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.

Firing results.

Finally finding a moment to catch up on sharing what's been up in the studio this (last?) week. But first, have some better pictures from the glaze firing unloaded last Monday night. Some nice results, positive experiments. Nothing disappointing inside. That's always a plus.

 

Excited about this blue - combo of glazes to get this result. Been waiting for a while to discover this one.

The new-blue again. Lighting not so good, though. This is also thrown on the "wrong" clay I picked up in August. Clay turned out beautiful. It's a really nice buff-toned clay when fired, and it throws a lot smoother than what I've been using, so this may become my standard.

New glaze - Retro Blue-Green. Tested on a couple pieces in the last firing but didn't put it on thick enough to get a real sense of the color. Pretty excited about this one when applied properly. It's a bit different from the rest of my palette, so that's kind of exciting.

Detail of the Retro Blue-Green. It has sort of a robin's egg blue thing going, with a little more lichen and a metallic sense as it streaks in the center. Different, but I'm excited about it.

So that's the firing. Which piece is your favorite? I'd love to know which glazes appeal to all y'all!

There were happenings this weekend.

First among them, I came down with a nasty stomach bug. One of those 24-hour varieties, but ugly nonetheless. Sleeping it off was my solution. As much as possible. But UGH! Well, I shouldn't complain too much - our friend Katie was up from Tucson to visit for the weekend (You remember Katie? She pops up around here every-so-often) and she seems to have come down with the same bug, except that were I got to curl up in my bed and sleep all day, she had to travel home whilst being ill. No fun. So, Katie: I hope you are feeling better, or at least soon.

So that was the low point of the last 96 or 120 hours or so. I'll finish on the high point and deal out some pots in the middle. So, pots:

These big bowls are now trimmed, decorated, and drying. And I'm not a photographer.

The other big bowl.

This is a large platter.

This is another large platter, trimmed and drying upside down. The platters will hopefully turn out all right. Each is battling potential issues, but I should know before they bisque whether or not they remain issues post-drying.

Krystal has allowed my pots to take over even the finished portion of the basement to maintain a visual sense of inventory in preparation for my fall show.

Hey look, a tea set!

I'm sure you're wondering why you haven't seen pictures of that tea set in progress? Because I had to keep it a secret! It's that simple! Gosh! This was a special order from a friend of mine (Joan) for a friend of mine (Jon) on their (shared) first wedding anniversary. And he, apparently, supposedly, keeps up with this blog. And I probably could have kept my purposes on the sly, but I preferred absolute secrecy. Here's a situation of glazes going awry - which is painful for me, especially on special orders, where the end result must be judged by someone other than me. But you see the cream-colored portions in there? Supposed to be sandstone. I.e., not milky-white. But I shipped it, and they were pleased. Or so they say. Speak now or forever hold your peace! Ah, the angsts of being an artist. But how about that blue? Beautiful! So there you have it - in case there were any doubts - I will make teapots. But they'll cost you. Just saying.

While I'm at it I'll mention that Jon keeps a couple of blogs on food & foodie-ness and biking & fittie-ness, respectively. And while he's a great friend, and a decent blogger when he blogs, he's actually fairly horrible about doing any of the latter. But you can check out the stuff he used to write and mourn with me.

My other realization this week (sort of a low point) is that I totally bought 200 pounds of the "not right" clay while I was in Minnesota last week. I say "not right" because, as it's now the clay I have, it may turn out to be a very fine clay, and as such, certainly not wrong. But for the time being, and until I see positive results, it's the not-right clay. And that's totally my fault for not keeping my vernacular, loose-tongued naming of the company produced clay straight with it's ACTUAL names.  See, even though I would describe my clay as a buff-colored stoneware, to Continental Clay it is actually a "Mid-Range Oxidation Body." Because the name "Buff Stoneware" was already taken. By this other clay that I happened to buy instead. So we'll see what happens. It will fire in the same range, but it does have a different color and consistency and will take me a bit to figure out. But, bottom line: 200 pounds of clay purchased 600 miles away = not going to be returning that anytime soon, so I might as well throw it.

