This is what I was up to on the weekend. I have begun working on my submissions for the AB in a Box show and so far, this is what I came up with.
This first pic shows the piece just after I threw it.

The next couple of pics show 2 different bowls that have been carved. I will go back and refine them with a green scrubby to remove any rough spots and blend in the carving marks.

The Weather Outside is Frightful...

Well, maybe not frightful, but it is a bit chilly (-13 C with light snow). I was walking the pooper again last night, and we walked and walked until my fingers were about frozen off. Then this morning, she decided that she wanted to go for a long walk. I said NO to that idea. My hair was still wet or rather frozen, and I was not having any of that foolishness, plus I had to go to work, and if I am not out that door by 7:30, then I am late. It doesn't matter what rout I take, it is always the slowest one. It's like picking which line up to get into at the grocery store. You could pick the shortest one there, but then it will screech to a halt as the cashier needs a price check and the 15 yr old kid that comes to see what they need a price on doesn't know where to look and so it goes...the long line up has put twice as many people through as the line you are now in, but you dare not move, 'cause as soon as you do, the line you were just in will fly on through and the one you moved to will stop. My fingers are itchin to get back at some serious studio time. I will probably be in the studio on Christmas eve, Boxing day, and then every day after that right up to and including Jan 3^rd. I think I am going to need to get some clay though. I'm thinking 200lbs or so should just about cover my needs, maybe 250.

Did you just take what I thought I saw you take?

I was teaching my usual class last night, and the class was moving along and one student was perusing the ware shelves looking for their recently glazed pieces.  They picked up a small cup that out of the corner of my eye, looked suspiciously like one of my glaze samples. As I am not one to jump to conclusions, I try not to jump into accusation mode right away. I tend to suffer from the dreaded foot in mouth disease, so I keep said mouth shut when I feel an attack coming on. Admittedly, I had left it on the shelf for quite a while, as I didn't like the result, and was never going to sell/use it as a functional cup, and I had not signed it, it’s a test. I didn’t think anything of it, but by the end of class, after everyone had pretty much left, I remembered what I thought I had seen, and went to investigate. I was right, that test bowl was gone. So...why would you take something that clearly is not yours? I don’t mind that this student took it, but I do mind that this student (avoiding gender here so as not to single them out, just in case I am wrong) did not ask.
The funny thing is that the glaze was way too dry and rough feeling and was not pleasant to hold. It had a somewhat appealing colour (straw yellow?) but that was it’s only redeeming quality.

Plus, if you are going to steal something, why not go for the good stuff? That reminds me of when I used to work for a little liquor store about 14 years ago. It was attached to the restaurant right beside it (same owners) and I ate way too many french fries and chicken fingers that summer. Anyway, I came to work one day and the boss was telling me about how the liquor store had been robbed over night. Whoever it was broke into the store, looked for the safe, decided that a safe that was concreted into the floor was probably not the easiest thing to take and proceeded to steal liquor and beer. Here’s the funny bit....they stole all the cheap liquor....Grant’s Scotch Whiskey and the really cheap vodka that comes in a large plastic bottle, not the Glenlivet, or Glenfiddich (one shelf up dummies) or the good vodka, and then, they stole beer, but again, bypassed the micro brew stuff and went for Labbatt Black Label and Lucky Lager Strong. I learned a lot that summer working at the liquor store. Lesson numero uno....never become a regular at a liquor store, and the other lesson....don’t spray beer in the eye, it stings, a lot. Oh ya, one other lesson learned, when you come weaving your way into the store and buy 2 mickeys of vodka, it doesn't mean that you are not an alcoholic because you didn't by the 26er. That is like saying I'm only going to drink half now and half later....when I wake up and peel my face off the toilet seat. I could expound more on the joys of plying liquor as a trade, but it really never got much better than that. My sister is a bar tender at one of the best pubs in town, and I am sure that she has way better stories to tell.

dog crack

I mentioned before that I am dog sitting for the next little bit while my parents are in Toronto. Well, this is the pooper. Here she is sniffing every molecule in and around that lamp post,

This is Ginger eating a cookie, cause she ate all her crack

And this is the Crack! Dehydrated Duck breast. She would do anything for this stuff.

My 1st Etsy purchase....

