Let's March, it's March

 Here we go, month 3 is marching forward, week 2 is quickly here.
I am piling up enough tiles to fire soon.
Mark is working on a gas firing for Ms. B.
 Last month he worked over at the college firing the gas kiln we have there. It was full of students work. He was a little nervous firing a kiln load of pots worked on by others. It is hard enough to lose your own work, but the thoughts of messing up other work is a different set of jitters. He did a fantastic job, it was a great firing.
The students were very excited over some excellent results, with almost no glaze on the shelves we were ecstatic. They are ready to fill this again soon.
Now to teach them how to fill the kiln with less bowls and more other items.
If you are interested the college has a facebook page, Montgomery Community College Pottery, they are in Troy NC, not Troy NY or other big cities. Just look them up, I have posted pictures of the firing.

 The trees and flowers tell us that spring is coming, we are excited to see the usual signs of trees budding, flowers in the yard. There is still that chill in the air, but the promise of warm weather is here.
Check with us on your next trip to the area our hours have changed. We are closing some in order to get work finished here, but we are always open to you. Come down, we will have a key ready.
Otherwise you are very likely to find us open Wednesday-Saturday.

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 

My life away from home

On Saturday we had a great workshop at the school with Hal and Eleanor Pugh from New Salem Pottery. 
It was very informal, with a lot of good solid information for the students.
In the afternoon we were able try our own hands at slip decorating.

Of course I had to try my hand at some of the slip trailing as well, It made me think about how I could use this on some tiles.
The number one thing you learn when watching someone who has been working as a potter for 40 years is this is not a overnight success. There are many hours that go into learning to make and produce a body of work to sell. It was interesting to listen to how they moved from Salt ware to Earthenware and the path that has taken them on.
One of the things I try to tell the students when they want to try something is to remember that the person who is working in that tradition or style might have been doing so for 5 to 50 years. That no matter what you decide to do you must be willing to go there.
 Willing to lose as well as win.
Clay can be so forgiving, but it can also been the beast in the room.
My thoughts have alsways been, "what are you willing to chase"?

Reminders for the New year.

 How well do we think we will remember something?
There are many times when I am working on tiles that I think I will remember how I applied the glazes, until I sit down and pick up a brush.
As soon as I pick up the brush, all the remembering seems to walk away.
I was taking pictures on my camera as I go along and placing them on my computer, but the computer is in my office at the house.  Too far away to be useful when I am in the moment.

 In the past year I discovered that I could snap some pictures and leave them on the cell phone.
Those are not the best pictures ever taken, but they fill in the gap of my brain, and they are much easier to access when I am in the studio.

I have been working to add some new tiles this past year and having the pictures close at hand helps me to see what I liked and what I did not like.

It also works to text a picture to a customer.
I know many of you probably already do this.
Boom!, right to face book and other social media.
I am an old dog learning new tricks.

I have a few days before I head back to the school.
I will be teaching 3 days a week through the next semester then I have some decisions to make on what I will do next.
Do I stay or do I leave?
Big question for me right now.
There are always new things to ponder with every new year.

I am off to see if the studio is warm.
Potting in January is always a challenge.

May Tiles

Out of many busy weeks comes some tiles.
Slat kiln is loaded at school.
Firing starts at 5 am on Monday, join me.
More later, promise.

There will be mud

 Yes, there is mud.
But, not the good kind, not the kind that we like to toss on the wheel. There is the slippery mud. The good old Carolina red mud.
When we get the out of state visitors in the store they will ask us if the red mud that they see everywhere is the same mud we make our pottery from.
The short answer is no.
That red clay that you see is good for one thing and one thing only, it likes to cake to the bottom of your shoes or tires and let you just "carry" it with you to the house or to the road. When bringing that wonderful Carolina red "mud" into the house it will then make its way into the rest of your life.
If you don't leave those shoes at the door, you can have Carolina red floors, rugs, furniture, just about everything it comes in contact with.

Do we make pottery from mud.
No, we make pottery from clay.
And, clay is not mud.

  From Wikipedia:

Clay is a fine-grained natural rock or soil material that combines one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Clays are plastic due to their water content and become hard, brittle and non–plastic upon drying or firing. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure. Depending on the content of the soil, clay can appear in various colors, from white to dull gray or brown to a deep orange-red.

Yes, I know the real information is not interesting to all of the people that like to think we just dig up our back yards in order to make things. For the most part we do not dig up our yards, but if we could, would we?

There is a lot of work that goes into creating a good clay body. If you are one of those lucky folks that stumbles on a bed of clay that is perfect for throwing and firing you are a very lucky person indeed.
Most clays need something else added to make them work.

Mark and I use a high quality commercial blend, that works for us.
There are potters today who are experimenting with local or native clay in their areas.
We are of the mind that this is one of those steps that we don't want to do.
We also know  many of the children of  the older generation of potters. Many of those people had the job of digging and processing the clay for the family business. They use to tell me about how hard the work was and that they would rather eat off a paper plate. It made me laugh, still does.

At school we mix our clay.
I spend at least twice a week with the help of my work study student processing clay for the classes.
It is an interesting job. It has made me think about the clay I use at home and the clay I make at school.
I think it is good to have to at least learn how to mix a clay body,  knowing what it needs to do, and learning about all the things that you want it to do.
Does it make me want to mix our own here?
No.

I'm too busy keeping that mud out of my house.

Spring is coming, it has to.

For most of us

 we don't really have to worry about winter. We are the people who like to watch winter on the news. Oh, look, we like to say smugly to one another, snow. I am so happy they have it and not me.
 Watch out what you say, make those words sweet, winter is listening.
As soon as they reach the tip of your tongue you need to swallow them back down, DON"T say a word, don't even think about it.

