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

Up to old tricks

 Yesterday was the last day we had to get the kiln loaded and fired in time for the show this weekend.

It was cold yesterday, with no wind, that made it easier to get it all loaded. We both added a extra layer or two. Mark checked the weather for today and did not like the forecast of wind and thunderstorms. With the no winds to continue overnight, Mark decided that this would be a good time to light up the kiln and pull an all nighter.
He just rolled in to bed as I rolled out . I am off to work this morning as he sleeps.

Here is the kiln load--------back

---------middle

front---------------------------------


















Tree---------

Unloading coming up in a few days.
M

Glazing pots, getting ready for a late October fire

Yesterday we spent most of the day working together to get many of the production pots and Christmas orders glazed.
Mark does the base and I pick up the top glazing.
When we do this, I can look back at the end of the day with some sense of satisfaction seeing all the work that is ready for the kiln.

 Today we both have some fussy pots to work on.
That means a bit more thought and a bit more work.
It will go slower.....

I don't know if you can see my writing on the pots, but I usually take a pencil and put a little code on the pieces. If I do this ahead then I don't have to think about them one by one later.
blk/walts
blk/wop
red/wop
blk/2ash

 Those pumpkins are going to tax my brain since I am still not sure about how I am going to do them.
Hummmm
later....
Lamp bases in blk/2ash.

 Mark has been working on tall lamps for the last 3 kiln loads.
 It is great to have them in the store when someone is ready for one or two right on the spot.
He, of course, will still take orders for custom sizes.
I don't know what his decision on these will be maybe red/wop.

 
Mark and I have become committed to walking in the mornings.
We have at least 3 different places we can go depending on the amount of time we can put in.
We find on the days that we are walking we need to get up a bit earlier in order to slam a coffee before we head out.
I am finding the morning darkness a bit harder on my mental abilities to go.
It is a test to go out while it is still dark to walk.
When we started this morning walking it was light before 6, then 6:30 and now it is not even light at 7.

You know it is easier to hide under the coves in the winter when it is cold and dark outside, this will be a challenge.

  I am collected seed heads off the volunteer marigolds.
These are amazing, so full and pretty. I think they grew better in the yard than they did in the raised bed last year. Of course this is what a wet, wet, wet spring and summer will get you.

 Its show time!
See ya'
M

Quick,quick,quick

Hop,hop,hop.
Stop,stop,stop,

I love that words have such power when you are three.
When you are three words need to be repeated over and over.
Once is just not enough.
You don't hop.
You hop, hop, hop.
You don't stop.
You stop, stop, stop.
You don't have toes.
You have pickle toes.....

After two nights of sleep, since the girls headed home, we are heading out to work on pots, pots pots.

MJ deciding  if she could walk home.......

We have orders that are due sooner than we would like to admit.

Time for us to hop, hop, hop on those pots.

we loved feeding chickens

best new use for a cleaned out glaze pan-water in the yard.

 Bye, time to get my pickle toes to work,work,work!
M

Gifts of Spring or not all things I touch break.

Or, it's been one of those weeks.

Yesterday I broke a bowl in the shop.
I knew as well as I know my name, and yours, that I was going to break something.
My hand flipped a bowl and it went flying up, then it went crashing down, it hit hard, breaking into several pieces.
When it happened, I thought, thank goodness that is over and let's move on with the day.

Why did I think I was going to break something?
It has been one of those weeks.
Mark went out to mow a small patch of grass on Wednesday and the mower worked for 15 minutes and stopped.
No amount of pleading, begging, stomping of feet or crying could get it to work again.
It just refuses.
Like a stubborn mule.
It will have to go to the shop.

The day before that the tractor had run all day just fine.
Right before Mark went to put it to bed it would not start.
( starting to see the pattern here.....?)

The next day it did start and is now put away.
But, the mower is a no go.

Today, yep, there is more woe.
Today, I broke the oven.
Maybe it gave it up all on its on, but since I was using it, I think it is me.
(Really, I have cookies to bake.) 
I had bread in there with a pan of water and I think that I let the water vent towards the control panel.
By the time I saw it the thing was going wacky and then quit.
I was able to get the oven back on enough to bake the bread and as soon as it was done all lights went out.
I broke the oven.
I have two batches of cookies measured out and no way to bake them.
There might be no cookies for the kiln opening.... this can not be.
I know, sad....

