Looking for luck

I am slowly getting back to work this week.
I started working yesterday on a cone 6 firing of tiles.
Glazing the tiles can be a tedious job since I like to put in different colors and they all are being painted in.
I did try some last time with glaze and cold wax, then I poured the background and I was pretty happy with the results.
I am not sure it saved me any time, but I did like the results.


I have to admit that Lee seems more with me when I am in the studio since she spent so much time here with me last year.
Last year she would come over roll out her own slabs for tiles, spend the night with us and then finish up and head back to Raleigh late the next day.  We had made plans for more tiles we wanted to do together.
Her next plans for tiles were going to be Hummingbirds in memory of our brother Jay.
I am sad she did not have the time to do even one.

Lee asked that we make jars for her ashes along with another potter friend.
A project I will think about soon and post pictures later.
 I have to get together with her friends to figure out what we are going to do.
One thought is that I throw them and they decorated them.
I thought it could be nice and fitting to put a Hummingbird on them along with some of her favorite flowers.

Today I will be glazing and running many thoughts through my head as I try to clear some cobwebs out and form a more clear picture of where I am going this year with clay.
I keep running back to it even though there are many things pulling me away.
What is it about getting in that place where the hands take over and the mind feels free to wander or you are so focused that it takes you to another level?

I have been thinking too about the families in Japan and listening as one thing happens after another.
If you have not read the blog by fellow potter Euan Graig you should his accounting of what he and his family are going through is so well written and gives you a first hand look at what is going on.
Our hearts are with him.

I have been checking in on many blogs and I am inspired by what I see others doing.
And I was thrilled to see Tracey had her building about finished.
I was amazed at how quickly this has gone up and happy that she will have a space to call her own.
Yea!
I was also inspired by Megan's post about what you can get done in 30 minutes while she is adjusted to her life as a Mom. It made me think that even if I don't have hours there are a lot of 30 minutes in a day.


I am sure I will get back soon to long days in the studio but this is going to be a year.
One that brings many reflections and thoughts.
Here is my thought to you today- Do you have a will?
Cheery Right?!

Walking into walls

We did have a great show out at the Luck's cannery here in Seagrove.
On Monday we completely cleaned our gallery/store or our wee little Pottery Sale shop.
It is about 12X26.
Some days we feel like the story about Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Some days it is too big, when stock is low.
Some days is is too small, when stock is high.
and other days it is just right.
But most days I am amazed that we have made a living out of our wee little shop.
It has been good to us.
And- it needed a real shake down.
We are magnets for cobwebs and dust.
We took the whole store apart, dusted and rearranged.
It has that fresh and clean look to it with all the pottery sitting just a Little taller.
Now the down part of the dusting and maybe the season.
I have had vertigo in the past but not for several years.
I usually feel it coming on and do some things to prevent it from going full blown.
Welp- it just snuck up on me and has me loopy.
I rolled over this morning the room spun.
This means getting up and moving very slowly.
I can't turn my head fast or "cut my eyes" at you.
It also means that trip to the store is out today and so is my appointment for a massage...
Sigh.
Sometimes life just bites you.
So here I am at my desk making busy while I see how long this is going to last.
I have had it last for weeks and other times it passes in a day.
Meanwhile, I don't move fast and walk into walls.
It is like being the drunk at the party with no booze.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
I'll be doing mine a little slow........

Cone 5 clear

So it is fall and we should be doing nothing but making pots.
But then there is that kiln we are working on- and we are testing glazes.
I am looking for a really good clear for cone 5.
Yep- 5 not 6.
I have tested two and I have three others to try today.
What I would like is for the glaze recipe to include what temperature the glaze fires to.
I have a target temp of 2185-2190.
The clay body I use does not like to go to 6 and is happy at these temperatures.
So anyone with suggestions for a cone 5 clear shout them out!
I can add them to my list for test.
Meanwhile- it is time to get back on the wheel and make some pots for the next gas load.

why put off today what you are not going to do tomorrow

How did it get to be Friday?
I think I must have spent part of this week in a dream land far away.
I have messed around all week and now it is Friday.
After unloading the kiln and then jumping right into tiles. My brain went on shut down mode.
I could not seem to focus.
I cleaned up bits of the studio, jumped around from think I will throw to let's test some cone 6 slips and glaze.
The test won out, I mean who starts throwing on Thursday afternoons?
Oh, you do- well not me.
So yesterday we mixed up some test and this morning I glazed and placed them in the test kiln and they are cooking along right now.
Why in the world do Iget so distracted.
I set the calendar up with the next show, kilns to be fired, pots to be made and suddenly my mind goes walk about.
So I will finish the test, check the results and get myself back on the wheel on Monday.
See- theses are GOALS.
Better go turn up the kiln!