...And Ron Philbeck's 100th sale. I did some last minut online Christmas shopping yesterday and this morning I discovered that it was a milestone transaction for Ron. I can't say anymore as my family reads this blog and I don't want them to see what they are getting for Christmas (unless I just love them so much I need to keep them for myself!)

Whew!

I found my legs! I have installed my whisper in the studio to replace the wheel we were using that had a mysterious palsy when on the slowest speeds. I didn’t know how much I missed my whisper until I used it yesterday. Not a sound, not a shake, just pure throwing bliss.

I didn’t get much thrown, just a large plate and a few mugs and then I had to go make sure that Ginger had not peed on the carpet while I was gone.

I can't find my legs!

Sounds pretty serious! I have been storing my Shimpo VL Whisper in my parent’s garage for the last few years (tiny condo does not = pottery studio). Anyway, I am going to take it over to the studio so that it can get some use, and so that those of us who demonstrate are not trying to do it on a spastic wheel. The wheel we are using now starts shuddering at slow speeds (not sure how to describe it). It is as if the belt is slipping, but it isn’t. Anyway, it makes us raise at relatively unsafe speeds and things can tend to go awry if you are not dead centered the whole time.

So the wheel is in their garage, but I can’t seem to find the legs. I kept them in a tool box that was just the right size for them, along with the t wrench for removing the wheel head and the Allen key for attaching the legs. So, long story short, I can’t find my legs!

Good News and some random micro/macro economic ramblings etc

I have just been in contact with a potential new gallery to show/sell my work. I won’t divulge too many details until I have it all worked out, but they want to buy them outright instead of on consignment which is how the other two galleries I am in operate. They will take a few pieces at a time and order more as needed, so hopefully this works out. The only minor glitch is that they are located in the Crowsnest Pass (about an hour and a half drive South from Calgary). As I work during the week, delivery on a week day is impossible. I could ship all the orders, but that eats into my profits. They do drive to Calgary every so often and could pick up, and that would be a good option. If they take delivery on a weekend (Saturday), then I would not mind driving it down myself. I love the drive down the 22. If this works out then I will have been accepted into my 3^rd gallery without having to really work for it. So far it has been via introductions from 3^rd parties. Galleria took me on when my teacher recommended me and Centennial invited me to join after I took part in a group show there (I was invited into the show by a friend who is a member). This time I was introduced to the gallery via one of Dave’s students that no longer attends Fairview, but she works in the Crowsnest and joined the Pass pottery club down there for convenience. She thought of me when her friend who owns this gallery approached her about new potters to get into their shop. I like not having to work too hard to get representation. One of my biggest faults is that I do NOT like to toot my own horn, and as a result, have never approached a gallery cold. It could also be that I am too busy (lazy? scared of rejection?) to do the legwork...

Anyway, on a somewhat related tangent, it has become apparent that pottery sales, at least as far as craft sales go, have been fantastic this year. Not only did Fairview Studios break a sales record this year, apparently so did the Northmount Pleasant sale and many of the potters that get supplies at CC were saying that the large shows they have been in have been fantastic as well. So...my hope is that this demand for handmade pottery will trickle down to the galleries. I have to say that for the past few years, I have not relied on galleries for any sort of reliable source of money. Perhaps the pendulum is swinging back towards the handmade side of things and people are starting to realize that just because it is cheap doesn’t mean it’s a good deal. I think that consumers these days are very conscious of where their money is going, who is reaping the benefits, was it ethically manufactured, safety etc. It seems these days that every time you turn around there is another story in the news about toxic/tainted food, manufacturer recalls, lead in your plastic toys, mercury in your fish etc...Also, if you buy the cheap mass produced product from an overseas company, your money goes over seas too...and eventually we are out of a job. Not that if all potters in N.America went out of business the economy would collapse, but it would be a very sad day indeed. Not to mention that when we make money, that money is then spent in the community (for the most part anyway). So, I am hoping that this buying handmade is a trend, and not an outlying blip.