Moving on up, I did also buy 200 pounds of the correct white "B-Clay." So expect more white pots on the horizon.

Finally the highlight of the weekend came when we got to go to the annual Crow Creek Hunkpati Oyate Wacipi (powwow). Krystal's work kept her pretty busy with an affiliated event for the weekend, so that left plenty of time for Katie and I to take in the dancing and, in Krystal's words, "eat indian tacos* 'til you throw up!"** This was not my first powwow, nor is it the biggest (By any means. Whatsoever. Even a little.) in the area, but it was the best weather, food, and dancing that I've seen at one recently. The dancing was wonderful, and powerful, and the traditional dance costumes and regalia were beautiful. Stunning. And I happened to have a camera. So I'll leave you with a few pictures.

Mostly I'm awed by the tenacity of any people's spirit of cultural traditions. Which is not something I'm going to try to get into here, as it's a deep and complicated issue and I'd hate for the meaning of my words to be lost or misconstrued. But the celebration of deep, rich, cultural traditions is a beautiful thing and I'm glad to have the opportunity to witness and participate in even the tiniest way. 

*Fry bread + taco fixin's = awesome.
**Little did she know...

A real post?

Well, the wifey's been out of town for the last couple days which means I've actually had time to devote to clay and such.  There it is, there are pros and cons to bach'ing it for a few days.  Mostly cons, though, I'd say.  Tempy and I sure tried to stay upbeat, but it's hard with our Krystal absent.

So forlorn, sitting in the rain, waiting for our Krystal.

Somehow being pathetic is cuter when you're a thirteen pound fluffball.  So we're ready to not be alone anymore.  But as I said, I got to do some potting of substance.  In no particular order:

A veritable smorgasborg of plates.

Some bowls to match the blue-trimmed plates.

Plate to match the blue bowls.

Plates trimmed and footed and drying.

Recycling clay! It's really not that thrilling at all, except that it's been a long time coming and needed to be done and it's been a while. So these are the things that excite me these days.

Bowls to match the plain white plates.

So that's what's been happening in the studio.  Lately I've been enjoying the tunes of Foster the People's full length debut Torches as well.  We heard one of their songs on an iTunes alt-rock radio station a couple weekends ago and were intrigued enough to look up who they were.  Picked up their album when it released later that week and have been enjoying it pretty regularly since.  Electronic-minded dance rock - Maroon 5 meets The Killers on tour with Kylie Minogue.  Check them out below - "Pumped Up Kicks" and "Houdini" are favored tracks off the record.  Good music for a morning run or a stretch in the studio.

Also in heavy rotation lately: the latest from Paul Simon (funky, enjoyable!), Bleach's eponymous "couch" album (10 years in, it's still on my desert-island discs list, on account of I'm never NOT in the mood for it), and I'm still rocking Foo Fighters' newest, Wasting Light pretty regularly, too.

So there you have it. You should check out any of these four musical recommendations: because I said so.  Good night, and have a pleasant tomorrow!

Brief Update, Plates.

I've actually managed to be a pretty busy bee with regard to the clay this last week/weekend.  In and out of the studio.  Throwing, trimming, decorating, confering with customers over commissioned works.  Still feels like a lot of busyness, but most of that is my fault.  Well, as much as it can be my fault that all the time over the last month that normally would go to pottery has instead gone to family-related travel, houseguests, and sandbagging efforts.  But I've finally buckled down to getting some real pottery work done.  Looming deadlines are awful good for that.  Proper post with more pictures soon (hopefully, or at least this week at some point) but here's a taste of what I've been up to:

Took the clay on a field trip to my back deck yesterday; decorating in the sun is certainly a change from the chill of the basement.  By mid-July I should be quite content with the basement chill but for now the heat is still quite novel.

