Tag Archives: Travel

It’s Official!

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Seagrove is the Pottery Capital of the USA!

The town of Seagrove unveiled a beautiful new welcome sign that visitors will see when they exit the highway, coming in to town. There are actually two signs, another on Pottery Highway 705, as you enter town from the opposite direction.

Last fall Seagrove elected Mayor David Fernandez, who also happens to be a potter in town. He has been instrumental in making a lot of things happen here. Along with the new signage, we have large planters, pots, and a pretty concrete table with benches in the downtown area. Then there is also the alcohol referendum that passed last month. It’s so nice now to go into the local market and buy a bottle of wine to go along with the fresh salmon that you purchased for dinner. 
Now that’s what I call progress!

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The Creation of The Whimsical Flower Pig

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I unloaded the bisque firing today. Probably during the hottest part of the day. I had a few piggy banks that needed some underglaze application and I was more than happy to do it in the comfort of our air conditioned studio. It’s such a treat to work in an air conditioning!!!
I thought I would share the process of creating my “whimsical flower pig” design. When the piggy bank is leather hard I apply a white slip and carve the flower design through the surface of the clay. I then bisque fire to cone 06 and after that, apply underglaze.

I brush black underglaze into all of the carved lines. As you can see, I am not too concerned with precision!

Once all the piggy banks have been underglazed, I go back and give the area a wipe with a moist sponge, to remove the excess.

I am not too fussy with the sponging. I like to leave some of the underglaze behind for a sort of “smudgy” look. I then dip the bottom half of the pigs in our Temple white glaze, the upper half in our gloss green. The overlap creates a nice pink blush. These are fired in a reduction atmosphere to cone 10. Our gas kiln typically takes anywhere from 12 – 16 hours to fire.

I also can personalize these piggy banks with names or phrases. Check out my Etsy shop for more information. 

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A Working Holiday

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I tip toed out to the studio this morning to snap a few quick photos of work that I have in progress. I had a big need to make pots that I wanted to make, not pots that were ordered and needed to be of a certain type and design. This weekend I spent some time with my favorite b-mix clay body. I have had oval bakers on my mind, but opted for round instead. I just didn’t want to deal with the heartache of cracks after spending hours on assembling and decorating. The plain round ones will get some ginkgo leaves carved into them. I altered the rims on a couple and played with stamps and slip trailed dots. The dots are slip I made with b-mix. They wont have a color, they will just add a texture to the surface.
I just had to step out of the studio and snap some photos of my zinnias, despite being in my pajamas and despite the fact that we now live in town. Thankfully our house sits back from the road and I don’t think anyone saw me… and who cares if they did?!
These flowers are growing like crazy and I love that I planted them from seeds. Something I have rarely done. I am much more frugal as I get older. I also think that I take more time to enjoy nurturing them and watching them sprout.
The holiday weekend was great for business. We had a lot of traffic through the gallery. People were spending money. It was our best weekend in months. Last night we took a breather to celebrate Independence Day. Our friend and neighbor Phil came over with a juicy, sweet watermelon to share. We grilled some chicken, and watched the fire works in Boston on the television. No crowds, no bugs, a comfortable sofa, and air conditioning. The air conditioning promptly decided to quit when the fireworks were over. We have been battling with it all weekend. A part is on order and should arrive today or tomorrow. Hopefully it does the trick, if not, it’s time to call in the professionals $$$$.

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Family Break

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I am back after a brief hiatus from blogging. I had a really good excuse to take a break.

My girl flew in from Connecticut for a few days! This year she got her turn on the tire swing, since the area is now “poison ivy free”. We were pretty chill this visit. No huge plans. Just hanging out together.

We took a drive out to the Town Creek Indian Mound in Mt. Gilead, NC and learned a little history about native american life in North Carolina. 

The historical site depends mostly on state funding for operations and maintenance. Sadly, the information building and some of the exhibits are looking tired and worn. 
Danielle and I still enjoyed our visit. We had a picnic lunch on the grounds before heading out to Pinehurst to do a little shopping.
Jeff wheeled out the smoker on Sunday and barbecued some tasty ribs. We had a great feast which included sweet potato salad, caprese salad, and grilled figs with goat cheese.
and did I mention wine?

Sadly, on Monday, I had to drive Danielle back to the airport. Saying good bye is so very hard. The only thing that takes the sting off of it, is that we head north in August and we will have a few days together again.

Prior to the girl’s arrival, I worked furiously to finish a whole mess of pigs. In between the piggy banks, there were couple of carved vases… because I can’t live on pigs alone. 

