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Firing #2

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Firing #2 of the new kiln was a mixed bag. The mugs in the photo above came out great, exactly what the customer wanted. They also ordered watercolor mugs and the glaze pin holed on some of them. We will give them a re-fire to see if it settles them down.

The wide mouth piggy bank was a special order. If you didn’t know how the dots usually turn out you would think it was wonderful. In reality they are usually more subtle, like the dot on the ear.
Our shino glaze looked a little under reduced as well as my Temple white glaze. Jeff wants to start firing #3 later, so that we can be in reduction at night. That will allow him to better see what’s happening in the kiln. Our kiln is located in a sunny spot, and there was a lot glare on firing day.

It takes time to work out a new kiln, along with patience, and getting over disappointment quickly.
Onward!

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Family

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I did the bare minimum of work for six days, but I had a really great excuse…
I had family visiting from New Hampshire! It was Spring break in the north country. My sister flew south with Dad and her grand daughter Arianna. I don’t think they were at our home for more than 5 minutes when we found Arianna on top of the giant tire swing in the backyard.

 There was a couple of evenings of pottery lessons…

and a day trip to the North Carolina Zoo.
My sister and I convinced Dad that a renting a wheelchair was the way to go. The zoo is very hilly and she and I got a great workout pushing him around. A motorized scooter would have been a better option, but then again his driving skills aren’t the best, and we may have had pedestrian casualties.
 Snoozing polar bear

 Carousel ride
The harbor seal and sea lions are always fun. I think it was the most I had seen my Dad smile and laugh in the two years since my mother died.

On the last day, Jeff made a small bottle that Arianna turned into her own little pig. She did a great job and is very excited about getting it back, glazed in purple, when we return to New Hampshire in the summer.

My favorite photo, Dad and Arianna. Taken just before the trip back to the airport. I never thought that my father would be able to make the trip to visit us in Seagrove. We created some wonderful memories that we will always treasure.

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New Technology

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Jeff has a new toy, I mean tool! During the first glaze firing of the new gas kiln, one of the burners shut off during reduction. We have baso valves on the burners, so when the flame cut out, the gas shut off. Jeff wasn’t sure how long it was out before he found it, but it couldn’t have been too long because we didn’t lose too much temperature. The next day he was searching online for a webcam. He thought it was a good idea to have one, since our kiln isn’t quite as close to the house as the last one. Now no matter where we are – in the studio, house, or yard, we can monitor the kiln via our laptops or smartphones. Wouldn’t you know, we had a burner go out on firing #2 as well. Thanks to Jeff’s webcam, he caught it right away. Now we are researching what’s going on with this burner. I hope we get it solved by firing #3.

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SOLD!

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Monday started on a high note when we sold this vase to a lovely lady who saw it on Facebook.
We will deliver it to her when we head to New Hampshire in August. In the meantime, we will get to enjoy looking at it a little longer. I am glad we don’t have to ship it… it’s 25″ tall.  A good sale took the sting off of the disappointing weekend.

Meanwhile, it’s little sister is still available…

22″ tall, ash glaze on the exterior, interior is tenmoku (black/brown glaze). $400 + shipping if needed.

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Pick Yourself Up…

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and dust yourself off. That’s about all you can do after a very disappointing studio tour. Jeff and I spent half of Thursday and all day Friday, cleaning and rearranging our studio and gallery space. We didn’t finish until 11:00pm, which is when we started to cook dinner.

I filled cache pots and vases with flowers and put our special event signs out by the road.

Our three “open” flags were flying outside at 9:45 in the morning. It was after 11:00 am before we saw people. It wasn’t until noon that we had our first sale… $20.00.

Halfway through the day we were worried that we weren’t even going to recover the fee we paid to be part of the tour. By 5:00 pm we had 7 small sales. All we could do was hope for a better Sunday.
But it didn’t happen. We had a small amount of visitors, and three sales.

I can’t even express how disappointed, and worried we are about how the weekend went. We were prepared for extra traffic, since we are now “in town”. In the past this has been a REALLY good event for us. It has provided us with a boost in revenue, after the long slow winter. We are scrambling to find a way to recover.

Some say  it’s a new location and it will take time to re-establish. Perhaps, but ours sales were four times better during our first Spring studio tour, when hardly anyone knew who we were. One of the biggest drawbacks for us right now, is that we are in the wrong location on the Seagrove potters map. The new map was printed a few months before we moved. The studio tour map had us in the right location, but the map was extremely small this year and you needed a magnifying glass to read it. Most of our visitors said they weren’t using the tour map, just the list of participants on one side and were cross referencing them on the big map… which has us in the wrong location.