Part of the frustration/delay lately has also had to do with spending a lot of time waiting; waiting for pots to firm up so I can slip them, waiting for slip to dry so I can decorate, waiting for pots dry so I can trim them, and soonafter, waiting for everything to be bone dry so that I can fire them.  I'm very thankful for the fact that once I get things dry enough for the bisque there isn't a whole lot of necessary waiting involved.  Assuming I have the time, I can unload the bisque, head straight for the glazing, and reload the kiln within 48 hours.  Assuming I have the time, and don't screw up, I can go from dried greenware to finished works in 72 hours, assuming I have the time.  

So there we are, for now.  Stop back later for a better update, and have a great week!

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Throwing!

Some throwing actually occurred!  Nothing horribly exciting, but some things that needed to start happening for some special orders.  Despite having company in town for the long weekend, I was able to sneak away to my studio to get to work on some of these things. 

This will get a lid, and maybe a handle, as a special ordered item for a member of the local art group in town. 

Two plates.

Four more plates.  I have an order for a set of four, which means I'll probably be throwing 10-12 and selecting the for that match closest in size and shape.  I don't think I throw plates often enough, especially to make a matching set out of the gate.  But if I throw another 4 or 6 I should end up with two decent sets out of it.  We'll see what happens.

A better view of some drying pieces that are trimmed and decorated (compared to the post earlier in the weekend).

So there you have it.  Finally getting down to business, and hopening to have a brief respite from busyness for 10 days or so.  Maybe.  If I'm lucky.  So we'll see. 

That's it for this early post.  Have a great week!

Busyness.

Not the same as business, but life has been quite full lately. In the pottery arena, there's been a few things like this:

Please forgive the subpar phone image.  Some trimming and decorating.

More trimming, waiting and waiting and waiting for things to dry.

So that's where we're at. I have, I believe, more than enough pots to fill a bisque, but I have quite a few special orders that need to get pushed through quickly, so it's key to keep those dry pots around as filler for the project firing.  Of course, I do eventually need to start working on those projects... someday, maybe...

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Design, Dogs, Days

Well, I am still alive, though I've been a bit of a failure when it comes to the potting and the blogging and the pursuing of clay-filled days and nights.  Such is life.  But rest assured that I have not simply been twiddling my thumbs this fortnight.  Of primary occupation in regard to my temps libre has been that taking advantage of the nicer weather that begins to grace the upper midwest sometime between February and October.  We normally get a few good days in that window, and a fair share of them fell in the last week or so.  We (being Krystal & I) spent the better part of a weekend taking care of some outdoor projects - a church clean-up day, finally raking out the last portions of last fall's mess from our yard, planting our veggie garden, putting some perennials in the front of the house - hopefully they take!  We also had to make another trip back to Iowa for my brother's high school graduation (Congrats, Noah!).  Pictures to come, perhaps? 

On top of all that, I've been keeping busy with a fair share of graphic-design related freelance projects for Krystal and some other clients.  Here's a sample of something I recently did for Hunkpati Investments and The Harvest Initiative for their upcoming "buy local" campaign:

Not too fancy, but I think that sure looks pretty classy.

 If you're not familiar with what those two organizations are up to you should really check it out - neat stuff, lots of exciting news out of their camp lately.  Also, my wife is sort of the director of Hunkpati.  She's kind of a big deal.  Or something.  So that's been fun.  Little creative challenges that look in a different direction than the pots. 

Someone else has also been taking up a lot of my time:

A whole lotta this.

A fair share of this.

And if you're watching closely enough, there's even been some of this.

But there has been some potting over the last couple weeks - just no posting to prove it.  Here are my meager offerings of progress:

More test bowls.  Still trying to experiment with some combo glazes.  There are two less than pictured here (not counting the warpy one) because my studio assistant got a little peckish when I wasn't looking.

Little white plate.  Was supposed to be a bowl, but the bowl part got too heavy to support itself.  Oops.  So the bottom remained and voila le plate.

Big white plate.  This one is exactly what I set out for.  Nice chunky rim.

Bowl decorated tonight.  Pretty?

So there you go, and now I go off for sleepy times.  Bonsoir!