Taking A Second Look

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I wasn’t thrilled with a few bowls from the last firing. I would have preferred a lighter spray with the ash glaze. Jeff kept saying they were fine and beautiful. I decided to take some photographs and after looking at them in a different light, they began to grow on me.

Since we weren’t going to the CCM show in Charlotte, I sanded and priced them and put them out in the gallery.

Believe it or not, we were fairly busy on Saturday, despite the steady rain from hurricane Matthew. I sold a few of these bowls over the weekend! 
Sometimes we are our own worst critic.

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Staying Home Today

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Carolina Claymatters Pottery Festival won’t be happening today. Early yesterday they decided to cancel. Two days of rain means the grounds will be very wet. We are happy to not drive to Charlotte in the pouring rain, never mind setting up a booth and spending the day in it.

The show is postponed until next Saturday, October 15th. Sadly, Jeff and I won’t be able to participate. We are committed to the “American Craft Week” celebration, here in Seagrove, as well as an appointment with a customer for a vessel sink.

We have had some beautiful weather here, leading up to the storm. Comfortably warm days with cooler nights. Great weather for doing all types of activities. In the studio, Jeff and I collaborated on a couple of vases as well as some larger cheese stones. I think the stones are going to look awesome with Jeff’s texture on them.

I am also working on some small lidded jars. These will be a good size store coffee.
I started carving yesterday, but they really were a little too soft. I uncovered them this morning and hopefully I can finish them later today.
Cooler temps always inspire me to do some cooking that’s more complicated than lighting the grill. First I made gnocchi. Mine isn’t the most beautiful gnocchi, but it sure was delicious.
Next up was ravioli! I hadn’t used my pasta machine in over 10 years. I have a ravioli attachment that I had never used. Last week I decided to give it a try. 
It worked really well, but it makes very small ravioli, without a lot of room for filling. The filling was roasted butternut squash and it was delicious. The machine didn’t allow for a good ratio of pasta to filling. I ended up filling and cutting half of them by hand. My pasta was a little dense. I couldn’t find semolina flour at the grocery store so I used all purpose. If I can’t find it locally, I may have to order it from Amazon. As soon as get semolina, I am making fettucini…with Alfredo sauce and grilled shrimp!

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Ash glaze, Tenmoku, Ginkgo Leaves, and Hurricanes

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Jeff and I unloaded the kiln yesterday. Overall it was a very good firing. I had a few ash glaze pots that I sprayed a little heavier than I wanted too… but that was my error, no fault of the kiln. They are still fine pots, just not what I was expecting.

Here are a few of the pieces that I was really happy with.

I made these last winter. I put a couple in the first firing of our new kiln and they got some kiln crud chunks in the bottom. I set a couple more aside and they finally went in this firing. This one made me do the happy dance!

Everyone has their eye on the hurricane that is heading this way. I am really hoping the storm will not impact us or if it does, it will happen before Saturday. We have an outdoor show in Charlotte this weekend. Chances are we inland enough to be spared the brunt of it, but it doesn’t mean we won’t have high winds with lots of rain. Outdoor shows in the rain suck. Outdoor shows in high wind are dangerous. I am sure the show will be cancelled or postponed if it’s too dangerous for us to be out there. Stay tuned for updates!

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Pottery Buddy

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After a few days of much needed rain, we had a beautiful sunny day. Perfect timing to prepare greenware for a bisque firing. While I was giving some pots the kitchen scrubby treatment, a green anole crawled on to the sponge holders.
He was a brave little guy and hung out with me for quite awhile.
Occasionally, if he thought I was getting a little too close, he hopped from the shelving unit to the stand that holds the bricks for the kiln door. 
I have been in North Carolina for over six years now, but I am still fascinated by these charming lizards!

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The New Pig

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Last week I had a request for a piggy bank for a boy. His sister was gifted the whimsical flower pig last year and Mom wanted something similar but with carvings for a boy. I have to admit I was a little stumped about what to carve. I told Mom that my carvings are typically flowers and leaves… so she said, “Do leaves!”.  So here it is… the whimsical design with leaves. After the bisque fire, I will apply the black underglaze to the leaf design and leaves. I think this pig will be the perfect pairing with it’s sister pig.

