Unloaded the kiln just now. Overall, very pleased. Tried something new this time, experimenting with holding the firing at it's highest point for an hour to get uniform results throughout the kiln, and also hoping to push a little more depth out of some of the glazes. Generally speaking it went well, but I may have over-fired my Rust Red by just a scoche as a result - went a bit darker in some places than normal. Sandstone gave me nice results this time too, a little bit more depth out of it then normal - hints of red and blue (maybe some crystallization of sorts?) came through on some underbellies. Tonight the kiln gets loaded and fired again. Lots of bowls on the way. I may try a 30 minute soak vs. 60 to see about finding the balance between getting the rich colors without toasting the Rusts. 

Top Shelf (that glaze mark on the shelf there is from my first firing with unknown glaze properties, not the result of soaking at ^6).

Next half-shelf.

Down another tier. That smattering of orange-browns is "Albany Slip Brown," my new favorite glaze.

Mountains and IYFC Blues.

Mountains. Sandstone went a bit dark on the blues, but the browns are gorgeous.

Bitty vases.

Bowls and bowls and bowls.

And bowls and bowls and bowls.

And more bowls.

And a few mugs for good measure.

Excited to get out next weekend and see what other folks think of these pots.

Happy New Year! + New Pots + This is Post #195

A Happy New Year to all and to all a new year! If you're still living in 2011, I guess that's your prerogative but I'd think twice before getting too upset with anyone you think "stood you up" on Monday, January 3rd, because, you know, for most of us January 3rd was Tuesday, and Monday was January 2nd. So, you've been warned - but it is a free country and all that.

I'm looking forward to getting back into the groove around here. Took 10 days or so away from "home" and visiting family and friends in Iowa. Mostly family. Mostly friendly family. That's the way it goes sometimes.

But I'm excited! For pottery! And related suchness! I had a glaze firing unloaded the week before Christmas that was a real joy. Some Christmas orders that had to be boxed and shipped away (with minimal shipping casualties) and then some just for funs. I think I've finally figured some things out and I'm looking forward to kicking back into production mode and increasing my supply of what I hope will become "staples" of my work. Because they're gorgeous. And I don't have any of them left. Because they're sold. Mostly. I guess I have one or two. But seriously. Good times.

Also a good time (dork moment): upgrading our main home computer's RAM from 2x512MB to 2x2GB. For those not in the know, that's amazing. It had become standard practice to go grab a bite between instigating computer processes because you could. And now I can't even keep up with things. I open a window and BAM! Firefox is going shopping and playing videos and sending e-mails and downloading music and writing webpages and I'm still trying to find the cursor on the screen. I'm afraid I may have just unleashed the Singularity.

So I may also be inclined to blogging more, with pictures, since it will hypothetically take less than a leap year to crop, edit, and upload new pots. So yay for that.

I also procured some large stone brick things to boost my wheel six inches higher off the ground. I'm thinking this will ease some back pain I've been having (too young!!) and make throwing more enjoyable. All around: excited.

So here are some of the pots that came out pre-Christmas. I think they're beautiful.

These eight were shipped. Seven survived. Looks like I'll be making some more. Thanks, USPS Shipping Insurance!

Glaze Detail.

 

I've been working on my love-hate relationship with mugs. Heading into a "love" phase. I think that's a good thing. I was excited about these. Also had some blue mugs that were cute, but a bit small, and not as dynamic a glazing effect. Back to the drawing board on those.

Finally figuring out this blue with some consistency. There are two left, if you're interested.

Batch of these little darlings. Love the blue-red bleed. I have one left.

Glaze bleed detail.

I tried a couple of other glaze things as well, to some stellar results. I believe I still have one (singular) in a new glaze that I will need to be incorporating regularly, because beautiful. The end.

Back into the studio for me this week, or at least this weekend. Maybe both?

ALSO: I've made my selection of my favorite (musical) albums of 2011. I need to post it soon before the late arrivals sneak their way in.

Back to the grind, friends. Happy potting!

