Catching up

The Fairview Studios Spring Pottery sale is over for another year and it looks like we may be in for a change of venue for the next fall sale, so stay tuned for more info to come shortly. Anyway, now that the craziness of the sale is over, I can concentrate on pots. As you can see, I have been up to a whole lot of carving and scratching, and there is more than what you see here. I have even been messing around with slip inlay, or mishima as well as making a whole load of large bowls and platters. Finally, mug handles. They have always been the bane of my existence. I used to hate making them, but not so much now. I am however, always on the search for that "perfect" handle. I think I like these ones. they are substantial, you can't mistake them for anything else. I think Mick Casson said something about how your handles should always make themselves known. That they shouldn't be an afterthought. I agree that wimpy handles that just hang onto the pot like a piece of lint are horrible. Handles should be HANDLES and as that is probably the area that most hands will touch and feel, a well made handle is almost priceless. I love a pulled handle the best, to me they feel like they belong in the hand. Sharp edges are not my thing, thin strappy handles are not my thing, but a lovely pulled handle is something else. I could hold a mug and stroke the handle all day long until I could identify it blindfolded.

A weekends worth of work and other stuff

I was at the studio on Friday night for 4 hours or so. I trimmed and attached handles to a bunch of serving/baking dishes as well as carved this somewhat creepy looking "man in the moon" platter.

I took the day off on Saturday, but was back in the studio on Sunday for 8 hours where I threw 15 mugs and then spent the day carving bowls and plates
 

Here is a plate and a bowl before, during and after carving

Whittling down my list of things to make

I spent the day in the studio on Sunday from 9am to 4pm and as you can see, it was a day spent assembling teapots and throwing cups, bowls, pitchers and platters. I also managed to get 3 other large platters trimmed. Because these platters are in the 16 - 18 inch range in diameter, I decided to punch holes in the foot ring to allow for a cord or wire loop to be added to allow the eventual owner to hang on their wall as ART as well as being a functional piece. Saturday was spent working at Ceramics Canada and I picked up 3 boxes of polar ice porcelain and a 44lb bag of Plainsman stoneware clear base. This is a new glaze product that Plainsman has developed and it is absolutely crystal clear. It works amazingly on the new polar ice body and it accepts mason stains really nice and will allow for a huge range of colours that I have not been able to use, until now. I am thinking tangerine, bright yellow, turquoise, red, purple, and then various concentrations of each one so that I have a nice range to choose from. The clear we have in the studio is a bit yellow, which is OK if you are only using stoneware bodies, but on a truly white porcelain, you don't want that, so I bit the bullet and will use Plainsman's clear base instead.
I am well on my way to my goal of 1200 pots before November this year. Since Dec 26, I have 105 pots thrown and in various stages of completion. That works out to 8.75 % of my goal.
I managed to pull a muscle in my back on the weekend, so I hope it resolves itself  before next weekend so I can plow ahead and maybe get 12 - 15 % of my goal achieved. If I can hit that 25% mark by the end of February, then it should be "easy" sailing from here on out. The true test will be in the glazing of course. This is the last stage where disaster can strike (unless you count packing breakage), so I am trying to count as few chickens as possible until they all hatch. It seems that I am focusing on those easy to knock out forms, like cups and bowls, but I know there are time sucking forms that I need to get making more of, like casseroles, more teapots, creamers and sugars (that match), etc that involve throwing multiple pots to make one pot (like the lids and spouts etc). Don't even get me started on handles, they are simple to make, but again, a time sucker when it comes to attaching them. 

Reminder - Fairview Studios Spring Pottery Sale - May 31st, 2014

I just wanted to send out a reminder that the much anticipated Fairview Studios Spring Pottery sale is on May 31st this year. If you have never attended one of our sales, you should come and check it out.
The atmosphere at the spring sale is pretty laid back (in stark contrast to the organized chaos of our Christmas sale). There will be coffee and snacks for you to enjoy while you peruse the selection of pottery. We will also be drawing for 2 door prizes (gift certificates towards your next purchase)
So if you are looking for that one of a kind wedding or shower gift or just a little something for yourself like a fantastic teapot or a large coffee mug, you really should come by and have a look.

No entry fee, no pressure, just pots, lots and lots of pots.