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."

July 9th- Happy New Year!

If you have been following our Blog you know that last year on July the 8Th we lost our work studio to fire.
Yesterday I had planned to post just to mark the passing of the year.
There were several ways I thought about how to post and then the day and night got completely away from me.
As I was going to bed around midnight I thought, " life has returned to normal." There was no time to sit and reflect on the fire of last year.
The time of the fire came and went and we were busy.
Busy glazing.
Busy with customers.
Busy loading a kiln.
Busy building the new kiln.
Busy with the garden.
Busy with family and friends...
It was a hard walk last year, but guess what, we did it and life has resumed.
I like it.

Where's the flashlight?

Well, there I go with the fast fingers and the post goes out with not one written word---
As I was thinking......... the kiln is cooling and Mark and I have already taken turns with the flash light. First he takes a look in the kiln and then I take a look in the kiln.
Right now, where we can look and see anything, things look good. The ash glaze has stopped above the bottoms of the pots.
Well above the shelf.
At least where we can see.
Mark pulled the kiln back a bit this firing stopping right before a flat cone 10.
The cones are bent, but not flat down.
Hopefully we will continue to see good pots.
Now for some clean up in the studio before unloading the kiln tomorrow.

But! I do have to say, "UNCLE" with the rain!
Here in the land of Magnolias and Mildew we are well covered with both.
Is this not the sunny south?
Bring back some sun.
Then I would like to open the house up and dry things out before the frogs take up residence.
I feel some gills growing as I sit here in my dank basement.
Pots out tomorrow- pictures I hope to follow.
M

Glazing

What is the mystery to good glazing. It is all just good guess work?
We are glazing this week and when I say week- it takes of most of a week to wax, glaze and load our big gas kiln.
While doing this I always find we are guessing about the glazes. How did this work last time, do we need to mix and add more, did it run too much was it just right, where did it sit in the kiln?
All of these questions are valuable in how the pot will turn out.
We have enough pottery going in the kiln that we know some will be good and some will be "not so good."
We try very hard not to make seconds, but as we all know......... there has to be a few dogs.
Mark has worked on the formulas to weight each glaze as it worked for the last firing. He has written down the weights on all the buckets. Maybe this will give us a better place to start.
I always have this moment early in the glaze cycle about each pot, how it will be glazed and where it will sit in the kiln. Is this a low shelf or a top shelf, middle stack, front or back stack. If I throw in this 10 inch shelf will the stack run hotter in the back or in the front. The middle is always hot- so choke it down a bit with some short shelves..........
You would think after 26 years we would have this down.
With our firing times off so much from catch up this past year I have lost the rhythm of glazing.
I can see that I need to get it back or take up sewing.
And if you know me you know I can sew but I don't really like it.
So back to glazing today, taking notes and keeping our fingers crossed that we do not melt the glaze off the pots onto the shelves!

We all need to start somewhere-

July will soon be here and it makes me reflect on the past year.

In fact, I will never see July the same for many reasons.

My father, who was a newspaper man, and wore many hats while in the business and was a hell of a writer and wordsmith past away on the 4Th of July the year my son graduated from High School-1994- a year of change.

He use to tell my kids he worked at the word factory.He loved words, the English language, the twist and turns of words, a good joke and an even better pun.I always thought God gave him me just to remind him that some people can not spell, thank you spellcheck, can't string a good thought together and must work with their hands.

Don't get me wrong, he was one of my biggest supporters when I decided to become a potter.

Last July we were hit by lighting and our work studio burned. Not one of our better years- 2008- "a walk in hell," I call it in my mind. But one we walked and now see the other side of.

It was tense, sad and hard. Most of all it was, Just plain hard.

But- this walk was in many ways easier then the one you walk when you lose a love one.

