Potential

Today I managed to get back in the studio for a while and make some pots. I made some slab square bowls and a large rectangular slab bowl on a hump mold I finally made last week out of plaster. I have been wanting to do this since seeing some nice pieces of this nature in a book on David Leach that I read awhile back. I also made some dinner plates. Tomorrow I expect to get in there and make some more plates, and attempt some teapots.

My drawing today is of a cupboard in the kitchen.

It's hard to eat a fudgesicle and type.

I was thinking today of what it would be like to live in a huge city in a tiny apartment. How would I decide what to keep? I could probably do without a car. I'd miss being able to walk out the front door in the middle of the night and pee under the moon and stars. I bet I'd get overstimulated from all the people and noise. I thought that I could get a job as a garbage man. That would be a nice job. Get up early. Collect the garbage, ride on the back of the truck. No worries to take home after hours. Sarah said I wouldn't be living up to my potential. Heck, I'm not doing that now. I could be a brain surgeon if I wanted to. Who needs to live up to their potential, that's gotta be highly over rated. I just want to be happy, do what makes me feel good, have a nice life, and be healthy. Which is sort of what is going on right here and now, so I doubt I'll be going to NYC or Chicago or Boston or where ever anytime soon. It would be fun to try it out though.

Family Picnic

Yesterday Sarah and I rode up with her parents to Banner Elk for the Ramsey family picnic. This is Sarah's mom's side of the family, most of whom I know and love. We had a good time visiting with everyone and had a great meal. The weather was awesome, probably in the mid 70's and Sarah and I had a nice hike in the woods.

Last night we watched Everything is Illuminated. Great movie. The main character, Jonathan , travels to the Ukraine to find the woman who saved his grandfather from the Nazis in 1942. This is more of an independent type film, great camera work, beautiful scenery, interesting characters, including a cool dog...Sammy Davis Jr., Jr. Watch it!

Speaking of dogs. My 11 yr old lab is not doing so well. According to the vet he is having some neurological problem that causes him not to be able to control his hind legs very well. If this gets worse we may have to have him put donwn.
Kharma is doing fine. To relieve some of the stress of keeping her contained in my studio and worrying about her running out of the yard, I ordered us an invisible fence on Friday. It should be here next week. I am hoping this works for us.

Sarah is off to a yoga class in Charlotte this morning. She has a job interview tomorrow. So put out some prayers, positive energy, cross your fingers and toes, or whatever you feel appropiate, we are really hoping she gets this job. Thanks!

Challenging subject

The toilet is really difficult to draw. Especially head on like this. The whole foreshorting thing totally throws me.

Scanner

I went out and bought a printer/scanner last night. So get ready to be bombarded with drawings. Ha. I am sure the newness of this will wear off. Maybe after I break down and buy a new camera there will be some pics of pots that I am working on. Or maybe I'll just draw them and scan them in.
Anyhow, I have been drawing a lot, but I have also been journaling on my drawings. I don't really want to put all that out here so I am going to start keeping the two separate. As you can see I cropped this lamp to get rid of the text.
I also got a couple sepia pens.

Be here now

I'm always looking at my work and wanting it to be better. I often want it to be entirely different than it is. I have had thoughts of switching to earthernware, or doing more color, or drawing on the pots. When I have tried some of these things I am usually not happy and I go back to making the pots I know how to make. Salt/soda fired, loose, minimal decoration, good handles and feet. These are good pots. I think the longing for new ideas or forms or whatever is healthy in that it allows the pots to grow. Although it is slow. I admit that I have a problem of comparing my work to other's work, usually potters who are well established and have been in the field for 30+ yrs. It's no good to do this, it just frustrates me. I have to allow myself to see my work where it is right now and let it grow. I do give myself problems to solve, like right now for instance I'm working on a new baker shape, thinking about new slab vases, and a way to make a large, slab, rectangular dish. Also I need to find a teapot shape I like to make. Yesterday while trying to solve some of these problems I made pots and threw most of them back in the clay bin. I was frustrated that I had nothing to show for my efforts, nothing physical anyhow. But I did learn some things. Maybe today I'll put some of that into some keepers.
It seems most of my struggles, pottery or otherwise, are the same things over and over. How to learn to get out of this pattern is something I'm trying to look at. Breaking out of my conditioned thinking and living in the present would be helpful. I am still drawing and finding that that practice helps me to tune in and be in the moment. I am also noticing that I am beginning to look at things differently and really 'see' them.
I need to buy a new camera, anyone have any suggestions?
Have a great day.

