Jars

 With spring comes new request for more jars. Jars are so very useful for so many things, but we are often asked to make them for family remains. It is always an honor to fill those request.

So, no matter what or who you place in a jar make the jar one of beauty.

Spring is shaping up with a few days of hot weather that reminds of quickly that summer is hot on our heels.

Enjoy those cool days,

M

Cream and

 
Sugar

Pitchers and.......something new.


2 Piece large jar

 With lid...

I feel a beer coming on, You?
M

waxing and thinking, waxing and

thinking.
When we get the pots ready for the gas kiln they all need to be picked up, looked at, sharp edges removed and a quick sponge off where those sharp edges have been removed.

There are times when I am doing this that I would pay you a gold coin to have to come over and help me or just to have you do it for me while I read a book...interested parties please apply.

I remember when I first tried to wax a lid for a pot and how horrible I was at it. Trying to hold the lid and make a straight line was just about impossible. It was all a big mess. Then one day as we were visiting a seasoned potter I watched him place a pot on a banding wheel and then dip his brush in the hot wax and place a near perfect line on the gallery of a jar.

It was one of those moments - so simple and yet, so useful.
I never looked back.
In fact since we were so poor we, Mark, made me a banding wheel from an old turn table off an old record player. It worked good, not great, but good. Then one day we walked into a clay supplies and this banding wheel was on sale.
Sold!

I use a pencil to add a line to the pot so I know just where my lid will fit.
Then I use that line to gauge where the wax will go.

I then turn the jar over and do a line around the bottom and then fill in the bottom with a larger brush. I know seems like an extra step but I like that good line and no splash from the hot wax.
And, yes, I do drip wax on occasion but not that often.

Here is my hot wax set up.
I am set up in front of a window that has a fan to draw out the fumes. At one time we had a kitchen range hood that worked great but it is long gone and the fan works just as well.

The number one thing about wax is you don't want to breathe in those fumes. The other thing is to always, always unplug the pan when you walk out of the room. Never think you will be right back. This is safety issue. It takes less time to wait for wax to melt then it would to rebuild your shop.

 This is my buddy system.
I box bowls and like items to wax the foot of many of the pots we make.

Guess who's back?! We are making more mugs with the stamp.
I promise to blog on that next.
Back to work.
M

Throwing a small lid at Whynot

Questions?
M

This is what January looks like

 January in the south can be capricious in nature, cold one day and 65 the next. Between yesterday and then today it was hard to walk over and go in the studio to work.
Sigh.
I hate to go throw when it is 30 degrees and I hate to go throw when it is 65 and the sun is shinning.
Do I detect a pattern here....?

I really do enjoy what I do it's just that sunshine can all my name so easily.

Instead I had lids to trim and here is my easy set up for some quick trimming.
I use a piece of plastic pipe that I bought at the local hardware.
This works just great to drop the lid in and trim it up.
 
 We also have a large collection of lids that we drop inside the lids to steady them as we are trimming.

 Sugar Jars in waiting.

 This was part of my walk today. The sun was so bright and inviting that I left work early before lunch to walk up to the mailbox.
The shadows were great company and decided that they would come along with me.

On the way back with the mail, no bills today (yeah) , I cut around the pond and walked through the area of the farm where the original house stood.
As I looked up I saw the side of the old grainery and it made me think of all the people who would have walked through that area of the farm when it was part of the yard for the house.
It is one of the few buildings left from those days. The barn that was just past this building is long gone. We had it removed after a tornado came through one year and knock it off its foundation.  

I still enjoy having this building here even though we don't use it as we once did.

So January is shaping up.
Pots are being made.
Walks are happening.
Bread is being baked.

Life and sunshine.
Cheers!

M