[wolfie50]

I love the pitcher!

[teardrop]

Yer lucky to have that open studio Wolfie50! Take advantage when you can!

teardrop

[Jeri]

teardrop, on 26 February 2012 - 08:28 PM, said:

Yer lucky to have that open studio Wolfie50! Take advantage when you can!

teardrop

Can't agree with Teardrop enough! Enjoy the open studio as much as you can! I love you're little jar head, he's cute as a button, and can't wait to see a picture of him all finished. His head is a little pointy for a true "Jarhead" *coughs* (A little joke regarding the USMC, from a USMC brat, and retired USAF wife here). As I said, I can't wait to see a picture of him all finished, he'd adorable.

I have my own little in home studio, and I rent space at a local place just so I can get the access you have. I have found I learn more when I'm at Coyote Clay studio, working, talking, and watching other potters than I ever did in my little place with reading and experimenting, etc. (Most of the staff is is pretty helpful also). I am however, thinking of taking some private lessons from one of the other potters there, just to get the kinks worked out on the one problem I just can't seem to get past.

Lately I've been trying out new glazes, well, new for me. Ash glazes. Oh my goodness, I love the look of them, but boy do they run! I just don't have the space here at home to mix my own glaze, so I do buy commercial. My first attempt at an ash glaze... well, lets just say even with allowing ~1/2" dry clay at the bottom of the vase, I still offered to replace the kiln shelf... I'm not even sure I can grind down the bottom enough to save it. If not for all of the glaze and bits of kiln shelf attached to the bottom of the piece, it would have been a beautiful vase. I'm excited with the way it came out, but so sad that it ran even more than I expected. I'm not ready to give up on using them yet, but am rather discouraged. Is there some type of trick to using an ash glaze so that it doesn't run quite so badly?

Today, I intend on going into the studio and just having some me time, much needed after battling a sinus infection. I'm not quite sure if I'm going to be glazing or throwing yet. But I do intend on learning something new!

[teardrop]

Ah....the "glaze on the shelf" gig! We were threatened in class we'd have to replace shelves if we ran glaze all over 'em. (fat chance)

Good thing we have our own kiln and shelves now. >snicker<

Definitely "trial by fire" here....but we are learning lots and lots by simply doing it and seeing what comes out of the kiln.

some kinda fun!

[Jeri]

Oh my, what a week! I sure could use some down time, and for me, that means studio time.

My week in a nutshell, a big one at that... Saturday, my husband woke me up with saying that he bought tickets to Portland OR so we could surprise our oldest daughter for her graduation from culinary school next month, and that he reserved rooms at an Inn in Seaside, OR, on the beach for the weekend. He then went out and surprised me by buying me a Giffin Grip, some new trimming tools (replacing the ones that were borrowed but not returned at the studio where I rent space) and a belt and disc sander combo (He said it was for cleaning up the bottom my pots when needed, but it's in his work shop. We all know who that is really for right?) We spent Sunday bowling, as it keeps my 89yr old Mom some what active, and the only thing she's interested in doing, and unfortunately, she had a bad day Monday (I'm her care giver btw) with not remembering what year or state we're living in. Tuesday, my husband ended up so sick that we spent the day in the ER as he started having chest pains. Everything turned out just fine, and it's just this mystery virus that's been going around in our neck of the woods. It gets better, as we're sitting in the ER, my son in law calls me, my daughter, who is 32 weeks pregnant, was upstairs in labor and delivery with contractions 3 min apart! Thankfully, they stopped the labor, and sent her home on bed rest until she can see her own midwife next week. Yesterday was spent cooking, and more cooking, and more cooking, as I fixed meals that are 'heat & eat' for the next week. I'm taking turns with keeping an eye on her and making sure my 3 yr old grand daughter lets Mommy get some rest.

Mom's having a good day so far, so I managed to sit down and really take a look at some of my recent projects/pieces. A range of emotions with this bunch, from heart break, to being pleased. I tried my hand at some ash glaze, (heart break) and as mentioned before, offered to pay for a new shelf, tried to recover a pot that went flying off the bat during trimming (reason for the Giffin grip), and decided to just play around with some underglazes (love the way the bottom turned out). I even tried my hand with some soda firing, and out of the three small items I did, I'm happy with only one. I was however surprised at how much it shrank and how heavy it became (the weight is most likely my fault). If I can figure out how to attach more than one picture to this, I will.

As I said, it's been quite a week, some good, very good, and very scary times, so since Mom is having a good day, I'm dropping her off at the Senior Center and heading off to the studio. Oh yes, one very saving grace that happened during a round a bad patch this week, Monday, I had a beautiful visitor sitting in the pine tree outside my home studio window. He was even nice enough to pose for pictures!

Have a wonderful day everyone, and keep on playing in the mud, it's such wonderful therapy!