Mucking along

I got back in the studio this morning and made a few pots. At lunchtime I met up with some local artists at Synergy Studios in town and had lunch. We had homemade pie and ice cream for dessert. It was nice to hang out with some likeminded people. We need to do it more often. I made a few more pots after lunch, some faceted vases and then worked outside some. I have been reorganizing my clay storage shed and I think I've got it all finished.
Not much else report. I feel like I'm just mucking along from one thing to the next really. I haven't had any real routine or full day of any thing since my sale. I have clay drying in the racks, I hope it will be ready to bring in by the middle of next week. Right now I'm using some commercial clay I had bought a while back. I think once my clay is ready then I'll be rocking along again in the pottery.

Two more

Drawings

Here are some drawings I've done over the last few days. I'm trying not to be too judgemental about any of this or worry what others think. So I'm putting them up.

Independence Day

I am feeling really guilty today because I absolutely do not want to do anything. I have gotten totally sucked into Danny Gregory's website. There's way too much info and drawings and things to read. I did a few drawings yesterday and a couple this morning.
I did manage to make a few pots yesterday and I finished them up this morning. I then mowed the grass. That's plenty of work for today don't you think? Man I wish my camera wasn't broken I want to post some images.
I am also having an urge to go shopping. I need some new shorts, tee shirts, and a pair of low top Converse. I'd also like to replace my camera, and get some art supplies (damn Danny G.). I don't even know what's open today and anyhow my frugal, guilty mind is holding me back from leaving here.
Oh yeah, my pie turned out pretty good last night. I think I'm more of a cobbler or crisp guy though. I'm not really into crust. It's sort of opposite with pizza. I am totally into crust there. I think with fruit pies I am more interested in the fruit.
Sarah is at work. I guess I am going to just hang out for awhile. Maybe I'll go do a few more drawings. It's hot out again today. No need to over do it.
Later, Ron

Picking and drawing

I managed to get myself out of bed at a decent hour this morning (who decides what is a decent hour anyway) and walk and feed the dogs. After that I headed up the road to pick some blackberries. We have a nice patch that I discovered late last week. Sarah and I picked about 6 cups yesterday and I picked about that much or more this morning. I am planning on baking a cobbler or deep dish pie to take to a family cookout this evening. This is all new to me so it is fun. Being out early this morning picking berries gave me lots of thoughts about primitive man (or probably woman) out gathering food. It also made me think of snakes, bees, and chiggers. My dad told me recently that my grandfather had loved to pick blackberries and would be out picking as the sun came up. I thought about this as I picked this morning and how I miss my grandfather and how much I could have continued to learn from him. I bet he'd really be interested in my pottery and kiln. I need to talk to my dad more about these things.

A friend recently turned me on to Danny Gregory. If you are interested in drawing or journaling you should check him out. I am getting interested in visual journaling. Some sites to visit are 1001 Journals and Tessha Moore's site. Some of these are really fantastic. I have been journaling since 11th grade, writing anywhere from 1 to 6 or more pages a day, usually in the mornings. I'd like to explore drawing as a journaling tool. I think expressing emotions and feelings in a visual way is sometimes easier and goes deeper than with words. It can be very engaging and freeing. Danny Gregory also speaks of drawing as being medatitive, slowing him down to the present moment. This of course would help lots of people. Read his short essays on his page under 'Recent Matters'. He also mentions this list of weekly challenges, things to draw. It would be a good place to start.

