Collectibles

I just found out that sales of the card set at NCECA have been great. Here's one of the cards.

[NOTE : YIC---years in clay, CR---cone range, PPY---pots per year,
SPY---shards per year, MEPS---most expensive pot sold, MEPP---most
expensive pot purchased, Po---position, FT---firing time,
PF---preferred fuel, Nn---nickname, T---team. ]

Trading Cards

a sampling of the
fronts of the cards

Just in time for the first pitch...well, pretty close....here's a great little project that I am lucky to be part of. Lucky, as in, "coach" put me in to pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth. [Even when I played ball in little league I was second string. :-)] This set of 33 full color trading cards of potters you may or may not know will benefit the Studio Potter Magazine and can be yours for the mere price of $23! If you're in Phoenix and NCECA you can stop by the Studio Potter booth at NCECA and pick up a set. I'm not sure how many they printed, but I'd say that you'd better get yours, soon. If you're not at NCECA, then you can get a set from Simon Levin, here.

As a kid, (huh, right, probably till I was in college), I collected baseball cards, and still have my collection! So I was thrilled when I got the call. My heroes used to be ball players, but for a long time now, they've been potters. So all of this has come full circle.

some of the backs

I'll try to share more of my favorites after I get permission from the "coach".

[A NOTE ON THE STATS------YIC---years in clay, CR---cone range, PPY---pots per year,
SPY---shards per year, MEPS---most expensive pot sold, MEPP---most
expensive pot purchased, Po---position, FT---firing time,
PF---preferred fuel, Nn---nickname, T---team.]

A Picnic

Bulldog pottery mug in the grass

Every once in a while things seem to come together in a way that leaves no doubt. Then there are days full of doubt. Today was the former.

It all started out with pancakes! Evelyn and I made pancakes and it seems that the best ones were the last few drip's of batter scattered across the griddle randomly. Those were the ones that sparked the imagination! It was the pancake equivalent of watching clouds roll by, lying on your back.

Then, right on the heels of chocolate chip pancakes, Tom came over with some students bearing apple fritters! Somehow we managed to hold off on the fritters till lunch time. Following the girls lead we decided to celebrate one of their imaginary animal's birthday with a picnic in the field. It was a splendid idea and one which encouraged some laying around in the field on a blanket, something I hadn't done in a long time.

just the right spot

our "not so stray anymore" beagle
Sonny G

After a short hike and some more food and binding of straw with blades of grass, we finally made it up to the shop for some pottery and more play. I tried to get a grip on what I was doing in there and the girls made a fort under the wedging table, behind the row of bats. I made a few jars...while I listened to the girls exchange their "pretend" ideas. I think as long as I fed them and made sure that they went to sleep at a certain time, they could spend the hours of the day pretending and playing at whatever was in front of them. Making a little hideaway under a wedging table was plenty of proof.

Playing badminton at Penland

We then took the party up to Penland where we met Stacey for dinner. She's taking a class in the letterpress shop with John Horn. I was shocked at the price of dinner at Penland! I know it's all you can eat, but how much can a five and seven year old eat!? The food's great but...

A small "bread oven" at the clay studio

Oh, sorry...I digress.

Elizabeth Brim(l) and Stacey and daughters
printing

Show and Tell.
John Horn shows a Cynthia Bringle poem set in type

After our dinner we took a stroll up the hill to the letterpress shop where John Horn is teaching a quick one week intro to letterpress printing. When we walked into the shop I was immediately transported back to my college days at UT Knoxville with the smell of priner's ink! Everyone was busy printing and setting up type to print. I thought the making of pots was an archaic activity! The printing of type was everywhere and beautiful.

pancake of the day

After days like this I can safely say that I'm the luckiest man on earth.

Catherine White

I just received a little postcard in the mail today. It announces a show of great pots by one of pottery heroes, Catherine White. A wonderful slide show awaits you.

There is something like magic when Catherine combines energy and material richness to make these pots. Her "finger painting" is sublime even when she uses a motif such as the spiral, which certainly has become cliche´, but not in these paintings, though. Catherine's lines are visual paths full of new discoveries.

Cut'N'Stack

The wind blew and the sawdust flew.

All in an afternoon of cutting.

Big Money in Crafts?

Thanks to Patti Jensen over at our Chamber of Commerce for sharing a story about our crafts "industry" in Western NC in their recent newsletter! With all the talk about billions and trillions in the news lately, and the visual aids to help us conceive of that amount, I was a little unimpressed reading about the mere 'millions' generated by our little cottage industry. Especially since every other street or road in Mitchell County sports a shingle from some crafter or another. Surely we can do better. Come on people of Craft!