On a less boring and slightly humorous note...I got an e-mail from one of my Mum’s friend’s that reads this blog (one of the few that do I am sure). She had read my blog about perhaps getting an Etsy store up and running and she wanted to warn me to not get my stuff posted on regretsy.com I had never heard of this before and it is hilarious. So, if you have a warped sense of taste, check it out. I guess it is mostly stuff that people have purchased from Etsy, but this stuff falls into the realm of failed crafts.

out of the kiln

Emptied the glaze load last night, and for the most part I was happy. All of the pitchers and utensil holders that I had on order were all successful. No glaze drips, crawling, pinholes, spalling, cracks. I had some issues with a new glaze I am testing out. It is a commercial stoneware glaze that Ceramics Canada brings in. It comes in a 5lb bag and all you have to do is add water and stir, sounds easy. Well, for the most part yes, but as with any commercial glaze, you never know what you are going to get, as their test tiles in the store usually don’t look anything like what it does on an actual piece. I have  discovered that this cinnabar needs to be on really thick to get a nice rich red, instead of a thin ketchup look. Ketchup is nice in your burger, but not on your teapot. So, I will have to fire that one again to get it to look a little less like ketchup. I pulled a total rookie move too. Apparently I should not be allowed to glaze when tired or rushed. I had a tall canister in there that looked like it fired pretty well, but the lid was stuck. I usually just have to give it a tap and Bob’s your uncle. This time, no such luck. I peered in the space betwixt the lid and the rim, and I could see the faint glimmer of a bit of glaze in there. How the heck did that happen, I always clean that area really well after glazing to avoid just this problem. So, knowing it was a lost cause, I stuck a slot head screwdriver in there and popped the lid off (and part of the rim). What did I see? I had totally forgotten to wipe this lid clean. I must have put it on the jar and said “I’ll get to that in a moment” and then promptly forgot and loaded it that way. What a moron. Oh well, such is life. I didn’t really like the glaze that much anyway.

Here are some pics of some of what came out of the kiln.

Just some pitchers all lined up

Tea pot using Kanthal wire as my knob (not sure I like it, but I have never done that before, so what they hey) I might try using a thinner gague high temp wire next time.

Here's the ketchup teapot. Looks ok from this angle, but the glaze on the lid is a little thin, and you can see that same thin looking glaze on the top side of the spout.

Hand built butter dish

Cider jug with stopper. Although, I am sure you could put other potent potables in there too.

Where did the weekend go?

I got the bisque loaded on Friday night. I worked at CC on Saturday but went into the studio for a bit to trim some pots and attach handles to a couple of teapots etc. I spent the day on Sunday glazing pots and loading them in the kiln.  I went to my parent’s house for dinner (roast beef, boiled baby potatoes, carrots, green beans, pickled beets. Then I got schooled on how to make the dogs dinner, what pills and powders and drops she gets and how often, etc. I begin dog sitting on Wednesday, and I have a ton of stuff to do between now and then. I think I might skip Jazzercise tonight. I need to find a Christmas ornament for my gift exchange at CC, I have to buy some food for the pot luck at work tomorrow and I need to pack my clothes and other essential for my dog sitting stint. I am teaching on Tuesday night, and will not have time to do it tomorrow.

 

Further adventures in dreamland

I got my new computer home last night, and I love it. It is much more functional than my 17 inch paper weight. The screen is fantastic, and everything is so crisp and clean. Now the transfer begins. It’s going to be a bear though. My pc laptop has power cord issues, so I have to use battery power. I use an old laptop that has screen issues to charge a spare battery while I am using the laptop with power cord issues. I only get about 1.5 hours of working time per charge, and then it is less if I am doing things like copying files, burning cd's, etc...so, I see a lot of hair pulling in my future as I attempt to get all my files off of it and onto my new one, especially the media files like pictures, and music.

Didn’t say too much in my dreams last night, I saved up 1 sentence for the very end around 6am, and again, I have no recollection of the dream but here’s a transcript...”I’m not sure what the hourly rate is...I’m not going down to that...thing....jfkldaj” Not too sure what that was about...

It was obviously somewhere I really did not want to go, and I said “thing” with a bit of derision in my voice, like it was totally beneath me, and why would I ever go there. I find it funny that even in my sleep, I sound totally coherent. I sound as if I am completely aware of what I am saying.

Loading bisque load tonight. I am not sure if I have a full load, but I need to fire this weekend regardless, as I need to load a glaze on Sunday if I am going to get my orders out in time.

This is the sky last night as I was driving home

Guess what!!!

