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.

This would be post #199.

Hidy-ho, neighbors! Just briefly (previously spelled: breifly, breifely, and brefily. It's not a spelling issue; it's a "my right hand types at a different speed than my left hand, and my brain can only keep up with one or the other" problem. Happens all the time. Other than that, I tend to type effectively at upwards of 70 wpm. Thought I'd share.) a post for y'all. More pictures, less talk-tures. Probably. Got something planned for what proves to be post #200. Sometime. Later. I hope. Here's hoping.

Before I get rolling too much further, I wanted to share (shoutout!) that I got my own mention (shoutout!) at my good friend Jon's blog, Farmboy to Foodie. I was commissioned to make a tea set for his 1st wedding anniversary last summer and my work was featured in his recent post on tea.  The glazing on that set was unique - misbehaving glazes and all that. But funky and unexpected is not always a bad thing. Always nice to get some positive feedback. You can read about it here.

And here's what happened in the studio last week/this weekend. For your enjoyment.

Asphyxiated bowls. Two more under the white wrap behind.

Mugs and mugs and mugs. With handles and everything. I'm not sure I've been feeling alright, making mugs and all.

Part of my workspace - trimmings and leftover bits and pieces from the mug handle-ing process. And my not-so-shiny, not-so-new scale. But I'm very pleased with this table. It's a good solid working surface for wedging and kneading and such.

Plates happened. There's a fourth floating around somewhere. Just not in the picture.

The Two Towers! Some recycled clay, airing out and firming up just a bit before being kneaded and bagged. In anticipation of Part 1 of The Hobbit coming out this summer I thought I'd recycle my clay in a Tolkein fashion.

More mugs! Wet mugs! Hope you're not distressed by my non-linear treatment of time in the displaying of these photos!

So that's been it. Lots of music in the studio, of course. This week I gave another good listen to David Crowder Band's epic finale - truly a phenomenal effort and I think it might be hard to displace it over the course of the year as my favorite album of 2012. Also getting into some new artists, including the debut(ish) release from Pioneer - sort of a pop-punk/alt-rock sound reminiscent of MAE or Relient K, with their own spin. I've embedded the "trailer" for their album release party below to give you a taste:

Pioneer recently signed to Davy Baysinger's (of the band Bleach) Slospeak Records. Now, it's not a hard and fast rule - plenty of exceptions out there - but I think it's fair to say that the musicians you love often sometimes occasionally can point you in the direction of more music you'll like. It's not foolproof, you know, and sometimes people love listening to music that is not of their style or whatnot. Like hip-hop artists who cite Bob Dylan as an influence. (Really?) In any event, Bleach is one of my favorite bands, their self-titled 2000 release is my anytime-anyplace go-to album, and the last time I saw them live (2004 - before they hiatused for 7 years) ranks at-or-near the top of my list of best live music experiences. So I'm not surprised that my interest has been piqued now by multiple artists on this small, indie label.

Here's the sneak-peak at the upcoming release from the band SONS:

If you like the sound of that, you can listen to a full track of the new album here. I'm excited about these prospects for new music this year, especially from new artists, because it honestly doesn't look like there's going to be a whole lot else coming out this year, at least suiting my tastes. Exceptions and disclaimers, et cetera, ad nauseum. Music and stuff.

So that's all for now. Gotta keep throwing, gotta keep trimming, gotta keep sgraffito-ing. Kiln won't fill itself, you know. Later.

Bowls and bowl and bowls.

Because today I don't feel much like dealing in words, here are lots of pictures. Because I used my camera this weekend. Lots of trimming, lots of decorating. Some plates. Some mugs. Some things didn't get photographed. But you should really take what you can get. Especially at this time of year when my basement (studio) is so cold that... it's pretty cold. So I took lots of pictures of the bowls I've been making and the decoration therein. Of course, once they're turned right-side-up they'll have a completely different balance and flow. Part of the magic and mystery, I think.

Bowls! Trimmed, footed, sgraffito-ed.

Two...

...by two...

by two, by two, dear Lord...

these things we clay!

A few of these - soon to be pretty blues. A friend of mine recommended I refer to the blue effect as "in your face cobalt." So there you go.

