Button Trick

I got this pottery trick at the Isaac Button workshop so many years ago!;-) To lift this jug off the wheel just put a clay 'button' over the mouth and lift. The button makes the jug airtight so it can be lifted without deforming the pot! This is probably one of those tools that goes missing from the historical or archeological record because it just gets chucked when it dries up and is easily replaced by a fresh one. But I'm neither a historian nor an archeologist, but I've got YouTube!

I'll hook you up with a link later when I'm at the computer.

[Ed: 2/26/11 finally getting around to linking up the video. A detail that I failed to mention was the special piece of wood used as a third point of contact when picking up the pot! look for it.]

[applause!!]

Loadin' and Scrubbin'

B a Pepper

Instead of making all of those jugs, bottles, and pitchers today, I realized all of the shelves were full and there was no place to put the table pots! So I loaded a bisque kiln with a lot of these plates that have to be scrubbed, first! This is what I use to take the burr or edge off of the rim cut plates. It's simply a green scrubbie pad. I got this tip from Shawn Ireland while we were residents together over at Penland back in the salad days, (1998-2001). I do the scrubbing when the pot is bone dry.

In other News
I'm blogging on my pottery page on Facebook. See the link on the upper right side of this screen. Think of it as the "other channel". I hope you don't find all of these options overwhelming, but I have a lot of folks who like to read about the pottery there, too!

More pottery to be made tonight. My clay wasn't quite stiff enough, [refrain from lewd joke that Michael Scott might would blurt out] but it'll be ready after supper. Until then, love the spin you're in!

Hustling Flow

price debate

The evening started out with the NC Clay Club, who met at the Crimson Laurel Gallery in Bakersville. When I got there there was a lively discussion about pricing one's work. When I left there was still a lively discussion about pricing one's work. I guess we'll always debate that one. For an interesting discussion about pricing, see Ron Philbecks blog post, here.

I zipped back to the shop to work on finishing the pots and pugging clay to get clay ready for jugs and bottle and pitchers tomorrow! The clay in the picture below is my red dirt mix. I set it out to dry a little more in this way and will do another pugging in the a.m.

looks like a busy day tomorrow!

I'm feeling good about the clay, the pots, and the flow. It's been a good week and I hope to do some capping tomorrow. I also will try to start back on slab dishes that I have been wanting to make for a long time. Oh, ambition!

All Throw and No Play

It's easy to throw all day long, but it may take more than a day to trim feet and add handles if I'm not careful. But today is working out fine. Tomorrow I'll throw the clay I just pugged. Momentum is building!

One More Sentence B 4 I Go

This is the table before I head out the door to join a roomful of pottery affectionados talking shop and eating good food at the annual gathering of the NC Clay Club.

Ripple in Time

Timing is everything, someone once said. In my case I have to confess that it takes me a long time to make a pot, or a kiln load of pots. As I've spoken about before here, life in the summertime, the kids home from school, friends visiting from Penland, put a pleasant speed bump in the old pottery making path.
My approach, and maybe potters everywhere, relies on a certain momentum. Clay dries or stays damp, depending on the weather. A potter walks through the shop pushing their finger into soft pots, checking the clay, waiting for further attention. This gesture keeps the potter in "touch" with the pots. Momentum in the shop is an accumulation of all of these moments of "awareness" that one gets from being in the shop. Remembering also comes with this momentum: pots that still want to be made, updates on shapes from previous cycles of work, attempts at new forms.
Blogging has been a real good outlet for me and a great way of staying in touch with you. But there comes a time when I've just got to get the pots made. This, hopefully, will serve as an apology for not being in touch with all of you (whom I'm so grateful for).
I've had to postpone my firing, and cancel a show. But in the scheme of time and momentum, the pots will be better, I hope. Thanks for reading!

Penland Clay Slides Tonight

Hayne Bayless introducing his studio assistant,

and my wonderful neighbor, Lindsay Rogers.

Tuesday Night is clay slides night at Penland this summer and it was a great night of wonderful work. First my bud, Hayne Bayless was up and among other things he was gracious enough to show a few of our pieces during his talk that we did together, last time he was passing through. Then my neighbor, Lindsay Rogers (who is assisting Hayne) showed slides of her pots, her visual influences, and pots with food! Sarah House is Hayne's other assistant. She should not be confused by our Sarah House, from Burnsville, NC. She talked about her work and the influence of scientific discovery on her work.

After a group intro by three studio assistants, James Watkins showed slides of his impressive work and travels. His assistants followed with quite a variety of work.

I take for granted this "cultural entertainment" that happens nightly up at the school, where teachers and their assistants briefly describe their work and show pictures for about ten minutes. It's quick and impressionistic at times, but it allows everyone time to present their work and still allow time to go back to the studios to get a little work in before it gets late.

Here is a platter that James Watkins made today using
sodium silicate to give the surface a crackle.

Here are Hayne and Lindsay looking over some

imagery Lindsay is working on in the work
she is making this session.

But tonight there wasn't much work being done as
Alan Tinney and Jan Welch were entertaining from
the upper clay porch. It was a blast as the moon
rose nearby in all of it's glory on this clear cool night.

There are a lot of friends teaching this session and I hope to ramble a little more and post some pictures of the great stuff I'm sure they're gonna do.

some of my pots that await

Meanwhile there are pots to make. But that a story for another day!

Penland School Auction Catalog Online!

my slice of the catalog

The Penland School of Crafts 24th Annual Auction catalog is now online here. There are 230 + artworks that have been donated for the annual event. Check out the catalog through the 4 pdf files. The piece I donated is in the Saturday Silent Auction. Apparently there are a few tickets left. Hope to see you at the auction!

Download PDF directly:

Friday Night Silent Auction
Friday Night Live Auction
Saturday Silent Auction
Saturday Live Auction

Saturday Fun

I'm carving some patterns on a few jars today. Also cutting some footrings on some platter bowls.

Tom Turner at Blue Spiral in Asheville

The opening of Tom's new work is tomorrow evening, July 2nd. This show consists of the best from several month's of Tom's kiln. I hope to see you at the opening! Here are a few pictures of the installation.