Lots of Firing Around Here

Busy busy busy. I seem to be starting a lot of note that way these days. The final firing before my show is cooling to be unloaded tonight. I've been firing nonstop since last Friday night: a final bisque load and now into my third (I think?) glaze firing. There's no way I'll be able to log all of my pots as "slide" quality images, but the bottom line is that a lot of them aren't portfolio worth pots. I'll hopefully find time in the next 9 days with enough good natural lighting to get some good photos of my favorite pots to come out of the last couple months work. In the meantime, here's a taste of what's been coming out of the kiln.

I did a baker's half-dozen cups like this. I may be taking a break from my sgraffito this winter to do more pieces that emphasize carving, relief, and glaze work. Mostly I love these two glazes together. Wishing I had a whole set of work like this.

Another mountain vase. They're coming out pretty regularly lately. The brown still isn't as strong as I'd like, but what can you do?

Bowls and bowls and bowls. These are itty-bitty ice cream dishes. Or whatever. Beautiful reds.

Still not avoiding disappointment. Here are two stacked bowls with the glaze doing this. In addition to the 6 from the earlier firing that didn't turn out in this combo. And the six small ones that I tried with an alternative glazing that didn't pan out either. Argh. Went back to my glaze/firing log and discovered what I've been doing wrong here, but too late to help these bowls. Blurgh.

This is a big one - blue and sandstone. Should have stayed with the red-sandstone combo, but it's a pretty blue, nonetheless.

More cups.  A whole palette. And remember: Choose Natural Energy!!!

And last, but not least, I think my favorite from this round of work. The glaze, the shape. It's a winner. Now, to make sure I don't arbitrarily price this one head and shoulders above the rest just so I can keep it...

That's it. Don't know how much more news I'll be able to get up in the next week. On the road this weekend to run a marathon - hopefully I don't die. Then home to finish sanding and washing and prepping and pricing for the show. And then the show. And then I may sleep for a week or two straight.

In addition, if you're not already, listen to the new records from Switchfoot and MuteMath. They are amazing.

Peace!

Unloading the Kiln

Top shelf - opening the kiln. Love that agate-y bleed on the top of that vase.

Second shelf.

Bottom of the kiln.

All the pots. Chillin'.

Just a quick preview for y'all. Back to the grindstone...

Untitled Post for a Friday

From the looks of the blog, it's been a little quiet on my end lately. But from this side of things I've mostly been super busy! Lunch hours that could normally go to updates here have been devoted to the pots themselves - trimming, decorating, firing, waxing, glazing. I've also been committing to squeezing in half an hour or so of throwing/trimming into my morning routine, in addition to my runs. As great as all this productivity has got me feeling, I'm looking forward to getting past Marathon/Show week so I can take some time and just be. "Cut back" my studio hours to "just" ten hours or so a week. Spend less than a third of my waking hours on the weekend running. That sort of thing. But overall it's been nice to go to bed at the end of the night knowing that I spent my day doing. And not just going, going going, but doing things that are valuable and important to my being. But like I said, I'm looking forward cutting back on a bit of the doing so that I have more time for other all important being activities such as abiding with family and friends, something that Krystal would confirm has been not so much happening as greatly as preferred this last fortnight. Or so.

All that to say, I don't have a whole lot of photos to show for my work, but I do have a few things to share.

I ran a glaze firing last weekend to mixed results. Actually, disappointment was the word of the day when I cracked the lid. My beautiful running blue combo did not so much beautiful this time around. I'll get to that later. But to start with the good things.

A few things glazed in the Retro Blue Green. The plate was supposed to have carvings in it, but the RBG seems to have had different feelings on the matter. Still, at least a pretty color.

Rusty Red did the same bang-up job it always does. A couple spots it got a little thick in the middle of the bowls and looks like iron ore deposits. Not my standard preference on functional ware, but beautiful colors and unique textures.

Ah, disappointment.

What I didn't take into account was that the two places I tested the combo were relatively flat surfaces - a platter and a shallow bowl - and the base glaze involved is a floating blue, which is to say that the desired result is for the surface colorants to bleed and create a streaking effect. Which, I'm thinking, is what happened here: it did exactly what it was supposed to do. And on the taller bowls, it bled the Dark Cobalt top coat with it. So, the centers of the bowls are beautiful, with deep blues and streaking effects. The further up the walls you go, not so much. These may still constitute "seconds" but unless my stock runs quite low will probably not appear at the show in October. The outsides are still gorgeous, but the insides are not what I would consider prime results at all. Yikes.