Minis - These will get the In Your Face Cobalt treatment, and a vase!

Mugs!

And one that's not a pot at all!!

That there above is a powered speaker dock for my iPod/wedding-ring-holder. It was a Christmas gift from my fabulous wife and it makes my studio quite cheerier. I had been playing my tunes through an old pair of computer speakers but it was constantly draining my iPod's battery to do so, and this little black box has fabulous sound, plus it (re)charges my iPod and keeps track of my ring while I'm potting so I don't have to remember where I put it. Potter problems, I guess. In any event, the little blue Nano has been keeping me grooving to my favorite tunes from 2011 (Fleet Foxes! Civil Wars! Foo Fighters! Who was my favorite for the year?) and even 2012 (A Requiem Mass from the David Crowder*Band - amazing! Off to a great start for the last year on the calendar and all that!). So that's been great and I wanted to give Krystal a shout-out for her great gifting. Also under the tree from Krystal: this amazing tome on Marguerite Wildenhain and the Bauhaus. Wildenhain's work and the Bauhaus tradition are of significant influence on my ceramic ancestry, if not my work and philosophy directly, so I'm very much looking forward to digging into the anthology.

Will I get to work in my studio some more this weekend? I sure hope so. Will I wait until next Friday before blogging again? Most likely.

Stay warm, folks. It's cold out there.

briefly briefl brief

Since I did grab some snapshots while I was in the studio last weekend, I thought I'd better post a brief update before I hunker down for a wintery long weekend in my studio and fall behind on sharing what's happening. 

After finding a few hours to throw - Saturday? Sunday? - over the weekend, bowls and mugs sat on my shelves for too many days. Finally picked up on decorating the bowls whilst catching up on Krystal's new favorite entertainment phenom, Terra Nova, or as we call it in our house: Dinos! Trimmed bowls Thursday night. Will be back to throwing this weekend, and hoping my mugs won't reject handles. We'll see.

Anyhow, a few pictures:

The weekend's work pre-trimming, decorating.

Some mugs. Feeling better about these still. Should have been more, but I ran into some chamois remnants that had been recycled with the clay, then shredded, then recirculated. Pulled little bits out of three potential (non)mugs. Bummer, but it happens.

Decorated, trimmed, and drying. Hoping to get a full kiln of these + mugs + a few other odds'n'ends projects.

That's all there is to it, I suppose. Should have plenty of time this weekend to throw, trim, blog, sleep - so there you go. Stay warm, folks!

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!

Here Hast I Beenst

Sometimes I like to imagine that there's a whole throng of folks out there that read this blog with regularity becoming a Swiss watch.

That aren't my mother. (Hi, mom!)

And in this imaginary world, all of you have been desperately wondering just where I went for all of November, as I seem to have missed an entire month of posting opportunities.

But really: "Hi, mom!"

The way it hangs there (above, see: "where I went for all of November) it almost looks as if I went on some great expedition. But mostly I didn't do a whole lot, and I'm so sorry for being absent. I've been in and out of my studio, and a little travel here and there, and back into the studio...

But generally, I feel as if I used up about 2 years' worth of discipline, motivation, and drive in the preceding three months. And while it was wonderful, and all things went great, that was just an awful lot of exertion in a short amount of time and so, intentionally or not, I took a little break. And since I don't depend on the selling of pots for the buying of food, I can afford to do so. For this I am thankful.

But I've kept myself sort of busy. Some pots, some travel, some pictures? Here:

Mugs! Yes, real mugs! And bowls. These have been drying since the first week of November. Waiting for some friends to justify a bisque firing. I'm getting there.

Spent some time in Phoenix to eat some turkey. My mother-in-law's bobcat has a thing for fine footwear of the smelly, leather variety. Seriously, look at that sublime state of bliss.

Drove up into the mountains and met a week-old zebra. Cutie-for-surie. (we call that a "Slant Rhyme.")

Got up close and personal with a giraffe. Krystal got to feed him. He was wrinkly, but friendly.

