A very white Christmas

 No doubt we are having a white Christmas this time around. The view out my window looks like a Christmas card and it is a wonderful sight to behold despite all the shoveling required. (No snow blower yet)

Hoping everyone keeps a light heart and a sense of humor and  has a very Merry Christmas. 

Dangerously Drippy

These pots went through two glaze firings. The first glaze firing did not fire to temperature for some reason and the pots were crusty and flaky. So I touched up some bare spots with glaze and hoped for the best. The second firing went into a much newer kiln which fired differently than the first, older kiln (10+ years old) and got a very differently drippy results than I usually get with this glaze combination of  C.W. Plumb under Snowflake. The lidded pot stuck to the shelf and a bit broke off at the base and the lid fit is wobbly now but how dramatic! I am going to make some test pieces and use a  bisque dish under it as a glaze catch. I have my doubts as far as duplicating this look, but try I must!

My blog is my bubble

When I started this blog almost a year ago, I made a conscious decision to stick mostly to pottery and the artistic influences (such as sunsets) that have inspired me and helped my pots to evolve. I decided, for one, that I wouldn't post photos of the family. For one, they would disown me if I did and secondly, I would be infringing on their rights to privacy, which I wholeheartedly respect.  The only family members that are okay with it all is my pottery assistant the cat and my parrot. No complaints there ;)  I would not discuss politics or make comments about the horrendous news events that have happened in the past and as of late. This little pottery world  I have created is something that I enjoy sharing ...locally and around the world according to ClustrMaps, which never ceases to amaze me.  Meeting others who create with clay has been awesome since it is my experience that they are few and far between; in the circles I travel in anyway. But  also keeping it isolated in the clay world is increasingly a challenge. I could double my posts if I didn't censor myself, but then I would be breaking my own rule. So my blog is my bubble. The local and world news is so sad on so many levels, that keeping this blog very focused seems more important than ever. Maybe this seems shallow to some, but sometimes you've got to do, what you've got to do.

Waves upon the shore

I shall have to call this pot "Waves upon the shore". It took two glaze firings to get this result. I tried for this result in one glaze firing but I didn't get that wave action that I was looking for. The base glaze is Coyote shino and the green is a tweeked Amaco glaze.

Squat pot

One palm-sized pot and two back drops. Just having fun with the camera while forever looking for that perfect background. This glaze is Coyote shino over C.W. plumb with a swoosh and some dabs of Coyote Saturated Iron on the band by the lip and around the shoulder.

Little red dish

Just a little dish I made that has turned into my cat's "mooching" dish. Kitty gets to use this little dish when she wants a little piece of cheese or a bigger piece of turkey from my bigger dish. The glaze is Coyote's Cherry Satin with Toshi Brown overlapping on the edge and down the side. I like that satin finish and the fact that it is not an "even" red. That could be because I brushed it on instead of dipping and some areas were inevitably thicker than others. I tried to get kitty to look up and show off her pretty blue eyes but the turkey was much more important.

Happy Thanksgiving to all

Nothing like a ceramic turkey from the 1960's to decorate my Thanksgiving table. I have been working on clay but posting has eluded me. I hope to remedy that once Turkey day is done but before Christmas is upon us. Oh holidays, holidays!!! It gets more difficult as time passes to get family together to eat a meal together so that alone, is something that I am thankful for. Not to mention a bounty of food. My family and I have much to be thankful for and I hope the same for you. Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

A vase with a twist

This is one of those pieces that had been sitting on my black shelf in the bisqueware condition for quite a while. When I was learning on the wheel, I had a knack of getting an upper area of the pot to twist without collapsing. This wasn't exactly on purpose at first.  I really liked the look of that twist but I wasn't sure about the best glazes needed to accentuate it. Coyote shino breaks to rust quite reliably when applied thin, so that's what I used. A little Iron Saturate on the lip and in the upper part of the twist made it even darker and a bit rougher where the glaze ran. The black is C.W. Wolf Plum. How do you like the backdrop for this pot? I found some beautifully weathered barn boards that I thought would work for this purpose once I brushed off the old spider webs and spiders. The boards themselves have such a great look, I have to make sure they don't look better than my pottery.

