glazed and waxy

I'm trying to get a glaze firing done before the "heat wave" here in the NW that we are expecting this weekend through next week. Firing up a kiln in the middle of 95* weather makes things hot in our garage so I'm working hard to try to get lots done. The big challenge is that my youngest turns 7 and we are having a birthday party on Sunday here for him. He really needs a birthday month because he's SO into it. I'm trying to simplify things but he really wants to be involved with the details which complicates it all. I should probably hold off and not stress everyone out as I try to do too much. I'm trying to meet a deadline on a custom pot and don't want to fire an almost empty kiln.

Here are some photos of waxed pots and glaze mixing. Potters know this, but for the non-ceramic folks, I put wax on the bottoms of pots so that I can dip them in buckets full of glaze and not have the glaze stick to the pot bottom. The wax burns off during firing. If you glaze the bottom of a pot it will become one with the kiln shelf and your piece and kiln shelf are pretty much ruined.

I haven't posted in a while since most of what I've been working on has been routine things like glaze mixing, sanding, re-coating kiln shelves with kiln wash, and waxing pot bottoms... not very interesting, but it part of the process of ceramics. Making a piece from beginning to end is more involved than most people realize. I guess it's that way with most crafts.

Swirling Ideas

My oldest son has a penchant for patterns. I think I must too. I am drawn to carving patterns in pots. When I began making pots I threw with low fire clay and painted images on them using underglazes. That was my favorite part of the process. Then I began working with high fire clay and glazes (cone 10) and the form became the focus - as it needed to be. I look back at those early pots and can see so clearly what was missing (can you say 'door stop'?!?). Despite all the things I learned while taking classes, I missed the images that I created on the low fire pots, so I began to explore alternatives using high fire glazes. I eventually found something that I was drawn to - carving into the pots. I love the feel of the tool as it glides through the clay - the freedom of it. All of my patterns are created free-form. I don't like to be too precise as the imperfections of too much structure scream out at me if they aren't spot on. Today I had swirls swirling around in my brain. Here are some images of the pots that I trimmed up and carved. I'm working on a wedding pie plate - swirls weren't part of the request. I hope it's not a problem. Once I started, I couldn't stop. The uncarved plates looked so plain and a bit lonely amongst the other swirly pie plates and pots.

Etsy Shop Open for Business!

I've been working for a while now with the goal to get my Etsy shop open. I finally took the proverbial plunge last night (actually early early this morning) to try out my new photo cube and go for it. My shop is open for business. I've enjoyed seeing how many people have viewed each piece and seeing who's added me as a favorite seller. Now it's a waiting game for the first sale. I wonder how long it will take.

I'm really happy with the photo set up. I picked up the tips and tricks from another potter who sells a lot of his work online. I'm including some photos of some items that aren't for sale on Etsy as they live in our home.

http://www.shootthemoon.etsy.com

"It's like Christmas!"

I felt like a kid at Christmas this morning. I was waiting for the kiln to cool off enough to open it up and peek inside. Finally it was cool enough and I started to unload. I had to remind myself to take it slow and not rush. Unloading shelves, posts and pots can be tricky business. One slip and you can cause some major damage.

I only had a couple of runs with one glaze in particular. It's like that with glazes, you figure out which ones are stable and which ones aren't. I've found in the past that the ones I like a lot tend to flow and are more likely to run. It's true again. One of my favorites is a runner. But BOY is it a beautiful mix of rust and dark green. It's called Shadow Green. I also had some great results with the Combo Mambo. Of course there were a couple of duds. The kid's pots all turned out well, so they'll be happy.

I'm excited to photograph some pots using my new lighting cube and photo set up. Maybe tonight!?! Here are some quick photos that I took while unloading.

It IS like Christmas. No patience for me. I feel like I am eight years old and just unwrapped a bunch of presents!

Slip Casting

Test tiles

I poured 6 tiles into plaster tile casts that I made. I'm happy with the way they turned out for the most part. The first few had some plaster flecks imbedded in the clay from carving I did while the plaster was still soft (see "working in the negative" post below).

I need to perfect a better way of drying them so they don't warp. I learned that it might be good to get some deep sea fishing weights to set on top of the drying tile to help prevent warping. I'm trying to complete a bunch of tiles for a joint Christmas gift project with an in-law who is a wood worker. The tiles will need to be flat for the best results. Flat tiles... a good goal. Not as easy to do as it might seem. Here are some pictures of the first set of slip cast tiles that I made. They've only been bisqued. I still need to glaze them.

The waiting is the hardest part

I'm waiting patiently for the kiln to cool. It seems to be taking it's time... I woke up this morning and immediately went to the garage to see if it was cool enough to open. Not quite. Yes, as Tom Petty says, "The waiting is the hardest part".