Yesterday was spent sanding pots and loading the kiln for a bisque firing. Once that’s done, we will glaze and load her up again. Vacation is officially over.

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Welcome Summer!

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The weekend brought us fabulous weather. Comfortably warm, low humidity. Cool nights. It was a nice break after the hot and muggy week. Great weather for getting outside and doing the yard work. We didn’t put in a big garden, like we planned to. There was just to much “catch-up” work to do in the studio. A kiln-less winter put us behind and studio work takes precedence over everything else. The one thing we did do was plant some flowers and herbs in the front of house. This was an area that was pretty much ready to go, after a little weeding.

Most of our little garden are plants that we either moved from the log cabin, or were given to us. I did buy a couple of flower and herbs. Some I bought on clearance at Lowe’s. On the right, still in it’s pot, is buchu. It’s a Korean chive. We were gifted with two of these and are so excited to have them. Jeff and I use them a lot in Korean cooking and we like them snipped on top of a salad as well. They have a  similar, but stronger flavor than traditional chives.

I splurged on the cone flowers last week. I have always wanted some and can’t believe that I never had them in past gardens!

I planted zinnias from seeds. They are doing ok. I am hoping they well re-seed themselves so that eventually, in the future,  I will have a nice bed of them.

Can anyone identify this? At the log cabin, I thought it was a weed because it was growing in the lawn. I always mowed it over. Jeff said it wasn’t a weed and brought a piece of it to 505 E Main. It took off like crazy and the purple flowers are quite pretty. Please comment if you know what it is.

My days in the studio have been spent assembling piggy banks. Jeff has been working on bowls and pitchers. Last night when I was heading out to water my little garden, I noticed Jeff was trimming a guinomi. I couldn’t resist snapping a photo with my phone. These are Jeff’s favorite things to make and I think it’s a great way for him to end his day in the studio.

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Pigs are Multiplying

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I haven’t been able to keep up with having piggy banks and salt pigs in stock since last fall. When we were firing in the small gas kiln I could only keep up with orders. I am happy to say that now that our kiln is built, the pig population is growing. I like to have at least a dozen on the shelves, and in the Etsy shop, that are ready to go. 

This salt pig is a re-fire from when we were having issues with pin holing in the nuka white glaze. The second firing smoothed out the glaze, but the green always changes color on it’s second trip through the kiln. It’s lighter and brighter and I am sure someone will love it. Lately the salt pig sales numbers have been creeping up to the piggy banks. A year and a half ago I tried to stop making them, but the public said “No!”.

Jeff and I also made the decision to purchase the next size up in corks for the piggy bank snouts. We had a few international buyers mention that they have some larger coins than here in the U.S. This new size should be more universal. It’s kind of neat to look back over the years and see how the piggy banks have evolved. Change can be a good thing.

Speaking of change, I forgot to blog about our town election results. The alcohol referendum passed in Seagrove! We will be able to purchase beer and wine at stores within town limits. Now we can also hope for a nice little restaurant to open… perhaps with a micro-brewery… and walking distance to my house. I like to dream big… and if you can dream it, it can happen.

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The Art of Slurping

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We ate quite a bit of ramen last week. It was a popular lunch choice and we even ate it for breakfast. We’re not talking the cheap grocery store noodles that college kids live on, our guests picked these out at the Korean market. Eating noodles with chop sticks and a spoon is definitely an art or skill. One that I have not mastered! The easiest way for me to get them in my mouth is to shovel them in bite off the dangling noodles. Not too polite in Asian cultures. Noodles are for slurping. Get them to your mouth and suck them in! It’s quite a noisy meal with five people all slurping at the same time. Of course this is messy business too. While you are slurping them up they splash broth all over your face. At least that’s what happens to me. I felt like I took a ramen bath when finished. Perhaps I will be a better slurper with a little more practice.

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The Last Days of the Seagrove Tour

