A Speck of Sun

After yesterday's post I headed over to my friends studio to hang out with the Claymates and work on some of these fun mini vases.  It was mostly an ugly day yesterday but the sun came out just long enough for me to run these outside for a pic.  After I got home the deluge started up again.  I'm not sure why but the rain really bugged me yesterday.  It made me sort of anxious and then I realized the water was dripping loudly on a bucket outside so I moved that and it was a little better.  I also looked up the weather report for Massachusetts and Rhode Island where they are predicting a historical blizzard.  Suddenly, I didn't feel quite as bad.  I finished off the evening by cleaning up my studio so I can have a fresh start on some more work.  Now if I can just keep up the momentum I will have enough new work that I wont keep missing out on calls for artists.  Have a great weekend!

Soda Love

Remember a couple of posts ago when I was working on my paper stencil patterns at my computer table?  Well, here are the beauties!  Yes, it has taken me almost a month to get them photographed.  The firing was right before Christmas!  I think I have an aversion to my somewhat bulky photo shoot set up.   

Time to tackle that problem and make a mini version that doesn't take over my tiny living room.

But all that aside, I am really excited with the progress I am making with these.  It was a crazy long firing because the kiln door bricks and furniture got wet in a wild downpour so we had to "dry" out the kiln first.  It went for sixteen or eighteen hours or so when it should have only been about 12.  We did finally get the kiln firing much more evenly but I messed with the flew damper enough to knock a bunch of junk down into some of my pieces.  I've ground out a bunch of it and will try touching up the glaze and re-firing them in another cone 10 firing, or even cone 6 electric to see how that might work.

I'm busy making more work so that hopefully I can get another soda firing going by the first of February. Keeping my fingers crossed about that one.  I'm not exactly sure if I'll have access to the same kiln but if that doesn't work out I can always take some work out to Penland!  Yep, I'm headed out there again in May for a month to do some more studio assisting.  I can't wait!  And I am also going out to Arrowmont for my very first time!

Side A

Here is another one of my favorite pieces that I made last fall.  I stuck this in with my besties and started using it right away.  Somehow I just forgot that I wanted to document it.

Side B

I actually made two of these and the other one was fabulous also, that is until I sacrificed it to the soda kiln.  I was so positive it would come out great but I was not at all happy with it.  The underglaze fumed and bled and the clay body went very grey.  It's interesting and I'm sure someone would like it but me?  Not so much.  I'm glad I took this photo.  Something about seeing them in the right light on a nice backdrop has freshened my determination to make a few more.  

Cat Sgraffito

I started to tackle the back of the candy dish outside but it was too cold and windy and lying on the bedroom floor with stacks of squishy pillows and a cat sounded more appealing.  And this was before I set my laptop next too me and put on the headphones.  I felt pretty smart.  I'm sure it was quite a sight.  I should have had someone snap a pic of me.  I do a lot of art work on my bedroom floor.  It is often my studio of choice.

Tiger says, "You gonna do some scratchin' on that thing?  I think I haz sharper tools.  You want some help?  Mebe I just supervise."

I rather like the way the back turned out.  Maybe I will make it the front next time.  I can't wait to see how it fires out.  I'm not sure if I want to put a gloss or satin glaze on.

Out of Round

I love the water towers around town and I have taken quite a few photos of them.  I had turned one of the images into a stamp so that I could make decals or photo litho transfers.  This image, however, was made using an EZ Screen.  This image was burned onto the screen and then I used a red Mudtool rib to squeegee some underglaze through.  I made the screen while I was in North Carolina and I have wanted to try it out again since I got back home.  I found a jar of underglaze that had conveniently dehydrated itself for me so that it was a good and gloppy thickness to print.  I've been needing a coaster so that is where I started.  This image came out great on the wet clay.

I tried it again on this leather hard piece and had a more difficult time. This is on the interior of a long, oval dish so there was a slight curvature and I was trying to figure out how to get the squeegee to get the whole thing at once.  I missed a few spots but I also think the print didn't work as well because of the dryer clay.

