Trying New Things

Sarah and I finally had a weekend together that did not involve any kind of work, or pottery show or prior obligations. We went out to Charlotte on Saturday and had all kinds of fun. We had a great lunch at the Vietnamese restaurant near Sarah's acupuncturist's office. Of course, I had the Pho Ga, which was delicious. Anyhow we hit a couple book stores, an art supply store, and went by Bluegill Pottery to see my pal Vicki Gill. We did some other stuff too and I made a journal entry on it later. So I am tinkering around with my journaling. From the above drawing to this entry below which just came about from preparing the page with watercolor and lines and then just filling in. It's something different for me, not a blank white page. I am inspired to just play and see what happens but I find that The Judge inside my head is quite loud and wants to keep me down or worried or insecure. So putting this out there is an attempt to quiet him down and just let it go.
Of course after posting about Keri Smith last week I had to get this Journal. Talk about loosening you up. Anything goes in this book. It's really been fun so far. I've burned a page, poked holes in another and started a fruit sticker collection on another page. I'm just gonna let go and see how it feels. I think I often worry about ruining my daily journals or maybe I just stay stuck in a rut of recording events and ideas and feelings. When I got this journal I decided to leave all that at the curb and just take it for a fast test drive, anything goes. If I crash it, so be it. Hey, it's called Wreck this journal so that works right?!
Here's the start of a spread where I covered my hands in ash from the wood stove and made a mark. I'll probably come back and do something else to it later.

Catch Up

No posts in a few days so I'll do a bit of catching up here. I have been doing stuff, no pots as of yet but I am trying some collage. Here is my first one which I am self conscience of since I feel like I have no idea much about composition and like I've said before color scares me. But who cares right!? Here it is. I stacked a couple truck loads of wood yesterday for the woodheater. Looks nice, eh. Still, I don't want a wood kiln.
A cereal and banana drawing from my square journal.
I hit the library on Monday and checked out The Complete Sherlock Holmes again. I had read all of the Adventures and most of the Memoirs last time. I finished them up and now I'm on to the Return of Sherlock Holmes stories. I love this copy. It's over 1100 pages and hardback but I can pick it up in one hand and flop it back and forth like a phone directory. It's pages are stained and discolored from years of reading and spilled coffee.

I am also re-reading Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott. I love Anne's writing. She really just puts herself out there. I think it must be very liberating to do that, especially in print. I am thinking of her book Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year or any of her books on faith. I love that she is honest, selfish, caring, afraid, faithful, unsure, searching, compassionate, opinionated, loving, and full of humor. I guess I just see her as a writer who keeps it real and that speaks to me. Especially in this day when there's so much spin and cover up and junk on television and in print.

Well that's it for now. Have a great Friday! I am hoping to get some Christmas shopping done over the weekend....maybe.

Cups & Soup

Here are the 40 remaining yunomis that I will deliver this week. The order was for 60 so it's nice to have them all finished. I tried to make them all different although there are a few that repeat. This was a fun exercise and I'd like to give myself permission to do it more with other simple forms like bowls and mugs. While I was making them I felt like I was reaching into my 'pottery brain' for all the yunomi information I've gotten over the years. I also tried to just let go and let the form take shape. Of course in doing that I was making minute decisions all along the way that I may or may not have been aware of. Last night for supper I made Pho Ga. Basically this is Vietnamese chicken noodle soup. I'd never made chicken stock before and had always thought it was too much trouble. Not anymore! I followed the recipes from Andrea Nguyen and Jaden. It came out great. I froze the remaining stock and will probably have this again next week.

Thoughts on Journaling/ Keri Smith

The chart to the left was taken from Keri Smith's website. I usually check into to Keri's blog, The Wishjar, everyday. I often find inspiring words or activities or book recommendations there.

Today there is a link to an interview with Keri that was great to hear. She talks about one of her books, Wreck this Journal, as well as inspiration from John Cage, and her "extremely informative period chart".

Anyhow, I mention all this because I have been wanting to expand my journaling experience for quite some time now and I am beginning to make that happen.