Out with myself

Yesterday I went to Brevard to Judith Duff's kiln opening. I wasn't really sure if I'd go or not. I was battling guilt and negative voices up until the time I walked into her studio door. I kept thinking to myself I need to stay home and work on pots, or in the yard, or something. In the end I got in my truck and left after taking care of the dog's morning needs. I knew Sarah would be sleeping in late and resting most of the day since she worked a 36 hr stint at the hospital. Anyhow once I got to Judith's I was glad I had not stayed at home. She had some really wonderful pots. Awesome shinos and pots from the train kiln and anagama. The first pot that caught my eye was a cereal sized bowl with a rich crackle red shino glaze. I thought to myself, this pot is probably $60 which I cannot spent today. I picked it up and saw that the price sticker read $400. Whoa. Well I guess I certainly WON'T be getting that one.
So I found a shino cup that looked like snow and ice, pink in places with iron spots coming through the thick feldspatic glaze. (My camera is busted or I'd put up an image.) It was $24. Much more in my price range for the day.
It was good to catch up with Judith and have her show me her new kilns and talk about all the great pots. If you get a change to visit her studio it is worth checking out. There's lots of good work in a wide price range.

I decided since I was already so close to Asheville I might as well go on up to Highwater Clay and pick up some supplies. I needed some grog and other materials for clay mixing and tests. Everything went fine until I got on the interstate about 15 miles outside of Asheville. Bumper to bumper. Oh yeah it's a holiday weekend! Well I managed to get off the interstate and go the back way to Highwater.

I got home about 4 and later Sarah and I went out with our friend David for pizza at Doc's.

I was glad to get away from home for awhile. Seeing Judith's pots was inspiring and I am all set to mix clay today and make some pots this week.

Back to work?

I guess it's about time I get back to work around here. The Monday after the pottery sale weekend I went to visit some friends in the mountains. It was nice to get away and have a change of scenery. It had been raining for several days so the streams were running heavily and all the trees and plants were green and lush. I enjoyed my visit with my friends, hanging out talking about pots, politics, food, clay, travel and other odds and ends.

Back at home I now I need to do some general clean up, mix some clay and get some pots made. I will be firing again in July with a potter from SC. We are splitting a firing in my kiln. I have some special orders to fill and more clay bodies to test.

This Saturday I am thinking about going to a pottery sale in Brevard. I met Judith Duff back in the early 90's at a class at Arrowmont Craft School. She is making some awesome pots. I would also like to check out her new anagama kiln.

This afternoon I'm taking my niece Sophie to the movies. She's here with her mom visiting Sarah's parents. So maybe I won't get too much done around here today. I guess I could go make a few cups.

Have a great day.

Thanks!

I had a great Summer Sale. Thank you to everyone who came out. It was nice to see some new faces and some who we have missed over the past few sales. I feel very blessed to have such a good customer base, local and from afar. I had a potter friend from western NC tell me a few years ago that she was really surprised that I had been able to make it in Shelby. Well I'm doing it and I hope to continue. Thanks to all of you.
Have a great week. I am off to the mountains today for a visit with some friends.

Sale weekend

Here are a few images of the showroom set up for the Summer Pottery Sale.

Saturday 10 till 5, Sunday Noon till 4. I hope you'll make it out. If you haven't seen the Summer Newsletter you can get it here.

Pots from last firing

I finally got these images shot and up. Cassrole and vase. Vase.
Tall pitcher.

Pots

New vase and jar shapes.
Small bottle with Chicken.
Teapot.
Small bottles.

Coming Soon...

I unloaded the kiln yesterday. I'll have some pictures up by tonight I hope. I'm running a little behind, lots going on here. I just had a group of 20 visitors from a Rotory Club camp that's going on at the local university. Check back in later for the images. Thanks!

Finished firing

I cut the kiln off around 2 pm today. In the picture you can see a cup that is sitting on the bagwall and the edge of a bowl on the front rack of shelves. I think it was a good firing, (knock on wood).

