Updating Etsy

After a long hiatus, I am loading up my Etsy Gallery with pottery. Everything is 10% off until December 24. So far, I have only heart bowls, but vases and wine coasters will go on today, then my cut up pots. I really need a creative name for them.

In other news, my van breathed its last sigh yesterday. The transmission got stuck in third while we were on our way to Ben's eye appointment in Asheville. Jay met me in Mars Hill, and we got it home, slowly, but alas, I must car shop this week. He's nearly certain that it's not worth fixing. Before he could look at the van though, he had to put his worn out chain back on the motorcycle and replace the belt tensioner in the truck.

So now, the van occupies the same spot that the Trooper vacated only last week after we had it towed away. It had been sitting since March when it blew a head gasket. I think Jay's daily 100+ mile round-trip commute is taking its toll on the vehicles.

So my job today (along with posting more pots on Etsy), is to procure financing and visit local car dealers. Jay would never agree to a brand new vehicle, but, as much as he hates a car payment, I think he'll go for something that he can spend more time driving than climbing underneath. I'll bet he wouldn't mind something that is more of a babe magnet than a gold minivan. And afterall, it is December. A little cold for even Jay to truly enjoy motorcycle commuting.

TRAC Studio Tour this weekend

Don't let snow warnings scare you! Us mountainfolk are so nice, we'll help tow your car out or just put you up for the night! Over 100 artists in Yancey and Mitchell counties in Western North Carolina are opening their studios for you to visit. The Tour runs Friday 12-4, Saturday and Sunday 10-5. It's a terrific opportunity to buy local, handmade artwork and meet the artists who create that work. Read more about the Studio Tour at http://www.toeriverarts.org/ and come to the Artists' Reception tonight from 5-8 at the TRAC Gallery in Spruce Pine.

I've got lots of new baskets, several that I just unloaded this morning. I've also got hot mulled apple cider or pinot noir that you can sip from my handmade cups. Snack on crackers with basil and red pepper dip or cookies. I'm headed into the kitchen to whip up some hot artichoke dip. Come on out! The fun contunues all weekend!

Back from Vacation and ready for the Studio Tour

After the rain has fallen...we were graced with a double rainbow yesterday afternoon. Glorious.

Cone 7 finally fell last night around 11:00. Due to circumstances beyond my control, I chose to candle in the morning and fire in the afternoon into the evening. It worked out as planned. I even timed taking my nighttime cold meds as cone 5 fell knowing I had only another hour or so before shutting the kiln off. How's that for planning?

I'm usually a sneaky peeker, but I'm just going to wait until Friday morning to unload. Did I mention that I am an early riser?

We spent Thanksgiving week with good friends in Nag's Head, our yearly tradition including the delectable grilled turkey. The ocean breezes helped the grill work like a convection oven and the 21 pounder was done in 3 hours. I think my pumpkin cheesecake took longer to cook. If you've never tried turkey on the grill, this one is awesome. We make it again for Christmas so I'll post a recipe next week. It is so yummy.

This year's storm hit a week prior so while we didn't have to live through the terror (like in 2006), we got to walk the beach and gawk at the decks, overwalks and even a pool or 2 destroyed by Nor'Ida. I don't think I would want the stress of owning a beachfront property.

The weather was so great that the kids spent the first few days on the beach making a fort of various debris they collected. The van was packed so full of food and beer that there was no room for toys.

Little did I know that less than a mile up the road was Clay Club's John Britt, staying at the Comfort Inn. He would have been a welcome addition to Happy Hour, doo-rags were optional.

So, I'm nearly done prepping for the TRAC Studio Tour this weekend. I'm off to ship a pot to a show in Knoxville, get change and new coats for the kids. 70% chance of heavy accumulation Saturday might dampen visitors, but I love to see how happy snow makes my kids.

Winding Down

As the Toe River Arts Council's Fall Studio Tour draws near, December 4-6, the work starts to slow down. I thought I was finished after 3 firings over the past few weeks. However, with 5 or 6 shelves of pieces (including the third of the large baskets) that did not fit into a glaze load, I feel compelled to keep making new pots.

I'm also making cups for the wine and cider I serve at the Tour. I cannot stand the idea of throw-away cups. As you know, I am not a disciplined thrower, so the cups present a little challenge for me. I often throw them too thin, too small and no two alike. It's ridiculous to throw them on bats, but I screw them up if I try to move them wet.

I do love to trim pots, so even though cups should not need trimming, I do it anyway. It also gives me the opportunity to use my Giffen Grip which I bought in college. At least all the feet end up looking alike. Once glazed, the cups are pretty sweet.

