Tag Archives: pottery

Work Cycles

I am feeling good that we have completed the first work cycle of 2017. The first glaze firing of the year is cooling. Today we are back to making pots. The last few days were a whirlwind of activity. On day one the bisque kiln was unloaded (while it was still quite warm!), pots were rinsed, waxed, and under-glazed as needed. The next day we glazed and loaded. We worked into the the night, with me leaving for a couple of hours for a town zoning board meeting. I am not sure how that happened, by I have been on the board since last summer. After a quick dinner break, Jeff finished up with the kiln and bricked up the door. He decided to light it and fire overnight.

I went to bed at 12:30.
He’s a night shift sort of guy… I am not.

During the less intense cycles of pottery making, I try to cook things that will feed us for a couple of meals, ideally something I can freeze for later. Last night it was great to heat a baking dish of stuffed shells for dinner. We were both too pooped to cook! On the weekend we enjoyed chicken tikka masala, that was leftover from earlier in the week.

Sophie cat takes it all in stride. As long as she gets her three meals a day and has Jeff’s lap for a few minutes in the morning, she’s a happy girl.

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Ginkgo Leaf Bowls

I have been spending the evenings taking photographs. I need to build up my inventory on Etsy. Winter is slow in Seagrove and we will depend on internet sales to get through the season. Thankfully, winter is much shorter in North Carolina than in New Hampshire. 

The bowl in the first two photos is just under 12″ in diameter
This bowl is about 8 1/2″ in diameter
Today we are waiting for the bisque kiln to cool, so that we can start glazing. The temperature is under 300 degrees now. The wait is almost over.

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Wood Fired Mugs

 The week before Christmas, Jeff helped David Stuempfle fire his anagama wood kiln. We were both able to get a few pots into the kiln. It was a five day firing with the unloading on New Year’s Eve day. It seemed it was days before I had the opportunity to spend some time with them.

 These are a throwback to my “button” cups that I was making 6+ plus years ago. They lend themselves much better to this wood kiln than the ginkgo leave carving.

 They are made with Laguna B-mix. If it was B–mix for wood, they wood be a little darker in color.

Overall, I am quite happy with the results. Clicking on the photo above will take you to my Etsy shop, where I will be listing a couple of these over the next few days.

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Making Vessel Sinks

The great thing about making vessel sinks is that it isn’t tied to the holiday season. People order them year round. This week I took a few photos of Jeff’s work in progress. Last month he had to order a new torch. He finally wore out the last one. The nice thing about this torch is that it doesn’t need a striker to light. I can’t even tell you how many times the striker was misplaces and we had to search for it.
Torching the pot stiffens the clay and allows Jeff to finish throwing the sink in one session. When he is using the torch it’s gets very warm and steamy in the studio. Which was very welcome while we experienced a cold snap.
This sink is getting a textured exterior and glazed in our nuka white glaze. I think this is one of my favorite patterns. I really like how the glaze breaks to gray over the texture.
Today was sunny and 70 degrees. We have enough work completed for the first firing of 2017. It was a perfect day to load the bisque kiln. Tomorrow we will fire it off.

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Hunker down… snow is coming!!

Our friends Bonnie and David always bring us some poinsettias on New Years Eve. They are beautiful and from a nursery in Greensboro. Typically I would bring them in the house and place them on our fireplace hearth. After the poison plant debacle with Sophie this fall, I am not taking any chances! They aren’t as poisonous as the dieffenbachia and she has never bothered with them in the past, but she seems to have become a plant eater in her old age.

Things are moving along in the studio. I had a friend ask me to replace a spoon rest, so I figured I may as well make a bunch. We don’t make them on a regular basis. I probably should. They are quick to make and usually quick to sell. I make them so that they can also be used as either trinket or soap dishes too.

The holiday’s must be a time for breakage! A customer contacted me to say she broke her favorite mug. It’s a simple, loosely thrown design, with flower stamps. I hadn’t made this style in quite awhile. The ginkgo leaf carving sort of took over most everything I make. I was happy to make her one and then some. It’s nice to work in a looser style every now and then.

It’s raining now, but we are expecting a change over to snow this evening. We could get a significant amount, for North Carolina. At least we won’t have to do much shoveling. The temps will be back in the 50’s by Wednesday. 
This is the last time I experienced lots of snow. A visit to New Hampshire in October of 2011. I think we had close to two feet. We aren’t expecting that much tonight……………THANKFULLY!

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Re-Grouping

The week between Christmas and New Years Day is a strange one. It seems we don’t know what day it is and we fall out of our usual routine. The other day Jeff said he felt like a retired person. Work a little bit on this or that, take a break, get started on something else. We have used this time to catch up on things that were let go over the busy season. I cleaned the carpet in the den and then did a thorough dusting. I did such a such a good job that when I switched on our lovely wagon wheel light, it flipped the circuit breaker. Evidently some of the wire covers were very brittle and my super-duper cleaning exposed some wires. It was time for the fixture to go! We were gifted a ceiling fan with a light some months ago so it was time to install it. I was shocked that Jeff actually knew where we had stored it… under the bed! If I am missing anything, I should always look there first.
It took way longer than planned but it’s done. 
This is the wagon wheel. It has little copper pan “hats” that fit over the globes. I snapped this photo before we moved in and later found the “hats” in a drawer. I almost tossed them, not knowing that they went to the light fixture!
Here is the updated look. Sophie is afraid of it. She has never liked ceiling fans. Jeff thinks it has a science fiction look. I have dubbed it the “eye” from War of the Worlds.
In between the cleaning I accomplished a few things in the studio. I finally finished this vase that I started weeks ago. Mugs are waiting for handles, a new batch of sponge holders are drying. Jeff has multiple vessel sinks in progress.
Friends will arrive tomorrow evening to ring in 2017. We will have plenty of food and drink, if your in the neighborhood stop in. I will fix you a fancy cocktail. 
HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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Celebrate!

