Last Day

Hanging out this morning having tea, listening to Rama Hughes on Danny Gregory's podcast. I really like using the dip pen. It just really puts the ink where I want it (and sometimes where I don't).

March flew by. I think March is my favorite month of the year and I feel like I kinda missed it this year. So maybe I'll savor today, try to. Right now the grass is wet from a shower we had last night, the birds are out, it's a bit cold but I feel the promise of warmer weather coming. Have a good Monday. March Thirty One.

Wiped Out for Now

The Sale went well and I am so thankful for everyone who came out and got pots as well as you all out there in the blogosphere and email realms who send words of support.

We knocked off at 4 today and headed over to Sarah's parents for dinner. After that I handled the mugs I made this morning now it's time for a cup of herb tea and some quiet time on the couch.

It'll be a full week, making, filling in teaching for a friend, firing, and the Spring Sale at Clayworks on Friday. I'm sticking with the earthenware for a while more. The cream glaze with green was a big hit. The green in general was a hit. Well it was all a hit thankfully. So I'm gonna keep at it.

I got a lead on Thursday about some brick clay in the area. I may try to give a call in about that and see what I can find. I am also going to give a call to some folks on the west coast who at one time at least were doing some wood fired earthenware. It seems that's rare here in the States.

Anyhow that's it for tonight. Hope everyone has a good start to the week. Many of my customers commented on us... us bloggers who are all linked up, so that was fun, we are all well known in some household or another. Cheers, Ron

Day One

I had a good turnout during the first part of the day on Saturday. The weather turned rainy and cool which I think worked in my favor as folks didn't head out to work in their yards or off the the golf course. Around 1:30 things slacked off and some time later my pal Michael Kline and his sweet daughter Lillian came in. We all had a great visit.

So today we'll hopefully have a few friends come by and check out the pots and take some home. Yesterday the new earthenware outsold the saltglaze 2 to 1. Hum....

I got up and made a couple boards of cups this morning. I'm going to try and get them handled later this evening. I'd like to have them fired and ready for the Clayworks Sale this Friday and Saturday.

Thanks to everyone who came out so far.

Spring Sale 2008

Hope you can make it. This was shot on Friday. Just getting it posted today.

I.D.

Does anyone know what kind of bird this is? I'm just a country boy and if it's not a blue bird or a buzzard then I'm kinda lost....or a chicken. Anyhow I'm guessing a pigeon of some sort. It certainly wasn't too scared of me. Maybe it flew in from the city for my Pottery Sale. Karma got a rouse out of it as it sat up on the corner of the house for a half hour or so. Well whatever it was it sure tasted good.

Here are Some Pots

I'm all set up for my sale tomorrow. The pots look good and I 'm happy with my earthenware and funny drawings. This teapot has a couple fish incised on it and some dashes of green slip. It will be interesting to see what my regular customers say about this work. I think they will be shocked when they walk in tomorrow. Color and decoration! They will think they are in the wrong pottery.

I'm liking these new owl candle stick holders. Much more contrast than the ones I make in the salt kiln. I think these will be good sellers.

More Pots

Okay this was basically a big glaze test. I will probably not cover a whole pot in this green again, but I do like the color and will use it. Those fish are a bit 'cute' , they need some teeth I think.I liked this jar quite a lot when I made it and didn't want to mess it up decorating it. I have been searching my 'pottery brain' for jar forms I like. I am going to have to have a couple to go with.
These tankards have the green slip under the cream glaze. Chicken sprigs and a cross and dot sprig.
Here's one with a long neck bird.
I made about 10 mugs or yunomi with drawings.

Pots

A couple more mugs. Some of these have green dots on the backside.Here's one of those slabbed ovals with a rim that was added. It's a good form, I'll be making more of these.
Small dish with green swipe and bird.
Scary bird and some piranha. I'm digging the little fish with teeth. Not so cute.
Oribe influenced dish.


Well that's it for now. I'll take a few pics tomorrow. Time for bed.

Signing Out

Sarah and I went and put my sign up on the highway today. Don't think I get this dirty in one day, I've been wearing these clothes all week. (It cuts down on laundry).

Doug and I had a big ol' chat today on the phone. It was great, really fun to talk in real time, now we just have to meet in person. Maybe that will happen soon.

Wednesday Morning Update

I'll have today and tomorrow to work in the studio and then I'm going to have to get out of my way so I can have my Spring Sale. I am trying to get work made this week for the Circle of Eight show which is April 12th.

I've been wanting to make some of these small dishes for months now. I made the one on the right as a demo pot for my class at Clayworks and it was fired here in the salt kiln.It's made by throwing a pot and cutting part away to leave the handles. I did the same thing yesterday but folded that part over to make a fatter handle. This was done right on the wheel when wet so they come off mostly finished. I made 6 of these, a couple teapots and some plates. I spent way too much time at the Arts Council and in town yesterday. Today is all pottery, all day. No meetings, or visitors. Should be productive.