I am writing this post from my new puter...now I just gotta stop with all the PC habits. I think I am going to need a right click mouse though.d

Christmas crunch and other stuff

I had something really super intelligent to say today. At least that is what I thought when I went to sleep last night. However, it appears to have leaked out of my brain while I was sleeping. I’m still using the sleep tracker app on my iphone in an attempt to record my dreams. Apparently we won 831 to 2. I’m not sure what we were playing, but man did we cream the other guys.

I will be loading a bisque tomorrow evening, as I need to get some orders finished before Christmas and this will be my last opportunity to get everything done in time.  I will be dog/house sitting for my parents while they go off to the Centre of the Universe (Toronto) next week, and I am foreseeing that I will not be able to get much studio time in there. Ginger is a 14 yr old German shepherd cross (what she was crossed with, we are not sure, perhaps a pig). She came from ARF (Animal Rescue Foundation), and so her pedigree is a bit uncertain. Anyway, as you can imagine, she is old, somewhat blind, mostly deaf, and very arthritic. She does still think she is a puppy though. She has Cushings disease and is prone to incontinence. Oh yeah, she is on heart medication for this disease that is a diuretic. I am imagining a lot of carpet cleaning in my future, especially because I work days and will have to pee her early in the morning when I wake up, then again before I leave, and then I will have to rush home to pee her at lunch, and then again when I get home, and then again after dinner and then again before bed, and then again just before bed, and I am sure again in the middle of the night. But I love her, and what can you do?

And look what just came!!!

random blather

I’m must be gettin old. I missed 5 weeks of my exercise class that I go to on Monday nights. I was teaching at the studio for several weeks, then it was my Dad’s 67^th birthday, and I couldn’t miss that. Then, it got so bleeding cold here, the last thing I wanted to do was slip and slide my way to class to get all sweaty and then go back into the cold and have my sweaty hair freeze. Anyway, I went to class last night and then went to bed early (is 8 hours and 53 minutes of sleep too long?). Today, my back is killing me, my left ankle and foot hurt and I have to go teach a pottery class tonight. Wow, I sound crabby, I’m not, I’m just sayin, getting old sucks! I’m not even that old, but I sure feel every one of my 39.5 years today.

There is a pretty strong Chinook arch today, so the weather should be mild (0 Celsius?)...much better than the -29 Celsius last week (It makes you feel like wearing shorts when the temp rises 30 degrees over night) but the Chinook related headaches are a pain. I never used to get them, but I started getting them last year and now I know what everyone else complains about.

The mountains are very clear today, they are right there, in your face and bright and toothy.

Not sure what I am going to demo tonight. Lately I have been making a mess of my demos instead of inspiring creativity. My bowls have flopped, my facets have ripped open, the elongated platters rip in half as I am “dramatically” stretching them out on the canvas table, and my slip trailer develops a case of gas and barfs slip all over the freshly decorated plate (at the very end of course so that I have to try and scrape it all off or just try to blend the burp into the overall pattern). Maybe I will stick with what I do best (bowls), how boring....I need to replenish my stock of everything, so perhaps it will be casseroles tonight, or pitchers with fancy rims....who knows, I will find out when I get there. I need to buy some clay too, so first thing after work I will be off to CC and pick a box or 2 up.

On a non clay note, my computer should be here in 3 days (Yippee!!!). Can’t wait!!!

I have been reading a few discussions in the blogosphere regarding the pro’s/con’s of selling via Etsy. I posted a while back that I was thinking of starting up an Etsy account, but the master procrastinator that I am, I never got around to it. Now that I will have some enhanced technology, and if I can get around to setting up a mini photography studio in my condo, I might give it a try. I will take all the sage advice that is being offered on this topic and hopefully put it to good use when I get my shop up an runnin. I really need to get some proper shelving in my “store room” at home. Right now it is a disaster zone with pots all over the floor amidst wrapping paper, painting supplies, an easel with an UGLY painting on it, and other sundry crap.

Enough rambling and babbling,

TTFN (What?, Did I just say that?)

Maybe I should say something like:

Make pots purposefully and make purposeful pots.

