Seagrove Potters 14th Annual Celebration of Spring Pottery Tour

 Seagrove Potters 14th Annual Celebration of Spring Pottery Tour

Spring Kiln Openings: April 22-24, 2022.

 Visit studios, meet potters, and expand your pottery collection.

 Online shopping will be available with some studios, as well.

 The Celebration of Spring Pottery Tour takes place on the weekend of April 22, 23 and 24, 2022, from 10 am to 5 pm.

More, yes, more

 I am on to more of these 

Hope all is well!

M

 Mark has been busy on his wheel working on jars. Jars are so useful for so many things that it is hard to answer the question of what would you put in this. Where would one start with all the things that can be put in a jar, sugar, tea, coffee, paper clips, Q-tips, candy, kisses, hopes and dreams.

No matter how you fill your jar owning one that is lovely to look at is a plus.

I hope this fines you all well, safe and healthy.
We are open by appointment, wear a mask, we will be wearing one as well.
We are working out appointments so please call ahead and we will be happy to set that up.

Working through

 Mark and I both worked through the past few months (7) helping keep the pottery program at the school up and running.
Before the new semester started the school interviewed and hired 2 new instructors. Mark gave up his class but will teach the new instructors how to fire the gas and salt kiln. I dropped from 3 days a week back to my Thursday class. The enrollment is strong. We both feel you should leave something better than you found it.
I found myself enough time to work on tiles. This last batch were real winners.
I do love the richness of these.   

Remember Christmas is coming up sooner than you think!
We also ship.
If you need something we are happy to shop and ship for you.
Just let us know.
Or- stop in to the gallery, email us or call if you want to. Just leave a message in case we miss the phone.
M

Someone is working

 I keep telling you all that I am working on tiles but it is slow going with days spent at the college. The weeks are flying past me as I fill in for them while they are looking for the right person for the job.
 Meanwhile, there are things that need to be worked on here as well.
Taxes, housework, baking, cleaning, you know all those things that make life work.
 That cleaning thing, it has to happen.
I always look at what I can do in 10 or 15 minutes.
That few minutes makes all the difference for some things, just a lick and a promise.

It seems when I get busy elsewhere I am drawn back to the kitchen here.
I am not sure why but if I cannot make pottery I bake.
It also centers me.
I do like decent bread and Mark and I both like good granola that is not filled with a lot of sugar.
I have posted the recipe before but if you like:
preheat oven to 275- I have jumped the temperature up by 25 degrees.
I usually put 4 cups of good oats in a big handmade bowl.
Then I rough chop 2 cups of nuts, such as walnuts, almonds, cashews or pecans, you get to choose.
I then add roasted sunflower seeds salted or unsalted.
I like Cinnamon and a bit of salt depending on the sunflower seeds.
Toss this all.
Wet- I start with oil, 1/4 cup, on top of that I add honey, maple syrup and a bit hit of molasses up to 3/4 cup mark on a measuring cup, plus 1 TBS Vanilla
See- do what you like.
beat all the wet to a smooth mass, pour over the dry and mix well.
Pour this into a large cookie sheet with sides, cook 15, stir, cook 10-12, stir and add dried fruit.
We like a mix of raisins and craisins.
Stir those in, turn down heat to 250, heat 5-6 minutes.
Cool and store.

Meredith's Granola
275 degrees
4 cups good oats
2 cups of nuts
2 tsp cinnamon
a toss of salt
Mix together:
1/4 cup oil
honey, maple,molasses to 3/4 cup, plus 1 TBS vanilla
 1 cup fruit raisins and craisins
Bake 275 for 15, stir, bake 10-12 stir add fruit, bake at 250 for 5-6
Cool and eat.

Cheers folks!
M

It is Friday the 13th

of July, how is your luck running these days?
I have never been one to worry about the 13th.
 I figure like a full moon in October it has gotten a bad rap.
I love a full moon so, let's try to love the 13th.
We picked massive amounts of blueberries this morning.
This time of year if I don't get out there early it gets too hot too fast for me.
Beautiful morning for picking today, luck.

I have been working on as many tiles as I can over the summer getting ready for the fall.
I like this house, I worked in a tree on this one and I think it worked pretty well.

I have an order for some accent tiles for a kitchen, the customer has a vision of what she wants, I am just working through that.
I think it would be brilliant to have these in a kitchen they will add a nice splash of color.
I was reading the other day that the all white kitchen is on the way out.
For myself I like color in my spaces, I  have been interested in the all white, but never drawn to it. When I see all white I want some crayons so I can add some color in there.
Maybe drawn a house, a tree, some flowers....
At least with all white you won't need to worry about a primer. It's going to be easy to cover.

Here's your happy for the day.
Later!
M

Working on the details

We are working out a price list along with an order sheet for the tea shop.
We think it will be worth while to start with just 3 items that could be reordered as needed.
If these become good sellers for the shop we will look at adding a few more items.

The teacup with a handle and a saucer to match.
It's funny that I had someone ask me for an item like this in the past year or so and I just discarded the thought. I was not paying attention to the tea drinkers who are out there, forgive me.

The cups will be offered without a handle as well as with.
I know there are folks who love to cradle the cup in their hands.
I am a handle kind of gal even if I turn the handle around away from me to hold the cup when I start drinking, as it cools. Plus, I love a good handle.