I have been journaling since high school. It has been especially helpful to me during difficult periods in my life, mainly during college and later when I was dealing with depression, anxiety, self hate, and self destruction. (Hope that's not too personal, not to worry as I am doing much better these days). Anyhow what I want from my journals now is to make them more of a creative, expressive, artistic, and risk-taking adventure. I have started to draw more in my journals but I would like to really be writing much less and doing more experimentation. If you listen to Keri's interview you will hear that this is what she promotes folks to do in Wreck this Journal. You can see some examples here.

So we'll see where that goes. One thing I realize I need to do less (and Keri has mentioned this in a blog post of her own), is to spend less time on the computer. I would like to set two times a day when I actually check email, blog, or do whatever I need to and then let it go. Maybe one 30 minute session in the morning and one 15 minute session in the evening.

So with that said I am off to do other things. Keep checking in as I plan on posting some new things from my journal soon.

Monday Update

Thanks to everyone who came out for my Sale weekends. It was successful again this year with many good pots leaving the showroom for new homes. I do still have plenty of work, so if you need gifts please call or come by. Today I went back to Clayworks and picked up my pots there. This year was a repeat of last year with me only selling a few things. My pots are so quiet and understated that they seem to get lost in the crowd. It bothers me for about an hour after I leave the reception and then I get over it.
I began bringing in my stoneware out of the racks this afternoon. I'll probably get it all in over the next 3 days. Some of it is still quite mushy. I have a few dinnerware orders that I am looking forward to getting started on. I will also be delivering my big yunomi order this week.
I talked to the studio manager today at Clayworks and hopefully I'll be able to mix my red clay there next week sometime.
So that's my little update. Thanks for checking in.

Holiday Sale/ Winter Arts Tour

My Holiday Sale continues this weekend in conjunction with the Cleveland Country Winter Arts Tour.
Saturday Dec. 1st 10 am until 5pm
Sunday Dec. 2nd Noon until 4 pm

I still have a great selection of pottery including bowls, bakers, mugs, teapots, plates and much more. I hope you'll make it out to see me.

I'll be open until the end of Dec. by chance or appointment. Call 704 480 6046 or email
ronpots2 at yahoo dot com.

From Our Kitchen

Awhile back I put up a post about all of our cups. Below is a picture of the dinner plates we have to use in our kitchen. I guess we have about 20 or so, plus maybe 4 or 5 that are in storage. I started buying plates after I realized we were maxed out on cups! Anyhow, we have certain ones we use quite regularly, and ones that get pulled out to use when we have specific dishes. We also have about this many luncheon plates (that's another post). I also took this image of the dish drain this morning. It shows that we really do use many pots everyday. We hand wash all our dishes (because we don't have a dishwasher, and I don't want one). I like handling all the pots during cleanup. It's great to have a large variety of handmade dishes to choose from and use each day.

Books and such

Nothing like a little Public Enemy at 8 am. KEXP is awesome.

I'll be setting up today at Clayworks for our Studio Opening which is tomorrow (6 till 9 reception and sale) and Saturday (10 till 3, sale continues). I'll be there tomorrow night.

Okay so I rethought the whole Kindle thing. I never buy books so why would want this thing? I just go to the library. Plus, like Elaine, I enjoy the paper. And the smell too.

I have been thinking a lot about how the written word, on paper, with pen or pencil, is disappearing. I don't really trust the whole electronic thing, storage, longevity, etc. Where will the written record of our history be in 100 - 200 + years? And I miss getting letters in the mailbox. I miss seeing people's handwriting.

I think instead of the Kindle I'd rather have a gigantic Oxford dictionary like the one in the library. Jeff asked a while back what book I'd want if I was stranded on a deserted island. I'd have this dictionary. I could keep my vocabulary up, start fires with it's thin pages (in emergency situations only), and use it as a floatation device if needed.

Not Much

I've done hardly anything like work all day. Which is nice because I rarely just do nothing. Doing stuff is overrated anyway if you ask me. Mostly I've been sitting outside in the sunshine reading a book on J.D. Salinger by James Lundquist.
So I just got an order of tea delivered today. Right now I'm having some nice sencha. I also got some darjeeling samples and a couple more greens I haven't tried.
If anyone is wondering what they can get me for Christmas I'd really love to have one of these. It's pretty amazing (just watch the demonstration video).
I am still planning on making some earthernware in December. I usually take that month off, but I'll have a little fun doing something different (I need to get that clay mixed soon).
Okay that's it for now. Hope you can do nothing soon (if you aren't already).