I got invited to a group show yesterday at Hand in Hand Gallery in Flat Rock, NC. The owners, Molly Sharp and David Voorhees, are good friends of ours. Sarah apprenticed to Molly years ago. Anyhow the show is called "Animals, Animals, Animals" and will feature work of all mediums. Molly saw my new pots on the blog and invited me to participate. Yea!!

Okay, off to work now.

Oh yeah, I'll be glazing today and firing tomorrow so new pots will be out on Friday!!! The last ones before the Sale.

Monday

First off thanks again to you all who sent me all the good feelings and words about my work and the junk I was struggling with. Thank goodness I'm not as affected by that voice in my head that tries to destroy me every so often. I've gotten better at just putting it out there and sure enough what happens is that I see what is True and what is False. Keeping it all in my head is not the way to go.

I got a bisque going today and cleaned up the studio for the Sale this weekend. I still have a long way to go getting the showroom all set up, but hopefully I'll knock a big dent in that tomorrow. I usually stop making during the week of my sale so I can focus on cleaning, firing, etc. But I'm having to carry on at least until Thursday. I made a couple boards of bowls today and will get some little dishes and teapots made tomorrow. Pics tomorrow.

Someone sent me this link to a Pete Pinnell video where he is discussing cups. It's worth a look, about 30 minutes long.

Hope everyone is off to a good start this week.
All the best, Ron

More...

Well this all really helps me get out of my funk that I was in last week. I really desire to just be where I am and have fun making pots.

What came up last week was that I started comparing myself with some other potters in the State and judging my work and basically really being down on myself. It's something I struggle with from time to time. Self acceptance isn't a strong point of mine. Sarah is always supportive when this happens, and she can also be kind of tough of me and straighten me out. Anyhow, maybe I'll write more on it later. For now I'm feeling okay, it was another beautiful day, sunny and very warm, a good day for sure.

I'm going to try and fire one more load before next weekend.

New Pots!!!

Sarah and I went over and unloaded the kiln today. I was really pleased with the pots. Here they are....
I'll probably put some glaze on the rim of that garlic jar and refire it, I don't like the white slip showing up like that.

Check in later

for some new pots...

A Bit of My Friday

It's been a nice sunny, but somewhat cool, spring day. Sarah had the day off so we slept in a bit.

I got some time in the studio, handling jugs, finishing up some odd pots and decorating my trays. I had some friends drive in from Charlotte to purchase a few pots. They aren't going to be around next weekend for the sale so they came early. Had fun drawing on the trays I made earlier this week.
I tried my hand at trailing some slip too. Not bad. No comparison to Hannah though, she's incredible, have a look at these. Oh well, I gotta start somewhere right.
Lots going on in my head these last 2 days. Struggle. It's something I will write about here soon. Not today though, it's Friday after all, so here's to a good weekend. Cheers.

Inspiration

The UPS truck just left and I have this wonderful book that I have wanted for a couple years now. It is from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and was published to accompany the exhibition "Turning Point: Oribe and the Arts of Sixteenth-Century Japan" in 2004.
It's chocked full for beautiful objects, pottery, panels, wooden boxes, fabrics. I love Oribe ware. I love the designs, the asymmetrical patterns, the green glaze. It will good to learn more about the history of this work.

I saw this book in the ASU library when Sarah was in grad school there. I feel in love with this ewer. I think it's my favorite pot of all time. Well one of the top 5 anyhow. It is Mino ware, Shino Oribe type, stoneware. H. 19.4 cm Diam. at base 12.1 cm. That drawing is not a mouse but a horned owl. This pots does it all for me. It's fun, playful, utilitarian, it has great simple decoration that is ordered but loose at the same time. The glaze is crazed and stained with use and age.I've not tried to make this pot but it will be inspiration for sure.

Wednesday's Doings

Well I didn't drop any pots today, but I did do a lot of incising on some mugs and bowls and whiskey cups. They are really rough and primitive and I don't know how I feel about doing it . I guess it was fun. God, I can't even let myself have fun!! Okay it was kinda fun. Ha. Still I'm self conscience about them but I'll show them tomorrow....maybe.

In the mean time here are some jugs....

I like the tall ones the best.
I also pinched a coil on each of these oval slab dishes. They'll get refined a little more. I like the fat rim as opposed to just having the usual hard edge of the slab.
This is what the feet look like on those little trays/soap dishes. Sort of a bowtie effect, pasta like even. I flip these over and push down on the tray to give it some curve.
Sarah is working late, it's been a rainy day and Karma needs a bath. So I guess I'll go round her up.

