At least there are flowers

 It is spring, May, we have been through the winter, April showers, a pandemic that keeps us all at bay. Finding time to fill the hours has become a challenge. We are baking more, back in our gardens more, creating more, trying to fill the hours.
Some days there are still not enough hours, other days the hours lingerer as the days get longer.
I find that most days go very quickly without enough time, as time has become a concentration of how to get the things that we use to take for granted, like just getting in the card to run an errand, go see a friend, pickup this or that.
How are you using your time?

   

 Mark made these bud vases for 2 different kilns.
The white with blue design came from Ms. B, the stain will come out differently depending on what glaze it is used with and how it is fired.
I really like how quiet this pot is, just doing its job, holding some flowers.

This vase, bottle was fired in the electric kiln. Mark uses 2 different glazes, applying the first one, then adding a wax design, letting that dry and then coating with a top glaze.

 It's simple, but not, takes some practice.

It's time for Mark to put these back in the cue.
Seems mugs are still needed. I imagine having a cup of tea, or coffee just gives us those minutes of comfort that we need.

So, friends, be safe, wash your hands, wear a mask.
Don't be stupid, this is not over as folks decided to go out, don't, just don't.
It's not over.
Stay put.

A taste of Spring

I am working on a new computer, trying to learn new skills to go with.
So, here are some butterflies for you to enjoy while I work out the bugs.....

A butterfly, a flower, a mug

A Black Swallowtail butterfly

A Flower

And

A mug

I hope you have had a great week, things are pretty nice around here with cooler mornings that are perfect for blueberry picking.

Then there is that butterfly.

And, the mug, traveling off to a new home.

No complaints, just a week to try to be a bit more centered.

Best,

M 

Let's just say

 that life got a bit busy the last few weeks after we unloaded the kiln.
Work starts back tomorrow, I am sure that will spark something more to say.
Meanwhile enjoy the last of this sweet Sunday.

Mother May I?

 We have jumped right back in and started the next 2 kiln loads.
I will need the cups for the cone 6 electric firing, while Mark will need the cruets that I am making for the gas firing.

We were very pleased with the pots that came out of Ms. B, makes me think we are getting a hang of this small gas kiln. We spent a lot of years firing the old work horse kiln, but those days are behind us, think working smarter.

We took advantage of the last two days to cut the grass, cut back some bushes and move the pots over to the gallery. I think we are all ready for the sunshine and no rain. The flowers in the yard are all blooming at one time after the cold weather delay. I am happy to see them.

 Below you will find our favorite picks from the kiln.
A jug, 2 jars and a crock. The glaze on the crock and jar in the front are something new Mark has been working with, it will fast become a keeper. I do like how well it works with the ash glazes.

 Here's one of the flowers for you, can you smell it?
These always amaze me, so pretty.
Cheers for now.
M

fall is in the air?

I would love to tell you yes, but it is almost 80 degrees out there today.
I am full on ready for some cool, crisp days.
The kind that call for a sweater, extra layers, warm socks, hot drinks, blankets on the bed.....
Here we are mid to late October and we are still having summer days.

I am going to blame my brain fog on too much sun and warm weather.
Today I jumped out of bed, went to open the kiln we fired yesterday, jump in the shower, got dressed, opened the gallery only to find out today is Sunday and not Saturday.
I looked at Mark and said, "It's Sunday."
He looked at me as if I had two heads, "yes."
Okay......

And then we went to unload the kiln.

We found great teacups, salt jars, beer mugs and these tiles.
So, okay, it's not Saturday, life is good.
I can take the loss.
Hope you are all enjoying your day.
No matter.
M

Sunday for a quick look

It's windy today,keeping this butterfly on her (maybe his) toes just trying to hang on to the flowers as they sway back and forth. He is tattered and torn, much like we all feel these days. Yet, he keeps right on going from one flower to the next with the same intensity of survival that we all have.
Take a breathe, hang on, be smart and be safe.
Unloading the kiln in the morning, more pictures to come.
M

Firing in July

 Adding in thrown pots along with tiles has allowed me to fire quicker. It just makes sense to fill the kiln faster.
This was firing number 3 for July.
My plan is another firing soon.
I need some time to roll more tiles. Maybe that needs to be on my list this week as well.
What's on your list?

Jam

I be jammin in the kitchen.
I don't can as much as I use to, but I still make jam and jelly.
Last year we ran out and it was a disaster in the making.
I tried buying a few jars just to see how they tasted and was sorely disappointed. If you know of a good, no, a great jam company, I might be willing to try them.
The peach I make has only sugar, lemon juice and crushed peaches.
 I have made this recipe for many years and it has only failed me once.
 

 The year it failed it candied in the jar. There was no way to get it out of the jar, it was sticky, sticky, and stuck. I thought and thought about what happened and then had an idea. I poured rum in one jar, tequila in another jar, and peach schnapps in another, then every so often I would stick a knife in, and allow the alcohol to start working on breaking down the sugars. After a few months  I could shake the jars, then months later I had the best alcohol infused peach syrup that we poured over ice cream.
It was freaking fabulous.

 On my way to the studio yesterday I was surprised to find some late blooming magnolias. The deepness of the petals has always made me think of the clean, sun dried, white sheets of my youth. I always want to open my arms and fall in.
Beauty.

I am on my way out to finish glazing and load a kiln. Yep, on my way, right now, here I go.

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

June 1st and all things white ( and green).

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

Tiles

 I am back at it playing with some tiles I had left over from a back splash I just finished.
The back splash turned out well, but as with all things there are extras. The back splash needed to be 6X3 inch tiles. I had made them in a white clay body and a clay body with some iron in it, not knowing which one I would end up using.
I am always telling students that clay body will make a difference to the glaze that you are working on. If you are looking at a glaze and you want it to come out with a certain color it is good to know what clay body is being used.
The tiles here are 2 different bodies with the giraffe glazed the same. The backgrounds were different but you can see how different the bodies turned out.

  I did the same thing with this praying mantis.
On the dark body the green is nice and warm. On the white body he is a very light green. Again, the back ground is a different glaze.
The flower below is also on the white clay body. I like the way it showed the bee and the detail of the legs. I have  been using a wax with some color in it and it allows me to place in more detail and have that detail show up.

 It is that time again- flowers in the yard.

I just finished with my last full time students. It was bittersweet saying our good-byes after spending two years with them. I hope that the time we spent together was a good one for them. It taught me so many things about myself. I learn that I was not  too old to take on a challenge.
 The first Summer I drove myself to the school to teach was three years ago.  I am still amazed at how those three years have turned out not only for me but for the program as well.
My plan right now is to teach one day a week through the end of the summer session. After that there are no guarantees that I will have a job, or stay on. In many ways I hope that they are in a place to hire someone who is younger and willing to move the program to another level.
It has been good for me to move outside my own comfort zone. In teaching I have found that I learned as I was teaching. I want to put some of those things into play.
The way I am working with tiles right now is one of those things.

After the summer it might be my time to go back to my own work while I have the chance.
Never stop.

I hope you are all well and ready for summer.
M