Saturday Firing

The firing is coming along fine this morning. I got up at 1 and 4 am to turn the gas up. I put the kiln in body reduction for 20 minutes at 4am. I am over 2000 deg. F now and will be salting in a couple hours. This is the best part for me. I will probably be finished earlier than I expected. I can't wait to unload on Monday and I haven't even finished firing yet. I want to see my new pots and clay tests. Salt glazing is so exciting to me, the results are always slightly (sometimes dramatically) different than the last firing. Having some glazed pots in this load will be different too.
We are going to a cookout tonight for Father's day so it will be nice to finish up here and then go have a good burger.
Okay gotta go.

Loaded and lit

I finished loading today around 4 pm. I pretty much took my time and all went well. I got in most of the pots I really wanted for my Home Sale next weekend.
I lit the burners just now (it's 10pm). I'll get up a couple times overnight and increase the gas pressure. I should finish up tomorrow around 4pm.
Sarah and I went to Doc's tonight for pizza. If you make out to the Sale next weekend and want to have some good food I recommend going to Doc's.
Check back again soon. Thanks!

Loading Day

I will be loading the kiln today. I will get some pics up tonight. I have lots of taller pots this time so it will be a different stack than usual. I am looking forward to this firing. My new pitchers and vases will be in it as well as two big jars which I chose to glaze on the outside as opposed to slipping them which I normally do. I am hoping the gas truck will come today and fill my propane tank up, I called on Tuesday. I may need to call and check. I'd really like to fire the kiln off tomorrow.

This week has been pretty rough emotionally. I hit a kitten on the road Tuesday and had to stop and pick it up so I could bury it. I saved it's brother and found a home for him. Kharma has been good for the most part but really pushes my buttons at times, like yesterday when she ran off. I feel like slamming my head against the wall sometimes. Maybe I need to be on some medication. The truth is I need to be taking some time to meditate, and do some yoga, I am stiff as a board and my mind is all amuck sometimes. I have also been forking out money like crazy this week. All necessary things for the businness, advertising, materials, etc. It will come back in time though.

I had a good experience in town yesterday. I met some guys who knew my dad which in turn led to them being extra nice to me and helping me with some stuff I was working on. I left feeling good about that and thinking that I need to get out of the studio more and interact with people. I also need to let my guard down some and see the good in the world. It's hard for me to do this for some reason.

Well this has gotten a bit long. Check back later for the pictures of the loading and if I get the kiln fired I will unload on Monday and get those pics up too. Have a good Friday!

Summer Pottery Sale!!

The Newsletter is now online. Click here. It has information on my upcoming sale as well as what I have been up to lately. Pics too. Check it out.
My Summer sale is June 24th, 10 am till 5 pm and June 25th, noon till 4 pm. I will have a lot of pots on the shelves. Keep checking back here over the next week for pictures of the firing and unloading.
I hope you'll be able to make it out and bring some friends. I will have a group of seconds and old stock marked down for quick sale.

Finishing up

I think I am finished with the pots for this kiln load. It's kind of hard to put the brakes on and stop making. Today I need to mix some glaze, fire a bisque (which is going already), and clean my kiln shelves. I need to do some work around the house too so maybe that will get done over the next few days. I would like to fire the salt/soda kiln next week or maybe next weekend. That would give me plenty of time to be ready for my sale on the 24th and 25th.
Better get busy.

South Mountain State Park

Sarah and I went up to South Mountain State Park for a hike this morning. We took Kharma along too. We spent a few hours up there, it was nice to be in the great outdoors for a while. The park is only 25 miles from here; I don't know why we don't go more often. There is good hiking, fishing, mountain biking and horseback trails. Maybe we can make it a point to go more often. I could certainly use the opportunity to get in a little better shape.

Easy Day

Today was an easy day, I did lots of little things, or nothing at times. This morning I went over to my sister's to help her and my niece put up this big swimming pool that they bought. It's one of those with a big inflatable ring at the top rim of the pool. That gets blown up and then you fill the pool up with water and the ring floats and keeps the structure all up. I think it's about 12 ft in diameter and 3 ft deep. My brother in law and nephew are off fishing for the weekend so they will be surprised when they get home.