Visual texture

I love a good spiral and evidently, I am not alone. That symbol/design has been around for a long time. I could write a long dissertation on "the spiral" used through the ages but I'm too lazy to make that happen, so back to my bowl. The interior of this bowl is smooth but by layering three different Coyote glazes, green matte, saturation iron and toshi brown, the result is very textured looking. I wasn't completely convinced that I liked it but seven out of eight chickens approve of this bowl, especially when it's full of corn mash. The eighth chicken was busy laying an egg. (Thank you Henney or Penny,... I can't tell them apart.) Our rooster, Rusty, is a real looker don't you think?  He's a Brown Speckled Sussex, for those chicken fans out there. Sunsets and pottery are so much easier to photograph than chickens. They never stop moving!

Had to share

 I thought I would  try to improve the television reception in my momcave. The majority of the time, I'd rather listen to television than watch it, unless of course the program is Downton Abbey, which then of course it has got my full attention while watching in HD on a large screen. A cup of tea, my feet up on the table, hold all calls and I'm a happy camper...if camping involves a couch! Anyway, the digital signal comes from one of those peaks across the valley and is free for the taking if you are in the correct location. You can check it out for your location:  www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps   I snaked a cable from the TV/converter box, (old tv for the momcave) up through the heating vent in the ceiling and upstairs through the vent on the floor, under the cabinet, under a curtain and along side the window to be taped with duct tape...very high tech don't you know! Well the sunset was so incredible, it caught my eye, I dropped everything and made a mad dash for my camera. We are getting more than our share of beautiful sunsets lately, so I had to share...straight from the sky, to my camera, to my computer....to you. FYI, no photoshop was employed in this photo. Thank you Mother Nature.

Bell Beaker

The top photo is from a book of ancient history. I thought it would be easy to copy something made with simple tools, such as bones, cording and sticks as were used to create the bell beakers of 2900 - 1800 B.C. But, as it turns out...not really. Thinking I would make quick work of it, I threw the piece on the wheel, but I didn't want throwing lines to show. So I had to "mess" with it quite awhile to make it look more free form. To make a diamond pattern and the incised lines, I created a stamp and a broad blade from sticks I whittled. The incised lines seem to be pressed in, not carved in as I first thought. As I looked closer at the original, I could see evidence of a repetitive pattern that one tool would make. The beaker potters must have been a patient people because it took what seemed like forever to stamp and incise a design around the entire pot that was only about 5 inches tall and come out even. To make my pot look like the red earthenware that the Beaker Folk potters used, I used various shades of dark slip to give it some age. I came away feeling as if I had a lesson from the ancient ones in replicating such a historic piece. Too bad I didn't have some mead to celebrate its completion.   

Double walled

I enjoy making double-walled pots and this is one of them. The challenge is allowing enough clay for each wall since I throw this as one piece. In this particular case, I came up short but that turned out to be a good thing. Where the the shino glaze meets the black glaze is where the outer wall meets the inner wall. Since I didn't have enough clay to go taller, I stopped right there. I like the resulting shape and the cut-outs make one wonder how it can still hold water.

Saturday sunset on Sunday

It's all about the lighting. Sometimes the sky's got it and sometimes...not. Lately, that sky has got it! This one reminds me of the black and white or sepia prints I made in college for the required photography class. Ahhh... the smell of developer. Those were the days.

Where did it go?

     

I am very pleased with the end results of this vase, except for....there is always an "except for" .... the medallion. Twice I glazed a little abstract floral design on that disc and twice it melted away. My conclusion is that the glaze I put down first is too runny/blending a glaze which did too good a job of running and blending! My solution is to make a separate disc or possibly a found decorative shape and apply on top of the disc. I'll see what I can come up with.