Our best sale of the weekend came at 5:00 on Sunday, when a young couple came hurrying in and said,”We finally found you!”. They drove by the log cabin and we weren’t there. Eventually they landed at Creations, a gallery in town, who then told them where to find us. A big thank you to the fine folks who run the gallery!

photo credit: Lee Love

Jeff said next year we should get one of these “pottery head” costumes. One of us can wear it and dance around at the end of the driveway to draw attention to us.
If we are desperate, we just might.

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 8th Annual Celebration of Spring Studio Tour & Kiln Opening
Seagrove, NC
It’s a gorgeous Spring day in Seagrove, perfect for touring the potteries. Jeff and I worked hard to get the studio and gallery all spiffy, and we are ready for company. I have pots slipped and ready to carve. If you like watching grass grow, stop in and see the process. I am sure that while you are here you’ll find the perfect piece of pottery to take home with you.
Michèle Hastings & Jeff Brown Pottery
505 E. Main St.
Seagrove, NC 27341
Saturday April 16, 10:00 – 5:00
Sunday April 17, 10:00 – 5:00

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Throwing Bowls

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Like many potters, Jeff and I have always supported Empty Bowls. I am sure you all know the premise; potters donate bowls, restaurants donate soup, people come to the event and purchase a bowl that is then filled with soup. All funds raised support agencies that feed the hungry in your community. Since moving to North Carolina, we have been donating to an agency that has a very large Empty Bowls fundraiser each spring. This year they contacted us to make 50 bowls for them. They will pay for a portion of the bowls and we donate the rest.

Since Jeff is the production potter in this studio, the throwing of the 50 bowls was left to him. If I were doing the throwing, we would have had to start a week earlier! He is able to throw a soup bowl that needs no trimming. Yesterday was the day he got them all done.

He wheeled a ware cart out into the driveway to allow for quick drying. I kept a watchful eye on them, thumbing smooth the foot and stamping with Jeff’s chop and his Empty Bowls chop as soon as they were stiff enough. Tonight he is loading them into the kiln for the bisque firing. Our glaze plan should go quickly as well as fun to do. More on that next week!

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The Results Are In!

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Sunday morning the door came down on the kiln. Overall, we are happy with the results. The few issues that we had, had nothing to do with kiln design itself, but with a burner that was not firing clean, and a glaze that has been acting up.

Front stack, there was a stack of plate setters on the top that we removed before I snapped the photo.
We fired a lot of student pots in this round and they all came out great. 
The back stack was pigs and the big pots. We are really happy with the two ginkgo vases. The large vase on the front right, will get re-fired. Jeff thinks it would look best put in a salt firing.
I love the patterns of brick in the catenary arch… it almost intrigues me as much as the pottery inside.
A better shot of the two ginkgo leaf vases. They will both be available for sale during the Celebration of Spring Studio Tour, here in Seagrove, NC. April 16 -17, 2016.

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Warning: Politics are Involved in this Post

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I typically avoid posting about politics, but the HB2 law, that passed in North Carolina has me more than a little concerned and I feel the need to talk about it. This law might be referred to as the “bathroom law”, but it extends much further than that. I am sure you all know the details and if you don’t here is a link to an article in the Charlotte Observer that breaks it down quite well: Understanding HB2. 
I feel like the state has taken a backwards step in time, and a lot of people are going to be affected, not only LGBT, but businesses across the state. Everyday new companies and organizations are boycotting North Carolina.
How will this law affect our pottery sales here in Seagrove? Only time will tell. The annual Spring Studio Tour is next weekend. We really need this boost in sales after a lackluster holiday season and a slow winter. I hope that pottery collectors realize that the small minded decision made by NC legislature is something that Jeff and I are against. North Carolina needs our vote, please continue to support us.
In order to lighten the mood, I’ll end on a humorous note…

The local grocery store is now selling paper products by the pound! I wonder if it’s a better deal that way? 🙂

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Here We Go!

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Jeff and I spent the last couple of days glazing and loading the kiln. The big pots are sprayed with ash glaze and lined with tenmoku. The big pots and three vessel sinks take up a lot of the space in this kiln, but there is still a good variety of pots in there.
It was a pleasant couple of days for working outside, and we are really enjoying the view that surrounds our kiln shed. 
The door was bricked by 5:30 pm. We had an offering of sake to the kiln gods, before calling it a day. The cup on the right was made with clay, dug in our yard. A fitting vessel to toast the first firing.
Jeff lit the burners this morning.

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