Things I've Been Doing

So, what have I been up to, you ask? Here's a sampling of the things that have happened in the last week or so.

Shoveled my way out of a minor blizzard. Predawn shoveling is my favorite workout!

And then hanging out in the springy sunshine with the dog. It's just the Midwest, yo - that's how we roll!

Of course with weather like that, sometimes it's best to just stay in your basement and make pots.  So I've tried to do some of that lately. Some days are better than others. But that's the way it is.

Itty-bitty bowls! I'm thinking these will be known as "adora-bowls." Say it out loud if you don't get it.

Some more regularly sized bowls.

And more bowls.

And back into the groove with some mountain bowls.

So that's what's going on. I actually have a couple of events coming up this spring, so one of these days I need to start thinking about doing some firings. More information about those shows can be found over at my recently updated About the Artist page.

So there you have it. Oh, music? This week in the studio I've been listening to NPR Music's (mostly) downloadable suggested listening mix from SXSW 2012. It's nothing if not eclectic (folk, metal, hip-hop, alternative, latin, rock - and that's just in the first track! j/k) and chock full of artists I've never heard before. While lists like this (70 songs deep, eclectic) come with plenty of songs that I listen to once and decide that's enough, there are certainly some gems in the mix as well. So check that out if you like, and let me know if you find anything good in there!

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.

Post #151!!!

Apparently my last post was the monumental post #150.  But I didn't notice, so I didn't mention it or do anything awesome to mark the milestone.  But I'm here to make up for it!  I'm finally home without any plans for travel in the near future.  Granted the last couple trips out of town have been for funerals, and thuswise out of my control, I'm looking forward to some downtime.  Or at least hometime.  And also because it is time to introduce to you my new studio assistant!

Ladies and gentemen, I proudly present to you Miss Temperance (Tempy) Langholz!

Yeah, I know that's Krystal.  Tempey is the little fuzzy one.

She's cuddly.

Ferocious.  Yeah, that is a Tyrannosaurus she's owning there.

And of course, as my new assistant, she also exhibits those most all-important traits such as dilligence, responsibility, go-getter-ness, and, clearly, is a VERY hard worker.  We're very excited to have her on board.

She's still of course on a probationary period before she'll be handling any studio responsibilities, but she's a very quick learner and expect great things from this young creative prodigy.

That said, she's keeping us busy.  Add to that a visit from the inlaws (love you guys!) that coincided with her arrival, and we've had a very full week.  Without nearly as much sleep as I prefer to get.  And certainly not enough potting.  But I did get into the studio today to take care of some pots from last week?  last fortnight?  Something like that.

Yeah, thought I'd try another rainbow pot, with some carving.  We'll see.

Also, there's been some studio changes for me lately.  Namely my decor decided to descend from the walls, so now there is none.  Trying to come up with a creative way to get these cork sheets back on the wall, because clearly the little adhesive pads aren't cutting it. 

Rebellious cork squares.  How am I supposed to draw inspiration from an empty wall?

I also swapped out ye olde folding chair in exchange for a more pottery-suitable stool, courtesy of my folks.  This may not sound that exciting, but boy, let me tell you, it really is!  Thrilling!  Stools are the only appropriate thing to throw pots in!  Also, this stool has been in my family for as long as I can remember.  Like, literally.  At least 22 years.  I don't remember Dad assembling it, but otherwise it's always been a family staple in his music studio.  Rearrangements at home (and perhaps in his lumbar vertrebrae?) have resulted in a different studio arrangement for him (a real chair) so I got this beauty:

Isn't it great?  Adjustable legs!  Now it fits my wheel perfectly!

There you have it.  Post #151, full of excitement.  Also, it's been sunny and warm all week.  What more could you ask for!  And all sorts of great music this spring!  Have been grooving with the new Radiohead and bopping with the new Strokes record (it was streaming all week on their website, here!)  So that's awesome.  And I'm looking forward to some new Foo Fighters in April, not to mention NPR's insane amount of live concert recordings from the SXSW festival in Austin, TX (find them here!).  Post #151, you didn't fail to deliver.  It's been an awesome week full of wonder and excitement.  Next: moving on to a full docket of glazing + more wonder, excitement, and discovery galore!

Throwing and such.

Six day posting gap!  I don't feel so bad about that.  Ideally I could get more than one update per week, but I'll take what I can get these days!

I had a healthy bout of throwing/trimming/decorating/claywork this weekend, I believe Sunday afternoon.  Enjoyed some shuffled musical options which gave me a pretty diverse stuff to throw through for the afternoon. Started out with U2's 1983 (breakthrough?) War, which is certainly not one that I default to when I go looking for U2.  Which is often.  Ended with the latter half of Led Zeppelin's Early Days/Latter Days hits collection - again, not the side I normally go to.  Where Early Days has the big hits ("Black Dog," "Rock and Roll," "Stairway," and my personal favorite "When the Levee Breaks") Latter Days has some serious blues-metal psychadelic jams.  Seriously enjoyable stuff.  Sandwiched in the middle were M.Ward's Hold Time and the Man in Black's always great Live at Folsom Prison.  Now that's a soundtrack for the creative process.

So that was the listening experience on Sunday.  I also had a great time listening to quite a variety of stuff for some Monday night throwing as well, but it's currently escaping me.  I know it included a fair bit of the Jimi Hendrix experience, so there ya go.  Pictures below from my weekend's work.  Didn't document yesterday's throwing, but there was a bit of it.  Some vases, some bowls.  A couple of moderately exciting things.  Getting to the bottom of my fresh clay supply - guess I'll be needing some more soon.  Not much more than that, as far as news is concerned.

