Tag Archives: pottery lessons

Decorating a Big Pig

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The holiday orders for piggy banks are starting to roll in. I was excited to get an order for two large piggy banks. These will be about 9″ long and 7 1/2″ tall when they are finished.

 As soon as the piggy bank is assembled, I stamp the name on the side. I have a few sets of stamps, ranging from a snap together set made for clay, to a variety of rubber stamps in different fonts and sizes. If the pig is going to get a carved design, I cover him loosely with plastic and let the ears stiffen a little overnight.

The next morning I can apply white slip to the body and ears. I really like using these mop type of brushes with bamboo handles. They are the same brushes that we use to apply raku glazes. 
If it’s not too humid, the pigs are ready to carve by afternoon. I usually clean up the name a bit with my carving tool. Especially if the any thick areas of slip filled in the impression.

Since creating the first leaf and vine design this fall, I have taken orders for three more pigs with it. It’s always fun to have something new to work on.

And lastly I have a Sophie cat update. She is doing much better. Practically back to her old self. I tried to take her photo and she ran away. If you look closely you can see she is camouflaging herself against the dining room table. She hates cameras. Thankfully she has been easy to pill and yesterday she was back to her normal eating schedule. Jeff and I are very relieved. A big thank you to all my readers for your kind words, helpful suggestions, and support.

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Sophie

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My little Sophie cat had a rough weekend. Lets just say we all had a rough weekend! Shortly after Jeff snapped this photo of her in her basket, she stopped eating. She wouldn’t sit with us, or play. Her weekend was spent under a bed or laying down in a corner. There was other grossness but I won’t share here! By Sunday morning I was worried she would get dehydrated. Jeff and I fed her a little chicken baby food with a syringe. She wasn’t happy about it, but did seem to perk up a little afterwards. Monday morning, she ate a little baby food on her own. 
We had been using the old timer vet here in town. He was close, inexpensive, Sophie was healthy and only needed vaccines. After her routine visit in February, I told Jeff I didn’t want to take her there if she was ever sick. The old doc seemed confused and his lab coat was disgustingly stained with blood. The visit was a complete turn off. So now, here I was with a sick kitty and no vet. I messaged a friend in town who I knew could give me a good recommendation. Sure enough she did. I called and they were able to see her in the afternoon.
The hospital staff was wonderful! The facility was super clean. Sophie had a thorough exam and blood work. Her kidney and liver function are good… which was great news because she is 15 years old. What they did discover is that she has hyperthyroid. It didn’t solve the problem we went in for but it answered other questions Jeff and I had had over the last two years. Sophie was alway hungry and often drove us crazy up until meal time. Last winter I thought she lost weight. The old timer vet, at her annual visit, said she was fine. I started adding some canned food to her diet, but she still was crying for food an hour before meals. 
We came home not sure what caused her illness, perhaps it’s a virus. She had an injection to help with nausea and some pills to take at home… along with the new thyroid med. If we see no improvement, back for more (expensive) tests. Lo and behold when she climbed out of her crate at home, she went straight for her bowl and cried for food… and she ate canned cat food! This morning she even ate some dry food along with the canned. 
Jeff and I are so relieved that she is feeling better, and that we have found a vet we are happy with. Maybe today I can actually be productive. 
I hope your Halloween was a good one. I had a jack o’ lantern, I had candy… I had no trick or treaters.
Jeff and I ate the candy.

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Fall Splendor

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We are having fabulous fall weather here in Seagrove, NC. Cool nights with warm days in the low 70’s. Perfect temperatures for working and sleeping. Yesterday the door came down from the kiln. We took a few pots out that were cool enough to handle. Today we will unload the rest. Jeff and I did a couple of collaborative pots that came out really awesome. One is the ginkgo vase in the photo above. You’ll also notice that my pink geraniums with the trailing white and blue flowers is looking great… better than it did all summer! And it wouldn’t be fall without mums.

There were lots of salt pigs in this firing. Lately they have been outselling the piggy banks on Etsy. I have a few extra in this firing so that I can have some in stock and ready to ship. Today it’s back to piggy bank assembly. I have had a break from them for a couple of weeks and I am looking forward to getting back at it.

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It’s Fixed!

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I was really frustrated when my blog list disappeared a few weeks ago. I went to the forums to figure out the issue and found that it was a widespread glitch. Blogger was supposed to be working on and would have it fixed in a few days. I gave up waiting and started building my list again. My new list didn’t look like my old list. No preview, no updates, and the links didn’t open in a new window. AARGH!

I left it alone for a week. I was too frustrated.

Yesterday I decided to take a look again. With fresh eyes. I solved my problem! I had used the wrong “gadget”. I deleted the links list, added the correct “gadget” and it’s working! I am slowly trying to recover the blog list that I built over 8+ years. If you notice your blog isn’t there, leave a link in the comments so that I can add you back in.

Jeff and I glazed pots and loaded the kiln at the beginning of the week. Yesterday was firing day.

Today is my birthday… Jeff wrote on my wall.

I am officially old enough to live in one those 55+ communities that I was selling in New Hampshire. Not quite ready for that!

