A jar

In a garden.
Last week was blasted hot and I did everything I could to keep the garden wet enough to make it through the first round of heat.
After a number of summers teaching I took this summer off to give my life a bit of the balance of just being here, making pots and tiles, growing a flower or two.
I did get a good start on those things but managed to kill 2 plants trying to save them from the bugs. I won't tell you how I kill them just that I did.
Everything else seems to be growing despite my negative attempts.
This summer has been unlike any other summer in the gallery.
We get up, turn on lights, put A/C on energy saver and go about our day.
We are seeing very little traffic here or anywhere.
So, what has happened to traveling to our little neck of the woods.
There are plenty of guesses but no real reasons.

These grow with no help from me. Queen Anne's Lace

Sunflower

Bliss

 We will continue to make work, but are in some serious thoughts about store hours.
Any thoughts?
I look back at post from years past and there are comments, discussions, but now most folks have moved to FB or other platforms.
If you are truly interested, let me know.
It is hard to talk to just myself.

Digging through the winter months

 I'm guilty.
There I said it.
Of mentally hiding away this past winter. It was cold, messy and the perfect excuse to not be present in all things.
I was able to get the tile order out and done, work my day at the school and show up for family functions, but I am avoiding many things that help us function in the pottery.
I am tossing many things through the brain but is too easy not to implement the actions.
There is and are many distractions that take our attention away.
I thought the other day that our business was stronger before 

 we had a website, before we all had easy access to the WWW.....before FB, and all the other things I have not joined.
Before that we use to pack a bag, toss the kids in the car and go explore a place.
Yes, drive there rather than look on goggle earth, FB, or pin it to a board.
It does make me wonder how this last chapter will play out for us.
We love the creating, don't want to do an on line shop, it is a job that I don't want to take on.
I would rather be here creating, and greeting you as you drive up to find us.


For now, we will be here, it is up to you to come and find us.
It's good for the soul to step out and explore the world around you.

We are small, but we are mighty.
m

Salt

There are always those items that sneak up on you as a new favorite for customers, family and friends. I started making these about 5 years ago just as a thought for something new. I kept one, I use it all the time. It sits beside the stove for ease of use, but it can easily be moved to the prep area when I am baking bread or sweets. I usually don't put writing on pots but I made an exception for this item since I could see it as a one use item, until a customer said they would use it for sweetener. I have to think about that one...maybe as a custom order.
We are well into winding down as we take care of deep cleaning in the studio. This is a good time to look at some pots that are in the bisque stage and decide if they are going in the trash bin. The deciding is always the hard part, but as soon as I let it go that thought is gone.  I wonder if we spend too much time trying to save a pot that needs to just go.

Back to cleaning, filing, and in general getting ready for another year.
Cheers!
m
 

The brain and the madness of it all.

When I am working on glazing I have had times that I can not stop a thought. The thoughts of what if I try this or what if I do that. I know you know what I mean, you have to. The other day as I was glazing the last kiln before our show this weekend I needed blinders to keep me in focus. I kept telling my brain don't look over there, stop thinking about the next thing and think about the task at hand.
My brain did not want to listen.
Look, you have room for 3 small tiles that you can do this test on, just do it.
And, so I did.
I grabbed up the 3 small tiles above and drew on them, I then used a black pottery pencil to follow the lines. I then tried one with a glaze on top, it covered too much. I tried the other 2 just as I would my tiles with the black wax on them. I then waxed them and applied a background glaze. I juggled some space in the kiln and in they went. I think there should always be something in the kiln that you want to see, something to get excited about. I was curious to look at these small tiles.
My reaction is that I like them and now cannot wait to put this to the test on some other pieces.
BUT, we have a show this weekend and I have to sit on this until it is over.
Instead we are packing up the booth, packing boxes of pottery and shifting work to the store/gallery for Mark to have plenty of work to sell here.
Those new ideas will have to wait.
Last weekend a long time customer and his wife came in to pick up something for her birthday. She had been  in a few weeks back to ask about tiles, they had built a new house and were planning how to display their pottery. I told her to measure the space, cut out some craft paper and tape it up to see what the size is that they would like to have.
She did just that and it made it easy to pick out the work. Later that night I got this great picture of the tiles enjoying the company of another potter's owl lamp. Fun, I like it. I cropped the picture in order to remove a picture of them.
Also on saturday the backsplash was picked up and taken away to be installed. When I get pictures I hope to share.