What a week it’s been! We unloaded the kiln on Monday, sanded all the pots, packaged and shipped them off to their destinations, just in the knick of time. We had an excellent firing. All of the orders looked great. Jeff’s giant cooker came out perfect. The buyer didn’t want anything fancy, just something utilitarian. He should be able to cook a good size bird in it. 
The weather has been warm and I took the opportunity to do some heavy cleaning. I took anything that could be hosed off outside and did just that. The floor got a good mopping. It will be nice to resume work in a cleaner studio.
Last night we kicked off our holiday celebration with my annual tortierre (pork pie). Traditionally it’s a Christmas eve meal for French Canadians, but I just like to enjoy it any time around the holiday season.
Wishing all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, or Festivus. Enjoy some time off and celebrate life with family and friends.
~ Michèle, Jeff, and Sophie

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A Year of Frugal Living

Jeff and I really underestimated how much our move would affect our business. Who would have thought that moving one mile up the road, on the same road, could be that painful? It wasn’t just the new location, but also the expense of renovating studio space, along with the cost of rebuilding our gas kiln. We did most of the work ourselves which saved a ton of money. There is still more to do but since last April, we feel we are up and running at full speed again. 
Jeff and I have never lived extravagantly but for the last eighteen months we have tried to cut our expenses anyway that we could.

We switched propane companies when the one we were using  increased our rate to $2.39 per gallon. Quick math will tell you how much a 500 gallon tank costs to fill at that price. I made a few calls and found a company that offered $1.15! Now if I could only get the old company to remove their tank from our yard… it’s been sitting there since September. I wonder if I can start charging them rent?

Next on the “things to cut” list was XM radio. We have it in the car and the studio. After some discussion we decided to cancel the car and just have it in the studio. Our radio stations here are awful and we often need a break from NPR. When I called to cancel they offered to cut my bill in half and keep both radios. I accepted, thinking… why didn’t I call months ago to cancel?!

I have been shopping at Aldi’s and the dreaded Walmart, more than I used to. We rarely eat out and there are no take joints around here, so there was no adjustment needed in that department.

The traffic to our studio isn’t quite what it used to be. I think we might be dealing with that until a new area map of the potters comes out.  Thanks to a couple of really good shows and excellent Etsy sales, we are now able to breath a little. The struggle has been well worth the pain and effort. We own our own place (along with the bank) and in the long run will have more control of our future. I think we have turned the corner and I am looking forward to 2017.
We loaded the last bisque firing for holiday orders. We are working right down to the last minute. Check out that HUGE chicken cooker that Jeff created! It’s a special order for a couple in Lexington. I think they might be able to cook a turkey in it.

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Organization

Jeff and I have been feeling rather unorganized since moving our studio a year ago. Don’t get me wrong, we have never been super organized… but if you were to go down to our basement right now you would gasp at the mayhem. It’s been a tough to balance getting pots made and getting settled. This week while I glazed piggy banks, Jeff cleared out some boxes and got the smaller pug mill set up in a permanent location. This is huge for us. It’s been totally painful to pug clay for the last year and our scrap clay has been getting a little overwhelming because of it. We now have a clear workspace and all of our dies are in easy reach. After the holidays I will spend some time deciding what needs to be on the shelves and in cabinets.

Our work flow is slowly improving!

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A Cautionary Tale

If you have pets, beware of this plant!

It’s a dieffenbachia, also known commonly as “dumb cane.” You may remember that Sophie was a sick kitty on Halloween and a trip to the vet revealed she had hyper-thyroid, but no cause could be found for her vomiting, lethargy, and refusing to eat. She was given anti-nausea drugs and within 24 hours was back to her old self.
Fast forward two weeks and we awoke again to a very sick kitty. This time the vomiting and drooling was extensive. She wouldn’t stay in one place, so just imagine the mess. Never mind the fact that our house is mostly light beige carpeting. I followed her around cleaning up, bucket and carpet cleaner in hand. Eventually out came a piece of plant. Jeff identified it as the dieffenbachia! A quick google search and she had all the symptoms of plant poisoning.
Off to the vet we went. This time we came home with “pepcid” for cats along with a slurry drug to coat her mouth and throat. This plant irritates the mouth, throat, and vocal chords. It’s seldom life threatening but quite painful.

Sophie is doing fine now. Her voice is still a little hoarse sounding, but other than that she is back to normal. Sophie has lived with that plant for six years and never touched it. Why she decided to start eating it now, is beyond me. Needless to say the plant now lives in the studio.

Jeff and I also bought ourselves an early Christmas gift…
A carpet cleaner.

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