundane. The CCM Pottery Festival in Charlotte was good... easy set up, short day (10am-4pm), and fabulous customers who love to buy pottery. When you figure in the time and dollars we put into this show we make more money per hour than any other show we do. This show also attracts a smart crowd that understands art and handmade. We sold lots of sponge holders and coasters (as usual) and things in the $50 to $95 range were selling as well.

The sponge holders are about gone and the good thing is, I can throw those forms without putting too much stress on my shoulder. They are a good exercise in getting back to work!

I think I have the warping issue pretty much solved. They need to be thrown fairly hefty. A few still warp slightly, but not enough to be called a second or get the hammer.

I am having some issues with peeling slip on these flared rim bowls. The slip peeled off the rim on a few of these. I have two thoughts on the issue. The first is that I should keep the slip off of the edge of the rim and second, I am at the bottom of my slip bucket and I think it's beyond it's shelf life. I have heard other potters say that slip doesn't keep. The last batch I made was large so it's been around a few months. I also had a couple of vases with some slip that popped off the sides. It's time to mix a new batch and I think I will make half as much. If anyone else has had this experience, I would be happy to hear your thoughts.

2nd to the last firing of 2012?

I almost titled this post "The Last Firing of 2012" but we might be doing another between now and January 1, 2013. The piggy bank stock is getting really low and there are pots already glazed that didn't make it in the last kiln load. On the Etsy front, I have finally reached 100 transactions! Etsy sales have been good these last 30 days, I am glad there are people out there committed to shopping handmade.

The firing we did last weekend was mostly orders that have now been boxed and shipped. There were a few pots in there that weren't spoken for. Two of my 1 quart casseroles were fired. The glazes looked great on both, the shino behaved with no crawling... BUT (isn't there always a BUT when it comes to making pots?) one of them had a tiny "s" crack underneath, out to the 2nd's shelf it went. I have to say that when I was using Sheffield T-3 clay, I never had a problem with "s" cracks. This round of casseroles was made with STAR white clay. We have a hundred or so pounds that has been sitting around for awhile, and I decided I should use it up.

  The shino looks good this time with the STAR white. I haven't been happy with it in the past. It looked a little pasty. We are also doing reduction differently than when we first built this kiln.

What would a firing be without a bunch of sponge holders? I had a few of these warp this time around. My first thought is that I probably threw them a little too thin, but I also used the STAR white clay for these as well... in the past I used my recycled clay. It might have made a difference.

These little guys also work well as napkin holders...

Here is the bundt pan that Jeff made for a special order...

There really are two handles, the photo is just at an odd angle.

Our good friend Rob is visiting us this weekend and we are having a great time together. I hope you all are enjoying some time with family and friends... tis the season to be merry!

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.

CCM Pottery Festival

Our last outdoor show of the year is behind us. I am happy to report that it was a good one. The Carolina Claymatters Pottery Festival, was well organized, in a nice setting, and brought out a good crowd that was there to buy pottery. The fact that we had a BEAUTIFUL fall day didn't hurt us either. 

The festival started at 10 am and ended at 4 pm... perfect hours. Our booth set up consisted of the EZ-up tent, two covered tables, and our abstracta unit. Easily set up and broken down. I didn't get any photos of our booth or the festival in general because we were too busy wrapping pots! 

The show is open to members of Carolina Claymatters, which we joined about two years ago. We wish we could attend more meetings and hope to in the future.  All who participate in the festival agrees to volunteer to help in some way. It could be as simple as picking up balloons on your way in on the morning of the show, to cleaning up any trash left in the park at the end of the day.  There are of course a core group that does big time volunteer work to organize this show, and to them I send a great big thank you for a job well done! 

Jeff and I enjoyed being involved with the NH Potters Guild (and still are from afar!) and hope that we can forge some new pottery friendships with members of this guild and so far everyone we have met has been warm and welcoming.

My wood fired ovals made their debut at the show yesterday! Jeff helped me get the wads ground off the lids before we left. They got lots of oohs and aahs, but did not sell. I was sort of glad because I think I want to spend a little more time with them.

Remember all those sponge holders I was making last week? I fired half of them and we unloaded the kiln on Friday night before the festival. I sold all but three.  They covered our booth fee, gas, and then some... glad I listened to Jeff.

the mundane stuff

Nothing too exciting happening around here. Jeff is immersed in replenishing our stock of mugs, which has gotten incredibly low. I spent today finishing sponge holders which I swore I was never going to make again. BUT, I sold everyone that I had made last spring. 

Cutting the slot for the sponge is a pain, so Jeff made me this down and dirty cutter and it has made the job go much quicker.

I have finished more ginkgo bowls and under the plastic are more to be carved tomorrow...

That's all for today!

workin' at the co-op...

of Seagrove Potters.
Today is one of my three co-op days for this month. I decided I would take some pottery work to do while I am here. For some strange reason I decided to make kitchen sponge holders. I have never made them before and I am beginning to think I won't be making them again. I threw them the other day and brought them with me to cut and and stamp.

I didn't have my "real" camera with me but my MacBook has the photo booth application so I snapped a pic of work in progress. Not sure these are doing anything for me. I only made about 8-10. I will fire them and see what I think when they are glazed. I am not sure if I can sell them for a price that reflects the amount of time put into them.
On a good note... I was happy to see when I arrived at the Co-op this morning, that Jeff and I have sold quite a few mugs here this month. Some nice salt glazed maple leaf ones that I made this fall are gone... and I was just beginning to think that maybe $30 was a little high.
Pricing work, it's the ongoing struggle for me and I am sure many other craftsmen out their.