Cheers!
M

Mugs!

 Here are the mugs that I had promised to take pictures of. The pictures don't do the glaze the justice that they really deserve, but for now, this is what you are getting.
It has been fun to revamp an older glaze, and, while doing so, develop something new.
Mark latched onto one right away when I unloaded the kiln. We took it along when we stopped in to Four Saints in Asheboro for a pint. If you remember we made mugs for their fundraiser. They also buy beer mugs  now and again to replace ones that meet with a hard floor or some other unfortunate event.
They also let us know we could bring our own mugs in to drink out of and store them there. We took them up on the offer and "carried" up a couple to drink from.
One night while we were there I was handed a different mug, it was still one we made, but not the one I had taken to drink from.

 Excuse me, but this is not mine. Yes it is they said. No it's not I said. It's your number, they said. Yep, it's my number but a different mug. I had brought in a black and blue mug, this one was iron red with an accent of wood ash.
They looked again, funny you have two, but one is marked with your number plus A on it....
Okay...
Long story short, someone had seen that mug I brought in and wanted it, they wanted it really bad, bad enough to get the owners to exchange with me.
Did I mind?
At first I did and then I thought, if they want it bad enough they could have it.
We were there one night and I punched Mark, hard, Look! There is the mug!
The woman who wanted it was enjoying a beer out of the mug, she looked so happy I did not have the heart to knock her off her bar stool.

Now, I am very fond of the iron red mug, we bonded. I could take another mug to drink from, but we are pretty happy.

Mark on the other hand, took a mug much like the one below. It caused a new stir with some of the customers and one of the guys working behind the bar.
We ended up with an order of 6 beer mugs from one person, and one for the bar keep.
A happy ending for all.

 Some rain this past week has allowed some of the flowers I planted to bloom.
Rain is good.

This week I head back to teach on Thursdays. I am looking forward to seeing my students and putting them all back to work.
I just have to remember to go!
I hope the summer has been good to you, I know there are many things going on. Many. I will keep neutral here, saving my thoughts and actions for other places.
Hold your family tight.
best,
M

Prep

 It's all in the prep isn't it? I was making jelly the past week or so ago and to get to the point of making the jelly I needed to make the juice. There is a point that you need to hang the cheesecloth of jelly bag and just let it drip. This is probably my least favorite thing to do, but I do it, because it needs to be done.
It makes me think of making pottery and that most people love the making part of the process but hate the glazing part. I understand this but it makes me wonder why we can be so comfortable with one part of what we do but just hate another part. If you hate it that much are you in the right place with your work? I think we hate the unknown. We have a set picture in our mind of the finished work, if we are lucky if comes out just like the picture.
But, there is the unknown; is the glazed mixed correctly, is the amount of water to dry correct, have we prepped the piece in order to accept the glaze without an issue.
 I find the most common mistake is that most people do not mix a glaze well. They might not get deep into the bottom of the bucket, leaving a lot of material on the bottom of the bucket, making the glaze too thin.
The glaze is lumpy, clumpy and they just use it, if it is lumpy the time you spend to sieve the glaze is well worth the results that you will get.
You mix the glaze once, just once, not mixing it after every dip.
You have to keep a glaze constantly stirred, as soon as you stop, it begins to settle.
You mess up and wash your pot, it is now soaking wet, then you try to glaze it again.
Don't, it needs to dry out completely before you glaze it again. (say at least 24 hours if not more)

Thinking about the process of what you are doing and paying full attention will give you your best results, don't rush, don't talk, line things up, take notes, think before you dip.

  We all know the feeling we get as we are making pots and it is all working, we are in the groove.
You can find that same groove while glazing.
Trust me.

Here's the messy part of working in the kitchen, but the view is great out the window.
My other advice, is one needs windows.
Time to check the kiln.
Later!
M

We live in

 interesting times.
When life is filled with so much controversy and you fill as if you will explode from all the news of the day, it's time for a car trip. Yeah, I know you don't think you have the time, but when better to just get away and clear out your head.
So just do it, pack a bag, grab a map and make a plan.
Ready?
No thought, just go.