The sunsets I promised

Pottery and plumbing

I can't believe my last post was in August and here we are, getting to the end of September! I've been photographing plumbing, sunsets and believe it or not, some pots. I've actually been blogging in my head! But that doesn't do much good for you kind folk who check on me. So here goes the painful task of extracting those blogs that are buried in my brain. I wish I had a memory card I could remove from my eyebrow and insert it in my computer's card reader and BAM...blog...uploaded and posted!!! Am I lazy or what? Don't answer that. Boring stuff first. Why do I photograph plumbing; or more specifically, irrigation pipes? Well, when they split and leak (a geyser in this case), a photo can document the nest of irrigation pipes you come across when digging it all out. Could my husband have put any more clamps on that pipe? I try not to get involved in those projects. "I don't do irrigation pipes", I tell my husband but when it involves moving my prize perennial pink dianthus plant...I'm involved! The reason I tell you this is because it is also the reason I don't have as many new pots to post. Most of the summer was like this, so I am glad that the Autumnal Equinox, also known as Fall, is only two day away!

Now for pottery...The bean pot is a piece I made way back in 2009 when I was exploring styles of lids and copying Americana pots from a book on antiques just to learn how. I didn't know how to trim a foot rim, so I carved  flower petals around my stamp to remove excess clay. It sat around on my self until recently. My knowledge of glazes and glazing seriously lagged behind my throwing skills. Only now can I say that they are even. Except for a demo or two at the senior center, I am self taught. I've learned what I can, when I can, from where ever I can. And in my case, my source of learning was from the great and varied pottery videos of the wonderful potters that take time out to post on Youtube. Too many to list or remember but some are posted on my bloglist to the right.  Thanks for everything you Youtubers. (sounds like a root vegetable...lol) Tune in tomorrow for some dazzling Utah sunsets.

Ooops!

Somehow, this lidded jar managed to get itself into a bisque firing when it really needed to be glaze fired. Colors are interesting; almost similar to red earthenware but nothing like I had imagined. That lower firing for a cone5/6 glaze tends to mess with the original look I was after which would have given me more glaze interaction and dripping with creams and blues. 

Here is the re-fired results. I did add more glaze to it before the re-fire. The very glossy black with just a touch of rim color is a very attractive look. All new pieces sit on my coffee table in the living room for awhile. This helps me evaluate it and learn from it. Every pot is a lesson. This pot makes me notice all the blacks and dark browns in the room and instead of blending in, it stands out. A little bit of a lesson in decorating too.

Pot belly pot

When I brought this bisque-fired lidded pot to my pottery workshop to glaze, a very nice lady, whose work I admire, said, "Can you make the handles any smaller?" I laughed and said, "No, I tried, but I couldn't!" There is something about a large pot with a nice "pot" belly with the littlest handles  adorning its sides. Like a pair of ears, it gives it a little character, almost a personality.  Being that  pots are described as having a foot, shoulders, necks, lips,...why not ears! My husband liked the pot but thought that the handles were useless and hence, pointless. The pot and I beg to differ. "The better to hear you with my dear!", replied the lidded pot. Maybe I've been in the"momcave" too long. Have a good weekend.

Rough stuff and glistening glass

I used my nutmeg glaze on this mug. Love the color, not the finish. The exterior was very rough as if the glaze had not matured. It is a matte glaze, and I think more for cone 6 than 5/6 or possibly it wasn't a thick enough coat of glaze. On a vase, the rough exterior could be an advantage giving it a rustic look but for a mug?...not very pleasant to hold. Still working on that, but I did re-fire it with another coat of a creamy satin finish glaze which, as I had hoped, smoothed it out.

The color is a little lighter than I personally like, but it was not made for me. I sometimes forget that a piece of pottery that may be a disappointment in my eyes, may be a picture of perfection for someone else. Note to self: it's not all about me!

And here is a little dish that was fired with a cream glaze with glass on the bottom. The glass looks dark in regular light, but in the sunlight it glistens with a nice depth. Dark and light green glass pieces were used. The lighter colored glass, I'm finding, is the most attractive especially when it is not in the sunlight. I've been saving a few clear glass jars that I will take a hammer to. I'd like to see what clear glass will do over a glaze or colored slip. Lately, I'm feeling a bit unfocused since there are so many different techniques to try. If I put 10 pieces of pottery on a shelf, it looks like 10 different people made them. Not good if I want to create a cohesive look to my work, but since I never studied pottery/ceramic arts in a formal setting, this exploration may be necessary to achieve that. Maybe "Cohesive" work comes later.