Snow has come our way again this week, with promise of more.
Is this a problem?
I am trying to make it a non-issue by not fretting about not being able to get to school once again. I was up, showered, dressed, lunch packed when the snow started.
So what to do when you plan to go away and then find out you are staying.
First thing is enjoy that cup of coffee.

 Then make a plan.
Or, try to make a plan.
Last week my plan was tiles.
In order to get these made, carved and finished for dying, I need more than one day. It takes one day to roll, one day to start setting up, one day to lay out designs, one day to carve and one day to finish them enough to leave them alone.
That is 5 one days.
If I am going to teach, I have to plan this for when I know I have 5 days, even if that means that Sunday, before I work on Monday, is one of those days.

To your left, a blank

 To your right, a cut out of the tiles.

I like the 6x6, but I like the fun of leaving  some of the tiles with that natural roundness that happens as I am rolling.

I have a number of patterns that I use 8x8,6x6,4x4.

I try to get as much goodness as I can out of the space, but that is not always possible. I use to make many small items from the leftovers, but now that eats into my days, so I don't.

Mark is staying on the wheel as he adds to his pile of production pots.
Oil lamps, bowls, and pitchers are flying off the wheel on the other side of the room.

I love a good pitcher.
There was a discussion the other day asking if any one still needs a pitcher, or if people still use pitchers.
I started thinking about how I use them; water my plants, water my guest, flowers, gravy, maple syrup, melted butter, oil, salad dressing...
 just to name a few.
How about you, do you have a favorite way to use all those pitchers? Tell me, I need to know.



A public service notice from Mark.
Happy 24 days people, 24 days, just hold on.

Mugs and snow

The weather decided that I needed a few days off from school. I want to thank the weather for that.
I spent today rolling out some blanks for tiles. I've set them all up to dry with the hope that I can get back to them tomorrow or Friday.
 
 I know for many people the weather is just a big fat mess. It is a big fat mess here as well. We had more ice than snow on the first round. Then today we had a quick snow shower.

 Lovely, big, fat flakes came falling down to cover the trees and ground. It all took about 30 minutes and then it was gone.
Just adding to the layer of melted ice which should freeze tonight.
Oh, joy.

Here I was going through this month thinking we had escaped the gritty part of winter.

But, no, there she is.
Stay safe and warm out there.
Spring is just around the corner.

Making bowls

 There are pots spinning on the wheel over here. Mark is much busier in our studio than I am. I have headed back to school, trying to keep those students sharp.

I find the time spent at the school can be very enlightening for me and the students. It allows me to explore something I might not have time to do when I am here making pots.

 When I am in my studio I have a list to follow, things that need to be accomplished in a day, week month.

At the school we also have a list, but there are times I, we, like to go off the page and have a little fun.

I have always found that in any work place you need some play. The same goes with the students. Every once in awhile they need a play day or a play activity to get those brain waves snapping.

Yes, I am teaching them production, sets, handles, but some days you have to break out in a show-tune and dance a little.

From those breaks I see improvements in throwing skills. I want to make them think outside the box, challenge, push without being pushy.
I find it makes me think as well.
This semester looks like a winner.

Stay warm, winter is just here to stay for awhile.
M 

The students fire salt

 When I started teaching this summer the students were only firing their work cone 6. In and out of the electric kilns.
We have a salt kiln and 2 gas kilns that have sat quietly waiting on the sidelines. In talking with one of my students, who was in his finale semester, he and I decided that we would work a salt firing in. He wanted to show a diversity in what he could do for his senior show. It did not take much convincing to have other students join in.
The kiln was loaded a week ago Monday, fired on Tuesday ( with the expert help of Dan Triece from Dirtworks pottery), and unloaded last Friday.

The kiln had not been fired for about 2 years and the excitement  filled the air when we unloaded.
I'm planning to make this happen again next semester.
I think we can easily work our way back to some gas firing.  

 There was lots of running.
Some grinding to be done.
But the results were over all very good.
Just 2 pots with some unwanted brick in them.

I took a glance at the gas kilns yesterday and thought- you might be next on my list.

 The semester is over.
I hope that means I can get some things done around here...

Merry Christmas.
Happy Holidays.
Many Cheers!
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

The moon was full,

  the ring that ran full circle around it was red and bright, soon the circle disappeared as a darkness began to take small bites out of the left side of the moon, slowly covering it all as it went from light to darkness, then as the sun rose, it was gone.
Amazing to be there up early, with my coffee; me and nature at her best.
Last night the moon rose bright over the pond. I had to go down for a few minutes to the pond and watch as it reflected off the water, fullness, heavy, bright, amazing.


Mark wired up many of the lamps that came out of the kiln. There is nothing like a handmade lamp to set off a room. We have just finished painting the guest bedroom and I have been tempted to go lamp shopping in the store. I really think the one with the great runs to the right would be nice in the bedroom.

 These lamps, even with the different blues and the creaminess of the glaze, look really good against the yellows that we used.
I am enjoying the color of the bedroom, it is a cool and quiet color.
Now I am thinking about curtains, bed spread, you know the drill... the other stuff.

Mark is back at the wheel while I am making the ride to school.
This week I put in a request for a wet/dry vacuum, I am so excited to be getting this. Cleaning is an issue when you have that many students and the clay and glazing that happens. I did not know how much I missed ours until I did not have one.
I found myself yesterday trying to clean out a kiln, the vacuum would have made short work of the issue. Not having one leaves me to be inventive and clever. I ended up taking a roll of masking tape, folding over an end and picking up the chunks of broken clay and glaze off the soft brick on the bottom of the kiln. It was slow work, but did the trick.

 It's time for me to move on, things to do.

Tiles to start loading in a kiln.
Cheers!
M