Throwing, Glazing, Slacking: the monthly update.

Right on schedule, time for my monthly update. I'm keeping myself busy lately which means I'm spending more time on pots and less time on posts here.  However, I have been doing a relatively decent job of sending quick updates out into cyberspace via my presence on Facebook (just pottery!) and Twitter (shenanigans of all sorts!). So if once a month is simply not enough of me for you, go ahead and give me a follow at one of these locations.

For those not interested in the social media angle (ye antisocial mediites), here's a recap: throwing. Lots of throwing. And trimming. And decorating. And firing. And glazing. And more firing. And more throwing. Rinse and repeat.

No, but seriously - I've been pretty diligent about my studio time this fall. Krystal's been having to do a lot of professional traveling, so I've had lots of time to commit guilt-free to the pots. I've been focusing on making fun pots, and not stressing about quantity or volume for my next show (November 10-11, here in Pierre). I always have more than enough work, so I shouldn't stress too much. That's my goal anyway. Also continuing to play/experiment with shape and texture in addition to my old faithful sgraffito.

Here are some snapshots:

Itty-bitty bowls.

A full bisque kiln. Had to make room on my shelves for more pots to dry!

Textures and such.

I've been commissioned to do a complete communion service for our congregation. I don't think this pair of chalices quite make the cut, but a good start.

This? This is just a steak dinner hot off the grill a couple weeks back that was quite photogenic. I'm not giving up summer that easily. I'll still be grilling when there's snow on the ground.

 This week I finally got around to glazing a load of pots and was quite thrilled with the results. Every firing is a little different and I usually try to include at least one or two experimental pieces per firing. Looking forward to finishing up more work this fall.

Final thoughts before next month (post-show summary?): Lots of great new music this fall from Mumford & Sons, The Killers, No Doubt and more, but I've been letting the iPod run on shuffle for the last couple weeks and have enjoyed happening upon such wide and varied selections as Switchfoot's 1997 debut, Led Zeppelin's 1976 live concert recording "The Song Remains the Same," older (and newer) Ben Folds (& Five), Bob Dylan, America, Jimmy Eat World, and so on and so forth. Last night Apple up and shuffled me into a jungle of Krystal's Ani Difranco selection which simply didn't last very long. I of course reserve veto rights. But it's been enjoyable to not put any thinking energies into picking my soundtrack and taking what comes my way. Within reason, of course.

Two weeks to go.

Busy busy busy! I suppose for most working artists it's not so big of a deal to prepare for one show or another, one event after another, but as someone still just getting started (really) in the vending and fair-ing of my pots, each show brings new challenges (opportunities) for stepping up my game. It may be a long time until doing a show is anything resembling routine, but each step gets me closer.

Of specific note, I was glad to enlist my father's help in the garage this weekend in tackling a building project in prep for the upcoming show. Saws, drills, wood glue, sawdust, spackle, splinters, and blood. All in a day's work, right?

Makeshift clay-box sawhorses.

The end result.

Starting out at noon with not much more than my sorry excuse for schematics and a half-baked idea, I now have a set of nesting pedestals to take on the road with me. So that's thrilling. And maybe not before the coming show (CLEAR LAKE ART SAIL - JULY 28th - CLEAR LAKE, IOWA - BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!!!), but with this batch under the belt and a garage full of scrap trimmings, I'm well set to build some table-top display pedestals and such to go along with. Like I said, stepping up the game, one step at a time. Still some sanding and painting to go on these, but not too shabby considering where we sat at noon.

Other than that, the last several weeks have been filled with lots of trimming, drying, firing, and last minute throwing. Some a little too last minute. Had a minor casualty in the last firing - thrown too late, trimmed too late, and didn't have quite enough time to dry before it went in the kiln. A portion of the center of the trimmed foot ring crumbled (exploded) in the firing. From the top, the bowl is quite lovely. Flip it over and it looks like an ogre tried to eat my signature. So that's too bad. Salvageable for my own personal use, or perhaps selling to family or VERY close friend, but not something I'm going to let out into the world at cost to a paying customer. I have standards, you know. In the end: sad story. I could have waited another day to load the kiln: I didn't actually get the chance to glaze this week, so pushing the bisque for another twenty-four hours wouldn't have hurt any, BUT it also wasn't even the piece that I was most worried about being too wet. Go figure, huh?

So... here's what else has been going on:

Last minute vases. Trying out new things.

Another Arizona.

Celebrated America's Birthday. Anything more American than apple pie? Temperance also enjoyed it. Most of it. While we were out. And it was on the counter. Dog.

This would be the one that exploded its foot in the kiln. Won't be heading to the show with me, but will be glazing and finishing.

Loading up the bisque. I was a bit concerned I'd have to leave something out. It all fit just fine.

Mandatory kiln-shot. Almost there!

Bisque. Now just waiting to glaze.

So, glazing is now in the near future. For the record, all these photos were shared as they were taken via my Twitter and Facebook. Follow or Like! me for all the craziness on a daily basis.

That's all for now, folks. Hopefully I'll check in with y'all before the show. Woo! Counting down...

Pots of Life

I've been absent. But present. Busy, and not so productive. Lots going on, and not much to share.

Had a wonderful visit by Krystal's mother last weekend which kept me more or less out of my studio. But not completely. Here's an illustrated guide to the past 10 days of my life. Hopefully it's interesting. 

(Spoiler alert: I unloaded a glaze kiln yesterday, so those pictures are at the bottom of this post.)

Took some time off last Friday to take the Mom-in-Law down to the Rez and visit Krystal's office. Got to see some of my own (design) handiwork on display in their offices.

Krystal's (above) nonprofit is doing some really cool things in the community. You can read all about Hunkpati Investments here.

Took some great cloud pictures. Like these.

Had to spend a day driving to the airport. Here's "what's up" at the rest areas in South Dakota.

Krystal took "rest area" a little bit too far.

I enjoyed the fresh air and scenic vistas.

Loaded a bisque firing.

Tempy helped me glaze. She's very helpful.

Took her for a walk as a reward. We found a bunny.

Glazed some more.

Loaded up the kiln.

Watched it get warmer.

Unloaded. Thrilled about the blues. The Rust Red has been giving me a lot of trouble lately, though. Grr.

And threw some more bowls.

So that's been my week. Krystal's been out on the eastern seaboard and I get her home again tonight. Might be able to squeeze in a little more throwing before her plane gets in if I try really hard.

That's it for now, I suppose.

For the record, studio listening lately has included: the latest from Beach House, Bloom; new music from Alabama Shakes, Delta Spirit, and M. Ward; and I dusted off ye olde Les Mis this week after catching this at the theatre last weekend.

Take care, y'all.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless 4G LTE smartphone

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.