May I also say, the pinnacle of this experience was the "Predator Feed" which was essentially a parade led by a beat-up pick-up pulling a trailer full of seven hundred pounds of raw meat which was shotgunned over the fences by park staff (shotgunned in the football sense, for anyone following along at home). First of all, if you've never watched another human being chuck a 12 pound turkey in the air (and I mean, intentionally chuck - because I'm aware that Thanksgiving brings about all sorts of mishaps) - if you have never observed as someone shot-putted a 14-pound roast in the air, you are missing out. Because it's amazing. All on its own. Standalone entertainment in a heartbeat. Worth it.

Now, on the receiving end of that roast is a 6 year old, male lion - and he catches the roast in his mouth and runs off with it, shaking it dead while roasty-juice flies everywhere; on the receiving end of that flying turkey is a regular old Hobbes who up and poaches that turkey out of mid-air with a disconcerting crunch of fowl - THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT.

 That said, aside from the carnivore's buffet, it was one of the strangest places I've ever been. And I've been sucked into some odd little tourist joints. But it seemed that most of the critters in the park were rescued private pets who would have otherwise been put down. Resident White Rhino Boom-Boom, for example, was originally booked as the main event at a canned hunt in Texas before being redeemed by Mark Ecko, "founder of the world famous rhino-branded apparel line, *ecko unltd., and a staunch supporter of rhino relief."  Boom-Boom is now on permanent loan to Out of Africa. So, apparently good for the animals. Right.

Got Christmasy up in here.

Home-made ornaments, even. Maybe I should be marketing these things?

My lovely ladies. Tempy was helping to set up the tree.

Finally getting around to more pots this week. So there's always that.

So that's what I've been doing. Pots. A little. Running. Catching up on my reading. Shoveling snow. Scraping windshields. Running the furnace. Making soups and chilis and such things. Also, plenty of music-listening. Today I've been getting into the brand new release from the Black Keys. It's pretty dope. <--Hip=Me. Thinking that maybe this is the year that I'll actually post a "Luke's Favorite Music/Top Albums of the Year According to Luke with some input from Tempy" post.

So there it is. Nothing too exciting, but it's what I've been up to. Finishing some Christmas orders. Still lots of pots in stock around here if you're looking for any specific gift needs.

Stay warm, and keep potting (if applicable).

Bye, Mom!

Unexpected Friday Evening Studio Time

Krystal had a thing come up suddenly this afternoon (Ladies Game Night with some other young women from our church), so I found myself with some time in the studio this evening after all.  Nothing to exciting to report, but I did snag some pictures of... well, pictures.  From the studio.  You know, like I usually post here?  So, here's that bowl I trimmed earlier this week, but the inside. 

This one's as special order for somebody who does some work in martial arts, and that's (apparently) the logo for the World Tae Kwon Do Association.  Or something like that.

And here's some mugs.  Yup.  Love those mugs.  "Love that Joker!" Tim Burton's Batman, anybody?  Anybody?  So apparently it's too late for me to be up and blogging...

Here's a bowl I threw.  It's to match two other bowls that a friend of mine has.  It's supposed to nest the other two.  Here's hoping.  Because it's always tricky, if you don't throw all parts of a set at the same time, trying to get their size relationships right.  But it's probably okay.

Here's the last of my white B-mix, which was recycled with the last of the blue b-mix slip.  So, I'm hoping it's a blue piece of pottery.  I decorated it with a sort of differenet technique for me.  But it was mostly thrown to use up the last of the clay.

So there you go.

The studio was pretty empty (as in, completely) because apparently other people have better things to do on Friday night than hang out throwing pots.  So I took advantage of the opportunity to blast some tunes.  Tonight the music of choice was the new Norah Jones, and one of the more recent albums by a dude named Kevin Max.

Kevin Max is most well known for being a part of 90's CCM group dc Talk, and his solo career over the last decade has been mostly under the radar.  It's rather eclectic arty/indie rock, and I recommend it.  And Norah's new release is I suppose similar to her last release, but more fun, and catchier.  A departure from her earliest work, it leaves the piano jazz more or less behind favoring guitar hooks and funky grooves.  Thoroughly enjoyable.

So, that's should be it for this week.  Have a great weekend!