We loved our life and our building- but they were and have been replaced.We have begun to feel the pace of the potter's life returning.

I don't feel as if I am walking on broken glass. I feel as if we are returning to what we have done since 1982.

The pots have not made big changes they are pretty much the pots we have been making- but then again I am making the tiles and testing out glazes at cone 6 for the tiles and the big tile project to come. As Mark keeps saying as he is working, "It's like coming home."

Comfort- comfort in the shapes and comfort in the clay.

The biggest thing I added to my day is all the people whom I have met and read their blogs- I try to read you all and I follow your blogs some days until my computer yells, "no more---- go. to. work.!"

You were such a lifeline and still are.

My plan in my head is to someday go in person to see some of these potters- why not? What fun that would be to have tea with Linda Star, sit in Barbara's garden and talk about spiders.

Then I would be off to see Patricia Griffin.

Meet Cynthia Guajardo and see her remodeled house and life- coffee up at Micheal Kline's place.

A beer with Gary Rith at his favorite place. I would love to sit and watch Sofia and her Dad, Jim , create together. Then I would have to go see Cindy Shake who drips talent with everything she does.

Out to see Julia and meet her bees and Stan,who would rather keep the name Ruby.

I read the Seagrove blogs as well- don't think I am not checking in with you- just too many to mention here today.

Then there is the Women's Colony. I would go there to soak up some of the energy from the women who write and give me bites of their lives.

So- start here because this is your life.

B is for Bowls and C is for Corn

Bowl \Bowl\ (b[=o]l), n. [OE. bolle, AS. bolla; akin to Icel. bolli, Dan. bolle, G. bolle, and perh. to E. boil a tumor. Cf. Boll.]
1. A concave vessel of various forms (often approximately hemispherical), to hold liquids, etc.
Brought them food in bowls of basswood. --Longfellow.
2. Specifically, a drinking vessel for wine or other spirituous liquors; hence, convivial drinking.
3. The contents of a full bowl; what a bowl will hold.
4. The hollow part of a thing; as, the bowl of a spoon.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

I did follow up the bottles with some bowls. These are
1 1/4 pound used for soup, stews, or ice cream. well, whatever you fancy. Oatmeal, cereal, a small salad.... serving or to eat out of.
They are indented on four side. I like the shape, although, I have trouble getting them all the same size. But hey- this is handmade stuff here if you want them all the same you can shop at____ or ________ or _________. But I will tell you everything taste better out of a handmade bowl. EVERYTHING!


Mark has been very happy with the rebuild on his wheel. He said, "It's like coming home." He and the wheel have had a few "moments" together and I think they are both very happy to be clicking along making pots together. It has been a week of rhythm - things just chugging along as they should. Isn't that what it is all about? The moments?





For grins, Mark has put in some corn over near the studio.
I planted some field peas, sunflowers and nasturtium to go with the corn. We don't know if we will get any corn to eat, but thought it would be fun to watch. Maybe next year we will plant it with eating in mind.
I am curious to see how the field peas do. Those might be tasty!

It was a moment of insanity

What was I thinking?

I am mother of the groom- all I needed to do was to get a dress and secure a place for the rehearsal dinner.

I did get my dress.

And as of Monday, thought we had a place for the dinner.

The woman who should have put us on the books did not.

Yep- less then 2 weeks out I found out I had 50 people and food for 50 people and no room to put them in.

And- this is a Hampton Inn, I expected more. Maybe that was the problem- I expected them, her, to act professionally and I found out that was not her style.

The first red flag should have been the unreturned emails back in January.Then the unreturned phone call - and then the unreturned email.

But I went on anyway- like a lost puppy- and continue to hound her until she returned an email.I thought I had her and the room.

She failed to write us in the book and then went on to book the room for someone else-

They offered us the lobby----------------

with a clean up fee----------------------

We declined and are now moving rooms else where.

Hampton Inn- I expected better.

Now to the good part.

The people at the B&B where the wedding will be called another B&B and they are taking our 50 people and our catered dinner.

NC Barbecue with the trimmings!

They are setting us up with tables and chairs at their pool area.

We have even booked into their B&B for the weekend.

( insert cheers here!)

Now the other insanity- we booked a show for this upcoming weekend.

Yea, I know- we thought we could make it.