Floor Glaze

Years ago I read that Warren Mackenzie would scrape the floor of his glaze room and save all that stuff up. He would add some percentage of cobalt and use that as his blue glaze. I think he called it the 'floor glaze' or maybe the 'shop glaze'.

So of course I had to start doing that. I have about one and a half quart jars of floor glaze saved up. In my case it's probably more of a slip. I am planning on testing this in my next firing. I'll have to mix it up, add water, sieve it really well to get all the course dirt and cat and dog hair out and give it a go.

Monday

It was nice to sleep in a bit this morning. Sarah is off work and the cats both piled in on top of the covers to keep us warm. I had a great start to my Holiday Sale this past weekend. Sales were good and it was nice to see folks and catch up a bit. I still have plenty of great pots in the showroom. The Sale runs again this Saturday and Sunday, and I expect I'll have folks dropping by when they can.
Thanks to everyone who came out.
I'll be posting regularly this week, so continue to check in.
Have a wonderful Monday!

Showroom

All set up. There are more pots in the studio. Lots to choose from. I am hoping for a good turnout. Gotta go eat more turkey. Hope to see many of you at my Holiday Sale.

Closing the Gap

Fixing the space at the back of the arch made a huge difference in my firing. I got much better reduction. It's funny though, I was just getting used to those lighter pots. But with that problem fixed I will be able to control my atmosphere during the firing so if I want light I'll oxidize more.
We didn't get nearly as much done yesterday as we had hoped so today has been a real catch up. We are home now for a few hours between Thanksgiving with my family and later with Sarah's. I was pretty stressed out last night, but I am feeling better now. The show room is all set up. So we are closing in on being ready for tomorrow. Here are a couple pics of the pots after they came out yesterday.
A new tall vase. I have about 5 of these and they all made it through the firing. I was surprised, heck you'd think I'd know what I was doing by now.

Firing Complete

This picture shows a series of clay rings I pulled from the kiln yesterday after I began salting. I do this so that I can judge the amount of salt/soda that is being deposited on the pots in the kiln. I pulled the first ring after the initial salting. It is glazed well, but I wanted more so I added more sodium. The second and third rings are more heavily coated. I stopped putting any salt/soda in after the third ring was pulled. I concluded that I had added enough. I can also judge this by looking into the kiln and seeing how shiney the pots are and by the build up of sodium on the shelves. The forth ring was pulled just before I shut the kiln off. The glaze has smoothed out a bit and layed down.

The rings are pulled out of a peep hole in the door with a long metal rod. They do not indicate the final color of the clay or slips, only salt build up.

I will unload tomorrow, so check back soon. I a hoping for a good load of pots!

I discovered last week that Joe Bennion has his Potter's Journal back up and running. He lost his blog a while back due to some server problem. When Sarah and I visited Joe a few years ago he was very helpful and encouraging in many ways. He shared with me the idea for his Newsletter and told me to take any of his ideas and try them out. I did just that, and my newsletter was a success from the start. I hope to publish the next one in the Spring of '08.

Today I'll be cleaning up the studio.

The Gap

The kiln is up to 1900 deg. F. It's going to be another nice day out, temps in the low 70's which is really wonderful.

So, if you've been reading this blog for any number of months you have heard me complain about two firing issues that I have been experiencing. The first is 'scum' or darkening and and sometimes peeling or crinkling of my slip. The other is that the kiln is oxidizing more on one side than the other. I don't want it to oxidize at all so that is a problem. I had looked all around the kiln for unwanted openings where air could be getting in. I had gotten into the kiln and looked all around the sides and arch and everywhere for gaps. I didn't see anything. Well, it turns out I wasn't looking closely enough. On Friday I climbed up on top of the kiln and removed the ceramic fiber at the back. There, between the top, back of the arch and the back wall was a half inch gap. I wasn't able to see this from the inside for some reason, I mean I could see a space but from the inside it didn't look like it went through to the outside. I guess the fiber on top was keeping me from seeing. Anyhow, the kiln gurus ( if any read this) would probably smack me for not checking up there sooner. So I restacked those brick, mudded everything up really well, and replaced the fiber. I'll know on Wednesday if this helped, but I expect it did.

