A taste of spring in winter

6x6, more like 61/4

 We did get over to unload the kiln the other day. It took some careful steps with ice on the ground. I am much more aware that I do not want either of us to take a spill.

I was overall happy with the tiles. I always see what I could have done better first. Then I have to tell myself to set it all aside and sleep on it, look with fresh eyes, note issues and move ahead.

I am guilty of taking a left on a sharp curve instead of staying straight on a path. I am always rethinking the background of the tiles. I jump back and forth and sometimes I just jump off the deep in and try something else. I don't want those areas to take over the tile just to add to or sit quietly in the back part of the design. 

6x6 more like 61/4

It is always a process.

I tucked this one in a frame because that is another thought that I have, framing some of the tiles.

I always come back from that just wondering if it is what I want to do.
I can make a tile and then let someone decide how they want it to be used, framed or not. I like both.
Still mulling this one...

When I am choosing color I will quickly go red. I like red, I like the pop of color. We are in the age of gray walls, red loves gray walls.
But, this yellow combination has grabbed me lately. Oh, I am smitten with the yellows and greens. They are bright and cheery.

8x8, plus

 True confession on the tile on the bottom, I think I got carried away by the dragonflies...too many?
 Or, not enough!?

We are still waiting to be safe from ice on the driveway and will be closed another day.
Thursday I head over to teach, let's melt this stuff today, please. I will leave it up to Mark to open tomorrow  while I am gone. We should be open on Friday and Saturday.
Put Seagrove on your list of places to visit. I would be happy to point you to places to stay, eat or have a drink.
Stop in!

Winter at Whynot

The sun is up and we are out the door to check the buildings,
Be safe.
m

Working in the cold

It's cold and there is no good way to get the studio completely warm.
We can get it warm enough, just enough.
When we rebuilt the studio we did not plan well enough on the heat for the rooms.
The large room we work mainly in has a wall space heater that has a hard time keeping the room as warm as we like. The best way to help is to layer up.

We don't usually have weather that is this cold for long periods of a time so there are other tricks that we need to use to make sure that pots don't dry too fast. It is not beneficial to have pots that are too dry to trim or handle.
There are always plenty of tasks that need taking care of to set aside January as a month to clean, prep, work on the house, go take a lunch. There are many times that getting away can be hard for us to do. Making January a good time to take some much needed mental health days.
Usually we like a walk in the woods, a road less traveled, but this weather is making those walks not the top on my list.
I had hope that I could walk daily this month, I am off my mark.
I have never been a mall walker but I just might become one if the weather stays around.

These crocks are a customer favorite for the kitchen, they get filled with all those cooking spoons, whisks, and such that you need close at hand for cooking.
I have two in my kitchen, one this size and one smaller one.
They are simple, straight sided, not too fancy, just full of use.
I can't imagine not having one close at hand.

Do you have some favorite items in your kitchen.
( I am trying to distract myself from the cold)
m

Here comes winter and her wily ways

 It looks as if we will have some winter later today after the best fall filled with many warm days and good colors. The leaves are mostly gone with the exception of the oaks that are holding tight to their brown leaves. 
I get some calls this time of year for gifts to be shipped out.
In the days of internet shopping Mark and I talk more and more about having an on line store. It has been a stone around our neck for many years. I am not sure I want to spend the time on it and yet there may be no way out.
I always think if we picked just 10 items that we could post over and over maybe that would be the way to go.
I think that people are missing out on an adventure by not going out to explore the local artist. It is a different experience altogether. You use to get here on a wing and a pray, but now we can all be easily found on goggle maps. You just plug us in and go.

 So, while I was taking some pictures I just stood in our shop and took some pictures of the pottery we have in stock.
Need a mug?
 We have many.
Need a pitcher?
We can hook you up.
Bowls, now, who does not need a bowl?
 

 We also carry some local soap made by our friend Laurie.
At the end of this month we will slow our hours and start working on items for next year.
I wonder if there is anything new and different that will come up?
Except bacon cookers- no, I am not making those, ever.

Bundle up, put on the coffee it might be a good weekend to hibernate.
Or, if you are in the adventure mood, come on out.
M

Get ready

 There are pots.
There are good ones and there are seconds.
We are "talking" about why.
Why, why, why.....

