Same Not Same

Some slip combing from this afternoon. After combing 12 of these it dawned on me that I could use the same tool in a variety of ways! They didn't all have to be the same!











- Posted using BlogPress from my iSlipcomb

Human Sandblaster

John has taken on my derelict kiln shelves and his mission is to make them like-new or least "newish". After 36 firing in my kiln and who knows how many firings in the train kiln down in GA (where I picked them up second hand), the layer of kiln wash and wood ash, kiln wash and wood ash, had built up quite a bit. After a ridiculously absurd kiln shelf demo by moi, John went to work on them. About a half hour and a couple of shelves later, John came in to report that we should scrape those suckers completely and start over with the kiln wash! And he was absolutely right. I realized that I was blind to my own kiln shelf status quo (that's Latin for status quo)!!




John pointed out that not only did the layer add weight to the already heavy silicon carbide shelves, but it was also pretty brittle and would come off without too much effort. Well, it's a lot of work, but in the end, the shelves will be a bit lighter and we will gain a little real estate!

Some math: With the current layer of wash on the shelves at about 1/8th of an inch, maybe more on some, I figure with 24 shelves, that's about 3 inches in height! As you can see from the picture on the left there will be a whole lot of kiln wash crispies. I've started a bucket to save them. When John's done we'll weigh the bucket to see how much weight we'll not be lifting every time we load and unload the kiln!

Now it's time for some bisque ware rustling and hustling, some wax resisting and some crockery slipping.

Later.

Four quarts

I'm in the fourth quarter of this brief session in the pot shop and tomorrow I'll start to paint the pots. Here's some little pitchers from today's throwing.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPitcher

Coffee Break vol. 29

I need a big cup of Joe today as I finish up the pots I need to make for next weeks firing! So I reached for this one made by Ellen Shankin! It holds a good bit of java and I usually use this one to make a big cup of tea. The surface/glaze feels like velvet. No, it's not flocking, but the semi matte, rich, chocolaty, glaze has a softness that breaks so nicely on the fluted lines that zig zag from lip to foot . The handle reminds me of a little cup I used to use, before I dropped it, that was made by my teacher, Michael Simon. I guess I call it a trigger handle because one can only fit one finger through the handle and it's nicely back-filled (and I noticed as I look at this picture I just took, that it has the tiniest little chip in it's handle). No problem. It's quite a survivor and veteran of our cupboard! I think Stacey got this from Ellen the last time we were invited to show with 16 hands. (2007?). The proportions are wonderful and the lines of the fluting give the curve of the profile a nice edginess without spoiling the coziness in the hands. The fluting may also provide some relief from the hot beverage as one holds or cradles as I like to do. This cup has such nice scale that fills my hands.

Thanks Ellen!

I just noticed that our friends in Floyd will be having their Fall studio tour on the weekend of November 26-28! Check out the web site and plan your trip now!

[disclosure note: this coffee break™ is not sponsored, nor was it prompted, by 16hands.com. ;-)]

Stepping Over the Line (the deadline, that is)

When it comes to deadlines, I'm the worst. Last Friday was my deadline for last wet day, meaning, last day to make pots. But I moved it to today as there are a few things I still want to make.

• quart pitchers
• half gallon jars
• tall vases
• more yunomi and tumblers

I'm not sure if this is realistic considering the plastic that covers the pots on my table, but we'll see. I have until 3:30 this afternoon (when the girls come home from school, and maybe after supper. But the late nights are wearing me down and I'm going to try to get earlier starts in the morning during my deco/glaze days.


The girls have been working on their ornaments for the studio sale in December. Lillian was working overtime on her drawing (l) and Evelyn decided to make ornaments of her hands and feet! My little elves wanted to listen to some mood music so I cued up last.fm for some streaming Christmas tunes. I got into the fun too and mostly made round ornaments that I will paint and glaze for the upcoming firing at Courtney's.

Well, I'm off to the studio for my 24X 12! I hope everyone had a great weekend and will be as productive as I hope to be this week!

Thanks for reading!

Friday is The New Monday: No Rest For the Weary

After the Veteran's Day Holiday and no school yesterday, it feels like Monday. But who am I foolin'? I don't really have weekends this time of the year, anyway! I guess it's been a long week, feels more like ye olde fortnight!

Still gawking at the beautifully clear skies we've had over the last few days and finding that the only time I can really be productive is when the curtains fall on all of that glaring daylight. Last night was another late night, but productive. After getting the handles on these really big tankards and retrofitting the lids on a dozen jars, I tore into making some yunomi(i) for the AKAR Yunomi show in the spring.

I know what you're saying, "spring??" Yes, April, I believe. Working back from the online opening, there's the deadline that the gallery needs the pots in January to begin photography of the gazillion cups Then there's rarity of a wood firing in December, here, and you get making them in November! This pottery doesn't happen overnight, ya know!?

[yes it does]
[huh?]
[overnight, that is]
[oh, I get it]
[ ;---) ]

What? All of that and no pictures???

[imagine image of a board full of roundish cups with
dramatic early morning lighting highlighting surface
details of wooden ribs and fullness of form]

What kind of blog is this anyway?

OK, back to some sort of sanity... Here are some ornaments Stacey and the girls worked on yesterday! in porcelain!! We're lining things up for this years BIG Toe River Studio Tour. Folks come from all over the Southeast to this 2 county 3 day weekend Crafts Mecca event! [If you're on my mailing list we'll be sending out our annual hand painted card to your mailbox very soon, announcing the time and dates. And it's not to late to sign up. See mailing list sign up button on the right. It's instant and it's free]

OK, I'd better put my auto-magical blogging pen down and start punching out items on my little chalkboard. I can't let all of this early morning genius time go to waste!

[it's actually just coffee energy]

Later.

View From the Crunch

The return of the swirl. These tankards (steins) are made with 2.25# of clay! I'll be taking one these to the Pizza Shop for a fill-up of some of their fine brew! Still potting here as crunch week continues. Last wet day is the 12th but it might have to be moved to the 14th with recent schedule changes with the family. Empty bowls at Penland tomorrow night. More later or in the a.m.

Splash

Haphazard slip job.

Nice, I think. The finished article won't be as graphic, but I find such joy in the moment!

Template For Wednesday

[Insert pictures of shelves and tables filling with freshly thrown pots]

[Insert inspiring stories of charm,wit, and insight]

[insert needle on vinyl record screeeeeeeeeeching.......]

Instead here I am at mid week and find that I've made little progress during this crunch week. In fact it's turning out to be the same as most weeks. Except that I am stressing more about what needs to be done than normal! To g.t.d. today I may,

• have to postpone progress on the chicken coop that I began building yesterday.
• have to stay away from any yard work that the beautiful weather outside makes appealing.

on the plus side:

• I finished up all of my pots that were under plastic late last night!
  
• I'm off to start a wood stove in the shop and get an early start!
• There is still a lot of good clay!
  
• I'm excited about making some lidded jars!
  
• Adjunct potter John is coming to help today (I have a solid list for him to punch out.)

I hesitate to use the phrase , but here goes,

"It's all good!"

;-)

In the meanwhile, if you have the time, check out these Svend Bayer videos that Support Your Local Potter posted yesterday. They really are all good!

Still My Standard

This Mark Hewitt pitcher (l) is still my standard. I eagerly work towards that day when I make it mine.