I have been struggling with some of my letter stamps. I have 4 or 5 different sets. Some are rubber stamps, one interlocking set that is designed for clay, and another metal set that I believe are jeweler’s stamps. My largest font are rubber stamps and they are not well made, making it difficult to line the letters up. They are also not very deep, which means I am often carving them out. The stamps that I use on the standard piggy banks is starting to show some wear, particularly the letter “A.” Last month I searched the web for a deeper set of stamps, with a font that appealed to me. The only one I found was $66 dollars. The size was fine for the standard size piggy bank, but really too small for the large pigs. I decided I needed to think about it before plunking down the dough.
Lo and behold, last week on facebook, another potter posted a link to these “stone stamps”. She was using them to letter dog bowls. I was able to order a set for under $5 and have them shipped to Walmart for free. I wasn’t sure how easy they would be to work with, since there is no handle or guides on them… but for less than five bucks I was willing to take a chance.
I practiced on a salt pig and once I got the hang of it, moved on to orders. The size is great for the big piggy banks, and will work well for short names on the smaller banks. Lining them up was pretty easy. Now I wish they were available in a smaller font too!
When we unloaded the kiln last week, Jeff commented that my order for dinnerware with flower stamps was a big one. In actuality, it was two orders not one big one. It was sheer coincidence that two people who have been collecting this pattern, ordered new pieces within days of each other.
I wish orders like this happened more often. It is much easier to get in the groove of making one style of work for a day or two, never mind the fact that glazing goes really quickly.
I usually make extras whenever I do orders. No extras of bowls this time, but I did make an extra of the sugar and creamer set, as well as mugs. You can find those in my Etsy shop.
I am not a thrilled about making sponge holders. They seem too much like work to me. But we sure sell a lot of them, even after raising the price to $20. They also can be placed any where in the kiln and take up could be empty space. I even put some of them on the bag wall… especially the ones with shino glaze.
To move things along more quickly, I have a bin of pugged clay that was dropped through a harp to measure each lug to 3/4 of a pound. No weighing or wasting time. Just sit at the wheel and throw those little guys.
I hadn’t made cheese stones since last fall. I am not even sure why I didn’t spend the winter cranking them out, to keep ahead, The thing with flat items is that it’s hard to get them in the kiln. They are sort of space wasters. I usually make a bunch, they go through the bisque firing, and then it takes many glaze firings before they are done. I think this is where I lose interest. The waiting just kills me!
Wednesday afternoon I threw a few and was totally shocked that they were ready to be trimmed by Thursday afternoon. I am still not used to working in a studio with air conditioning. It can really move things along in the summer. Even though we turn it off at the end of our day, the studio stays cool and dry overnight.
I have found the best method of drying these evenly, and keeping them flat, is stacking them between squares of sheet rock. I top the stack off with a plaster form, just keep the last one weighted. I find it’s best to dry these for at least a couple of weeks.
Now that our copper red glaze is behaving again, I can do some stones with this combination!
I figured I was about overdue for a pig post. These are the latest oinkers from last week’s firing.
I hadn’t done any pigs with the shino and “glaze splash” combo in over a year. Our copper red glaze was crawling like crazy and the rutile glaze was often foamy looking. Jeff re-mixed the copper red, and added a little darvan. He said the darvan keeps it a little more fluid, but he doesn’t think it’s what stopped the crawling. As for the rutile… I just stopped using it. I can get a similar look by using our nuka glaze as a replacement.
I have had requests for pigs with hearts and stars, but not necessarily together! The nuka glaze often gives a blurry look to stamps and lettering so I decided to glaze a “heart” piggy bank with Temple White. This glaze works well with the under-glaze and I think I like the simplicity of using this glaze alone. The true test is, “Will it sell?”
I will also offer this piggy bank with a name on it as well. You’ll find this new litter of pigs in the Etsy shop.
Jeff and I have been really excited about the collaborative works we have been creating. It seems like nearly everyday he hands me something and says, “Carve some ginkgo leaves on this.” We have been so happy with the pots that a few weeks ago we decided to apply to Piedmont Craftsmen, here in North Carolina. Jeff spent a few nights photographing our work (he is a much better photographer than me) and uploaded the application.