We know that there have been changes in the materials that we use for glazes. The buzz in the pottery community about loss has been out there for months. We are just now being hit with some of the difficulties that come from those changes.
New plan of action, testing, testing, testing, and not using some of the glazes that we have used for years until we figure this out.

 Menahwile, we will take the good.
Hammer the bad and move on.

 The pictures loaded backwards on me this time.
You can head to the bottom and work up, if you like.

Winter storm heading our way. Let us hope it is quick and short lived.
Stay warm!
Plan on coming to see us in the early spring.
M

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.

For Valentine's day we unloaded a kiln

it can't get any better than that.

We are still under the mess of too much melting snow.
If you need us, call or email before coming out.
Cheers,
M

Loading the kiln for a February Firing

Yesterday started out nice and chilly, a perfect day to load a kiln.
We layered up in the morning then as the day went on we slowly took off a layer or two, only to add them back later.
It takes us about 5 hours to load and brick the door on the kiln.
We like to get a start in then stop about half way  for a break.

Mark asked me if I had taken any pictures of the back stack.
Me- no.
Whoops, I am falling down on the job.
Now you get a picture of the back and the start of the middle stack.

 On the right you will see some of Marks tools for setting the shelves.
The trick to having tools in the kiln while you are loading is to remember to take them out later.
We have a chisel  that had rolled up against the bricks on the front side of the kiln and sat there through a couple of firings. We found it one day and it still works, looks a bit strange but works. The last firing at Christmas we left a piece of wood that we were using to stand on while loading. It left a nice residue on the bricks.
 It took us both a few minutes to figure out what had happened, we had to laugh at us.
 We need a keeper to follow us around and check on things.

Years ago we had friends who had left the burner ports open on his kiln after he loaded. The next morning after the gas was lit he heard a commotion in the kiln, there was banging and a knocking of pots going on. He quickly turned off the kiln and pulled a few bricks. Out shot their cat who had been peacefully sleeping in the top of the kiln. Our friend just brick up the door and fired on. The cat was fine, just short 1 life.
When the kiln was unloaded they found pots at the top of the kiln with cat prints on them where the cat had hopped from one pot to the other to get away from the flames.
Lucky cat.

 And now the front stack.
We had it bricked just after 4 pm.
Mark was up at the crack of 2 am to light the kiln.
Me. I slumbered away until about 6, lucky me.
Today I see as my day off.
I am baking bread, making granola, doing some bookwork and chatting with family.
Cheers,
M

It was here just a minute ago.

I bet we all spend 99.9% of our time looking for something that we just had in our hand.
Where did I set x down?
While you are looking you are thinking about all those dollars that are flaoting away while you look.
Oh, if I had a dollar for every time I could not find........ I would be rich.
We all would.
We all set things down and lose them.
We all walk around with our glasses sitting right on top of our heads saying loudly, "have you seen my glasses?"
Or search frantically for our keys just to find out they are in your back pocket or hooked on your belt.
"Has anyone seen my keys?"
As soon as you ask someone the thing you are looking for will float right up and bite you.

I'm here!
We are working away in the studio,waxing pots, mixing glazes and getting ready for that first firing of the year.
And, yes, we are looking for x,y and z.
It takes awhile to gather up the things needed and then try to remember where you put x when you cleaned up last Christmas.
I know I put it somewhere safe.
Someone must have been here and taken it.
Look at all the good stuff they left behind when they took just that thing I need right now....

The other thing that many of us are looking for is spring.
We want winter to hurry past us and bring spring in, now, fast, right now.

It looks like that is not going to happen for us yet.
I hope everyone stays safe, well and dry.
I have to see if I can find my book, it was right here a minute ago.
M

Why it is hard to work in January

 I know, I know, some of you have to get up, get dressed, get in  a car and get to your jobs, on time.
I know all I have to do is get dressed, walk across the yard and I am at work.

The weather has other plans for us all this year. I think the weather is telling us all to slow down, take a break, look around, pay some attention to me.

There are many things in life that humans can not control and this is one of them.

For yesterday's snow day I baked bread. One loaf for us and one loaf for a friend who is going to trade me for some real cheese. Not the stuff that passes for cheese in the grocery store, but real, made on a farm, cheese.
I think I am getting the better deal and so does she. Win!