So that's about it. Lots of throwing last minute bowls and cups, lots of trimming said bowls and cups, trying to get all set on the business side of things - bags, boxes, business cards, display - lots of stuff that needs updating/restocking/first-time-decision-making. I'll get there.

In the meantime, a couple "businessy" things regarding my site.

1. I'm proud to announce that you can now reach my site via lukelangholzpottery.com - no Blogspot required! I'm still hosted by Blogger, so there's no need to update your blogroll or feed - it will automatically redirect. But this is very exciting for me!
2. You may have noticed (as they've been up for a while) but there are now additional "pages" here to supplement the blog. You can find them at the top of the screen. "About the Artist" is what it is - currently you can read my personal artist statement and I will be updating a bit of bio as well. "Links" is a listing of sites I consider to be of importance in my artistic journey, including teachers, supporters, and fellow artists. Please check that out, as if you like my stuff you will most likely find "else" of interest somewhere in there.
3. Finally, if this blog is not nearly enough Luke for you, I can now be found on Twitter (if you're into that sort of thing) where I have been a little bit more regular in posting quick pics and thoughts from the studio, as well as complaining about the weather and blathering about music. You can find me under the moniker @EarthAndClay.

That's all I've got time for folks. Lots of glazing, and thus lots of new pots, in the near future. 21 days, 3 hours, 42 minutes to show time. Yikes.

Preview

The kiln is unloaded. It seems like every time I unload a glaze firing the "goods" just look so meager compared to how much work went into getting them into the kiln. Mostly, it's the fact that glazed pots take up significantly more room in the kiln than a bisque fire because they can't be nested in the same way. Sadly. But some of these are stacked in the photo, too. Anyhow, better photos with a real camera later, but here's a preview.

The finished product.

Quite pleased with the blues I've got here. This will be a fun combo to use in future glazing.

While I'm at it, I mentioned previously that I've been enjoying Burlap to Cashmere's latest record a lot, different from what I normally listen to, very engaging. The band recently posted these videos and I wanted to share them here. They really have a nice thing going.

Alright, that's it. Krystal made it home safely and I'm taking tonight off from potting. Have a great evening.

Weekend Work: A Quick Update

A quick update on a full weekend of work. Saturday was throwing, throwing, throwing, and then some cleaning. I have to get better at regularly mopping/sponging down my work area to minimize the dust, etc. Not good for the health, you know. Maybe invest in an air purifier for the basement. 

Today was mixed, throwing, trimming, decorating, glazing. Got a full load of glazing in. Such a mixed bag of work. Plates, vases, wide bowls. Hard to get them all to fit nicely. Could I already be outgrowing my kiln? As I look forward to my October show, I may have to set up a glazing station in the garage. Dry pots out there, load them right into the kiln, unload, and glaze them all at once. Glaze them all in one weekend and then leave them sitting to load the kiln as best as possible. By the time I was done, all I could think was that my dad would probably be pretty good at kiln loading, seeing as how he once upon a time was very good at Tetris. Obsessive personalities will do that to you. I'm just obsessive in a crazy sense. Loading two tiers of kiln before realizing it was hopeless, unloading, and reloading again from scratch. Eventually I fit *almost* every pot in that I wanted, and ended up with some staggered shelves in the kiln. Seriously, like Tetris in there. Only a shame I didn't have any mugs/cups/bud vases to fill in the tiny little gaps. Hate to waste that hot air when you take the time to fire it up.

So, for the quick update some lame-o photos off my phone, but they offer a nice recap:

Started the firing around 7. Hoping to get it done in the middle part of the night so it can start cooling before the day warms up. Should finish up around 3 or 4 and I'll be up by 6 to check on it and make sure the kiln hasn't melted down. So far, so good, but there's a strong odor from the burn-off of the wax. More wax in this firing then normal, but not a pleasant smell!

Staggered shelves. Wishing I had two (maybe three) perfectly sized vases/cups to go in that shelf there.

