I was up early this morning and unloaded the kiln before Jeff even got out of bed. It went quickly because he had un-bricked the door last night. It was a really good firing with a variety of work from piggy banks, sugar & creamers, mugs, and our 50+ bowls for the Empty Bowls event next week.
Early in the week I posted a “before” photo, here is the “after” photo…
This is the BEST looking mug from the STARworks FireFest wood/salt firing.
It’s also the one with the small S-crack, so it’s mine to keep.
Jeff was part of the wood firing crew at STARworks last week during FireFest. He brought of few my pots to be fired in the salt chamber.
These were made with Laguna B-Mix. I had some lackluster ones and a few with some good toasty-ness. Of course the ones with the best color had other issues, like a slight separation at the handle join and one with an s-crack. I plan to keep the s-crack mug for myself, which I rarely do. The others are still sale-able but at a reduced price. That’s the crap shoot of wood firing and persnickety B-Mix.
The plan this weekend was that when Jeff was done his shift of stoking the wood kiln, he would come back to Seagrove and bring me to FireFest at STARworks, in Star NC. I really wanted to see this year’s giant sculpture, that was firing throughout the event, being unveiled. At 7pm it was drizzling and 46 degrees outside. I opted to stay home in my pajamas, curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine. Jeff had a few great photos and there was some cool videos posted to Facebook. The sculpture this year was created by Sunkoo Yuh. Firefest is an annual thing. You can read details about the event here: STARworks FireFest
It’s that time of year again. The Second Harvest Food Bank is having their Empty Bowls event next week. I think this is the third year that we agreed to make 50 bowls for them. They pay us $5 a bowl, which probably pays for materials and firing, we donate our time and energy.
Jeff threw all the bowls, since he can throw a nice soup bowl that doesn’t need trimming… thanks to his many years of production work. My contribution was prepping for bisque, waxing bottoms, and dipping into the base glaze.
Jeff did the all of the glaze trailing. Half are “nuka” glaze with blue and green trailing, the other half are shino with copper red. We were really happy that we had a bright sunny day to work outside.
Tomorrow is firing day. I hope to get some photos of all the bowls before they get picked up by volunteers this weekend.
Stay tuned for updates!
“EDEN” came out of the kiln yesterday. Isn’t she sweet? The buyer made the perfect choice of color and carving for a little girl named Eden.
March was the month of the big piggy bank. Most every order I had was for our large size bank. The larger piggy banks are about 8″ in length and 7 1/2″ from hoof to ear.
The problematic part of making larger piggy banks is that you can’t stand them on all fours until the legs have stiffened some. I typically put legs on a few then let them rest on their butts for any where from a half hour to an hour, depending on humidity. The trick is not to forget about them before it’s too late to make leg adjustment. I try to get them as wobble free as possible.
After making a round of these hogs, our standard size seems so small to work on.
As soon as this kiln was unloaded we started to load it again for another bisque firing. April is a busy month with the Celebration of Spring Pottery Tour in a couple of weeks as well as our commitment to making 50 bowls for the Empty Bowls event for Second Harvest Food Bank. We are also excited that Jeff’s son Matt is arriving tomorrow for quick visit! The extended family is coming for a barbecue lunch on Thursday. Matt leaves on Friday, and we have potter friend from NH arriving in the afternoon… just in time for FireFest at STARworks. Jeff and I are thankful that we now have a larger home to entertain in!
I think this is the coldest March that I have experienced since moving to North Carolina. This weekend we needed to get the kiln loaded for a bisque firing. Saturday was spent outside in the kiln shed shivering, while sanding and loading pots. It wasn’t a very pleasant day, but we had the kiln loaded by 5:00 pm and Jeff bricked the door before dark.
We have quite an assortment of pots in the kiln. I had an order for a sheep so I made a few. The smaller, roundy ones are rattles. Lots of ginkgo carved pots, and the usual piggy banks and vessel sinks.
Hey… what happened to my tail? Oops. How did I forget that? I will have to get creative with him. Maybe I will paint a tail on with under-glaze! Luckily he is not an order, but an extra.
Despite the chilly weather there are signs of Spring in the yard. Friday was a sunny day and while hanging out laundry (yes I do that, and actually enjoy it!) I noticed the iris were blooming near the clothesline. I love irises and we only have white ones here at 505. I have to remember to plant a new variety this year. I am not even sure what time of year they are planted I guess I will have to “google” it.
I made them in January. They took forever to dry and get into the bisque kiln. Flat things take up a lot of real estate in the glaze firing and things that aren’t orders are last on the list to get in the kiln.
My original thought was to glaze all of them in ash glaze. At the last minute, Jeff convinced me to do two in the green glaze. I am really glad I did because I am loving the contrast of the green with the un-glazed rim. The clay is STARworks East Fork.
Modeled after the Jeff’s coaster design, these are a nice lunch plate size, about 8 1/2″. Lets see if I can get the next round of them finished more quickly.
Our good friends Bonnie and David came to visit on Thursday afternoon. Bonnie was due for a pottery lesson and despite not having thrown on the wheel in long time she did an awesome job. As we were finishing up for the evening we spied this shadow on the wall…
Have no fear, it just a clay snake!
Bonnie gladly took it off our hands. He will now live in her garden.
Jeff has made a lot of soap dispensers throughout his clay career. The pump mechanisms have changed over time from the plastic with a cork, to plastic screw top with glued on ring, and most recently to stainless or bronzed metal, with plastic glued on ring.
This winter he bought a few thread molds that eliminate the need for gluing on a threaded plastic ring. They were a little rough when he bought them and he had to do some clean up of the plaster. Now that he has worked with them a few times he thinks he will be able to make his own.
The soap pump in the photo below has the glued down ring and foaming soap pump. If the molds work well Jeff will switch over to those exclusively. In the mean time, I have been having fun adding the ginkgo leaves to his bottles.
clicking on the photo will take you to Jeff’s Etsy shop
There hasn’t been anything too exciting happening around here. Jeff and I have been busy with the usual production.
Sinks and pigs are continuing their popularity into 2018.
Late yesterday I finished this round of salt pigs, piggy banks, and big piggy banks. I think when all was said and done there was around forty. It seemed like it took forever to get them completed. Our studio has been very humid and I did a lot of shuffling them around, covering, and uncovering to get them to, and keep them at, a workable state.
We are enjoying some warm Spring like temps and the daffodils are blooming. No matter how many years I live in North Carolina, flowers in February will continue to amaze me!
Time flies and I can’t believe we have been working in this space for over two years. It’s been difficult to manage getting our studio and gallery to where we want it to be and to continue making work to be able to pay the bills. Over the last six months we have bought new display shelving from IKEA, a little at a time. We would like to purchase two more shelf units and then we will move on to a vessel sink display, utilizing real cabinetry.
It all feels like baby steps!
Jeff and I have also been discussing what to do with the peeling paint on the trim and shutters on the outside of our home and studio. Scraping and painting seems daunting, and a task that has to be done every few years. Never mind the fact that most of it involves ladders and staging. Thankfully most of the house is brick! I am not a fan of plastic, but I am also not a fan of painting… I would love to be able to wrap the trim in vinyl and be done with it!
I think I better start making more piggy banks to pay for it.
