Memory? Not sure...

I have been bringing my camera to the studio religiously and keep forgetting to take pictures of the work. I have been in a big hurry to clean up and leave and after I get everything cleaned up I smack my forehead when I realize I have forgotten to photograph my work.

Things are going pretty well. I have thrown a bunch of larger orangestone and craggy crunch pots and some of them suffer from some compression cracks (ugh). I will be recycling them soon. It gets frustrating that even after all this time I can get a run of compression cracks when I least expect them. I seem to get less cracks throwing off the hump, go figure.

I am currently working on some orangestone and earthen red functional ware since I have a sale coming up on March 21. I have not sold at this venue before so I want to make sure I have a good range of items to offer.

Work, work, work...

Star Wars

pots 2009-02-11

Here are some pots I made on Wednesday (2/11/09). Still playing catchup on posting.

Five juicers and a slap tray.

I sutured this pot when it developed a fissure.

I also added a sprig from one of Adrienne's pots.
(I Lenzoed it. :^)

My biggest pot to date.
I painted the cylinder with white slip,
sprayed it with sodium silicate,
dried it with a heat gun,
and then stretched it from the inside.
Greg helped me straighten out my cylinder.
Rae let me use some of her sodium silicate/water spray.
Joe lent me his heat gun.
It takes a village to raise a pot.

Detail of the surface.

Joe is always surprised at the
depth and breadth of our glaze palette.

Make stuff. It's great.

Taco Bell Canon

Check out this song I heard on NPR Weekend Edition Saturday. It was attributed to the Rick Bayless Choir, which was funny, but they weren't sure where it actually originated. I found it on a free download site.

Artist:	Michigan Amazin' Blue
Song:	Taco Bell Canon
Album:	Wasting Our Parents Money
Year:	2000
Genre:	A Cappella

Check it out.

Raku 2009-02-07

Joe found a great video demo on Bruce Odell's website and after he corresponded with Mr. Odell, we thought we'd give his process a go. Unfortunately we obviously don't know everything about Mr. Odell's process, but we made a good effort for the first time. We need to refine our version of the procedure a bit more to get the results we are chasing, but I believe we are on the right path.

I will post some pictures of the finished pots as soon as I take some. While the results were not what I was expecting, I like the way the pots finished.

Thanks to Kim (I think. I was so focused on what I was doing...) who took a lot of the pictures of us spraying and rolling.

My three pots.

Into the spray booth.
(I painted some clear crackle on the bottom.)

After the spray booth
covered with Joe's copper wash.

Joe spraying his pot.

That's a happy camper.

Into the kiln.

Becky sprays her horse.

Pots out of the kiln.
Hot pots!

Now we spray it with alcohol.

... and spray it...

... and spray it.

Then it's into the sawdust
and turn it to get the colors we want.
(Still hot.)

Second load is ready.

... and spray it...

... and spra --hey! Wait a minute!
That looks like some coppery colors are coming out.

Yes, that is color! Cool!
(No, it's still pretty darn hot.)

It looks like a refugee camp out back,
but we cleaned it all up at the end.

If you get a chance, by all means play with fire.
(And if you're gonna do it, call Joe.)

Been busy...

It's been a while since I posted here because life has swept me along with the tide for a while.

It's time to catch up.

Go ahead and get that snack and drink. Let the dog out, I'll wait.

Back already? Ok, here goes...

Stephanie worked really hard to make me a scarf for Christmas. She made Karen run around to get just the right color yarn to match the stripe on my knit cap.

(Hey, I look like Orson Welles' heavier brother...)

Several years ago we were in PA for the holidays and were surprised by a snow storm. Since none of us had hats or gloves, we made a quick trip to Walmart. The only hat I could find was a hunting cap with camo on one side and hunter orange on the other.

While I wear it with the camo on the outside, sometimes an orange stripe shows. Stephanie decided she wanted to make me a scarf that coordinated with the stripe and voila' I have a bright new scarf (emphasis on the bright).

It is a wonderful scarf. The stitching is even, the length and width are great and it keeps my neck very warm. The work she put into it really shows.

Thanks Stephanie!

Monday 2009-02-02

Since I didn't make it to the studio over the weekend, I went in on Monday night to try to catch up. I threw some bowls for the empty bowls collection and worked on about eight pounds of clay which became this pitcher shape. I fiddled with it for far too long and realized it was very heavy and the walls were uneven, so I ended up slicing it in half.

Nick was there working on his planters and we had a nice time chatting about just about everything.

Nice form...

...but way too heavy.

Nick cutting and pasting.

While I was cleaning up
I set the wet splash pan down
on the canvas and
when I picked it up
I was surprised to find
a pretty good smiley face under it.

Be of good cheer.
(My splash pan says so.)