I contacted the Rosedale yesterday and let them know we would not be there.

The director called me laughing.

She said," you thought you could do a show the weekend before a wedding???????"

Yea- I did- but we will not be there.

So apologies to anyone who planned to see us there- we will be here and open.

So come on by.

Mark is working on the mudbox- putting the wood together.

It's like watching glue dry

Rebuilding the mudbox is slow work. All the details have to come together.
We build to last! Unless there is a fire- then we rebuild to last!
The metal is now covered with plywood and then a sheet of plastic is cut to fit. This in now glued to the plywood....and we wait.







Meanwhile- I am working on the wedding tiles that came out of today's kiln. One more kiln to fire and I will have the rest glued by the end of next week.
Why the end of next week?
I have to order the right size magnets.
I ordered one size too small and they need to be "just right."

I am watching this beauty open new flowers each day. I counted 10 as I walked across the yard.

So pretty!

About that warranty

After the fire Mark rebuilt my mud box , but had to put off rebuilding his own. This week seemed like a good time to take the Brent apart and give it a go.
First he has striped off the plastic top which covers the metal top.




Then he cut down the aluminum wheel head collar, which holds the splash pan in place.
Ouch- there goes the warranty!






Then again these wheels are past the warranty time since they are both well over 20 years old- one close to 30- ouch! where did the time go?





Next step will be to fit the wheel head to the floor pan.
So stay tune- I will post more pictures as he goes along.
Meanwhile he is trimming and carving up some nice lamps along with getting the new kiln in place.
It is great to have A.D.D.-that way you are always on to the next task.

Me- I have wedding tiles cooking along in my little test kiln and I am throwing filler pots.

No, really tell us what happened....

We are pulling out an old kiln and replacing it. While we are doing this I thought this is a good time to snap a shot of the pulley system Mark set up for the kiln lid.
"Why" you are asking- and I am sure your first thought is "ease of opening the kiln." Makes sense does it not.
But then you do not live with me-
Mark set this up on the kilns after I managed to knock the kiln lid on myself while loading it one day.
I had been loading bisque kilns for 20 years at the time. ( it's been about 7 years ago)
I was all the way in the bottom when I realized I had bumped the arm holding the lid up.
I tried to come quickly out of the kiln to avoid being slammed by all the weight.
As I came out the lid hit me in the face.
Fortunately for me I was wearing my reading glasses on the tip of my nose.
They saved me from a broken nose.
The lid hit my glasses and then raked down my face. It was not something I would wish on anyone.
Mark was in the other room with his arm in a glaze bucket- 30 gal. He came running in to find me in the floor with my hands on my face. I was sure something was broken and thought I could hold it togeher by holding my face...........
All I could say is to him was; it's bad, take me to the emergency room.
( something he has heard more then once from me...)
He said to let him see and when I did he said- OMG! Well, that was encouraging.

I won't belabor the details. I saw a doctor, went to the health department for a shot and was bruise from under my eyes to below my neck.
Of course I looked as if someone had beat me black and blue.
And, the women at the health department keep saying- "No, Really- tell us what really happened. "

This is why Mark set the kilns up for easy open and took off the arms, which had no safety on them.
We are getting ready to install a new L&L.
As things look the lid appears to be more safe then our old one.
Then again- should I trust them??
Or is it me-






After all how often are you really using this???!!

Kiln opening and the one that did not get away

Tomorrow is the big day. The cookies are baked the pots are priced and ready.
Bill and Di will be here with meat and eggs we are ready for the kiln opening- well maybe we need a bag of ice.....
I was cleaning up from the last of the cookie baking and watching Mark fish down at the pond.
I thought, "he has something..." Then I saw it jump! Wow! he really does have something!
I watched him pull in the big brother of the one caught a couple of weeks ago.
What a brute!
So you fishermen and fisher women take a look at what came out of the pond.



And know that no fish were harmed. We took his picture and put him back.
He was a little over 8 pounds- 24 inches long and at least 6 1/2 inches at his widest point.
A nice fish if I say so myself.

See you tomorrow in Whynot!

Potters tools or where have all the plungers gone?