Casuality

As my red clay dries it reaches a point where it becomes very short and sort of crumbly. This pitcher bit the dust yesterday as I was holding it over the bucket and pouring on the slip. The clay gave way under my thumb and I dropped it down onto the rim of the bucket. At least it didn't take a dive into the slip making a huge splash and mess.

Yesterday was a whirlwind of a day. Running around, feeling mindless, worried, and rushed. Today I hope to have some moments of calm in the studio. I am finding decoration to be challenging as I have never done much before. I can't just reach over grab a pot and expect to do something great on the surface. It's a learning process that I am finding challenging. Making, slipping , decorating. It's a new routine, and that last part is very intimidating to me. I guess I need to just keep it fun, not take myself too seriously and explore the process. I need to give myself permission to mess up, to make bad decisions and to learn as I go.
I'm heading over to Danny Gregory's site now to listen to a podcast and do some sketching in my journal before going out to work.

Lots of Pots

Every year at the NC Potter's Conference Dwight Holland hosts a bbq supper at his home. Dwight is the principle organizer of the Conference. I'd be scared to say how many pots Dwight has in his collection but it must run up around 2000 or so. Here is just one room.I arrived early at Dwight's and found myself alone in this room. Here I saw a new addition to the collection...a bowl by Gail Nichols. Now, if you've been reading this blog for any duration you know what I did next.

Odd Monday

No multiples of six today. My Home Sale is coming up in a couple weeks and I'll be featuring my earthenware so I thought I'd make a couple teapots and a funky jar or two.I started some hump molded pots too. These will come off the plaster tomorrow.
This is sort of an experiment, I took a hump molded bowl, centered it on the wheel, added a coil and threw the rim. I'm gonna make few more and see how I like them.
I made a few yunomi, which I think I'm going to start calling whiskey cups since no one seems to buy them at my home sales. And some trays that will get feet tomorrow.
I also played around making some long oval trays. I botched one up and have another drying for tomorrow.
Anyhow I thought today how I want to take some risks with this work. Try out some forms that aren't so predicable, and go ahead with the drawings.
Well I gotta say I'm trying to watch tv and write this post at the same time...so both are suffering. More tomorrow.

Monday Morning

A new week ahead! I worked in the studio for several productive hours yesterday. I am hoping to get in a full day today making more earthenware as well as just a few pots for the salt kiln. I need to wrap things up so I can get ready to fire again. Pictures to come later today. Have a great Monday.

Westmoore Pottery

While I was staying in Seagrove for the Conference I went by Westmoore Pottery. At Westmoore , David and Mary Farrell make redware, salt glaze and green glaze pottery in traditional ways. You can view their website for more images and details. Their pottery has appeared in such films as , The Patriot, 3:10 to Yuma, Cold Mountain and many others.I stopped in and had a chat with Mary. I also picked up a copy of North German Folk Pottery, which had been recommended by Michael Kline.
These are just a few images from around the pottery showroom. I have always admired this pottery. The Farrrell's have one of the best places in Seagrove. I feel like I am in a cosy home as well as a pottery show place.Here are just a few images of pots. I wish I could have stayed longer to talk with Mary, but she got a phone call and I had to run off to the conference. I hope to stop back in next time I am in the area. Mary and David both have tons of expertise and information on the kinds of work they produce.

Karma Time

Don't you wish you had this much energy at 5pm on Friday?

End of the Week

I met up with Julie and Jen and Amy this morning for breakfast. We had a good chat and then headed over to the Arts Council to break down our displays from the Treasures of the Earth exhibit. I think we all had a good show . Then it was back home for me to finish up pots from the week, handling cups and tankards, slipping and decorating a bit too. I had a customer drop by to pick up some dinnerware and I also spent a little time outside. Its been wonderful weather this week but will be rainy tonight and tomorrow so I figured I'd better make the most of it. It's wonderful to see everything greening up. Some trees are budding out and the pear trees are in bloom. I love spring. I especially like that we have started daylight savings time.Here are a couple jars that I worked on today. Slipped and incised with the bird. The black lines are ink which I was using as a reference, I hope it burns out, I've never done that before.

Tomorrow morning the Junior Charity League it having a big garage sale at the fairgrounds. I'm going to head over early with my dad to see if we can find some bargains.

Homemade pizza for dinner tonight, can't wait.

Salt Pots

Here are some images of pots from the salt /soda firing that I unloaded on Wednesday. I was happy with the atmosphere and amount of sodium that went into the kiln. I like this orangish color. I am going to be firing again before the end of the month because I still have some of my dinnerware orders that didn't make it in this load. So it's going to be a busy few weeks ahead getting ready for my home sale, firing this kiln and a load or two of earthenware. I'll be working myself to death like Doug has been lately.