2009-11-11 Wednesday - Kiln Loading

On Wednesday night we loaded the big gas kiln. It went pretty smoothly and it was raining when we lit it, which is always a good thing for the shinos. After we loaded it we looked at some of Greg's pots from the previous firing. They were commissioned awards and they came through the fire great. His colors and runs are almost always phenomenal.

Loaded and ready to be lit.

Chuck and Greg discussing Greg's glazing.

2009-11-05 Thursday - (Actually Friday morning)

As I mentioned, I stayed WAY too late on Thursday night throwing pots and yakking with Kim. When I was finally leaving on Friday morning I noticed some interesting lights outside the studio.

Flying saucer?
No, tower crane.

Aliens invading?

Nope, just the back parking lot lights.
(Without moving the camera.)

2009-11-13 Friday - Carolina Pottery Festival

Tomorrow (Saturday, 11/14/2009) is the date for the Carolina Pottery Festival. Lots of talented artists will be there so if you get a chance, head out to the Cleveland County Fairgrounds in Shelby. Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm.

2009-11-05 Thursday - One pot, two pots, new pots, glazed pots

I was getting very frustrated trying to make large, two piece pots. I crashed six, I think, in a week. I was getting more and more frustrated which made me more nervous, which made me crash more pots. Not a good place to be, so I decided to throw some smaller pots and give it a rest for a while. I started turning out these little orangestone pots at a pretty good clip and was having fun with them while yakking with Kim. Very relaxing. Thanks, Kim.

We also unloaded a kiln and a few of my pieces were in there. It was a pleasant surprise since I wasn't there for the loading. I like the luster I got on the bottles, but the shino was applied too thinly on the mug. I like the mug shape and will probably be making more of those in the future.

The explanation of the (please excuse the expression), "over the top" handle on one of the bottles comes from something Greg said to me at the Circle of Eight sale. We agreed that if I put a small loop handle on it, it would look silly. To put a handle on the pot that looked right meant "breaking out of the box". When looking at the bottle without the handle, imagine a box by drawing a line up the side of it from the table, across the top, and down the other side (see the bottom picture). There's always something to learn.

Lots of small pots.

Pots fresh from the kiln.

Without the flash to show the luster better.

Breaking out of the box.

2009-11-11 Wednesday - New Clayworks Website!

Make sure you head over to the all new Clayworks website! It's been totally re-done and you'll love how it looks and how easy it is to navigate. (While you're there, feel free to sign up for a class or donate some money.)

2009-11-04 Wednesday - Clayworks

I am not what you'd call a master wedger...

or even a novice wedger...

or even someone who can wedge.

For the folks who don't think about clay every 22 and a half seconds, wedging is allegedly what is done to the clay to take the air out before working with it. I have never mastered it or even come close. My best clay is straight out of the bag after smacking it on the floor several times. Once I use some clay and (attempt to) re-wedge it, the bubbles make me miserable. One day I will really have to learn how to consistently wedge the air out of my clay.

Pictured here is a (choke, cough) wonderful wedging example I achieved the other night. I was in a hurry and was re-wedging about ten pounds of clay while having a conversation. For some reason I suddenly decided to check the consistency of the clay. Not only did I leave an air bubble, but it looks like I had a dowel in the clay while I was wedging it. Someday I will achieve wedge-vana...

Looks sort of like a geode.

Greg stayed after class to finish some pieces.
(and laugh at my wedging!)

2009-10-31 - Saturday - Duh, It Was Halloween...

These pictures were taken on October 11, and I was going to save them for Halloween. Well, Halloween came and went and I forgot all about it. (The fifties are rough!) Please revisit Halloween 2009 for a moment with me...

The crypt is as quiet as death (huh?), and you hear a soft scraping sound of stone on stone. Turning, you see the mummy's fingers pushing the lid of the sarcophagus to one side. You freeze, wondering what to do, and then...

Your realize you are in the clay studio and it's not scary at all.

I thought these clay remnants looked a lot like mummy's fingers so I took some photos (go figure!).

The mummy's fingers!

The larger picture.

The back of the hand.

Oh yeah, and I started my teapot on that day...