Medium cork

I have had this lidded pot sitting on my coffee table for about two weeks now. I am not wowed by it so I wonder, as I eat a bowl of cereal while watching television, whether I should do something else to it. The glaze has a pleasant satin surface with subtle mottling and being that it has a lid, could be quite useful for someone. It would probably compliment a home's decor nicely as it might sit on someone else's coffee table someday. When I get a chance,which I hope is sooner than later because I am in deep need of some really intense air-conditioning for a few hours, I like to go to the library and peruse through some decorator magazines looking for pottery. Mostly, they aren't featured, but are a complimentary piece of a room's total look. Like links in a bracelet, it pulls things together but is hardly noticed by the casual looker. It seems to me that this is one of those pots. I believe I have answered my own question. It is a done deal.

Time to make some egg cups

My husband found our first, though small, egg from one of our chickens. A day, anyone who has raised chicks into full grown chickens, eagerly awaits. I remember the day when "the incredible edible egg" was good for you. Then, later, it was reported to be bad for you ... something about cholesterol. Then, they were good for you again ... something about omega 3. I like eggs, more so now than when I was younger, so I am looking forward to many more eggs from our variety pack of chickens...2 Rhode Island Reds, 2 Barred Rocks, 2 Americanas, and 2 Brown Speckled Sussexs, one of which turned into a rooster! So, naturally I thought I should make a set of egg cups. That got me to thinking back to about 30 years ago, (that sounds so old) when traveling in the Alsace region of France (that sounds so rich), I bought several slipware decorated stoneware egg cups. Before I even knew what stoneware or slipware or for that matter, an egg cup was, I just knew I wanted to take them home. Like most souvenirs, I briefly used them before making room for them in my china cabinet. Wasn't much of an egg eater back then but they made great souvenirs, evoking great memories of that trip. Now I look at them with a different set of eyes, wondering how they were thrown and fired and turning them upside down looking at the color of the bare clay bottom and the absence of a foot ring. These will go back in the china cabinet soon, but the ones I make will be for the new eggs. They say not to count your chickens...etc but I haven't heard anything about not counting on eggs.

Critter and ferns

Took a ride to Little Cottonwood Canyon to see if there was any relief to be had from the heat. It was a little cooler in the mountains but not as much as I had hoped. This little critter was peaking out of his burrow right off the parking lot to the trail head. Looking for snacks I imagine.

I've started collecting fern leaves for use as a resist for pottery again. Since it is so easy to google a plumber or a business phone number, lets say, this is the only reason I keep phone books around these days. .

Back at it

A few pieces to get started after being away.

I have been slow to get back into blogging since I've returned from my travels but I'm finally back at it. My plan to share some of my photos is delayed due to the lack of a "back-up" plan. About 2 years ago, when my computer's hard drive suddenly failed, there was good news and bad news. The bad news was that I lost about 100 photos :<  The good news was that about 2000 photos that I also lost on that computer were backed up on another hard drive. That was a close one! So before I upload, I need to immediately back them up. I don't have a good procedure for that though. Is a thumb drive a good enough back-up? Photos are coming, but so is Christmas. Just kidding. It shouldn't take that long! (With this heat wave and fire danger, winter is sounding real good right now.)

Alpine, Utah fire. Winter can't come soon enough for me.

Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC

Look at the size of this ancient urn. It's well over 6 feet tall and with such a narrow base in relation to the height and width!

Glass bottom bowl

The glass was blistery in the bisque firing but evened out in the ^5 glaze firing. The dark glass I used is not as successful as the lighter colors which show more pronounced crackling. A friend of mine had used  blue glass shards from a vodka bottle in her pottery bowl and it melted into a beautiful cobalt blue pool that was more translucent. Got to get me some of that glass for next time round.