Now on to better things and gifts of spring.
You all know I have had my feet on this property since I was a young girl, spending many summers here with the brothers and sisters.
In 1976 I moved here and I thought I had seen everything there is to see here.
But, today I drove past where the old house use to be and noticed a stand of white flowers that I have never seen before.
I stopped and walked out to look at them.
Below is what I found.
Just look at these beautiful daffodils.
I found two patches of them, our plan is to move some up to the house as soon as we can.

bottle by Mark, decorated by Charlotte Wilt (Fenburg)  of Humble Mill Pottery.

I hope you can see them.
They also have the most amazing smell, somewhere between honeysuckle and gardenia.

Then there is the sassafras tree. 

.

 And what did I learn about native redbuds?

Uses
Ethnobotanic: The Alabama, Cherokee, Delaware, Kiowa, and Oklahoma were among the Native American tribes that used eastern redbud for various purposes.
 The bark was made into a tea to treat whooping cough. Taking cold infusions of the roots and inner bark treated fevers and congestion.
 An infusion of the bark was used to treat vomiting and fever.
 During winters, the plants were used for firewood.
Because it is one of the first plants to flower in the spring, the blossoming branches were brought into the homes to “drive winter out.” Children were “fond of eating the blossoms” of eastern redbud.

Wildlife/Livestock: Many birds, including bobwhite quails, eat the seeds. White-tailed deer are among the animals that browse the foliage. Honeybees visit the blossoms.
Livestock will browse on Eastern redbud.
I did not know!
I just thought they were pretty, turns out they are pretty and useful.
I like that in a tree.

The plan is to load the kiln tomorrow.
Look into fixing the oven and the mower.
Beg one of my friends for the use of their oven.
And try not to break anything...

I'll let you know how that works out.
M

What these pots need is a little color.

 The amazing thing about making pottery is taking it through all the different stages that it needs to transform it from that lump of clay to an object that you can use.

There are many times during the process that you need to give a little thought to what you are doing.

 I had a teacher who always said you need to know what it will be as you are taking it off the wheel.

Now, I don't always know what it will be right at that minute, but I have a vague thought about where it will be going.

 If I did not have some thought about the piece it might takes me months of sitting with that piece to get it to talk to me.

There are pieces that don't speak up  very loudly to me and I find that I do need to set them aside and just think about them a bit.
But, for  the most part I know where we are going when they are being made.

I have talked before about how I prefer to work in groups of pots. The group gives me more choice on how I will glaze. If faced with one pot that has no cousins sitting next to them I find that one pot harder to glaze.
My thoughts are too focused on the loss, or possible loss of one pot.
 
 With a group of pots I feel my chances are better in pulling something good out.

There are always the production pots that go into every kiln load and they are usually a given as to how they will be glazed.
Mark and I will work those pots together.
He will put the base glaze on and I will put the top glaze on.
There is a comfort to the work when you can share in this process.
Mark and I will have a plan in place by penciling the name of the glaze on the pots.
We then get into the rhythm of the glazing much as you would a dance.
Sharing this part of the glazing helps move the process along at a nice speed.

We will then move onto the pots that we have a more individual attachment to. Those pots need a plan as well and can take a bit more time to glaze.

So what do we like going on in the background.
Some days when we are glazing it is tunes.
Other days we listen to talk radio and then there are the days that we turn nothing on.
We can go for hours and just work and the next think one of us says,"is it lunch time"?

I have walked this path before many times and it is always the same but different.
The cycle of work always takes me by surprise even though I have been at this for a few years now.


Waxing has been mostly finished and glazing starts tomorrow.

Tunes or not?
We'll see
M

Hello August

How does it happen that August is here and I somehow feel as if I am waking from a deep sleep and contemplating all those things that I was going to do in the month of July. Oh, I know I have been working, but to tell you the truth I could be working harder.
Yes, I could.
Somehow I find that I can easily distract myself, like now, and fill my time with many other things. Like this morning. I baked bread, cut up peaches and cleaned the kitchen all the time thinking I would be at work by 9.
Then it was I will be at work by 9:15....okay, how about 9:30.maybe- 10 and I can still get a days work in we are only glazing.
See how this works? If I am not out there between 8:30-9 the bargaining starts.

