and Greenware

All we need is one bisque of filler and crown pots and we will be set for a firing in the small gas kiln.
Since it is a wee-little one we hope to get it glazed and loaded before the end of the week.
Sooner would be great , but I took an order for 15 tiles and they need to be finished before the end of next month.
We started those by rolling 1/2 of them on Saturday and then the carving started yesterday- I have 8- well that's one extra than 1/2 but who's counting-----they are now wrapped for slow drying.
The plan is to roll more tomorrow while the bisque is firing.
Then we are going to carve and glaze.
Just because we are gluttons.
Last night we worked late.
Then today I was out working at 7 am.
So now I am doing nothing..

Fun pots for the next firing

cookie or dog biscuits would work well in these.

yummy pots for the firing...tasty!

Might just treat myself to a bit of blog reading before I fix dinner. I will think of you all while I eat a bowl of green beans fresh from the garden.

Green

This spring I planted the parsley over by the studio instead if near the house. I was worried that it would not be discovered by my green friends who eat it up and then spin themselves into a cocoon and come out as butterflies.
I like parsley well enough but I like butterflies better.
Next year I may even plant more.

There were at least 9 on the plant and they pretty much ate it all in 3 days.
Well, 3 days that I know of. It was interested to see them get bigger and bigger and bigger. Today I am going to see if they are still there and if there is any spinning going on.

and finally- after waiting, watching and cussing, giving up and deciding to just tear all the plants out -green beans and they are so tasty!
A treat for late summer

Now off to see how the family is in Virginia.
Mark looked at pictures this morning of a man near downtown walking in waist deep water. Which is the area my mother lives in.
Fingers crossed.
M

POTTERY

Poetic Objects taken through earth revealed(through) you 

Poetic Objects transformed through earth revealed(by) you.

 

I am playing with some word play and just running this through my head.

Any thoughts of your own out there.

How about Clay or earthenware?

This is just a form of distraction as I try not to worry about my family and friends in Va. and up the East Coast.

I grew up in Norfolk Va. so hurricanes have come and gone in my life. I remember one year my parents must have been getting ready for one and there was so much chatter and excitement that  I thought it was going to be great. I tried so hard to stay awake so I could watch this hurricane roll in.  But being about 6 I feel asleep. I jumped to the window to look out at daybreak expecting who knows what only to watch as a lone trash can lid and some leaves rolled through the front yard.

Is that it I thought.

flood and all ?
Where is the whipping rain and torrential rain,

Now that I am not 6 this is what I hope as Irene passes through- just a lone trash can lid and no mess.

Good night Irene, Good night.

It's just me- no alarms going off

You would have to be living in a cave not to know we have some shaking going on over here on the east coast yesterday.
I had just stepped into our wee gallery when I heard a deep rumble like a big truck riding up the drive. I stepped out the door and knew there was no truck, stepped back in the door just in time to feel the shaking and have all the pots just rattled a bit and then it was gone. It was so quick you could think it was all  my imagination,
But nope- my first wee earthquake.
And it had nothing to do with the off kilter of these photo's- that would just be me...
The big bottle on the right is packed to ship;a good choice going to a good home.

Mark made a nice jug for this kiln load- nice and fat!

And then there is this bowl- that I believe has also been claimed already.

And, a tray that was an order, but just not quite right for the customer so off to the shop for it.

I just had to check it is Wednesday and someone stole Tuesday again!
Shoot!
There goes another week- floating by.
We are back on the wheel making pots for the small gas kiln that we hope to fire next week.
Cheers!
M

For the most part

For the most part it was a very good firing with some really nice looking pots in the kiln.
Which is what we all like.

Top, Front Crown

Front shelves ready to unload

Then we have to sneak in some seconds just to keep things interesting:

sneaky seconds hiding behind the big boys.....

And of course that means a hammer is a girl's best friend.
Took those babies right out- 1-2-3- and 4!

All of these ran down and hit the shelf in a way that made them impossible to save.
The hammer made them all better.
More later.
M

There is a plan

AS I continue on I wonder how I got here, but as I look behind me it is perfectly clear that gremlins are tracking my very moves and stealing away chunks of time.
It is just a matter of tracking back to find them.....
Kiln uploading today after another blip.......pictures coming.
Hang in I'll be back.

1-2-3 or lock and load baby-lock and load!

It was a long day over here in Whynot getting the last of the pots glazed and then loading the kiln.
No matter how we do it loading takes about 5 hours and after the week we had last week that was a long 5 hours.
We had the back in right after lunch and then took a break about 2:30-3.
Then had the next two stacks in by 6 pm.
We took another break and then went back about 7.
Done.... Mark is firing now.
It seems a good day to fire ever though the heat is going back up the winds are to be calm.
We can deal with the heat since we do have A/C in the building.

Backstack

middle stack

and thank goodness...front stack...