Recycling clay - time to make up for not having any more of the good stuff!



Bowl.  Still needs a trimmed foot, but I like the carving.



A couple of theses Arizona pots. 

Baby little arizona.

Playing with shape.  These will probably just get glazed.   Pretty bold move on my part.

Test plates - gotta find out how some of these glazes play on a FLAT surface.

Baby mountains, to test glazes.  Boo. 

So that's it for now I guess.  I'm looking to make some updates to my site/blog, visually and functionally, but I need to get some time to sit around and do that.  For the moment, I'd still generally rather be throwing then coding, but sometimes these things must be done.  So, maybe, if somebody out there nags a little bit, I'll get around to it.

Peace out, and stay warm.  Don't want any of my few faithful readers freezing away from me out there. 

UPDATE!

None too soon either, huh?

Let me begin by offering many extended apologies to anyone who may have been waiting with bated breath for news from this blog. Eight months is a long time to hold your breath, so: I'm sorry. The simple fact of the matter is that there has been a lot of "life" happening and not so much "pottery." Some of that "life" has included:

• A cross-country move, leaving behind beloved friends, jobs, mountains, and sunshiny Colorado Days to settle somewhere in the middle of the Great Plains.



The Great Plains.  Actually, this is just an open meadow on La Framboise Island on the Missouri River.  That's French for "Raspberry" attached to the English for "île."  Anyway, I thought it was appropriately scenic.

• A new job for Krystal (Please check out Hunkpati Investments for more information about the really neat work she's doing)
• Buying our first home!



Our new home.  It's super cozy!

• New job for me.
• Gardening (no pictures of this one: we were too busy fighting the grasshoppers for our veggies to worry about photography this year).
• Grilling.



Despite whatever it may look like, I do actually know what I'm doing with that thing.

• Lawncare: and then our mower died.  Fortunately, it quit raining just around that time, so the grass didn't grow much after that.  It's been fixed now, for anyone who's concerned about the well-being of our Toro.



Part of our lawn.  Our backyard is pretty much awesome.  When  it isn't being overrun by grasshoppers.

• More grilling.
• More yardwork (the joys of homeownership)



Look at me, all handy-like and building a fence!  I'd call this close enough to constitute yardwork.

• Rock Concerts



Jars of Clay, for example.  Always a good show.  And totally appropriate for this blog.

Retaining walls.  One night it rained and then most of our lawn was laying on top of the sidewalk.  I don't think this wall will let that happen anytime soon. 



I think we met more people while building this wall (letting us know how nice it was to see us improving the neighborhood) than in the entire rest of our time here so far.

• And more grilling (It's what happens when you live half-a-block away from the most fabulous little butcher's shop ever.  Also, we discovered Nathan's All-Beef Franks.  Phenomenal.  I may never eat another Ballpark again.)
• I met a funny-looking chicken.



Chicken Little this is not.

• Quitting my new job (not a short story, and not very interesting).
• Apples: a month later, we're still working our way through that bag.  Total awesomeness.



Isn't my wife all fashionable and lovely?

• I forgot to mention blueberry season, but I enjoyed it immensely while it lasted.

There it is.  You'll note the complete lack of pottery.  It's kind of what happens when you have workd as part of a Guild and don't have your own studio gear and move to a small - charming, mind you, on the river and all, but small nonetheless - town in South Dakota.  While there's nothing official to be said about it just yet, I hope to be doing something about my pottery situation in the near future.  Stay tuned (cue bated breath) for news (possibly) on that front.

In the meantime, I'll be making a better effort to keep updates of some sort rolling on here.  If you've read me at all you know that what begins as a discussion of art or pottery or aesthetics (have I ever started with aesthetics?) often devolves into a post about what music I've been enjoying lately or why I don't wear polo shirts or "Hey look! Here's a doodle I drew today!"  So it really shouldn't be hard for me to find something to write about in my currently ample free time. (You'll note that "Another new job" is not one of the above bullet-points.  I would like to reduce the amount of freetime that I have.) 

So, if you're reading this, thanks for sticking with me, sorry it's been the better part of a year (that better part being spring, summer, and fall), and hopefully you will be hearing from me soon.

P.S. - if you're in the Northern Colorado/Front Range area, please remember to check out the Northern Colorado Potters Guild Holiday Show & Sale next weekend, November 12-14, at the Guild in Fort Collins.  Click on the blue letters right there or the link to your right fo find out more about the Guild and the sale.  I obviously won't be there, but it's always a good time and a great place to pick up some early Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa/Festivus gifts.

Happy Birthday!

I've been at it for one year - this blog, that is.  The first post came on Monday, January 12th, 2009 as a mission statement of sorts:

My aim in this is to offer a glimpse into the studio process, providing regular updates on life in the studio. Hopefully there will be plenty of photos along the way...

I'd like this space to be a forum for sharing that process - life in the studio. Success, failure, and everything in between.  (Complete intro here)

I don't suppose I have anything profound to say about this anniversary, but to say that I think I succeeded in my stated goals.  I'm not free from tangents (for every post that I talked about "not pottery," click here), the most common diversion being music, and then, I think, followed closely by hiking, Krystal, blueberries, and seals.

I'd be interested in knowing, do you have a favorite post?  Maybe it was just a picture of a favorite pot, or a cleverly related anecdote, or maybe it was just short and easy to read?  Let me know in the comments section, and have a very happy Tuesday!

(pictures and update from this weekend will come at some point...)