I had a customer come by for a couple pots. And I got some handles on these two jars. The one on the left is made with about 22 lbs of clay and the one on the right with about 14. I will get them slipped tomorrow.

Played with the dogs for a bit in the yard and read a few chapters in Traveling Mercies. Oh yeah and weeded the side flower bed. I went to get a load of mulch but the nursery was closed, so that will have to wait till next week.

So that's my Saturday. I hope your's was fun.

Goofy

Sarah was in the studio yesterday taking some photos for the Newsletter. We got some good ones plus a few that definitely won't make publication due to my goofing around. Anyhow my Home sale is June 24 th and 25th. The Newsletter should be going out in about a week. I hope you'll go ahead and mark your calendars now and plan on coming out to see what I've been up to. I will have lots of pots in the showroom plus a selection of seconds and old stock marked down for quick sale.

Kharma's new trick

Kharma has a new trick. I'll be making pots on the treadle wheel. She will walk over carrying her rubber chicken squeeky toy and hold it over the right side of the fly wheel. Then , at just the right moment she'll drop it on the flywheel and it will be shot out the other side. She did this about 40 times yesterday and continued doing it for a while today until I needed a break and had to confiscate the chicken.

Heat

I just came in from the studio. I'm beat, my back hurts, and I stink. It's been hot the past couple days, I guess I'm going to have to get used to it being summer.

A good day again today. Ran out of clay though. I didn't know I was quite that low. Anyway, I have some stand by of this other body that I made up a while back. Probably 50 pounds, I'll finish out some small stuff with that. Today I finally got another big jar thrown, or the two parts anyway. This is my third attempt. I was using some commercial clay I bought last week (wanted to test it out). Anyway that stuff was super stiff out of the box. I don't know how people use it. I soaked it and tried throwing it on the kick wheel, still too stiff. Tried again and failed. Today I finally ran it through the pug mill and really got it nice and soft and consistant. Made the two parts on my treadle, and then threw 2 more for a smaller version.

I'm going to get horizontal for a few minutes before having to get the dogs out for some play time.

Back in the saddle

Today I got back into production mode in the workshop. Made some serving bowls, soup bowls, animal jars, and a few more things. At the end of the day I had some fun throwing some test clay into pots that were loose and fun. These are pretty much test pots but I did have fun making them while envisioning how perfect this new clay test is going to work and be the answer to my clay dreams. Ha! I do think though that envisioning what I want did sort of allow me to break out of my normal habits and make some things that came out from my more playful side.

Tomorrow I need to load a bisque and go to Grainger in Gastonia to pick up a sump pump for clay mixing. My old one bit the dust recently when my dad and neighbor borrowed it. It was on it's last legs anyhow, I got it second hand so no big loss.

I'll probably have a couple more wet days this week and then get ready for a firing.

Weeks end.

This week has gone by and I don't really know that I got anything much done. Oh well, no matter now. I feel like maybe I've been in a time warp. Wednesday night I got all worked up over some decision I had to make. I think I've gotten it all worked out, but at the time I felt like my head was going to explode. I don't do very well when I have to make decisions that involve other people. I often put them before me and end up regreting it later. I am trying to learn to say "No" and also to give my needs and desires priority at times. I am learning also that it is okay to change my mind and that I don't have to take care of other people's feelings around me doing that. I have to be true to me. Of course I want to do this in a nice way but if someone ends up mad or hating me well then that's not mine to own. Blah blah blah okay I'll not go on with this any longer.

Pots...they don't just appear in my studio on their own, and the potter fairies haven't showed up this week and made lots of work either. Oh right, Wednesday I wasn't even in the studio most of the day! I went to Boone with Sarah. Last minute decision, I wanted to go to the library. I got a couple of pottery books, one on Tom Coleman and one on Cardew. I also checked out another Anne Lamott book. I am totally into Anne Lamott right now, I have 3 of her books checked out, I've finished Operating Instructions, and I'm reading Bird by Bird and Traveling Mercies simultaneously. I've got to do some entries on this reading. Not today though. Does anyone else like Anne??