 As I was baking yesterday this was the view out the kitchen window. Usually I am the person who wants to go walk in the snow. This time, not so much. Not a lot of snow and it is just plain cold out there.
Yesterday was a perfect excuse to plug away on last year's taxes. Paper work day! I usually hate to give up a day to the paper, but when it is this cold I'll take it.
The only problem I have is we have a deadline to meet and everyday away from the studio puts me a day behind.
If left to me we would all take January off. We would sit and read books, drink tea or coffee, unplug and dream. We would hibernate like bears.
Then we would come out and be hungry for life.
Ravenous!
We would shake off the cobwebs and work like demons for the rest of the year. 

Mark did come and get me from my basement cave to walk up and get the mail.

Dismal, bleak, and yet, charming a moment in life.

We are off to a slow start this morning, waiting to see if we can heat the studio enough to do any work at all.
I think for me that I could roll some tiles and call it a day.

Keep the home fire burning.
M

If a tree falls.

 There have been some winds blowing through the area since December. We were able to escape from the winds on Saturday that blew through here very quickly. I can not remember tornado warnings being issued in December before. We listened as the warnings ran county by county until they were gone.
They left downed trees and widespread destruction.
This tree fell away from the house.

Now, if the old wives tales hold true we should see some snow coming in the next 10 days.


   The sun is shinning today as we working in the studio.
I always laugh at how hard it is to go work when there is snow on the ground and harder still to work when there is warm sun shinning.
That sun can be so intoxicating to us.

 We are both weather junkies and watch in amazement as the winter drops the cold, wet, ice, snow and all on many parts of the country.
The next round is coming soon.
We are soggy from the rain and I hope we can dry out more before the next round.

I walked up to get the mail today it was just too nice a day not to get a walk in.

The shot below is the reason I call the south my home.
Sure we get some winter weather but then there are the days like today.
How can you beat this.

I am heading back to the studio and finish some work.
Later,
M

24 hours later, snow

Mark had spotted a Bald Eagle on the pond Thursday late afternoon so on Friday before we went to work we walked slowly around the pond to see if we could spot the eagle. Not only did we spot one we spotted two. One very large one and one smaller one.

As we were stopping to look for birds I noticed that we were having one of those days where the pond looks like glass.The water was so still, giving those great reflections in the water that I just love, with a blue sky and just hints of clouds.

 How could it possible be calling for cold and snow on Saturday when this weather was so savory.

We worked in the studio in the morning and then took advantage of the weather to get some outside work done.

Then today just after I had been over to check on a kiln a light rain started and now we are having a nice light snow.
Just like I like my winters.
Here today, gone tomorrow.

I hope you are all warm and safe.
M

Winter comes to Whynot

What is it they say about weather.
If you don't like it well wait 24 hours.
Well I liked it, but we all knew it had to end and yesterday end it did.
There was a rain and heavy wind front that came in and took us down a notch or two. It is a tad chilly this morning. I was so sure it was cooler earlier this week that I kept overdressing for the studio.
This is that time of year that finding the right combo of warmth for working in water becomes difficult. I find several layer help and that old ratty vest are a must.
A good old ratty vest will help keep your core warm while freeing up your arms.
Too many layers on the arms makes for awkward throwing.

I also took advantage of the cloudy days to shoot some pictures outside.
I have found that I can do better outside and I like the natural backgrounds that we have. I use this rock and once I have the piece set on the rock I walk around the rock rather than moving the piece. This really seems to save time. I do crop some and some I don't.
I was reading King Creek's blog and she has been doing some experimented with natural and "the cube".
Do we all have one of these cubes? I know we bought one as well and it will soon be set up again in the basement closer to the computer so I can try, yet again, to get some pictures inside that thing.... I too have had mixed results and oh, look! Dust! Oh, Look at that little hair or.... some days me and the cube just don't get along.
But I do like the rock.

I do have to be careful because as you can see the rock is not flat on top so the piece can look as if it is crooked. But, hey, aren't we all a bit off...

We really are back working and I took some pictures of the ever reclusive Mark at his sit down/stand up wheel. He bites when I do this so I have to be very quiet and sneak up on him....
He starts his larger pots on this wheel while sitting and then stands to finish them as he pulls taller.
Seems to work well.

Production in the making, think small then move to large.

Here she is winter-ta da!

Time to find some layers, clay is calling,
M