Lots of Cups

Remember the order I got for 60 yunomis a while back? Well, I still had 40 to fire so that made up a big part of this load. Along with those cups, I had all these other pots (below) plus even more (off camera). It was quite a bit of small stuff but there was also some dinnerware which always takes up lots of room. Here is the back stack with the front started. It's a pretty tight stack so I think I'm going to have to go with soda and salt for this firing. I don't think I'd get all the coverage I need with just soda. So I'll probably do half and half. I am thinking I'll introduce the salt as a solution this time.
And here's the front. I managed to get in most everything I wanted sans a few plates. I lost 8 plates in the bisque which is fine, they wouldn't have made it in here anyway. It would have been nice to have them for the next go.
So I'll get the kiln lit tonight and fire off tomorrow around 4 or 5. I have a bit more kiln news but that can wait until tomorrow.

Holiday Sale

Today I have my bisque going. I actually loaded and fired it for a few hours yesterday because some of those pots were still pretty damp, hopefully I'll get through it without anything blowing up. (Knock on wood.)

I'll spend the next 6 days getting ready for my Holiday Sale. It's always a countdown to the last minute getting pots out and everything cleaned up around here. I am hoping for a good turnout again this year. It's a lot of work, but always worth it. I will have about 300 pots for sale including dinnerware, bakers, bowls, lots of mugs and cups, and all of the things you've seen me making (via this blog) over the past few weeks.

The Sale runs two weekends, but if you can't come then, just feel free to drop by or give me a call (704.480.6046) and make an appointment. I should be here up until the end of Dec. with pots in the showroom.

If you need directions you can Mapquest my address.

757 Wallace Grove Rd. Shelby, NC 28150

I'll be posting over the next week with images of the loading, firing, unloading and set up.

Have a great Friday!!

Seagrove Pottery Festival

If you are at the 26th Annual Seagrove Pottery Festival this weekend please be sure to go by and see my good friend Tom Gray. Tom always has a really nice selection of pots for use. He's located in the 2nd tent on the back wall. Visit Tom's blog for info on what he's up to.
The Festival is this weekend November 17th and 18th, 2007; 10:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m.

New Work

Last night was my final class at Clayworks for this session. We'll start up the winter classes in January. We fired raku last night and had a potluck supper which was fun. It made for a long night though and by the time I got home it was past 11 pm, late for this guy. So I slept in a bit this morning before making it down to the shop. I cut feet on a dozen plates and slipped a few last minute things I made yesterday afternoon. My brother in law called Monday night wanting to know if I'd make a few shaving mugs for him. So those ended up being the last pots I threw for this load.
Around mid morning I remembered that Shawn Ireland from Penland had recommended that I make some larger birds. Shawn and his friend, Mike Henshaw, have always made these really great animal sculptures. I have always admired them but have never brought one home. Anyhow, I thought I'd give it a try and here are the results. I am sure I subconsciously borrowed some ideas from those two guys but I also tried to remember and draw upon some images of Mexican figures I'd seen in books.

These two long necks (tallest is 7") will get an iron glaze that goes green/amber. Here are a couple of bird toting turtles. The shells will be amber and the birds will be blue.
This double headed bird dish was an off the wall creation. And one more long neck.

I also got two racks of clay mixed this afternoon which I am really happy about, that should get me by for a while.

It looks like I'll be bisquing on Friday and hopefully loading the kiln on Sunday. I'd like to not be unloading on Thanksgiving like I had to last year. Postcards for the Holiday Sale go out tomorrow!

Cups

Here is an image of our kitchen cabinet where we keep some of our cups. I say 'some' because this must be only about a third of the cups we own. I count about 50 in here, and there are 6 over in the dish drain. We usually have some shelves up on the wall where we display (for use) another 40 or so. These shelves are down at the moment b/c we are getting ready to paint, so those cups are boxed up. I think I have about 3 more boxes of cups in the attic. So maybe we have close to 250 cups give or take 10 or 20. Yes, it's a terrible disease this pottery, this clay, this insane love of handmade things for everyday use. We have cups by some of the best potters in the country, and some really nice ones by lesser known potters that we use and enjoy just as much as our 'famous cups'
Anyhow I just thought I'd give a little glimpse of our cups, I am sure many of you have similar collections. Stay tuned...sometime in the near future I'll give you a shot of our soup/cereal bowls...and our plates... and teapots..... and....well you get the idea.