Okay. Gotta walk Kharma this morning and later my friend Steve is coming up from SC for a visit. I am looking forward to seeing some of his new pots. He got his studio set up a while back and has been working hard.

See ya.

Pitchers: Day 2

So here are the pitchers I made yesterday complete with handles that I got put on today. They have fairly tall necks which is something I kinda like. Below are two pitchers I made today, these have bigger bottoms and shorter necks. I also made a couple vases based on yesterdays proportions. All these will get some handles tomorrow.

Pitchers

Today got off to a pretty frustrating start. I was so discouraged by lunchtime I almost didn't go back out into the studio. Pitchers are a big challenge for me. I do fine with the smaller ones but I really want to be able to make a nice tall, light pitcher that has a good form, and a good handle. That's what I was working on this morning and not having much luck. Anyhow after lunch I had a little pity party with myself and then went back out to work. I managed to make a board of 6.5 lb pitchers that looked pretty good. I threw these in two pieces each. I learned this at the workshop this weekend. I am not sure I totally like the shape of these but I'll work on it. For now I've got a start. I feel like sort of an inadequate potter in that I have to make these in two parts but what the hell, it works. Tomorrow I'll see if I can get some decent handles on them. I'll get a picture up too.

I finished up the day by putting some handles on some oval and square bowls and getting them plus some other bowls slipped and incised. I have been having thoughts of doing some slip trailing so tomorrow I am going to make some dishes and see what I come up with.

That's it for now.

Monday:Fresh Start

The weekend was okay. I enjoyed the workshop on Saturday. It was good to be around some clay people and to get away from home for a while. My friend Amy brought me a nice cup made by Warren Mackenzie from her trip to Minnestoa. That was really cool.

Saturday night Sarah and I went to supper at Doc's Pizza in town. Doc's opened a few weeks ago. I have been waiting for months for it get going. I had high hopes for the place as we have no good pizza in Shelby. We've had four pizzas so far and only one has really met my approval. I think the problem is in the cooking time. Three more minutes in the oven would make a huge difference. I judge pizza primarily on crust. I think they have a good dough, but I think they need to cook the pizza just a little longer. I'll prob. mention this to my friend David who is managing the place. Maybe it will get worked out as time goes on.

Sarah's aunt passed away last week and so we went up to Boone for the funeral and burial on Sunday. It was a beautiful day in the mountains and Aunt Margarot was laid to rest on a peaceful hilltop.

I am looking forward to a fresh start in the workshop today. Kent's workshop gave me some ideas for pitchers and I am going to try and make a couple big jars. I hope to finish up this making cycle this week, I need to mix clay soon too.

Well that's it for now. I hope you all have a good start to your week.

Yum

Today for lunch I made myself a panini sandwich on the grill. The top photo shows how I weighted it down with a brick covered in foil. This is a great sandwich. Whole grain bread, fontina cheese, ham, spinach, red onion and then more fontina. The outside of the bread is brushed with olive and then onto the grill.
I worked in a deli for a number of years in my 20's. Sarah says I am a sandwich snob, which is kinda true. I have to do things just a certain way, for instance I like the mayo on the side that the cheese is on, and I like things stacked a certain way. Picky me.

Friday

I plan on getting some work done in the studio today. I am taking Kharma in to the vet to get spayed today. She was a real handful yesterday and tried my patience. Anyhow I need to be working with her on certain things.
Tomorrow I am going to a workshop at Clayworks in Charlotte to see Kent McLaughlin make pots and talk about how he fires his kiln. He fires with used vegetable oil. I am interested in this as propane is getting very expensive.
Sarah did an overnight at the hospital last night. She will be home later today. I imagine we'll just hang out here tonight. I'll prob. cook fried rice for supper and maybe we'll rent a movie.
Well that's it for now. Have a great Friday!!