I know we all have those tools we find valuable to our job. I thought I would show you our favorite tools for keeping our glazes stirred while dipping pots.
It has become harder to find these plungers- now they are too fancy with an extra cuppy thingy at the bottom- these old fashion plain ones are better.
Wax the handles or put a sealer on them-paint works well too. Then drill some holes. They will keep your glaze nicely mixed.

And while we are at it- how about that long Allen wrench which you are not using? Works great for a test batch of glaze- and if you think this is great you should have seen my father- in-law use a cordless drill with a beaters to the mixer to mash potatoes one year when the mixer died- I will have to find those pictures....

Hanging tiles

I thought I would try this post again.
When I am hanging tiles I use poplar wood strips-1/4 inch by 2 inch which come in 2 or 4 foot length which I buy from Lowe's Hardware.
First we cut the strips to the length we want according to what I am going to glue them to.
Second we then drill a hole for the screw eyes, which will hold the picture wire.
Each piece of wood gets a screw eye.
Be sure to use a straight edge as a guide to set up the space.Turn tile over being sure you have the tile facing the right way for hanging!
Mark the edges with a slight pencil mark to show you where to place the wood after gluing.




Put some glue on the back of the wood and place it back on the tile. Wiggle and press down until it seems firm.
Do the same on the other side. Be sure to keep an eye on where your screw eye is- if you don't you will end up with something which will not hang!
Using bricks-weight the wooden pieces down making sure to keep the wood as straight as possible.
Leave for at least 24 hours- more if the piece is larger .


After the 24 hours or more use number 3 picture wire threaded through the screw eyes to hang with.
When I am gluing a large wall pocket I find it helps to put the piece up on something or inside a bowl while I am setting it up for the glue.


If it is in a bowl- I weight it down with a brick. If that is not possible I just wait a bit and then place it wood side down on a good solid, flat board.














Here is a small 4x4 ready to hang.

Catawba Valley Festival

We are packing up the display- packing up the pots and heading to Hickory for the Catawba Pottery Festival.
I have a kiln with odds and ends firing- I am glaze testing for the wedding tile- and it is going to rain.
It should be a great weekend to set aside your garden and come up, down or across to Hickory and find some pots for eating, drinking, and enjoying.
You know you need a vase to put flowers in or a lamp in that spot of the house that needs a bit of light.
A bowl for serving- a bowl for eating- a cup for coffee or tea.
An oil lamp to light for a romantic dinner or to chase away the night when the lights go out.
A cup for wine- a small plate for nibbles.

Somethig to hang, something to stand or something to sit.
There will be potters there who can fill just about any whim or need you have.
We will see you there.
M&M

Clay

We went down to StarWorks for some of the clay which had been donated by Takuro for the upcoming group firing on the 4th of April about a week or so ago.
Realizing we would not have time for another gas firing for us- we decided to give this new Starwhite clay body a go.
What a great throwing body it has turned out to be.
We both enjoyed throwing it and have made most of the pots we want to have for the firing.
As I was unloading the bisque kiln I look at the 4 different clay bodies- maybe too many? Maybe not.
we are excited to also try out our glazes on the Star clay as well.
It would be great if we can use it for the gas kiln as well.
The different clay bodies:
Pinkish one- Standard 153
Red one- Highwater red stone or is it red rock I mix them up
White clay-Highwater Loafers glory and new Star white.

Spring break

What happened to those bottles Mark was working on?
we left them drying and went off to visit with both our Mothers for a few days.
hitting the Starbucks and having some lunches out- enjoying summer type weather in the city--- There are times when we could move right back- live the city life- this was one of those times. Spring called us- we pulled ourselves away...it was hard. Did you know if you live in a city you don't have to drive 25 minutes to a grocery store???
Back to work tomorrow!


While we were in Norfolk we took our daughter, who works for Young Audiences of Virginia out to lunch. If you have never heard of Young audiences, they are a non-profit who books Artist into the public school systems. Who could ask for more?

What Anna and her co-workers do is a very worth while occupation! Taking artist and bringing them into the schools. They all work very hard to make sure the artist and the kids all benefit from the experience. To say Anna loves her work is putting it mildly. She does a terrific job!

They will all miss Amanda- friend and co-worker and one of our "other daughters"- who will soon be leaving to start a new life with her recently "discharged"(Navy) husband. He has been offered a good job- but not in Norfolk. Best wishes to them both and you know your way to the farm- come see us anytime!