So wet work will grind to a halt this week as we prepare for our annual Thanksgiving trip to Nags Head. When I return, I'll bisque fire the last of the pieces and fire a cone 6 load mid-week before the Tour. More photos and updating my Etsy site will follow.

New Pots and Gallery Makeover

As predicted, last week was indeed a busy one. I fired a cone 6/7 load on Monday and a cone 10 on Wednesday. My last cone 10 load took over 14 hours to fire, so I woke up at 2 am to start firing. As luck would have it, I was so tired that I neglected to cut back the air at the start of body reduction (although I am uncertain why I was doing that). The result was a slow down in rise, but not the usual drop that takes an additional 2 hours to make up. That should have been my first clue, eh?

I looked back over my notes as well as John Britt's and Val Cushing's firing schedules and realized that what I thought was a mistake was probably the correct course of action. In the end, the firing took only 9 1/2 hours with good reduction. I guess that means I can cut 2 hours off my cone 6 firings also.

Once again I was very impressed with the cone 6/7 glazes in reduction. Chris Wolff's Plum (above) came out very nice (although my photo makes it look more red than it truly is) and a couple more of my cone 10 glazes are nearly identical at cone 6/7. Considering I ended up with at least 5-6 shelves of Zella Stone (cone 7-10) work that did not fit, I have the option of firing at either temperture. I thought I was done firing for the year, but as long as I am halfway there, I may as well fill 'er up and squeeze one more firing in!

While I was firing, Brenda helped me paint the gallery. Before it was a sort of Colonial blue and the faux ceiling beams were painted as white as the ceiling. We painted the walls a muted yellow and white washed them. Then we painted the beams brown and added some darker stain on top. The result is a room that appears much larger and taller.

I feel good about so many pots coming out well. In the photo they are just piled all over the tables. I have quite an inventory and am considering approaching some galleries about carrying my work. I've never done this before, and I'll admit to being a little nervous. Hopefully I'll have some good news to report soon.

Busy Week Ahead

I am getting ready to fire the glaze kiln twice next week, cone 6/7 on Monday and cone 10 on Wednesday. With Jay out of town, Brenda is going to come up and help out. I can fire by myself, but I have to leave the house twice a day to deliver and retrieve the kids from school. There are just not enough hours between drop off and pick up to fire even a shortened cone 6/7 load.

And as sometimes happens, I stumble upon a really nice form towards the end of my "making" cycle. I was going to try to make some wall pockets, but the cylinders were the wrong shape. Instead I made some bud vases and these sweet baskets from the leftover pieces.

I really like when I can combine the creation of two different forms from the same cylinders without having to recycle too much clay.

What is pathetic is that I only have 15 bats to throw on, so I was only able to make 7 little baskets (2 cut cylinders for each basket). I am hoping they will dry in time to make it into a bisque on Sunday. Otherwise they must wait for the next cone 10 firing, and I don't know when that will be. With all the prep work I need to do for firing and the subsequent photo-taking, I have had to stop all my wet work, but all I want to do is make these little baskets. It's just not fair.

So, rather than accepting the hand fate has dealt me and use the time to tackle a couple of home projects, I have decided to squeeze in another cone 6/7 firing before the TRAC Studio Tour. I have two weeks to make more work. I'll be gone the week of Thanksgiving so everything will have plenty of time to dry. I can bisque the day I get back and if I glaze fire by Tuesday, the pots will be out in time for Friday.

Sounds like a fool-proof plan. Doesn't it?

Some Things Are Just Not Meant To Be

Over the years, I have developed a positive outlook on life. This came in handy this week when I inadvertently destroyed one of the biggest pieces I've made (the basket on the left). I was covering up some adjacent damp pots and knocked one of the handles. It broke into too many pieces to be repaired. Oops.

I didn't spend much time mourning the lost work hours nor the wasted potential. I had made three large vessels out of Brownstone, a clay I had never before worked with. The handles of the one I fired slumped into the basket (see the post below for a picture). Mysteriously, a handle on a second one turned up broken. That break was clean, and I was going to try to fix it. Then came my klutzy studio performance.

I decided the universe was telling me, in no uncertain terms that Brownstone is not the ideal clay body for vessels of this size, not to waste any more kiln space or time on these baskets. I proceeded to cut my losses, bust the pieces up to be reclaimed and move on. Unfired clay can be reused indefinitely.

Although, with all the Ellen Buff I got from Henry Pope, I have more than enough clay to slake down. I guess the Brownstone will be relegated to a corner of the studio, along with a bag of bone dry Little Loafers to be dealt with at a later date if at all.