This week we got our letter of acceptance! There were 68 applicants this year, representing a variety of craft media. We were one of twelve that were accepted. This is the first part of the jury process. In November there will be a physical jury during their annual show. We are feeling pretty confident about the next step.
That being said, we got right back to work, glazing and loading the kiln. These pots are pretty labor intensive from start to finish. The interior is glazed in tenmoku and then the rim is dipped in the same glaze. The excess is sponged off prior to the ash glaze being sprayed on. Despite the drizzly weather, Jeff managed to fire the kiln, starting around noon yesterday and finishing in the wee hours of the morning today. We will anxiously await the door coming down on Sunday night.
I am trying out different Photo editing tools this month.
On the left I used Lightroom to auto correct the color balance, adjust the exposure level, improve the clarity, and sharpen the details.
On the right, I edited the same image Emelents 15. I used the auto color correct, auto haze removal, and adjust sharpness..
Elements Edit
Another Lightroom Edit
So I am always look for a quicker inexpensive way to edit photos and make a better presentation of our work. I’ll keep trying new tools and learning more about what I have to work with…
The background is another area to play with. I can see from this group of photos that the background can be too dark if your piece is dark. Lighting on the rim of this piece to the left is better for showing its rim against the darker background.
I haven’t been able to find the Clarity adjustment in Elements, and didn’t see a Haze Removal edit in Lightroom….I’ll keep looking for the right balance.
Call me old fashioned, or just call me old, but I am not liking a new trend in photographing pottery. I am sure you have seen it… solid white background, often over-exposed. The pots look like they are floating in air. Edges are not crisp, and often the colors are inaccurate. I am not totally against the white back drop… in some situations it works. There are some Etsy shops that use it and it is appealing if the work is in focus. I was curious if potters are using this new technique to apply for shows, and is it acceptable? I figured that the best place to take a look is the 2016 Strictly Functional Show. The majority of the work is photographed with the traditional gray scale background. There are some with the stark white background. Here is a link to the 2016 show:
Jeff and I just had our 2nd anniversary at 505 E. Main. Finishing our studio is still a work in progress. It’s been a balancing act to keep making work and get construction projects finished (finding the money is a whole other story). This week we finally got the rest of the trim up and painted. The upper gable end, and the soffits still need to be scraped and painted. We really wish we could afford to hire a painter to do that portion. Just looking at it overwhelms me! Quite frankly, I would love to have all the soffits wrapped in vinyl because I really hate to paint. Thank goodness most of the house is brick.
Jeff has also been installing some landscape timbers along the front planting area, and shoveling in new top soil. I have flowers started from seeds, and they should be ready to plant as soon as he is done.
We now have a big blank canvas of a wall. Jeff and I have been kicking around the idea of painting a mural of pots on the left side of the windows. Something simple, like silhouettes of a couple of pots. It could be seen from the road and hopefully help people realize that this is our studio and we are open for business. Since we live within the town limits of Seagrove, we can’t put our studio name on the building. We already have a free-standing sign near the road and sign ordinances state that we can’t have both. The ordinance book doesn’t say anything about a mural!
Last week Jeff and I worked like crazy to prepare for the Celebration of Spring Studio Tour. We cleaned the studio and the gallery as well as catching up on lots of yard work.
We had a much better turn out for the tour this year compared the dismal event of 2016. Sales were up dramatically, almost catching up to what they were when we were at the log cabin. I demonstrated carving vases throughout the weekend. Jeff did some throwing demonstrations.
Saturday was perfect weather. Sunday was very rainy, but people still came out to see the potters.
My flowers sort of took a beating in the rain. If you look closely you can see that the birdbath is filled to capacity.
The hosta, on the other hand, thrived with all this rain.
When I opened the studio on Saturday morning, this luna moth was hanging out on the outside wall, near the front door. It stayed all day to greet visitors. I took it as a sign of good luck.