A highlight of the report is the recognition that the number of artisans in our region has increased 198 % since the original study. In the 13 years between 1995 and 2008, the number of professional art and craft producers rose from 739 to 2,200.

Maybe I should get into craft studio real estate?

Just in Time for Spring Break

Old tools die hard

With the snow falling pretty much all day it's hard to think that it's time for Spring Break! But as I prepare myself for my very busy week or two leading up to the firing(s) my calendar says "spring break" and that means alternative day care/activities for the gals as they wile away the days. Ah, the life of the student.

Well for us life long learners, there is no rest. But there was some relief for my twenty year old needle tool this week. In Saturday's mail came the new Mudtools that Michael Sherrill has designed and just before he and his crew headed out for Phoenix and NCECA, they mailed these beauties to me for a little test drive. What good timing!

As you can see the old needle tool broke (again) and there's not much left of it. It started out much, much longer as a piece of mahogany that I whittled away while firing Mark Shapiro's wood kiln back in 1990. I then drilled a hole in one end and inserted a snipped off nail and super glued it into place. Then I needed a bottom scraper kind of shape and sanded a pencil-like point on the bottom. I have replaced the nail a few times and sharpened the end a few times. But as I said, there's not much left of it. And, like a lot of tools we make, it's going to be hard to part with it. Basically all the pots I've made for twenty years had this tool in their making! Wow.

the MudTool needleknife, opened and closed,
looks like a shark? no coincidence.

But just in the nick of time Michael Sherrill and MudTools has provided this fine update of one of the most basic tools of the potter's trade, the needle tool. This one is called the Mudtools NeedleKnife. Michael told me about coming up with the design and how it resembled a fish in it's shape. The needle tucks under the handle for safe transport to class and or, in my case, teaching gigs. The other end is a sharp knife that is handy when undercutting you new masterpiece just before you cut off. Speaking of cutting off... oh no, not yet, remind me in a minute... I found myself using the knife end as a rib not just because it was so handy, but most of all because it was doing the job I needed.

making pots with MudTools.
I love that long metal rib!

[It's nice to keep your "quiver" of tools for any given pot to a minimum, otherwise you're always digging through a pile of wet, clay-covered tools.] The tool feels great in my large hand, and is easy to hold. The cross section of the hard resin fits nicely. The knife end will hone with use, and can be sharpened mechanically if needed. If only the needle end were spring loaded!
I've been using the Needleknife, along with my other MudTools all week and it's a fine addition to my sponges and ribs. I think Michael is doing a great job of reinventing all of the basic tools a potter needs. From ribs, to sponges (one of mine lasted a year, and with my clay that's pretty tough, and they float!), and now needle tools, the updates are smart , extremely functional, and lead the way to better pots. Given Michael's understanding of the making of pottery and it's mechanics, it's just a matter of time until he reinvents the wheel.

[pun intended]

Tomorrow: MudTools new Mudwire cut off tools!

Night Sky

As I walked up to the shop after supper, with camera in hand and snow on my face, I thought I would try to capture the moment. These moments are full of potential, but most of the time I rush through them. Tonight, I stopped and took these pictures of the night sky. It could be a while before we have snow again. The peepers and frogs in our pond were pretty quiet tonight. Hmm, could they be sticking their tongues out catching snowflakes? Probably not...

Stormy Monday

Sorta sunny, sorta not. Gettin' cold out there. But have no fear I'm working on some pots in the cozy side of the wood stove. I wanted to wish all the travelers a safe journey to Phoenix and the NCECA conference. I wish I were going, but it's not in the cards. Gotta keep making pots.

Stay tuned. I'll have a story later on the great new Mudtools from Michael Sherrill. I've been giving them a test-go-round. Michael will be in Phoenix with the MudTools crew!

Another mud crew. These folks are making mud bricks in India.

Saturday Afternoon

After a brisk morning, some strong black coffee, and some pottery fans, I went across the street to salvage some tin from the barn that is being torn down. We're really sad that the owners are taking it down, but at least some of the materials will be across the road on my kiln shed. The barn was built by the Boone family way, way back and on a wet and rainy day I could smell the tobacco that no doubt used to hang from inside. SO many of these types of structures are rapidly disappearing from our landscape either from neglect or development. We mourn them.

Somewhat related discussion.