 I did make it out there and work is happening, just not as soon as I thought. What I am doing now?
 Well, I don't work for a monster boss, I am allowed a break.
I am taking a break.
Join me.

Beer Mugs- bigger and better

Pots going in glazes

what happens to my wheel when I am making tiles

Gourds

 I did get through the garden on my way to work and I am getting a kick out of all these different gourds.
This is going to be fun to see what comes out of the mix. I like this green one above.
And look at this pale yellow on yellow.
I think it is time to get out the seed packet and look at what is there.
I am so glad I did not toss it out after planting so I would know a little about what the varieties are.

Shoot, I had better go back to work.
I have to at least pretend I work here.
Later,
M

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

A long Monday..

Boy things are hectic around here!
You can tell that we are covered up in the studio trying to finish up the glaze and put it all in the kiln.
Delay has become my middle name!
But maybe that is better than being dead in the water!

Today was finish up the glazing and hopefully tomorrow is loading day.
This pottery stuff is hard work!

I have the blog entries pretty much put together.
It has turned out real well as you leaf through the pages and look at the different entries each potters chose to have put in the book.
I think there are a few more I have not received.
I'll just have to see if I can pry those out of the last of the potters.


Also with folks coming in I just might have to break with tradition and dust the house!
I am busy chasing out the spiders, but I can tell you that is an all day job.
Tonight as we came in from work in there was one as big as Texas- I kid you not- in the front room.
 She and I came to a quick understanding of whose house it was.
I think I won on that account.
No pictures- it was not a pleasant end.

I am off to just relax after a long day.
Cheers!
M

Better than a new puppy!

Mark finally went off to the plumbing place just outside of Seagrove.
He made one of these plastic thingy-things to put a bottle on while pouring glaze.
How simple is this and how great does it work!
Thanks Jim!
We owe you a really, really good hoppy beer for this tip.
It is so cute that I think it might need a name.
But the best part is no one has to walk it or train it.
It just sits there and waits to do tricks!
We are crazy glazing this week and there have been spring break folks out.
It has been great to see all the faces and sell a pot or two.
Back to the glazing.

What a mess!

Glazing away

We are just about finished glazing all the pots for the next gas kiln.
Small happy dance going on here.
Now if we can get the wind to die down and the sun to come out it will make loading the kiln a bit more pleasent.

Back in the 1980's we made a lot of production pottery, which I hand decorated. Lots of little flowers in pinks and blues.
Just before Christmas  a customer came in and ask if I would make her a set of mugs and match them to one she had bought years ago.
I said yes.
In fact I thought it might be fun to go back to that place and sit and decorate some mugs.
So I did.

We still make production pots, just not as many as we use to.
But I still find it hard to believe we use to thrown, base glaze and then I would decorate board after board of plates, bowls, mugs, cream and sugar sets. spoon rest and just about everything we made.
Then one day my back and neck just said, "No." I was having so much trouble with my back by sitting for hours painting pots.
We were also ready to make some changes in the glazes we were working with. We slowly started introducing the wood ash glazes while slowly removing one pattern and then another until one day I was no longer painting anything.
Now I find myself working on the tiles and other things and moving away some from what I am doing now.
Is it time to make another change?
The one thing consitent with pottery is change.
And I do believe you have to allow yourself some time to change.

Weather permitted we plan to finish up our small gas kiln ans see where that kiln takes us.
Smaller kiln, different work different glazes.
Well just have to see.

The bucket brigade

 We spent yesterday waxing up the many boards of pots to go into the kiln.
Today starts the week long glazing process.
I think I have 21-22 boards all wax and ready for glaze.
The kiln on a good day will eat about 21 shelves of pots.
It will all depend on how tall the crown pots are.
In this load Mark has made some tall bottles.
That gives me two tall crowns. One will be about 22 inches, making another about 18 inches and the third crown will come in at 14 inches.
That means a little less stacking space, but it will still take anywhere from 20- 22 shelves of pots to fill the kiln.


We put all our glazes on wheels. It just makes it easier to roll them where you want them rather then have them in one spot. Plus we both glaze so I can work in a bucket and then mark can come (steal) get the bucket when he needs the glaze.