Remember when folks hit the road for the unusual locations? When we travel we like to look for what is off the highway. Interstate travel is fast and made to get a person from point a to point b. The backroads of travel are made for a slower pace of life, just meandering the roads, following the new and unexpected to find the gems of the backroads.
We are one of those places that is a destination, you need to come off the highway to find us.
If you do you would not be disappointed, we have rolling hills, it's hay cutting time, cows, goats, chickens, and a lot of pottery shops. At the end of the day look for places to stay in Asheboro, Southern Pines, or even locally in a B&B.

 Food, we have several local restaurants in our area.  If you need a bit a night life, head to Asheboro for a beer at Four Saints, a glass of wine at  Lumina, dinner at Bia's Hardware. There are other places to eat that you can look up, these are just our favorites.
So, pack a bag, grab your car keys and get out, it's good for the soul. Call us, email us, let us know you are coming.

 Just a few pots from the last kiln load. I took the black vase outside and spent a few minutes trying to get a picture and noticed that the black glaze picked up the red from the building and the green from a tree. I like those elements even though I know it is just a reflection.

Happy Thursday!
M

Jar, flowers and thoughts

I made this small jar at school one day during a class demo. There is always a dilemma of what I should do with the pots that I make as demonstrations for my students. There are times if they are working on a shape that I hand it to the student to use as a study piece. They can hang on to it as long as they need to and after that it is tossed back in the slop bucket to be added to the next mix of our class clay.
I make it very clear that the work not be kept, bisqued or glazed unless it is something I want to keep. If I have time I will sometimes finish a piece that I started, but this does not happen very often. After all, I am there to teach not make pots.
The quickest way to break down a pot is to cut it in half as soon as the demo is done. I do this with cylinders and then ask the beginnings to do the same. Make it and toss it, over and over and over.
What we do is skill based, memory skills, teaching your hands to make what you see in your brain.
This takes time.
There are many early pots that can come back to haunt you later.
My other advice to the students is don't let it go too fast to the fire plie, keep it a week or more and really look at it each week. Can you make it better? Learning to let go of something you made can be hard, but you need to remove your feelings, emotional as we all are, from the equation and develope a good eye for what makes a good pot.
If you want to be better you must be critical of your own work.

Mark was up early to light Ms. B, it is a good day to fire after another wet, stormy week. It is nice and cool this morning and I have thrown open a door to let some cool air in the house. We all have A/C these days but there is nothing better than the air that comes after a rain.
Happy day,
M

The big pond

 There are times that you need a new view to look at. We recently had to take a trip for family, but also took a few nights to go see the big pond we both grew up with.
It is interesting that we both spent time at this same area. He as a teen, me as a kid.
There are a lot of memories tied to this area. While we were there we had the most wonderful weather. It almost had us going home and packing it all in. Then we remembered July.

 We decided to hold in NC with our own humidity and heat.

We are both back in the studio, me rolling tiles, him throwing bowls.
It is a great week for getting some focus before the summer semester rolls in.

Ah, such beauty the beach can be....
Cheers!
M

Teaching has become my mental health day.

When I went to teach for one summer over 2 1/2  years ago I was not prepared for the change that it would make in my life. First off I did not want to go I had worked in my own studio since 1982 and the thought of giving up my freedom to work as a loner plus one was terrifying to me. I pulled over 3 times before I finally pulled into the parking lot, making a change is hard for most of us, we like our lives, our order, the way we do our own thing. So what drove me to say yes that day? Income. I was looking for a part time job to help us make a living. Our income had dropped to what I would call a critical low. I was just about to place job applications anywhere and everywhere when the phone rang that day. I said yes, even though my heart was not in it and I was scare,yep, I was scare for many reasons.
Now, here I am after helping to take the program through some changes and waiting for them to hire a full time director, teaching one day a week. And, I enjoy it more than I can tell you. I have a great group of students who are working on a variety of levels. I have found that working with them to help grow their skills has been a real pleasure. They have pushed me and challenged me to learn more, try new things, think outside my box, problem solve, research, say, I don't know, but I will find out.
What I have gained from them is worth more than money.
The person who stepped into the role I had has taken on a new role in his life and is doing a fantastic job. I am lucky to work for and with him.
The students I have run from retired to their 20's. There is a seriousness about the work and yet, many laughs, great discussions, and at times they hold each other up, in sickness and in health.
 I enjoy watching the friendships form between the ages.

  In ending this thought I still have to say I am lucky to have not turned my car around that day to head back to my cave.
When I listen to people talk about not wanted to make a change in their lives, I think in my head, jump, you never know who might catch you.
M

It's December

 Which  means it is time to start working on the plan for next year.
Many people ask if we are gearing up for Christmas. Truth be told we start gearing up in the spring for the fall business.