Wooden Stone

I delivered an order of pottery to Wooden Stone Gallery in Davidson, NC yesterday. It was a nice trip and I enjoyed hanging out at the gallery for a while talking to Drew the owner and his staff. Wooden Stone is really nice and I am proud to have my work there. They have a fully functional kitchen space right in the gallery where lots of fine crafts are displayed.

My friend David the woodcarver went with me and we walked around town a bit. We wandered into the Tom Clark Gallery where we saw hundreds of gnomes and figures. The lady working there answered all our questions about Dr. Clark and his work. Honestly I've never really liked these things but they are well done and highly collectible.
We had lunch at a great Mexican resturant on the way out of town. Don't remember the name but I'll be back next time I'm in the area.

Litterbugs

Walking Kharma today I had some thoughts on litter. It seems most of the folks around here who litter are addicts and in poor health. I make this statement on the observation of what is along side the road. First of all there are lots of beer cans and fast food wrappers. Also cigarette packages. These people must be driving down the road eating a quarter pounder, smoking a cigarette, and drinking a beer. Then when all finished they toss everything right out the window. On top of that they must be cheap too. I mean I never see an empty bottle of Guinness Stout on the side of the road, it's always Coors Light or Natural Light or Bud Light. Hey all these are light beers, maybe they are trying to be calorie conscience. ?? And cheap cigarettes too, Misty's or Doral's or such, I guess the Marboro man hasn't been riding his horse up and down my street. Horse's don't have cup holders to keep your cheap beer in.

You might be...

a redneck if you spend part of Sunday afternoon building an outhouse. Which is what I did for a few hours yesterday with my dad. One of his friends asked him to build an outhouse for him. Apparently this guy has a picnic area on his property down by the river (yeah he's for sure a redneck) and he needs an outhouse for when he has cookouts. So we are building him one. Just one more thing to add to my resume'.

Sunday/Mother's Day

We had breakfast today with my mom and stepfather, as well as my sister and her family to celebrate Mother's Day. Afterwards Sarah and I came home and had a good nap with the cats. I think Sarah needs to catch up on her sleep. She is not used to getting up so early during the week.

The show in Charlotte went okay yesterday. A gallery owner was supposed to get some pots from me there but he gave me some excuse and said maybe he'd wait till later. That was disappointing as I had been counting on this money coming in and then no go. Oh well, I did have an okay show and sold some pots. It was nice to see some folks I hadn't seen in awhile too and catch up. I always get lots of compliments on my work at the Guild show, I am the only person in our guild who is doing atmospheric firing, and what can I say? the pots are good.

It's a beautiful day out today. I need to get out for a bit. It's rather windy. We had a terrific thunder storm last night around 11:40pm. The tin roof was getting pounded, it also hailed I think. Sarah slept through the whole thing but I layed awake and enjoyed it for awhile.

Tomorrow I'll be back in the workshop making pots. I am looking forward to a productive day.
That's it for now.

Pots

Here are some pots from the firing. New slab tray. A couple cups made with the new clay body test. I don't really like this clay but I like how it fires and how the slip looks on it. It's more shiny than my body and it is very light so the slip breaks nicely on the edges. It doesn't throw well and I don't like the way it looks without any slip on it.
Big jar, I had two of these in this load. I had lots of animal jars, here's a little dog (thanks Kharma). And some new soup/cereal bowls with taller feet and little lugs. Good stuff.

Firing

Okay, here are two images of list weeks firing. I was pretty happy with the results although the front got super blasted. I tried to put some blocker bricks up there up it didn't quite do the trick. I am getting a lot of gray soda action up front from all the build up. I think I'm going to back off on the amount of soda I'm using and add more salt. I'll have to think on it a bit.

Loaded

I loaded the kiln today. I'll fire tomorrow and unload on Thursday. I have some new takes on my usual forms in this load. Some new cereal bowls, mugs, long trays, small trays, and a couple bigger jars. I'll get some pics up when I unload on Thursday.
I'll be at the ClayMatters Guild pottery sale on Saturday May 13th at McAlpine Business park on Monre Road in Charlotte.