Getting stuff done

I was teaching class last night and had a couple of new students to indoctrinate. I could see the fire in their eyes. They really, really wanted to make stuff. By the end of class, I don't think the fire had been extinguished, just smoored. There was the inevitable struggle as they tried to do battle with the clay instead of working with it, but first night was fairly successfull. They both made a few pots, and that is the only goal on night one. Make at least one pot that you will be able to trim next week. That's it, the rest is all play/mud wrestle etc. Here are some pictures of a few pots from the glaze load I fired on Sunday, as well as 2 of the very wide platters I made on the weekend that I trimmed and then slathered with underglaze and then attacked with a rubber tipped clean up tool.

It's that time of year again. The spring pottery sale is set for May 31st this year. As per usual, I don't think I have enough stuff, but as per usual, I will probably have way more than I anticipated. The email notices will go out at the end of April, so don't worry if you have not gotten your notice, it is coming...

Astronomical anomolies and fresh pots

What is that glowing orb in the sky? If my memory serves me correctly, I dimly recall seeing something like that back in October last year. I think it is called "the sun". It came out yesterday, but it was April 1st, so I thought it might be a joke, I guess not. I unloaded a glaze last night and was reasonably happy with the results. There was a very nice platter that I really liked at first glance, but when I flipped it over, a fairly big chunk of the foot was missing. Nothing to make it non functional, but it is now a second.

Here is the plate that became a second

This large plate is OK, but I had put some wax resist on it in a nice geometric design, but the glaze I sprayed over the top did not really create a nice contrast as seen in the one above...

This is a really nice plate, no issues, just perfect

I made this teapot to order, hopefully he likes it

I must have had birds on the brain, don't look if the Hitchcock movie "The Birds" freaked you out...

This is an example of the new "purple rain" glaze. I dipped it once, and then did a double dip on the rim that came down about 1 inch from the top. As you can see, that second dip sure did move.I especially like the pale iridescent blue halo that forms on the leading edge of the 2nd layer as it moves down. Must be all that rutile...I think I have at least a dozen or so of these.

All the little plates

These are all the little square plates I have been making and experimenting with the shellac resist and terra sig. There were a few fuggly ones in there, but a few really nice ones too.

Here are 6 that I really like:

Has a Tim Burton vibe I think

Love it

Love it

The octopus plate was sold pretty much the second it came out of the kiln, so this is probably the only pic I will have of it. I will have to do more mollusks....

Here are a few other things that I have had on the go for a while and are now ready for the bisque:

I was going a bit dotty by the end of this one

same with this one...

I was working on this bowl while listening to a CBC show that was talking about Glen Gould. While I was shellacking the pattern, they were playing one of his quicker pieces and I think I was flying along with Gould at the same time. The person doing the show said he thought that Gould had "left the stratosphere".

The last few days

I have actually been a bit more productive lately. I guess with the heat starting to become more bearable and less humidity in the air I have more energy. I was able to load a bisque on Friday night, in anticipation of being able to fire a glaze load this week, but the last element in the kiln that had not been replaced yet, finally shuffled off it's mortal coil (pun intended) last week, the element is on order, but did not arrive on Friday, so hopefully tomorrow (fingers crossed). I also threw a bunch of the square plates, and trimmed them up. They have all had the slip/shellac treatment and are now drying under wraps. There were a couple squared off teapots. They are actually quite round, but the bottom comes out quite square and then I cut out feet at each corner. I should record the process and post it one of these days. I also took a few pictures, and will take more, of finished work and posted to Etsy (see last post). I updated my facebook account finally. I think I was the last person in the FB universe to update the new (to me) settings. It seems I am an antisocial networker.

I glazed the fire bowl and am again, just waiting for the element so that I can fire it. My fingers are really crossed with this one as there are a few things that could go wrong, and as it is a custom piece, it is marked for death by that fact alone. I just have to take deep breaths and pray to the kiln gods. I should have made 2 to be on the safe side, but I did not.

Here are a few pics of some of the pots that went into the bisque, including some of the square shellacked plates with various designs. I am especially fond of the leaf pattern and have begun working more along that line. It takes way less time to do than the trees, as the spirals take a really steady hand and a lot of patience. I also like the 1 big spirally thing with the stripes running behind it. It kind of reminds me of a seedling just poking it's head out of the ground. Apparently I am thinking of all things natural and organic when I am doing these. I don't really start with anything particular in mind, but I always seem to end up with these kinds of designs.

New Pots on Etsy

I finally got around to posting a few new pots on Etsy. Just 4, but better than nothing. Here are a few images.