This is actually maybe the crispest picture I've ever gotten off my phone. This is what I worked with this afternoon. 18 pounds. The pot I ended up with is sorely smaller than what I'd like to be getting from eighteen pounds, but a) I think my perspective has become skewed, and b) though there is some weight to be trimmed out of the base, there's really not THAT much, and I'm really pushing for dynamic forms that require more base support pre-trimming, especially thrown this wet.

And this is sadly not the worst picture I've ever gotten on my phone. It looked better in the thumbnail when I attached it. Anyhow, there are a dozen or so bowls that I trimmed/decorated Friday night.

Some bowls, a mountain vase. No big deal.

So there's the story. Never thought I'd say it, but I'm ready for Monday, to finally get a break from so much hard work. You know, so I can go back to work.  Also, Krystal comes home, so that's always a good thing.

(PS - we are 16 days from the release of Switchfoot's new album. I'm stoked, and trying to play it cool. Counting down? Nah, I'm patient, look at me all nonchalant.)

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Busy Weekend (and still one day left).

I've had a busy weekend so far. But a good kind of busy. Pottery, non pottery. All good things. Well, mostly good things. There was the 30 inch vase that I had to trash, but it wasn't too much time loss (section thrown; pieces thrown quite nicely, quite quickly; went a bit too far dry before joining, too much weight in the top half; the pull of reshaping and the added weight caused some issues in the support on the bottom of the vase. I'll be trying again this week.). But productivity was not lost on me. This is what I woke up to this morning:

Them are glazed pots in there.

So of course yesterday was filled with the accompanying sort of messes of glazing and such.

Not the final arrangement: still playing with the best spacial arrangement.

It only took me 4 hours to glaze this kiln-load. Had the table cleared before dinner!

Speaking of dinner, the First Course: garden-fresh grape tomatoes and basil on an olive oil brushed whole wheat crust, topped with feta and just a touch of mozzarella. Grilled. Fabulous. Needed more tomatoes, which we had. Had I known, it would have not been a problem. As it was, hardly a problem.

Among the other things that happened yesterday: we started the morn with a 14 mile run. My longest run to date, Krystal's longest run in nearly 7 years. When we were within a mile of home (we were delirious - debating whether or not rhinoceros are hoofed mammals or not. Because seriously, if you've determined that you're trying to guess a horned, hoofed, herbivore native to the African plains that isn't a cow, buffalo, antelope, or goat, this is an important point. I'm pretty sure they're not hoofed, and I convinced Krystal* as such, but seriously.) - so, let me restart this thought. When we were within a mile of home I observed to Krystal that the Marathon will just be this, twice. Not too shabby, I say. I think I can do it. I think it will not be fun. I think it will hurt. But yeah, I'll get medieval on those 26.2 if that's what it takes.

I also asked Krystal, somewhere around halfway (so, we've already run 8 miles) if going out and running for hours on end ever just seems stupid. She just gave me the look.

All that to say, by noon or so we were all cleaned up and ready to tackle the day with the rest of our tasks, like glazing and groceries and teaching Temperance how to dance. Because she's awesome.

Our dog is an awesome dog: she trains with power and love, our Dog is an Awesome Dog.

So that was our day. Running for the better part of the morning, teaching our dog to dance, buying groceries, glazing pots, grilling pizza. Ready to do it all over again. Except with less being on my feet. Cause I'm sort of done with that. Here are a couple more pictures of things that have been happening this week and last week and such that never got photographed or posted.

This one's actually in the glaze fire already, so a bit behind the times.

This one's drying. Discovered I have sore few of bowls in this style for October show. Time to kick it up a notch. BAM! (Must be channeling my inner Emeril this morning. Don't know what's up with that.)

Bigger mountain vase. Pretty nice balance to it. And the camera's autofocus needs some help apparently. Sorry!

Well, that's all I've got for now. Still working on shots of the last firing, and there may be new pots in view by bedtime tonight. As you saw above, the kiln is still glowing. In fact, it needs to drop about 2000 degrees before I can open it yet. So that may be awhile. But I'll certainly keep you posted.

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to keep your Sabbath holy! Or at the very least, restful!