Graduation

Sarah graduated from Applachian State University on Saturday with her masters in community counseling. She will be doing her intership over the summer at Presbyterian Hospital in Charlotte. She starts this week. I have said again and again how hard she worked during school but I think I failed to mention that she finished with a 4.0 GPA. What can I say, she's awesome, and she's going to make a great therapist.
Sarah and her proud parents.

Off to Boone

Tomorrow we heading up to Boone. Sarah is graduating on Saturday. We are going up tomorrow to have a celebration dinner with some classmates of hers and spend the night at the house where Sarah lived for a year. It will be fun and I am looking forward to it.
Saturday will be a special day. I'm sure many of us will be in tears, I probably will anyhow. Sarah has really worked hard and been so dedicated to her studies, her assistantship, and her department as a whole. I know she was an asset to them and they will miss her. I on the other hand will be happy to have her home!!

I had a good day here today, finished cleaning up the house, unloaded a bisque kiln, messed around a bit and then took Kharma to puppy class. One more week to go and then she will graduate too! After class we headed over to Sarah's parents for supper which was delicious as usual.

Well that's it until I get home late on Saturday. I'll have some pics to post from the graduation ceremony.

Keeping it Real

Sarah and I have been busy this morning cleaning house. We have a pretty small space so it can get cluttered, dirty and dusty in a hurry. We are about a week overdue on cleaning so it's nice to be getting that taken care of. I love scrubbing the kitchen sink.

My two new words for how I've been feeling are 'blank' and 'dread'. I have been feeling sort of out of it since sometime in January, maybe longer. When I get over stimulated or overwhelmed I tend to blank out. I find myself standing in my studio looking at the table or going over nothing in my head, over and over. It's weird, but 'blank' pretty much sums it up. I came up with 'dread' a few days ago. I'm not depressed, I know what that feels like. Maybe this is what could lead up to that. Or not. ?? I find that I wake up with a feeling of dread. Dreading not knowing what to do, dreading seeing my family, dreading walking the dog, dreading going back to bed at night. Whatever. It's strange but that is how I feel. I think with Sarah being in school for the past two years and me being home a lot by myself that I have sort of gotten lost. I have gotten caught up in some of my Fears and that often leads to procrastionation, dread, and blankness. I have told myself often that I need to work on my daily routine. My pots are going okay, but sure I could be doing more, and I could be playing more and allowing myself to have some fun and not feeling guilty about it. Some of this stems from living so close to my family. (long story).

Right now it kind of feels good just to put this out there. What comes next? Action? Contemplation? Play? Sleep? Food? All of the above? Something new? ??

Wear and tear

Here are some images from the inside of my salt/soda kiln. Foamy blob of castable in firebox.

Salt glazed brick. I wish my pots looked like this!

Front corner around salt/soda port.

Contour line drawing

I want to get into the habit of doing some kind of drawing everyday. Today I did a couple blind contour line drawings, one of a pen and the other a tissue box. I like doing these. It's fun to draw without looking at the page and see what I get when I am finished.

New week

Monday. Today is usually one of my more productive days. It's off to a good start I guess as I've loaded a bisque and got it going as well as walked the dog and got a bit of journaling in over a cup of tea. I am planning on getting some pots glazed and later putting some plants in the garden. I feel I am a bit late on that this year, but it will be fine. My father in law, Roy, always gets lots of plants going in his greenhouse and gives us all we want for our garden. He planted on Saturday so I guess I'm on schedule with him anyhow. I didn't get a lot of my early stuff in this year, ie spinach, lettuce, chard, etc. I do have some lettuce and chard beginning to come in now though.

I lost a couple trays in my last bisque load. I think they weren't dry enough. One blew the foot off and another blew out a big chunck off the bottom. These are new forms and I was hoping to get them through the firing. I have 2 that made it so far. I will make more for the May kiln.

I found Kevin Crowe's website yesterday. I've always liked Kevin's work. We had a cup of his at one time but I can't seem to find it in the cupboard. I'd like to visit his pottery in Amherst, Va. sometime. He has a good article that I recommend reading. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Have a great week.