I've been trying to get out of the round mode of thinking that I get stuck in as a wheel throwing potter so I made this fun little cloud candy dish.  It looks flat in this picture but I actually draped the shape over a small oval plaster mold.  Super fun!

Shall we have a bit of sgraffito?  I free-handed my design with a pencil before I got started with the scritchy scratchin'.

I'm feeling like it is a bit too busy.  Next time I think I will have more contrast without quite so much pattern going on but I am enjoying it.  Uh, but I painted the back black also so I still have to do something with that side.  Hmmm...

Sgraffito Madness!

I was sgraffito inspired by all of Kathy Kings work while at Penland so I decided to use this technique with some of my organic imagery.  I WAS originally going to use some of my silk screen slip images but those need to be transferred while the pieces are leather hard. These, I, um, forgot about and they were dry when I went to trim them.  Not wanting to have some boring bowls I decided to experiment with some colored terra sig.  I know, I know!  I should use test tiles first.  I am a bit worried that the sig will repel the glaze.  I did stick to the colors that I am fairly certain won't disappear at cone 6.  I will at least get these into the bisque and MAYBE, just maybe, I will make some test tiles before I glaze these.  I actually love test tiles but I get really excited about an idea and sometimes just go with it. That's the way I roll.  It's an adventure!

These tumblers where the very last pieces I made out at Penland but ran I out of time and couldn't get them into a glaze load.  I really wanted to see them fired out so I stuffed the bisqued pieces with socks, wrapped them in bubble wrap and gently nested them into my carry-on bag.  Success, they made it!  I took them over to the University and put them into the last cone 10 reduction of the semester.  Thanks peeps!  Pun intended:P   I  love the way they turned out.  I am addicted to tumblers, even more so than mugs. These have a great balance and feel awesome to hold.  I am drinking out of one of them as I write.  

It's warming up here in the interior valley of Northern California.  It is supposed to be 99 degrees today.  I'd better head out to the post office and get the last of my Kickstarter rewards shipped out before it gets too hot.  Then back to the real world of paperwork today.  Happy last day of May!

How time flies!

I can hardly believe that I am halfway through my eighth and last week at Penland.  Boo hoo!  I have made far too few posts while I have been hard at work.  Yesterday and today were the hardest, busiest, most challenging and yet most rewarding days here.  We have been loading, firing and reloading kilns back to back to get everyone's work finished and out on time.  This piece was one of the first pieces I made when I got here. I am just now getting around to taking photos of my work and there will be a bunch more when kilns get unloaded tomorrow.

With both of these jars I used a technique called sgraffito which means to scratch or carve through.  I applied black underglaze to the surface and then when it was leather hard, like hard cheese, I carved through the black to white clay underneath to create the designs.  The first jar was glazed with a clear, transparent glaze.  With this second piece we had the transparent glaze colored with a bunch of different oxides and stains so I glazed each individual section with a different color.  Indeed, it was laborious but worth the effect.

We have had two wonderful core students in our class, Molly Kite Spadone and Rachel K. Garceau. Rachel mixed up a new clear that was supposed to fit Helios porcelain at cone 6 so I was very eager to try it out.  I glazed up this tumbler and put it into her small test firing last night.  Tiny kilns are wonderful in that they fire fast and cool fast.  I was able to pull this piece hot out of the kiln although I had to carry it around with my t-shirt while I admired it and showed off.  I promptly glazed up a bunch of other pieces with it.  Actually, I trusted Rachel's experience with this glaze so I didn't wait for the piece to come out.  I actually was in the studio at 6:30 am to unload kilns and get started on some glazing before the class showed up.

Speaking of our core students, Molly and Rachel are both in the Containment III show at Crimson Laurel Gallery.

Snow Day at Penland

Yes, I still exist and I do occasionally still blog, lol!

This is just the beginning of the storm.  Small flutters of snow started shortly after breakfast this morning.  It is cold and blustery.  I ran out while I still had my camera and snapped a couple of shots or two bowls I've made under Kathy's tutelage.

 I've got lots more work to take images but for now it's time for loading kilns, baby!