Next up- clean up and get ready to do it all again.
Cheers,
M

I use to be a potter

You know the feeling.
You don't really know you are there until you are there.
Mark and I have had a very nice life here on the farm making pottery since 1982 and just coasting along on the dream.
Then the past few years we have been holding life by the tail as it pulls us in many directions.
Last week we left out of here with the load for the big kiln about 2/3rds done.
We had been waiting for word about a new heat and air unit for his mother's house.
The word came and we were on the road to oversee the installation and make repairs on the house.
It was to be a 3 day job.
That went to 4 and then to 5 and by then it's too late to pack up and leave with 1.00 beers calling from the pier close by... I mean really drive 5 hours leaving at 7 at night or go drink cold beer and watch the sunset over the bay?
No brainer there!
Now let's talk about balance.
When we first opened the pottery the balance was kids and pottery.
But they lived with us.
Now it's mothers and pottery and they don't live with us.
So how to balance this new part of our lives.
Challenging and rewarding as it is we both still have our mother in our lives and that is the reward.
And, when we go to see the mothers I also get some time with the grand daughter and her rents.

Plus we reward our selves with going out to sit in A/C and have beer or wine and dinner. Here it is a bit of a drive to indulge our whims in that.
The pier became a favorite.

and I also get to see some good friends for lunch.

 
So how do we balance the new role we are in?
We work like mad men when we are here and then go when we have to.
Most of the time I can hire a shop sitter to be here, but there are days that I can't get someone here.
I apologize to anyone who came out while we were closed and hope you will check back in with us.
Call or email works best.
We have also moved a selection of pottery out to Dirtworks Pottery who are located on HWY 705 just up the road from us.
We will do the best we can to be here as much and as often as possible.
But there will be times when duty calls and we have to be gone.
So bare with us as we blindly walk this new role through life.

On to and back to the glazing and getting this load through.
Cheers!
M

Blip....Blip....Blip....

Just a little blip on the road of life....I hope to blip back soon.
Meanwhile don't hestitate to talk about me.
But make those words sweet.
I don't want you to have to eat them later.
Blip.......

Glazing fools or glazing, fools....

Well, it did the trick.
Two bisques kilns fired and I am happy to tell you that all the large pots made it through just fine.
Whew, that part is over and now we are glazing away. (glazing fools)
We usually get around 21-22 shelves in the big gas kiln and that takes awahile to get it all glazed up.
I think we are 2/3rds of the way done with at least 1/3rd to go.

And of course there is all that detail work of layering and waxing that has to be done.
It amazes me what we go through to get what we want from our work.
Potters are a tenacious lot.

There is nothing like the final results to bring us back to do it all over again.
Better get back out to glazing those fools.
Cheers!
M

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap

As most of you know we bought a new kiln at the end of last year.
We ditched, sold off, our old kilns.
There is a learning curve with anything new.
When we added a kitchen to our house a few years back I went from an electric stove top to gas.
It was and still is a learning curve.
I still can not just put a pot of something on low and walk away.
My gas cook top knows no low.
So I have learned to cook with gas and place anything I don't want burned in the oven to cook away on a lower temperature.
The new kiln:
Is not quite as wide as the old one.
Has thermocouples that stick out and have to be loaded around.
It works better with staggered shelves.
I could reach the bottom of the old ones.
This one works best with tall - 9 inches - at the bottom.
We blew up two pots last week.
I could place the old ones on a very low setting for 3-6 hours and let them dry out the pots before we fired the next day.

So when these bad boys were going in we decided to make a preheat for the kiln.
User 6, one ramp 50 degrees an hour to 175 degrees and hold 4 hours.
It ramped to about 189-190 and we turned it off and just let the heat vent through the kiln to dry out the pots.
Hours later we did it again.
Then we turned it on last night to fire and programed with a preheat and hold time.

Not real trusting, but when you make 18-19 inch pots and you need to fire it gets time expensive to have to make, dry and fire them again.

a tool we can not do without- do you have those? This board holds the same amount as our shelves and is our "planning" board.

Fingers crossed that this does the trick for us.
This kiln seems to fire hotter- as you can see since it did not hold at 175 but keep going up past that.
We did the same with our smaller, shorter kiln and it held at 178 through the whole cycle.
learning curve.
Some days I think I am going to just open a cookie business...

And about the computer and monitor.
They are once again talking to one another. We unplugged the monitor and hooked it to the netbook. Then when it was plugged back in to the computer it worked.
I guess these two needed a break.
Like all things too much together time.
We are glazing fools today.
Cheers!
M

Excuse me while I kiss this guy

Well boys and girls we have a problem.
My computer is not talking with the monitor.
So I am giving this a go on my wee little netbook while I figure out how to once again keep my granny computer going.
This would not be a good time to buy a new desktop.
I have been investing in teeth and computers are not on my list of things I must buy right now.

Instead I will distract myself and you by showing you pictures of the weekend.

Peaches-yummy!

Squash,eggplant,onions,garlic,tomatoes,about 1/4 cup olive oil, balsamic vinegar,salt,pepper,fresh herbs.

Roast at 400 for 20 minutes covered.

Uncover and roast for 20-30 minutes until very creamy- serve with rice or pasta- or as a side...

I love this summer dish our favorite.

Peach Jam! What could be better?

Customers taking a tour in the workshop.

I am off to see what trouble I can get into in the pot shop.

later,

M

Oh- why the title? I spent YEARS thinking this was what was being sung------kiss this guy. One day I asked Mark, who loves when I do this, and he says, sky...kiss the sky.

Oh,right...but sometimes I like mine better.