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Prep Work

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A fews weeks back I posted about using my small hand held extruder to make my piggy bank parts. I prefer putting a die on the pug mill and using it to extrude parts. It’s much quicker and the lugs are a little chubbier with this die. The other night Jeff pugged clay and before he wrapped the pug mill up for the night, we made the piggy parts.
LOTS of piggy parts.
This is the smaller of the two pug mills in the studio. The large one is not de-airing and is still disassembled from the cleaning I gave it before the move to 505 E Main. Once we get our basement organized, I will put that one back into use. I actually don’t mind that it’s not de-airing. It’s a work horse with a large hopper and I can process more clay in a shorter amount of time.
The holidays are right around the corner and I will be making many, many piggy banks. I keep the extrusions wrapped in plastic they will keep for quite a long time. Occasionally they may need a misting of water. After a week of making, trimming, and carving bowls, I am ready to switch to piggy bank assembly… so bring on the pig orders!

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American Craft Week Continues – Saturday, October 15, 2016

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Wood Fired Teapot by Jeff Brown
The Seagrove Potters have been celebrating American Craft Week, which is actually the first two weeks in October. This is the last weekend of events and with good weather predicted, it should be a great time to get out and explore Seagrove. Lot’s of studios are offering demonstrations and workshops. We will be serving Korean, Japanese, and Chinese teas throughout the day. Guests will experience the joy of serving and drinking tea from handmade wares. Jeff has a nice selection of Asian inspired teapots and tea bowls available for purchase.

There are also some new cheese stones in the gallery.

And of course there are some nice pots with the ginkgo leaves.

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Pigs and Plants

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My new piggy bank design came out great!

I am excited to offer a new option. It also keeps the fun in the making when you can mix things up a little. This design will look nice whether it’s personalized or not.

Outside the pottery, I was totally surprised that one of our yucca plants bloomed this week!

We had yucca’s at the log cabin that never bloomed. This plant is one of a group at the end of our driveway. Jeff cleared the area of brush awhile back, maybe that helped. I also read that they need a special type of moth to pollinate them. There were lots of caterpillars and moths this year, perhaps we had just the right kind. It would be sweet if all of them would bloom.

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Taking A Second Look

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I wasn’t thrilled with a few bowls from the last firing. I would have preferred a lighter spray with the ash glaze. Jeff kept saying they were fine and beautiful. I decided to take some photographs and after looking at them in a different light, they began to grow on me.

Since we weren’t going to the CCM show in Charlotte, I sanded and priced them and put them out in the gallery.

Believe it or not, we were fairly busy on Saturday, despite the steady rain from hurricane Matthew. I sold a few of these bowls over the weekend! 
Sometimes we are our own worst critic.

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Staying Home Today

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Carolina Claymatters Pottery Festival won’t be happening today. Early yesterday they decided to cancel. Two days of rain means the grounds will be very wet. We are happy to not drive to Charlotte in the pouring rain, never mind setting up a booth and spending the day in it.

The show is postponed until next Saturday, October 15th. Sadly, Jeff and I won’t be able to participate. We are committed to the “American Craft Week” celebration, here in Seagrove, as well as an appointment with a customer for a vessel sink.

We have had some beautiful weather here, leading up to the storm. Comfortably warm days with cooler nights. Great weather for doing all types of activities. In the studio, Jeff and I collaborated on a couple of vases as well as some larger cheese stones. I think the stones are going to look awesome with Jeff’s texture on them.

I am also working on some small lidded jars. These will be a good size store coffee.
I started carving yesterday, but they really were a little too soft. I uncovered them this morning and hopefully I can finish them later today.
Cooler temps always inspire me to do some cooking that’s more complicated than lighting the grill. First I made gnocchi. Mine isn’t the most beautiful gnocchi, but it sure was delicious.
Next up was ravioli! I hadn’t used my pasta machine in over 10 years. I have a ravioli attachment that I had never used. Last week I decided to give it a try. 
It worked really well, but it makes very small ravioli, without a lot of room for filling. The filling was roasted butternut squash and it was delicious. The machine didn’t allow for a good ratio of pasta to filling. I ended up filling and cutting half of them by hand. My pasta was a little dense. I couldn’t find semolina flour at the grocery store so I used all purpose. If I can’t find it locally, I may have to order it from Amazon. As soon as get semolina, I am making fettucini…with Alfredo sauce and grilled shrimp!

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Ash glaze, Tenmoku, Ginkgo Leaves, and Hurricanes

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Jeff and I unloaded the kiln yesterday. Overall it was a very good firing. I had a few ash glaze pots that I sprayed a little heavier than I wanted too… but that was my error, no fault of the kiln. They are still fine pots, just not what I was expecting.

Here are a few of the pieces that I was really happy with.

I made these last winter. I put a couple in the first firing of our new kiln and they got some kiln crud chunks in the bottom. I set a couple more aside and they finally went in this firing. This one made me do the happy dance!

Everyone has their eye on the hurricane that is heading this way. I am really hoping the storm will not impact us or if it does, it will happen before Saturday. We have an outdoor show in Charlotte this weekend. Chances are we inland enough to be spared the brunt of it, but it doesn’t mean we won’t have high winds with lots of rain. Outdoor shows in the rain suck. Outdoor shows in high wind are dangerous. I am sure the show will be cancelled or postponed if it’s too dangerous for us to be out there. Stay tuned for updates!

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