Nah, how about:

Go get dirty...

kinda funny and not pottery related at all

I downloaded an app onto my iphone the other day called “Sleep Tracker”. The idea is that when you plug your phone in and lay it beside you on your bed at night, it will monitor your movements (thrashing/flailing) at night and listen to the sounds that disturb you (ie: babbling, snoring, burglers, aliens etc...). Then, when you wake up, you can look at your sleep patterns in a graphical format and actually listen to what noises woke you up, or that you made. I turned it on Saturday night and this is a transcript of my night....snoring, snoring, snoring (I have to admit it, I do snore...a little), rustle rustle, mumble mumble mumble....”fhaoptjgksau everywhere....They’re Everywhere” (I sounded a little scared there) “ha ha ha ha” (couldn’t have been that scary ‘cause I laughed right afterwards)...got a little boring for a while, just deep sleep, and then....”hpepjaehse epilepsy and stuff”.....(WEIRD)

I thought this would be a neat little app. I know I talk in my sleep, & I have actually woken myself up in full conversation. I have not been remembering my dreams lately either. Sometimes my dreams are quite vivid and I will remember them clearly the next day, but not so much now. I thought this would jog my memory if I could listen to what I say at night. So far, not so much, but it was funny to listen to. I also thought I might be able to figure out why I wake up in a twisted knot of sheets and covers. I must wrap them around me really tight and then roll over and over and over until they are a hopelessly twisted mess....no clue yet as to how that happens.

pots in progress

Except for those pitchers, it has been a while since I have posted any pictures. This is some of what I have been up to lately

This is one of the 4 large plates I threw this weekend with a lot of slipped dots etc. This was the 2nd reincarnation of this pattern as the first time was obliterated by the plastic when I was loosely draping it. After I got the slip on again, I concocted an elaborate tent for it to rest under over night.

This is a funky little butter dish I was working on last week

A tea pot from last week as well

A vase from last week too

A funky tray

More teapots in progress. I trimmed and assembled these on Sunday, and then I threw a couple more.

Christmas is coming early!

I bought it this morning! I should have it in my hot little hands sometime between Nov 30 and Dec 6.

What did I buy you ask? I bought a MacBook Pro!

I am very excited!! Can you tell?

So close I can taste it....

Tomorrow is the big day. I am going to buy my computer. I actually don’t know how much it is going to cost right now. I knew, but now I don’t. Apple only has one sale a year, and that is the day after the American Thanks Giving holiday (aka black Friday). I am not expecting anything crazy like half off, but a couple hundred off would be nice. Then...I wait. I’m waiting now, but it’s gonna get worse once the deed is done and I have to wait for the UPS guy to show up next week (?). I am having it delivered to my workplace and then I’m gonna have to wait again to get it home to open it up and start playing with it. It’s gonna be better than christmas and all my birthdays rolled up into one.

This is what I’m proposin to get, they all look the same though, but this one is the 13” macbook pro

This past weekend

Well, I am back from a few days off. I went up to my old place of employment on Thursday to flog some of my wares. I managed to sell most of what was rolling around in the back of my car (you never know when an impromptu pottery sale might break out). Friday was spent in the studio throwing several pitchers and utensil holders, as apparently that is what my old co-workers wanted, and I only had 2 when I went up there, so they want at least 4 pitchers and one wants a good pot to hold wooden spoons. I went to the Telus Art Market on Saturday after work at Ceramics Canada. I go to see what the other potters are up to, and to hopefully glean new ideas. I gotta say, not impressed. There were a lot of jewelry booths (I think there are little children chained up in basements all year stringing beads), foodie booths full of candy, fudge, tapinad mixes, hot sauce sellers, wine stopper makers, cedar planks all dressed up to grill fish on etc, but only 4 or 5 pottery booths. I have seen most of them before, and their booths were tiny and uninspiring (to me anyway).
I then spent Sunday in the studio from 10-3:30 and then went over to my parent's house for an excellent roast beef dins with all the fixins (yams, yorkshire pud, roast potatoe, salad etc). I spent 90% of Monday under the covers. It was so bleedin cold out that I only ventured out to go get some groceries, and then burrowed into my cocoon again as soon as I got home. I must have been either a bear or a caterpillar in a previous life as I did a lot of hibernating and cocoon making.
This is a picture of some of what I threw on Friday and then trimmed on Sunday.

These jugs all have handles now and are patiently drying.

YUCK!!!

I guess winter is here...This is what it looks like from the window at work.
I took this with my phone, so I can only assume that is why it is a little purple. It is actually quite white out there....and cold. It is apparently -13 degrees celcius, but with the wind chill it feels like -20 or so I think.