___________________

*in Krystal's defense, when we play the "Guess the Animal Game" she normally goes places like "Grevy's Zebra" or "Reticulated Giraffe." Most people are all like, "Horse" or "Cow" or "Bear."** So, she's hardcore, don't think otherwise. I'm willing to say this one was just misstated.

**In my defense, she has met her match. She may know the rare specifics of Blank Park's collection, but I'm all like, "Amur Leopard, BAM!" or "Narwhal, BAM!"*** Yes, in fact there is such a thing as a European Bison, and that's why I kick butt at this game. And I've got a secret weapon for the next time around. Been saving it for years. She'll be like, "What? Can't be!" and then I'll come home and bust out or Guide to Wild Animals of the World and be all like, "Read it and WEEP!"

***I'd also like to point out that she required three (3) reliable sources to convince her that Narwhals were real and not just fantastical. Yeah, take THAT!

Heat Wave!

It's been hot around here, and I've been busy. Our heat index (think opposite-effect wind chill) has been well over 100 degrees for the last couple weeks, but it's finally starting to break. I think we've been steadily in the high 80's for the last couple days, so of course I thought that would make the best time to run a firing.

Well, that and some time sensitive pieces that have been sitting on my greenware shelf for just a little too long. So the bisque ran last night.  Could have fit another 3 or 4 vases in the top shelf, but I didn't have any more, so that was just too bad. But like I said: time sensitive. I set it up to preheat for 3 hours (holds temp at 180 to help get all the moisture out before hitting the boiling point for water) and then ran a slow cycle. Firing completed mid morning (not optimal - but I didn't get the kiln turned on early enough last night) in 14 hours and some change.  Sitting around 600 right now; might be able to unload before bed. Glazing this weekend, and another firing by Sunday night.  Then it will be new pots.

In the meantime I've been making pots. I just haven't been blogging them. And with purpose. I've been selected to show at the South Dakota First Lady's Art Showcase, which coincides with the Governor's Invitational (Pheasant) Hunt. Kind of a big deal in this state. That show will be October 21-22, and I need to make a lot more pots between now and then. So I need to get better about buckling down and cranking some work out. I'm very excited about this opportunity, and also a little freaked out about not whether or not I'll have enough quality work pulled together by the time the show rolls around. I basically sold everything worth selling before our move - everything that was left has slowly been whittled down as gifting away and such. And a lot of time since establishing my current studio has gone to test pieces and special orders. Which are essential (the former) and much appreciated (the latter), but haven't left me much time for building up general stock. So here's hoping that I won't be a complete dud at showtime. So that's what I've been up to.

Well, among other things. Krystal and I are in training for a fall Marathon (the weekend before the big art show - crazy?) which will be my first, and her third. So, that's taking a lot of time and energy and effort. The good news: if the pots aren't done by the weekend before the show, I've probably done something wrong anyway! And I don't have to travel, as the show will be in Pierre!

I also have taken some "good" shots of my last firing (good being relative - I've mentioned before that there's a reason I'm a potter and not a photographer) but haven't gotten them edited yet for online consumption. So here's a little teaser.

Trying to get more detail shots to compile a glaze chart for folks who want to order something. Easier to e-mail out a chart than e-mail a whole swarm of photos and try to connect which one we're talking about.

Sorry for my failings at being online: believe me, this time around it means good things for the artwork. Hopefully sooner than later, and have a great weekend!

New pots, throwing, and a helper in the studio.

So I got a picture of the hot hot kiln posted up here in the middle of the week as a teaser.  Cause I'm cruel like that.  But seriously, I did do a glaze firing this (last?) week.  

Bisque.

I had quite the pile of bisqued pots stacking up and I figured I'd done about as many test firings as I was going to effectively do with regard to all the mountain vases I'd been waiting on.  So I did it.

My glazing helper.

Our good friend John X. was hanging out with us this week (isn't it great to have friends in transitional periods of life?) so he helped me out with this mess.  Mostly keeping me preoccupied so I'd not dwell on how much I hate glazing.  I have no idea what that expression is that he's making, but he's a cool cat.  He also tried his hand at waxing a couple of pot-feet, which certainly was interesting.  I didn't do too well at that either.  So we loaded up and fired the kiln on Wednesday night.  Medium-speed ^6 firing, took 8h36 to fire to completion.  We unloaded Thursday night after dinner.

