I hadn’t made cheese stones since last fall. I am not even sure why I didn’t spend the winter cranking them out, to keep ahead, The thing with flat items is that it’s hard to get them in the kiln. They are sort of space wasters. I usually make a bunch, they go through the bisque firing, and then it takes many glaze firings before they are done. I think this is where I lose interest. The waiting just kills me!
Wednesday afternoon I threw a few and was totally shocked that they were ready to be trimmed by Thursday afternoon. I am still not used to working in a studio with air conditioning. It can really move things along in the summer. Even though we turn it off at the end of our day, the studio stays cool and dry overnight.
I have found the best method of drying these evenly, and keeping them flat, is stacking them between squares of sheet rock. I top the stack off with a plaster form, just keep the last one weighted. I find it’s best to dry these for at least a couple of weeks.
Now that our copper red glaze is behaving again, I can do some stones with this combination!
I figured I was about overdue for a pig post. These are the latest oinkers from last week’s firing.
I hadn’t done any pigs with the shino and “glaze splash” combo in over a year. Our copper red glaze was crawling like crazy and the rutile glaze was often foamy looking. Jeff re-mixed the copper red, and added a little darvan. He said the darvan keeps it a little more fluid, but he doesn’t think it’s what stopped the crawling. As for the rutile… I just stopped using it. I can get a similar look by using our nuka glaze as a replacement.
I have had requests for pigs with hearts and stars, but not necessarily together! The nuka glaze often gives a blurry look to stamps and lettering so I decided to glaze a “heart” piggy bank with Temple White. This glaze works well with the under-glaze and I think I like the simplicity of using this glaze alone. The true test is, “Will it sell?”
I will also offer this piggy bank with a name on it as well. You’ll find this new litter of pigs in the Etsy shop.
Jeff and I have been really excited about the collaborative works we have been creating. It seems like nearly everyday he hands me something and says, “Carve some ginkgo leaves on this.” We have been so happy with the pots that a few weeks ago we decided to apply to Piedmont Craftsmen, here in North Carolina. Jeff spent a few nights photographing our work (he is a much better photographer than me) and uploaded the application.
This week we got our letter of acceptance! There were 68 applicants this year, representing a variety of craft media. We were one of twelve that were accepted. This is the first part of the jury process. In November there will be a physical jury during their annual show. We are feeling pretty confident about the next step.
That being said, we got right back to work, glazing and loading the kiln. These pots are pretty labor intensive from start to finish. The interior is glazed in tenmoku and then the rim is dipped in the same glaze. The excess is sponged off prior to the ash glaze being sprayed on. Despite the drizzly weather, Jeff managed to fire the kiln, starting around noon yesterday and finishing in the wee hours of the morning today. We will anxiously await the door coming down on Sunday night.
Call me old fashioned, or just call me old, but I am not liking a new trend in photographing pottery. I am sure you have seen it… solid white background, often over-exposed. The pots look like they are floating in air. Edges are not crisp, and often the colors are inaccurate. I am not totally against the white back drop… in some situations it works. There are some Etsy shops that use it and it is appealing if the work is in focus. I was curious if potters are using this new technique to apply for shows, and is it acceptable? I figured that the best place to take a look is the 2016 Strictly Functional Show. The majority of the work is photographed with the traditional gray scale background. There are some with the stark white background. Here is a link to the 2016 show:
Jeff and I just had our 2nd anniversary at 505 E. Main. Finishing our studio is still a work in progress. It’s been a balancing act to keep making work and get construction projects finished (finding the money is a whole other story). This week we finally got the rest of the trim up and painted. The upper gable end, and the soffits still need to be scraped and painted. We really wish we could afford to hire a painter to do that portion. Just looking at it overwhelms me! Quite frankly, I would love to have all the soffits wrapped in vinyl because I really hate to paint. Thank goodness most of the house is brick.
Jeff has also been installing some landscape timbers along the front planting area, and shoveling in new top soil. I have flowers started from seeds, and they should be ready to plant as soon as he is done.
We now have a big blank canvas of a wall. Jeff and I have been kicking around the idea of painting a mural of pots on the left side of the windows. Something simple, like silhouettes of a couple of pots. It could be seen from the road and hopefully help people realize that this is our studio and we are open for business. Since we live within the town limits of Seagrove, we can’t put our studio name on the building. We already have a free-standing sign near the road and sign ordinances state that we can’t have both. The ordinance book doesn’t say anything about a mural!
Last week Jeff and I worked like crazy to prepare for the Celebration of Spring Studio Tour. We cleaned the studio and the gallery as well as catching up on lots of yard work.
We had a much better turn out for the tour this year compared the dismal event of 2016. Sales were up dramatically, almost catching up to what they were when we were at the log cabin. I demonstrated carving vases throughout the weekend. Jeff did some throwing demonstrations.
Saturday was perfect weather. Sunday was very rainy, but people still came out to see the potters.
My flowers sort of took a beating in the rain. If you look closely you can see that the birdbath is filled to capacity.
The hosta, on the other hand, thrived with all this rain.
When I opened the studio on Saturday morning, this luna moth was hanging out on the outside wall, near the front door. It stayed all day to greet visitors. I took it as a sign of good luck.
If you drove past our home and studio this week you probably noticed that our grass was about ready for haying. The guy that takes care of our mowing has been working two jobs and has been taking care of his mowing customers on nights and weekends. We really like this guy, so we are patient and willing to wait our turn.
Last night he arrived and got the job done. Next on the clean up list is to haul away the mountain of pine boughs that our huge Norwegian Spruce dropped last fall. This weekend is the Celebration of Spring Studio Tour & Kiln Openings and we would like the yard to be neat and pretty.
The Sophie cat alarm woke me up at 6 am, just in time to light the first burner on the kiln, and give her some breakfast. While the kiln fires, Jeff and I will get some pots made so that I can do some sgraffito demonstrations during the studio tour. Once the pots are made our studio will get it’s big spring cleaning. After a winter and spring of heavy production, it’s in desperate need.
I will have to get photos… because it never stays clean for long!