White- can I go out to edge of the limb here and ask you if any of you know why white is the new go to color.
You see nothing but white in kitchens, bedrooms, bath, living rooms, is it possible to have 2 dogs, a cat, some kids, and live in the land of red mud, and have an all white house?
I want proof.
If we had white here, I would have to grown a mop on one arm and a bucket on the other.
Back to the reality, it is lovely.

With this line think beach, waves lapping at sand, warm summer nights, starry skies.
And, keep those fingers crossed on this working out for us.
We can use all the positive thoughts we can get.
Cheers,
m

something we are working on

Here is a line of teacups that we are working on.
 It has taken months of testing, firings, and planning to get to this point.
 We are happy with the results and next step is to push them into production.
I'll let you know how that is going.
BTW- I have added a step to comments because of our friend Spam.
I'll be checking and confirm your comments as I can.
Thanks!
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

Last week it was

 HOT!
It was so hot that all you want to do is move from one building to the other. You need a lot of water to drink, and there is not enough water that you can put on a plant to make it happy.
The flowers I planted  have gone from grand to miniatures. I have these tiny flowers instead of the large ones I planted.

 Then today we only reached the 80's. Thank you!

Mark has been making many mugs, beer mugs, coffee mugs, mugs, mugs and more mugs. Just in case there is a run on mugs we are ready.

 The end of he day picture.
We still maintain the habit of cleaning up before we walk out for the evening. It is the ritual of putting it all to bed. It also makes for a nice beginning to come in and have a clean space to work.
I spent one day last week cleaning the gallery. Dusting and rearranging the pottery, fluffing things up a bit.
It makes me feel better...
I don't have a lot to say this week, I am just trying to work while I have a few weeks off. I am working on more tiles while Mark is working pots.

Stop in, it's cool inside, we have a/c in the store.
We don't want folks running out the door because they are too hot to think.
How are things going in you neck of the world, hot, cold, just right...

Tiles and such

 Back it up!
We are working on a glaze that we used a million years ago, well, maybe more.
The black glaze was developed by our son when he was looking for a good science project. What better than to have your parents toss you some glaze materials, a recipe and then show you about doing a line blend.
He measured and tested glazes, did his own firings and this was the result.
He won a trip to DC, we won a glaze.
We set this glaze aside as we were working more in the big gas kiln and I was having a hard time keeping up production on both kilns and our many other glazes. We were also raising kids, running and doing as you do with a family, here, there and everywhere; baseball, girl scouts, boy scouts, band, colorguard, theater,wrestling, life, just life.

Recently we decided to bring back this glaze and add it to the tile firings. A few months of testing, a few firings and we are happy with the results. We did make a slight adjustment to the firing and hold temperature, it all looks good.

I think I will glaze more mugs and make another firing very soon.

 Tiles. I am playing with house tiles.
They are fun, a bit slow, require thought, but I love a red door.

 more

Whoops, I must have knock over that test tile.
Look Ma! No Hands!

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.

A satisfying end and new beginnings

This is the end of the kiln for us, the beginning of a kiln for others.
Today, we clean, and plan.
Dreams can come true.
M

This

 I am not sure how I should title this post.
A man and his kiln.
Changes.
New beginnings.

We are letting go of our large kiln that we built in 1986. We fired many good pots, and many questionable pots in this kiln. It was designed by Mark and built with my help. We used soft brick and dry stacked it, cutting the soft brick as needed to make it fit. We talked about the dry stacking as opposed to the method of mortar. We had seen how difficult it was to take apart a kiln with mortar, our decision was to dry stack in case we needed to take it down or rebuild it. Our thoughts when we built Ms. B was to rebuild this one as a smaller kiln.
Then life changed a bit for us, we found we like working in a smaller kiln, and, I am making more and more tile.
The last time we fired this kiln was January 2016.
Mark told me one day that he was ready to let it go and let it go while the brick could still be used.
We sold the brick and we sold it for a song.
I am sure people will think we were crazy, but behind crazy you can find reason.

 We had our reasons.
We wanted to find someone who would be dedicated to removing the brick from the kiln, and putting that brick back to use, building a new kiln, youth, we were looking for youth, and they found us.
A young couple are in the process of removing the brick and taking it home with them to now plan a new wood fired kiln. They were planning a small kiln, this is going to allow them to build a larger kiln.
There are times in your life that you are helped, we were, and we know it. We built this kiln with help from my parents. Back in the day getting a loan for an art based business was difficult to say the least. They co-signed for us. This was a big investment for us. 5,000.00 . But, if you take that and divide it over 30 years that is 166.67 per year or closer to 200.00 if we are thinking of interest. What we did was pay this off as quick as possible.
As we watched the bricks being stacked in the back of trailers and pickup trucks it is bittersweet.

the patenia of many years of shoes with the local red dirt.

 With bitter is the sweetness of knowing this will be a start for a young potter. It is not always about the dollars, yes, we could have asked more money for the brick, but why? I think we all got what we needed. We are pretty happy watching it go away. We are not leaving it to Rot away and maybe have no use later. Over the past few years I have watched people hang on to things that they think are important. My thoughts is it has no life unless you give it such.
This kiln will have a new life.
 We have new space.
What's next?
Not sure
Stay tune.
M

Look at the marks the burners made, arches. 

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

Ms. B makes Queen of the day