Is that really a kiln-load?

Another kiln with moderatley mixed results, kind of.  I stuck with what's been working - which is rather uniform across the board.  The brown slips on my mountain vases still aren't providing a whole lot of contrast under these glazes, but boy are those blues spectacular!  Definitely some good stuff in there, at least. 

 Yesterday (Saturday, for those keeping score at home) John decided he wanted to learn how to pot, so I gave a couple demonstrations and let him take a crack at it.

Sure looks like a natural.

He did pretty well, for day one, with no experience.  Let's just say that if he continued to grow as a potter at the rate he demonstrated during the two hours we spent in the studio, and threw every day, he'd probably surpass me within a week or so.  Sadly, I don't think that's quite how it works.  But he certainly did very well for a first time in the clay.  I threw him a couple of demonstration pieces - first a bowl, then a vase - working through the process, and then coached him through the steps. He took to it like a duck to peanut butter.  Which is to say that ducks, I would imagine, really enjoy eating peanut butter, but probably aren't meant to try swimming in it.  It's actually a pretty horrible simile, but I liked the sound of it when it first hit "the page."

My demonstration.

John's pots.  Not bad!

So that went pretty well.  John took off this afternoon and I went back into the studio with a fresh breath of inspiration and ambition.  And so I threw some big jars.

#3

#2 (left) and #1

I'm not sure whether these will get a sgraffito treatment or if I'll just leave them to be glazed for color.  I might mix it up, but these will probably get slipped up and carved to pieces.  I think I favor the B-clay for glaze-only pieces. 

Keeping me company in the studio this afternoon was a little new music, followed by something older.  My studio selections, in play order and, coincidentally (or not?) also alphabetical order!

King of Limbs, Radiohead - good studio background music.  The more I listen, the more I realize that this one starts out really promising and peters out after only five or six tracks.  Since there are only really eight tracks, I guess that's a pretty good percentage of the album that stays solid, but then, on the other hand, there are only eight tracks.  But overall it's really enjoyable.  Not sure that it really stacks up anywhere near the top of their canon, but worth listening to.

Love, Liberty, Disco, Newsboys - this is my favorite from CCM's golden boys from the Gold Coast. Mellow with nods to classic funk/soul/disco, I think it's one of the most interesting albums from them musically (the guitar work on this album is phenomenal - quick licks, bluesy leads, and soul the whole way - and the rhythm sec) and also mature lyrically.  Call it nostalgia, but I think this offering from 2001 is pretty near the peak of their output and is undeniably one of my "Desert Island Discs."

Much Afraid, Jars of Clay - their sophomore release, and possibly my favorite.  The album starts off a little unsteady as "Overjoyed" tries to find the tone for the record, but is solid from track 2 onward.  By the time you hit Track 5 "Frail" (beautiful guitarwork, haunting lyrics) it's onward and upward as the boys wrestle some heavy stuff.  Lead singer Dan Haseltine has recently started writing about where some of this music comes from - not in an attempt to say what the songs should mean, but what the music has meant and, specifically, trying to address the places and times in life that the lyrics came from, which is really fascinating for a fan like me.  One of the things that I (and Krystal, too) have most appreciated about Jars, and Haseltine as main lyricist especially, is that they are willing to write music that deals with life in the hard places in a genre/market ("Christian" music) that so often seems to shun music that doesn't deal in glossy answers.  Haseltine's lyrics come from places real and raw, and it's powerful to read, in his own words, the story of the songs and where they came out of his life and the life of his bandmates.  The result is music that is true in a way that has too often been in short supply.  All that to say, if your interested in post-grunge, alt-folk this is a very solid album, reglardless your religious orientaions.  If you're interested in reading more about the stories behind the songs, you can find them at http://www.danhaseltine.com/.  As of this posting, he's most recently unpacked "Portrait of an Apology" which is definitely a standout track on this album.  

All that to say, I threw some pots and listened to some music that I really really like.  And I hope you'll check it out because you might really like it too.  Happy Sunday, and please try not to let Monday get the best of you.