That wee sheep tile is something that is looking at us to go back to.
The variety of tiles I have been making are a consideration and a possibility to grow on.

  The new kiln is producing some new ideas, new designs, new paths to take.
The changes in the industry left us scrambling last year when we had fail, after fail, with a glaze combination we have used for 30 plus years.
It may never come back to us, but with all failure there are success. At first you are just throwing something in the mix to see if it has a place, then you begin to notice that it does and know you need to follow it to see where it is going.
A new path opens as the old one shuts down.
At the end of the day the need to create takes over. After all, isn't why we are here to begin with?

Many of us question why we are here, what we are doing, is this right for me. We all do it. I relish the days that I just work with no thought, no doubt, the zone, the zen.
The reality is we are a business, we are subject to change in the economy, changing trends, the up and downs of what people need or the desire of their want. Through all of this we continue to create.
Why create?
Why not?
Why not indeed.
 We need art in our life, we need the sense of wonder, the pleasure of looking, seeing, touching, holding. The art so simple that you can hold it in your hand and drink from it, eat from it, serve from it. I have always thought that a handmade mug or bowl is the most intimate object.
Instead of feeding your soul through a take out window with a throw away container you should be treating your whole being to what you are eating, drinking.......
My students look at me in confusion, awe, pleasure,maybe even amusement at my daily mug.
I always travel with a coffee mug and have done so for at least 35 years. Why would you not?
Why? Why not?

 I am teaching one day a week now.
 The teaching has become a thing of pleasure since the hired of the head of the department. My day goes fast and furious, and I have seen great growth in the work of the students. I am excited about the next semester, this one went so fast.
 So, bring on 2017, it will be a year of change for many of us, but people are resilient.
Never doubt that.
M
 

Just the other

 day I walked in our small gallery and took some quick pictures of the inside.
This is our insides.
I posted this on FB along with a couple of more pictures of the inside and it just took off. We had over 60 shares on the pictures. It takes me by surprise what will take off and what will just sit there and not even get a second look.
It is all a puzzle to me this media/internet/marking/tools that we need to use these days to get our work out and noticed.

How's that working for us?
Good question.
I am not sure it is.

 I posted this one cut down to take out the family pictures.
It was a post called  shared space.
It did get some nice buzz, but not 60 shares.
This is where I look in the mornings as I am having my cup of coffee. It makes me think of those spaces in our houses that make us happy.
There is a vase out of the last kiln filled with flowers that were given to me a few years back out of my sister's garden. Hers are pink, mine come up white with a bit of pink. There is a small jug from Hannah from the visit she made to the sates. A few wee jugs from the Sandford Coles, a miniature scene of a kitchen and one of Tracey's houses.
Behind that is a floor cloth made by my sister Lee.
Happiness comes in many forms.

   To the right---I posted this on the same group that made the 60 shares  and before it went up I thought I hate all those price stickers. My next thought was let  it go. We forget how important it is to let people know our work is for sale.

What's up on the school front?
Let's just say all things come to an end.
I will be filling in some classes but do not have a class of my own.
It has been an interested time for me. I am still trying to digest it all.
I am giving the words, if not this, something else, a try.
Let's see what that does for me.

These guys come back every year. I always love to see them come up.
Spring is amazing.

Let's keep in touch. I hope that for some of us the written thought will still be important.
Cheers!
M

Playing with new idea

I am working on some new sizes in the tiles and I really like the way they are coming out.
Never stop thinking has become my new motto.
You just never know when something might stick.
Have a great week! Spring is a beauty this year!

a little here

 and a little there.
There are no groceries in the house, but I am getting some work done.

It seems as if there are just not enough days in my weeks right now. I am going to work on some tiles and just not think about it.
After all the sun is out today, and that, is a good thing.

A bit of still in the early morning

You know those moments you have when you look at something and it is not what you thought it was? It happens to us all the time, we look at something with certainty only to realize that is not what we thought it was in the first place.
In life there are times that we wonder if we are on the right path, or, if we even have a path at all.
There are other times that we are so sure of our footing that we stay the course, don't wander, don't look right or left just forge ahead.
I remind myself often that life has curves, dips, bumps, scars along with joy.
The sun streaming through the window today gave me the light I need for what is next.
What gives you light today?