Glazapalooza

I just finished a couple of really late nights glazing a full kiln load. The testing resulted in some interesting results and I did a little "Combo Mambo" on some tiles to see how the glazes would interact when combined. I had some interesting results which I used in my latest glazefest. Here are some pictures of the Combo Mambo. I dropped a kiln post on one of the tiles during bisquing but was able to save it and used a little glue on it post glaze firing.

We got hit hard with some unexpected news in May. It kind of knocked me off my routine for a while and I didn't feel much like creating anything or posting anything bloggish. A friend put it well - that perhaps it felt frivolous. It did. Now it feels kind of necessary as an outlet for energy and something positive.

I'm hoping for good results with this firing. Hopefully nothing runs too much and becomes one with the kiln shelves. I'm hoping to have some good graduation presents, year end teacher gifts and Etsy items after the firing is finished.

Bisque Success!

I unloaded the first bisque firing of the new kiln today. No disasters - even the kids "door stop" pieces survived. I ran a 12 hour pre-heat in their honor just to make sure all the moisture was out. I'm working on some ideas of incorporating quotes into functional pieces in addition to the tiles. Bill finished up my coddles and I'm ready to cast some new molds. So much to do...wish I had more time.

Testing, testing, testing...

First Test of 04. It's a bit overfired. Thermocouple reads 1947*F as the final temperature. I'm on my way!

Warmth

I've been firing up the kiln to test the temperatures. After a few snaffu's with the electrical panel yesterday we finally have the right breaker installed. I completed a cone O4 firing tonight. I'm curious to see if the elements are still strong and if I really reached c0ne O4 (1924* F). It'll be cool enough tomorrow to check out the results of the pyrometric cone test.

We are still waiting for spring to arrive and the weather to warm up here in the NW - so the warm garage is a nice place to be during this cool weather.

In the next few days, I'm taking it to cone 6 (2165* F) to test the glaze firing temperatures. That's hot! The kids love to watch the electronic display on the kiln control panel climb. Tonight Jacob exclaimed, "It's 17,002 degrees". ;-) Now, THAT's really hot.

Crazy Faces

Lately I've found myself squishing failed thrown pots into faces on the wheel like we used to do in a class I took for years in Sacramento. I miss those art friends and long for the studio company and idea sharing that I had in Linnell's Studio (I wish I'd taken some pictures) and Jane's Studio (I found a picture of it that I took during a show in September 2006 - see above and note how CLEAN it is!). I can be rather chatty (okay, I AM rather chatty) so the solitude is sometimes deafining for me in a crazy way. I find myself listening to books on tape, my favorite new CD, shuffling it on the iPod or trying to catch up with friends and family if I can catch them on the phone - thank goodness for headsets. I'm still working on getting Sequoia to talk. He "speaks" but it's just a woof. ;-)

Working in the negative...thinking in the positive.

I've been putting the finishing touches on a few plaster molds before I let them season. It's strange to work in the negative with these molds. It's not an intuitive way to think - at least not for my sequential brain. I've been pressing clay into the molds to get an a clearer picture in my head of the positive image that will result when the tile is slip cast.

Every day I seem to find new uses for my kitchen gadgets in my ceramic studio. I just discovered that cooling racks work really well for seasoning plaster molds. Unfortunately, plaster molds just aren't as yummy as cookies.

We Have POWER!

Yeah! Bill got the new kiln all wired up and the new breaker in our electrical panel installed. He just needs to get the vent installed and then I'm ready to fire it up. Happy days...happy glaze!

Bowling

The sun was out yesterday! I had a little free time in the afternoon while the boys played outside so I opened up the garage doors, let the sunshine in and went "bowling" - throwing as bowl after bowl after bowl. It reminded me of the Empty Bowls workshops that I used to do at Linnell's Studio in Sacramento. This morning I trimmed up the bowls and let the kids decorate a couple of them with carving tools.

My six year old, Jacob, insisted that I help him throw a pot. He's watched me throw enough to pick up on a few things - which I realized when he asked to spin the wheel and put some swirls down the outside of the finished pot. Kids really are sponges in disquise. He loves to handbuild but I can tell he has a urge to tackle the art, balance and challenge of the potter's wheel. I told him he should start saving up for his own wheel. I'm sure he'll be eclipsing me in no time. ;-)

Shoot the Moon

This morning I was messing around with some artwork for a new Shoot the Moon tile. I'm hoping to make it up in clay tomorrow. Back when we lived in Sacramento, I had a card business called "Shoot the Moon". Then I had three kids in less that two and a half years and well... the card business was no longer possible. The name Shoot the Moon is still with me and though it no longer represents cards, it does represent taking chances and going for it - like shooting the moon in Hearts.

Here are a couple of versions I came up with. Do you have a preference? I'm eager to see how they come out in clay -it's always a bit different than on paper.

The sun has been out in Seattle - everyone is "sun happy" - good moods abound. I hope it continues. Wednesday, I'm going to go see the film Who Does She Think She Is? with my friend Christy. It's finally coming to Seattle! We both are looking forward to a night out - although Christy is liking more deserving. She has four kids - Kindergarten age and under - including a set of twins and a one year old. My hats off to her!