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Jeff brought our guests out to visit some of the potters in the area. Since they fire in wood kilns, the tour focused mainly on the Seagrove potters with wood kilns.
Chad Brown’s new wood kiln
Big pots and sculptures at David Stuempfle’s
Phil Pollet and Park Yeon Tae
Lee Kyeong Hee at Johnston & Gentithes
Kim Jong Pil and Park Yeon Tae making tea bowls with the clay from our yard.
Tuesday night was a farewell barbecue. Phil Pollet arrived in his Porsche and took each them for a spin around the neighborhood. It was a perfect evening for a sports car ride. Later, everyone gathered on the patio, while Jeff smoked ribs and pork belly. We couldn’t find the traditional Korean drink, soju, so out came the vodka and sake. No one seemed to mind ;-).
At some point Jeff’s flute appeared and Park Yeon Tae had an impromptu lesson. 
We feasted on eastern and western barbecue, kimchi, mac & cheese, and corn on the cob. 
No one went to bed hungry.
One last group “selfie” at the dining table.
The next morning Jeff and Phil took the group to the airport. The whole week was such an amazing experience. While we are happy to have our house to ourselves again, it was a bittersweet parting. Jeff and I both said we were looking forward to eating food from the good ol’ USA, in our pajamas, streaming some television. But in the end what did we make?
Fusion Food!
There was leftover beef bulgogi in the fridge so we stirred fried some veggies as if making bibimbop and rolled it all in flour tortillas. Korean burritos……..YUM!
Our life now returns to normal. Well, as normal as a potters life can be. Today we have a kiln to unload… oh yeah, that happened too during the barbecue, everyone pitched in to get the gas kiln loaded and firing. We will have new pots today!

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Pottery on The Grounds – East Meets West

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Saturday was the hottest day we have had this year. It was humid and in the low 90’s. We woke up to a frozen air conditioner unit. Just imagine, five people trying to get out of the house for a festival, dripping in sweat. Jeff took a quick look at the air handler in the attic and we realized there was nothing we could do until the outside unit thawed. We piled into the car and headed to Southern Pines.
Yeon Tae Park was set up outside for demos, using Jeff’s Japanese kick wheel. Yeon Tae has won first place in the kick wheel competition at the Mungyeong Chasabal Festival.
An amazing group of women cooked and served bulgogi, bibimbop, and pajeon. There was also plenty of rice and kimchi. Hot dogs were also available for the less adventurous eaters.
Jeff did demos on the electric wheel.
Yeon Tae Park applying slip decoration to his moon jar.
Hands on activities… origami and a kids clay table. Both kids and adults got their faces painted!
Local potters set up booths in and around the Campbell House.
Nikki Mizak, with her hand painted chickens along with new soda fired work.
Morgan Hatfield had a nice assortment of Celtic pottery and oil & vinegar bottles.
Jared Zehmer had a sweet selection of tea pots in his booth.
Kings Pottery with wood fired work. They make some really cool face jugs.
Lufkin Pottery – Sally makes piggy banks too!
Frank Neef was inside the gallery showing his intricately pierced, porcelain vases and jars, all in crystalline glaze. Frank demonstrated his technique throughout the day. 
Raven Pottery was also set up inside but I somehow didn’t get a photograph. They were a major sponsor of the event so a big thank you goes out to them!
Levi Mahan, who now has a shop in our previous location, was set up outside near the demo tent. Levi has some really nice wood fired pots. I give him lots of credit for braving the heat all day!
The crowds were steady for most of the day. I was glad that the heat didn’t keep people at home. Initially, the weather report called for rain, but thankfully that never happened.
One last photo of our group at the end of a long hot day. Kyeong Hee and Jon Pil spent the day doing tea ceremony demonstrations inside the gallery. They stayed cool, but were still very tired at 4:00!
We stopped for Mexican food on the way back to Seagrove. It was our guest’s first experience with Mexican food. They enjoyed the spicy flavors and were happy to see Budweiser on the menu. When we returned home Jeff went back into the attic and cleaned some corrosion from the fan on the air handler. We all jumped for joy when we turned it on and it worked!!!

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East Meets West Reception Part 2

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Jon Pil Kim and Yeon Tae Park, setting up for tea ceremony demonstrations
Korean style of dress, from the very traditional to Yeon Tai Park’s hip biker dude clothing.
The reception spread was unbelievable. A mix of traditional Korean and North Carolina food.

And of course there was soju!
At this point only about half of the food had been put out!
The reception hosts dressed the part.
Jon Pil Kim demonstrated the tea ceremony and served the guests. I am actually starting to enjoy matcha. The last time Jeff made it, I couldn’t get past the “it tastes like grass clippings” thought.
The crowd was big, the atmosphere festive. The reception was supposed to be over at 8:00pm… it was 9:00 when the last group left. Even though we were tired, a trip to the new, giant grocery store in Pinehurst was a must. This is one of those super sized stores with beer on tap, coffee shop, hot and cold buffets.

Our guests were pretty impressed. What did they buy? Cherries, cheese, Yuengling beer, and hot dogs. Jeff prefers Hoppyum IPA or Jade IPA from Foothills brewery, here in North Carolina. They thought it was a little too “hoppy” so the Yuengling was just right for them.

That’s all for today. I have some studio clean up to do, while the entourage is in Southern Pines giving a slide show and tea ceremony demo at the senior center.

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