Here is a long shot of the room.

I am working off the blue cart while Mark is working off another cart with just crown pots on it.
We are both enjoying this rebuilt space, but there are a few little adjustments that we need to make.
Better lights on the end Mark is working on would help.He puts a floor lamp on the table which helps some.We always think of the lights after we start glazing. Oh yea- this is where those lights need to go.

I am pretty pleased with the lights on my end..
I also like the cabinet that Mark put in for me back in December.
It is a great height to work on and it have a counter top which wipes up nicely.


I'll post more as we move along.
The weather man is singing his winter song again about snow tomorrow.
I plan to plug up my ears and not listen.
LALALALALA! I can't hear you!

NO SNOW-----NO SNOW!

Glaze

January is zooming down the road for me. It was weeks back when I was glazing to make sure we had Allison's tiles out of the kiln. Her presentation for her Senior project was due on the 4th of January and that meant we had to fill up the rest of the electric kiln. We wanted to try the white cone 6 clay from Takuro over at Star. Mark and I both made tiles with the clay, and I wanted to use the same glazes I have been using on Red Stone to see how they reacted with the white clay body. Some of them I really liked. And others I like better on the Red Stone. I thought the red stone adds a warmth, which I am sure comes from the iron in the clay body. The small flat tiles are out of the clay from Star and the edge of one of the pillow pots is out of the red stone. I also put some thin black over the red glaze to warm it up. I like the greens in the background on the white clay but thought the red a little washed out looking. A few years back I was teaching over at the Community College in Troy NC. I was working with 11 students. I use the term lightly because the youngest was 19, but the majority were closer to my age. They were all taking a special studies semester. Some were concentrating on throwing, some on Raku ( Tracey would have been a great help! ) And I had one who wanted to learn about glaze. I spent time with each person and talked about what and how we would proceed through the semester. I had them write up what they wanted to accomplish. The women who wanted to learn about glazes came to ask if she could just tell me. I really wanted her to write it down and the she pulled me aside and told me that she spoke good English, but her writing would be in Korean. A bit of a snag since I did not read Korean. She then pulled out a few photos of her work and I found out she had a degree in Ceramics. Her work was wonderful, and I was ready to become her student. But she needed to know how to mix a glaze, this was the one thing she had not learned. She had brought along her books for us to use on glazes which I took one look at and closed. Here again was the problem the books were in Korean as well. Do you read English I asked? Yes, she said. Here is the way to the library go and check out as many books as you like on glazes and let's start there. She and I were able to find a good footing on glazes and throwing skills. And the benefit was there was another teacher teaching the afternoon class who was teaching just glazing. The one thing I kept telling the students was to find a clay body first and glazes second. Testing on one body will and can give you entirely different results. How are you going to fire I would ask them; will you be using the school body? If not bring in the body you will be using. Are you going to fire gas, electric, wood? Low fire- high fire. These are all things I wished were presented to me when I was a student. I know I came out of school with recipes and little knowledge on glazes. They are still a bit of a mystery to me at times. For the electric work and the tile project I decided I would use ready mix bought glazes. I just did not feel I had the time for all the testing along with everything else I had going on. I have found that I like some of these premixed glazes. They are formulated to brush on well and are for the most part very stable. I don't think I would ever do this with my gas kiln, but I like the ease of this for the tiles. There are whole palettes of colors out there and I have begun to realize it is what you do with them and sometimes it is okay to "cheat" a little.

Contemporary Pottery from North Carolina’s American Indian Communities

Back when the North Carolina Pottery Center Hosted an exhibition of the Contemporary
Pottery from North Carolina’s American Indian Communities there was a grant written for a book. This book will soon be for sale at the NCPC. For a preview of the book and pictures take a look at the NCPC website or click on the link below to take you to a PDF file from the book.

From the introduction by Sally Peterson:
"The North Carolina Pottery Center hosted
its seminal exhibition, Contemporary
Pottery from North Carolina’s American
Indian Communities, from May 9 through
August 23, 2008. The exhibit showcased
works from eleven Cherokee, four Haliwa-Saponi, and
two Lumbee artists in clay. Each artist and each tribe has
a different story to tell, yet a common purpose unites
them. They want no less than to rediscover, recreate, and
revitalize the ancient pottery traditions of their peoples.
And indeed, they want more than this. Individually and
collectively, they wish not only to master an ancient
craft but also to elevate its quality to levels that match
and perhaps surpass the best pottery found in both ancient
and contemporary American Indian traditions."