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[teardrop]

Thanks for sharing, jeri. Wow...you weren't kiddin about the ash glaze/shelf!

Below is some less-than-skilled noob "Klunkery" from our first kiln firing.

Therapy is right. The first 10 pitchers out of the >new to us< kiln will be given as gifts to our fellow Grievers in the Hospice sponsored Grief group we have been attending for the past 10 weeks. It's just noob junk by the standards on this site but I'll wager it will make folks smile just the same.

Some cracks here/there.....some spouts too thin....some glaze mishaps.... but still lots of fun and a great learning experience.

teardrop

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[Jeri]

teardrop, on 08 March 2012 - 10:48 AM, said:

Thanks for sharing, jeri. Wow...you weren't kiddin about the ash glaze/shelf!

Below is some less-than-skilled noob "Klunkery" from our first kiln firing.

Therapy is right. The first 10 pitchers out of the >new to us< kiln will be given as gifts to our fellow Grievers in the Hospice sponsored Grief group we have been attending for the past 10 weeks. It's just noob junk by the standards on this site but I'll wager it will make folks smile just the same.

Some cracks here/there.....some spouts too thin....some glaze mishaps.... but still lots of fun and a great learning experience.

teardrop

The pitchers are beautiful Teardrop! I think it's wonderful what you're doing with them and am sure they'll be greatly appreciated.

Jeri Lynne

[Joanie]

teardrop, on 08 March 2012 - 12:48 PM, said:

Thanks for sharing, jeri. Wow...you weren't kiddin about the ash glaze/shelf!

Below is some less-than-skilled noob "Klunkery" from our first kiln firing.

Therapy is right. The first 10 pitchers out of the >new to us< kiln will be given as gifts to our fellow Grievers in the Hospice sponsored Grief group we have been attending for the past 10 weeks. It's just noob junk by the standards on this site but I'll wager it will make folks smile just the same.

Some cracks here/there.....some spouts too thin....some glaze mishaps.... but still lots of fun and a great learning experience.

teardrop

I like these a lot. Very neat.

[teardrop]

Chalk one up for the noobs!

The folks running the local market liked my pitchers and I was accepted into the fold this week after submitting my photos. 115 vendors each week. We reserved 3 weekends over the Summer (2 of which bookend the 4th of July holiday when town is packed) and can add more weekends if there's space and we so desire to do so. I am sharing space on the 2 4th of July markets with a friend from AZ who is a woodworker/turner who will have bowls and hand-carved walking sticks for sale as well. Any/all of the other markets we partake in we will be solo.

The market itself has the tax gig figured out with the State so all we had to do was get a 2 year long Special Events license from the State (also arrived in the last few days) and we are off. I sold my market canopy years ago when I SWORE OFF doing markets ever again (LOL) but I have one lined up to borrow so we are golden there as well. Never say never, I suppose...

It will be interesting to see if there are other potter's there and what they may have to offer/how we are accepted/etc. (the stories I've heard are all over the board as to >how< other potter's will react to our wares/pricing/etc)

should be an eye-opener!

teardrop

[trina]

teardrop, on 16 March 2012 - 08:09 AM, said:

Chalk one up for the noobs!

The folks running the local market liked my pitchers and I was accepted into the fold this week after submitting my photos. 115 vendors each week. We reserved 3 weekends over the Summer (2 of which bookend the 4th of July holiday when town is packed) and can add more weekends if there's space and we so desire to do so. I am sharing space on the 2 4th of July markets with a friend from AZ who is a woodworker/turner who will have bowls and hand-carved walking sticks for sale as well. Any/all of the other markets we partake in we will be solo.

The market itself has the tax gig figured out with the State so all we had to do was get a 2 year long Special Events license from the State (also arrived in the last few days) and we are off. I sold my market canopy years ago when I SWORE OFF doing markets ever again (LOL) but I have one lined up to borrow so we are golden there as well. Never say never, I suppose...

It will be interesting to see if there are other potter's there and what they may have to offer/how we are accepted/etc. (the stories I've heard are all over the board as to >how< other potter's will react to our wares/pricing/etc)

should be an eye-opener!

teardrop

Hi teardrop, not sure why I tried to have a look at your pitchers but the images are gone? Did you take them away or is it a glitch somewhere on my end...T

[teardrop]

hi trina

I read there was a crash of the server and it my guess is that it may have wiped the first images clean. I reloaded them to see what would happen and it appears they are again embedded in the post....at least on my end.

hope that helps!

[WUVIE]

Good to see you posting again!

Since you were on last, I finally acquired a pottery wheel, and have been practicing, practicing, practicing!