"Above all, with glittering eyes..."

This morning I started working on a tile using a Roald Dahl quote from the last lines of the book "The Minpins".

The quote reads "Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it."- Roald Dahl I modified an image I created a few years ago so that I could add the text. In the past I carved the tiles. This time I rolled three layers of clay and stacked them. I originally was going to cut into the top layer and pull away the layers but then I decided to cut out the top layer separately as it seemed easier to me. I'm planning on casting this tile in plaster so I'm not so worried about the layers sticking together well enough to survive firing. I used a bit of water and scored enough to get the top layer to be secure.

I begin cutting out the text sections.

I transfered the image to the clay.

More layers are added.

I used a mini clay extruder to add a uniform edge to the tile and for the swirly clouds section. It's important to use really soft clay for extruding and to keep it moist with a spray bottle. These pieces dry out really fast.

The final image.

This was a fun project for me as it combined my love of clay, tiles, quotes and Roald Dahl.

Do you believe in magic?

New Kiln

Bill and I took a trip to Tacoma today to pick up a Skutt Automatic Kiln. I am very excited about it! It requires that it be directly wired and vented outside so it'll take a bit of time to get it up and running. Until then, I'll do a little happy dance everytime I go look at it.

Inspiration

I've been looking through pictures from the "Heritage Trip" I took with my parents and siblings a couple of years ago. While we traveled in Norway, Germany and the Czech Republic I was amazed at all the beautiful architectural details that surrounded us. I found myself taking pictures left and right of gates, cobblestone paths, roofs, door ways, windows, etc... Even the manhole covers in Norway were beautiful. My parents and family might have thought it strange that I was focusing in on these things but I couldn't help myself. I'm finding inspiration again in these images for a series of artistic tiles I'm starting to work on.


Wood carved decorative wall at the Stalheim Hotel overlooking the breathtaking (Nærøy) Naroydalen Valley we visited during the Norway in a Nutshell Tour. (My profile picture was taken on the terrace at the Stalheim Hotel.)

We traveled in a large bus down the Stelheimskleiva - a 1.5 km long strech of road that twists its way down 13 hairpin turns on the mountainside at the end of the Naroydalen valley. The road has a 20 percent grade, which makes it one of the steepest stretches of road in Northern Europe.

Yes, even the manhole covers were interesting. This was taken in Bergen, Norway. The image respresents the historic waterfront there.

Gate in front of someone's home in Olso, Norway.

Carving on a historic Viking ship in Oslo, Norway.

Decorative gate in Prague.

Carving on the wall of an old Stave Church at the Folk Museum in Olso, Norway.

Wood carved post at the Stave Church in Oslo.

Wood carved door in Prague at the Astronomical Clock at the Old Town Hall.

Learning to Slip Cast a Tile

Here are some photos from the last day of the workshop where I learned to slip cast a tile. I learned so much and I'm really excited to slip cast some of my own tiles once my molds are seasoned. This will allow me to reproduce my tiles instead of carving each one individually. Slip casting will allow me to get a lot of the detail from my tiles - as opposed to pressing a tile with soft clay.

I am so glad I took this workshop. It will change the way I make my tiles.


Pouring the slip into the plaster mold.

Cleaning up the plaster mold while it's drying.

Pouring off the excess slip from the mold.

Leather hard tile after it's removed from the mold.

Plaster mold just after the leather hard tile was removed.

Waiting

I'm patiently waiting for my latest pot load to be fired. Here are some photos of the pots after they were glazed. It's amazing how muted the glaze colors are before the pots are fired - lots of pinks, faint greens and greys. After being heated to around 2200* F (cone 6) they will look completely different. I'm excited to see the results as I'm trying out all new glazes.

Who Does She Think She Is?

I've been wanting to see the documentary Who Does She Think She Is? after I read about it in an e-zine called "Literary Mama". They are looking for an outlet to show their film in the Seattle area so I sent a message to some people at the Kirkland Art Center. The Development Director called me back this morning and we talked about it. It sounds hopeful that they might host a local screening. Janis Mars Wunderlich, is one of the artists featured in the film. She is a ceramic artist whose work I've admired and followed for a number of years now.

I'd love to see this film, so I'm hoping it works out.

Carving Plaster Molds with Brand Spankin' New Tools

I've been working on cleaning up undercuts and adding additional work to the plaster molds that I poured last weekend. I picked up some new carving tools that are making this work a lot easier to do. Now I just need to see if my Dad has some old dental tools up in his attic that could take on a new life in my studio.

Sequoia the studio dog

Everyone needs a dog as great as Sequoia Boya. He's the best companion in the studio. Now if I could just get him to talk, I'd be all set. Here he is pictured in his favorite place - his bed in the studio. He never wants to come in.