Go check out this book and contact the NCPC to get your copy!

Me- I am still on the mountain.
Cheers!
M

Ain't no mountain high enough....

It's Sunday in November and while many folks go to church, eat a nice dinner with the family or watch football, we are in the studio working away.
Now don't get me wrong I am not complaining.
Well, maybe a little.
We did talk to both kids on the phone, who are doing great thanks for asking.
And I did go sit through a board meeting this afternoon at the North Carolina Pottery Center.
The good new from the center is it is stable for now.
the bad news from the center is we can not stop raising the money it takes to keep the place going.
The NCPC is a wonderful place.
The exhibitions are always worth the trip and the latest one opens this Friday.
So if you are coming our way be sure to stop in and see what this place is all about.
I only got a foothold on the mountain of pots today, but the plan is to get in there early tomorrow and knock them out!

So here's some of Allison's tiles.
Enjoy!

Pinch me, it's November!

Rode wet and put up hard.

Run over by a Mac Truck.

Dog tired.

Pick any of the expressions above and you will know how the time change, quick trip to VA. and right back to work have me feeling today.

Hit by a ton of bricks.

Too many nights up past my bedtime.

But- today is a new day and after dreaming about trying to get somewhere over and over we are heading back into the studio to glaze the mountain of pots.

We did get a good start the last two days and we are both excited about unloading the bisque with the variety of vases that Mark decorated.

I want to get as many as possible in this firing.

Making something new is always exciting.

Yet- putting it through all the stages is nerve wracking.

Will this work- but what if we did this.

Have you tried this- I wonder if........

Meanwhile sweet Allison was here yesterday to clean up her tiles and put some lines in the back to make them easier to set later.

Now it's all in the drying.

I like the slow method for tiles. Long and slow.

So back under the plastic.

Yesterday she hung out to watch us glaze and ask questions.

It is interested to see what you do through someone else.

We just go on automatic pilot and glaze.

Zipping through the production line but slow waltzing through the one of a kind works.

I find glazing one of the hardest things to teach.

Keep the glaze stirred, all the time, hold the pot in this glaze to the count of 3, but that one to the count of 6 and that one just in and out.

Don't over think it but don't under think it as well.

Other news in and around Seagrove.

Everyone here is gearing up for the Celebration of Seagrove Potters. The Friday night Gala is selling tickets and getting great response. We have our booth number and somehow picked the same number as last year.

B-12. We are on vitamin row.

We won't be hard to find if you remember where we were last year.

The building has some changes which will allow folks to stand inside to check in. Come on in out of the cold.

Also the NCPC's last fund raiser, "Craft in America", after expense was just over 20K.The house party which raised the most money was the one here in Seagrove.

The potters could buy a membership for 20.00 that night, but many went beyond the call and added money to their membership.

As I looked over the list of house parties and donors, again I am stuck by how supportive the potters are.

We don't make a ton of money and times are tight, but they reached in again and gave.

Thanks to all who attended a party to support the center.

I am off to climb that mountain of pots.

Cheers!

A station break

This kiln load seems to be busting my chops.
I have been the, bull in the china shop.
Knocking over pots, two broken, splashing hot wax on the bisque while I am waxing, many pots put aside to fire off the wax from unwanted areas.
My feet hurt and I want to take a nap.

And yes I would like some cheese with that whine.

Maybe I am sleep walking.

It is the end of the summer and it is hot and humid. Has the heat settled in my brain and stopping me from functioning correctly?

I am glazing teapots, which is slow.
I am keeping my focus by thinking about Julia over at Henhouse Pottery, who would like to buy a teapot.

If I focus on someone while I am glazing and how I think they might enjoy having this pot it takes away the pain of the feet and that part of my brain that is plagued by self doubt.
The one which says, " go do something else for a living.... why do you continue to torture your self and others?"
Then I have to laugh at myself.
I whisper back to Mr. self doubt, " go away, go bother someone else, Can't you see I am busy."