Star clays

We have both been indulging ourselves in some tile work.
I have a fondness for Highwater Red Stone, which is my favorite to make tiles with.
I like the earthiness of the warm red color, even though later I will cover them all with glaze.
It has been a good clay to work with and even though I have had some tiles warp most of them stay pretty flat.
But, there is a new player in the mix.
I had picked up some Starwhite cone 6 at the open house at Starworks Ceramics last fall.
I finally put some test through the last firing and was pretty pleased with the resulting glazes on the clay body.
So last week Mark picked up enough for both of us to have some tiles to play with.
He rolled and cut quite a few while I was working in the red stone.
He gave me 5 4x4's to carve and I was impressed with how the clay behaved.
It was nice and smooth was no real bumps of grog.
I like it.
I plan to put these through the next fire for the electric kiln and see how I like the results.
For a person who use to be a thrower, I find the time I spend on tiles to be very rewarding.
Plus- I don't have to stand all day.
But then there is that little pinch in the neck and back muscles.
It must be time for a massage.
I will get some pictures up as things move along.
We have been packing and shipping those Christmas orders and dealing with the last minute gifts for customers.
Plus, a little house keeping and seeing family.
Oh vay!
I am ready for some down time over the holidays!

A Star in Star

Last night Beverly and I went over to Starworks for their annual meeting.
The parking lots were full and the building was filling up quickly with a real mix of people, artist, locals and politicians.
When you take an old mill building and add an awry of things to do and things to be done you can get a bit of attention if you do it right and do a good job.

The building is now home to a clay operation, a full blown ( no pun intended) glass studio a heat and air business and others.

The folks from Wet Dog studio ended up here after losing everything during Katerina. They build top notch glass studios which are shipped all over the nation. They are in the mist of their high school program of teaching high school students to make glass. The first program like in it anywhere.

The clay operation STARceramics has now developed one salt/wood body and two cone 6 bodies. They carry supplies for potters who can just pop over to pick them up.

Then there is the gardens, Starworks gardens, which have been built and we are a member of their CSA. We get a vegetable share weekly from them. We never know what will be in the share, but it is always something yummy with a surprise or two thrown in.

The latest endeavor is the Biofuels operation

But who is behind all this?
Someone has to care enough to take on the challenge.
They need to think outside the box.
They need long range vision when all around them say , " It can not be done!"
And that would be long time friend and person of many hats; Nancy Gottovi.
So Nancy can I say, "Job well done!"
The food, spirits, networking and people is great and wonderful.
Hat's off- take a bow and give yourself the reward of knowing things are working.

Help- is there a photographer in the house- if so look away.

There I go with that fast finger-publishing before I speak.
Hey- that could be a good thing.

I am a point the camera and hope for the best person.
I don't take professional pictures.
I fumble around until I get something I can work with.

So bear with me.
The pictures are just a few of the pots out of the kiln.
I took more but they were not worth the time it would take to mess with them.
I truly am a candidate for a class.
But- below you will find a pillow pot for the wall glazed in my copper green with a blue wood ash accents on the flowers.
Below that two teapots.
If I can set up a few good shots I will post more.
And if not you will just have to come here to see the rest.
We had a good firing with lots of mugs, tumblers, cream and sugar sets, salt jars, cruets, bowls, vases, teapots and oil lamps.

We started tiles as soon as the kiln was out, sanded, price and up on the shelves for sale.
Mark has plans to tackle a few of these tiles as well.
I can't wait to see what he does with his.
I know what I am going to do with mine.

I also ran over for the open house at StarWorks and picked up samples of the cone 6 clays.
I plan to test those along with the tiles.
I hope I get some good results it would be great to use some local clay.

Star NC

Mark and I went to Star NC today to see the Little Train which was on display- it was cute. I wanted a ride.

On the way out of town and close to Starworks was a yard full of quilts.

We had to pull over and take a look.

All the quilts had notes tagged on them explaining when they were made, who they were made for andwhat the pattern was.

They were wonderful to take in and how luck for the family members who owned one.

Tomorrow I want to go see Mr. Kline over at Bulldog Pottery for their joint show.

If there are any pots left I will post some pictures.