I've always wanted to make tiny bowls, and by golly, I'm putting them out quickly! I realize I have a long
way to go, but just being able to make something small, and feel relatively confident about it gives me
the oomph to carry on, learning as I go. Sure, they may only be big enough to hold little gadgets, but
with practice...who knows?

It didn't take long to remember to take the bat pins off when not using a bat (duh), keep my hands together,
don't try to recover a lost cause (at least while I'm new) and some other tidbits.

Glad you're back!

[Diana Ferreira]

Love the pitchers Teardrop!
I am still recovering from our annual Designer Week that was held the first weekend of March. Lots of orders, and some orders is still coming in. glad, as I need to pay rent, etc. But at the same time I made some new stuff to be submitted for a high-end shop chain. they want to roll out sushi restaurants in their shops, first shop opens in mid-end April! Hopefully I get this account as it will sustain me through the winter months (I live in the Southern Hemi)

On Saturday we are supposed to have a bi-annual potter's market in my city, but it sounds as if it will rain out :-( More than a 100 potters take part in this event, and it is a lovely time catching up with other potters.

I was without a pc for almost a month, as my pc got the dreaded blue-screen disease ... Am on a loan now, hopefully it will be repairable, as I cannot afford a new pc right now.

Well, that is me :-)

[~janie]

I am just wondering if Minspargal knows there is a very varied and robust ceramic art community in and around Austin? I hope you enjoy your year in Austin.

[Nightshade]

Hello everyone. I just joined the site and am very happy with all of the information that I can get here. I'm excited to start a hand building class in late April. I took a wheel class a while back, and, well, lets just say the wheel and I aren't the best of friends. I'm a disaster at centering. I'm also very critical of my work. After 6 weeks of classes, I never did have a finished piece lol. I'm much better at sculpting and hand building. Since having my son in '09, and due to being a single mom, my love of ceramics has been on a back burner. Now that he's a little older, I'm ready to get back in the game. I'm looking forward to being around adults in my class and having some time to myself. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to get two gently used kilns at a good price, so once I feel more confident in my knowledge and skills, I'll be able to fire my work and sell it. I can't wait!

[teardrop]

I love the handbuilding as well, nightshade! Not that the wheel wasn't fun....but round is round...

And jeeez...what a mess. Folks talk about putting their kiln outside but I'd have my wheel out there over a kiln.

For those who care.... I made 12 people VERY happy Wed. night with my klunkery pitchers!

Every person said "How much are you selling them for...I want one".

It was then great to see all of the smiles when I told them I brought them as gifts and I wanted everyone to pick one out and take it home. The feedback I got was worth it all. My handles are AOK....they raved about the glazes/colors...and I got consensus that the weight/size was solidly in the ballpark.

No..these people aren't artists...nor do they know of pottery "standards".....they just know WHAT THEY LIKE and are a good representation of my customer base. (women with a bit of cash to spend on klunkery)

My roller and the remaining glazes are in transit....so look out "artists" of the valley....the noobs are about to attack...


be well, all!

teardrop

[Nightshade]

Yeah, I bought an old handmade heavy duty kick wheel at an auction for $5 when I first peaked an interest in ceramics. Little did I know I would be using it as a turntable for my large pieces!

[Jeri]

teardrop, on 23 March 2012 - 07:31 AM, said:

I love the handbuilding as well, nightshade! Not that the wheel wasn't fun....but round is round...

And jeeez...what a mess. Folks talk about putting their kiln outside but I'd have my wheel out there over a kiln.

For those who care.... I made 12 people VERY happy Wed. night with my klunkery pitchers!

Every person said "How much are you selling them for...I want one".

It was then great to see all of the smiles when I told them I brought them as gifts and I wanted everyone to pick one out and take it home. The feedback I got was worth it all. My handles are AOK....they raved about the glazes/colors...and I got consensus that the weight/size was solidly in the ballpark.

No..these people aren't artists...nor do they know of pottery "standards".....they just know WHAT THEY LIKE and are a good representation of my customer base. (women with a bit of cash to spend on klunkery)

My roller and the remaining glazes are in transit....so look out "artists" of the valley....the noobs are about to attack...


be well, all!

teardrop

That's wonderful news!

[Diana Ferreira]

Just returned from a very good Potter's market. Our local potters association have 2 of these events every year, with the March one normally very quiet. This year we (more than 120 potter stalls) were inundated by buyers from 8 am :-) I sold all my old shapes and stuff that I still had a lot of stock of, and it was flying. So now I have a wad of cash to buy more raw materials, and energized to get to the studio bright and early tomorrow morning.

It really seems as if our economy is making a turn for the better.

Oh, and I found a local potter who is a whizz at glazes and she's offered to sell me some of her glaze. she used the same clay as I did and got an amazing colour on it. My customer, who has been dying to get a light blue on the black clay will be doing a happy dance! I really love it when people are willing to share.