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Putting the Parts Together

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Last night, while I slaved over a hot stove, Jeff slaved over the wheel making pig bodies. I guess neither one of us was really slaving… I typically enjoy cooking and Jeff LOVES to throw pots.
We usually use our recycled clay to make piggy banks. I like to extrude tubes to make the legs and ears. It’s easier to measure the parts out and keep some consistency in the end product. Since we haven’t pugged clay in a few weeks, these pigs will be made fresh clay. I have a die for the pug mill that I use for extruding tubes. When I have fresh clay, I get out my Kemper clay gun to extrude the tubes. 
The gun came with a couple of dies and a couple of blanks to make your own. I have to admit that the only thing I have ever used this clay gun for is piggy bank parts. Aside from extruding handles (which I am not fond of) I think this clay gun isn’t worth purchasing. 
One of my complaints is that the plastic disc that pushes the clay is poorly designed. The screw always comes off and I usually have to put it back together in between reloading with clay. You might also be able to see in the photo that the disc is cracked. It’s been like that for a number of years. So far it hasn’t affected it’s working capabilities, but I am wondering if I can order a replacement part.
I am writing this post while I wait for my parts to firm up a bit. If you read yesterday’s post you know that we are working with a very wet batch of clay. If I use these parts straight away, I fear my pigs won’t be able to stand up on their own little legs!
If your needing a pig, there a few nice ones in my Etsy shop that are waiting for new homes…

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Throwing, Handling, Carving

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Monday there were pots to ship and took up the entire day. I was really happy to be back to clay work on Tuesday. I had mugs to carve and I was getting worried that they may have gotten too dry. I don’t like carving dry pots. It’s hard on the fingers and not good for the respiratory system.
I had wrapped them well on Sunday and some were still a little too soft. Once unwrapped, the air conditioner took care of that situation quite quickly. This last batch of Highwater clay is soft like baby sh$t. A total pain to throw and even worse for pulling handles. That’s why I prefer using our recycled clay. I can get it to the consistency that I like. 

 I had one mug that was very distorted after coming off the wheel. I decided to try creating a version of Jeff’s squared mug. This is definitely not my forte but I had fun trying!

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Ginkgo Leaf Bowl with Ash Glaze

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We unloaded the kiln yesterday. I wanted to do a quick post and share this photo of one of the bowls sprayed with ash glaze. Jeff and I have lots of pots to pack and ship today. It’s seems to be our usual Monday routine.
Have a happy day!

P.S. Dad was doing a little better yesterday.  Thanks to all for the well wishes. Check out yesterday’s post for the whole scoop.

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Anniversaries

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While we all remember the tragic events of September 11, 2001, I would like to recognize a very happy event that happened on September 11, 1954. The day my parents were married.
They planned a small wedding and when the day arrived it was to be even smaller than planned. September 11, 1954 was the day hurricane Edna made landfall in Massachusetts. My parents were in Dover, NH which is near the coast in southern New Hampshire. Some of the guests weren’t not going to be able to travel to the wedding. Hurricane Carol had struck the area just 11 days before Edna. It was an active hurricane season in 1954! Despite the weather, my parents were married on schedule and left for their honeymoon in Niagara Falls.

Forty seven years later they decided to take an anniversary road trip to Burlington, VT. They left on the morning of September 11, popped some CD’s into the cars player, and off they went. When they arrived in Burlington they wanted to walk around town and visit the shops and galleries. They were surprised to find most of them closed and very few people out and about. They were perplexed to read a sign on one of the shop doors, “Due to the tragic events of the day, we have closed early.” Having not listened to the radio during the trip, they were clueless as to what had happened. They decided to check into their hotel. It was then, that the hotel clerk apprised them of the chaos that was happening in the United States.

Since 2001, I have never forgotten my parents anniversary.

Fast forward to 2016. If Mom were still with us, my parents would be celebrating 62 years today. Yesterday my Dad was not feeling well and my sister Anita took him to the emergency room. His heart rate was very low and they had a hard time regulating it. At the end of the day they decided to admit him. He may need a pacemaker. Before Anita left for the night they needed to clarify his advance directives with the hospital. Dad then said, “Maybe I’ll die on my anniversary.” It was heartbreaking to hear that he said that. After all he went through in the last two years, I hope that he won’t have to have another surgery. We will know more today.
It’s times like these that living 800 miles away sucks.

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…Better Living Through Handmade Pottery.