I got one last glaze fire finished up this week in preparation for the Carolina Pottery Festival.  Hours are 10 am to 4 pm at the LeGrand Center in Shelby.  The selection of pottery is always amazing.  It's worth the price of admission ($5) just to walk around and see everything!  This is truly a festival where there is something for everyone.  It's also an excellent place to begin your Christmas shopping.

Before....and after firing.

I will have the trays (above) and the mugs (below) with me at the show. 

This is a new handle design that I tried out.  I think I like it!

Close up shot of the details in the handle.

Another new and interesting piece is this casserole.  I kind of like the squared corners. Must do this again I think.

I am really excited to share this news with you. 

Vicki Halloran is back in the studio!

It's been a while since Vicki has been with us and it is SO GOOD to have her back.  It also looks like we will have some of Vicki's work for sale in the gallery soon. I will be sure to keep you posted.

Uptown Art Walk

Somehow, I neglected to put this even on my calendar when I was adding all the 2017 things to it.  I was surprised when Darby from the Arts Council contacted me to see if I was interested in participating.  Why yes!  I'll play.  Hours listed are 5:30 to 8:30, but I am not so sure that I'll still be coherent by 8:30.  We'll see.  

There's an impressive list of businesses and artists here.  I know there will be some tasty food and drink at Buffalo Creek Gallery.  (I'm baking goodies as I type this.)  In addition, Ali Wilson will be there showing off what she does.  You should definitely plan to stop in there.  

While there won't be food at A Griffin Pottery Associates, but I'll be there making something.  Not yet sure what that will be.  Last time I made mugs.  I kind of feel like I should do something different this time.  Maybe bowls or vases?  At this point in the fall, I'm pretty pooped, so I just hope that I make sense when I talk to people.  Please stop by and say hello.  

The following is copied from the Uptown Shelby Association Facebook page: 

Artists, Live Music, Demonstrations, Thursday, October 26th is Art Walk Night! 5:30-8:30 pm

You are welcome to wander in and out of the businesses
as you please! The order listed is merely a suggestion.

This event is Co-Sponsored by the Cleveland County Arts Council and The Uptown Shelby Association

Participating artists & businesses:
1. A. Griffin Pottery & Assoc.
302 S. Lafayette Street
5:30 – 8:30pm, Susan Jones Pottery  

2. Signature Fine Arts Studio on Lafayette
234 S. Lafayette St.
5:30 – 8:30pm, SFA students Painting

3. The Imperial Emporium
236 S Lafayette Street
5:30 – 8:30pm, Darrell Endicott - Painting

4. Newgrass Brewing Company
213 S Lafayette Street
5:30-8:30pm, AnnaLee Sibley - Henna Tattoos

5. RollOver Pets
105 W. Warren Street
5:30-8:30pm, Dennis Huntley - Rock Painting

6. Dragonfly Wine Market
101 W. Warren Street
5:30 – 8:30pm, Sarah Pope & Sydney Champion -
mandalas & painting

7. Buffalo Creek Gallery
104 W. Warren Street
5:30 – 8:30pm, Allegra Wilson -
painting folk art flowers on chair

8. Lily Bean's Micro-Roasted Coffee
108 E. Warren Street
5:30 – 8:30pm, Ashley Hendrick - painting

9. baber.laughridge
12 E. Warren Street
5:30 – 8:30pm, Aftermath Imagery/Baylee Blank

10. Ni Fen Kitchen
206 S. Washington Street
5:30-8:30pm, Brian Dukes - pottery

11. Cleveland County Arts Council
111 S. Washington Street
5:30 – 7:30pm,
Opening Reception for "Quilters of the Foothills”
Exhibit

11. Cleveland County Arts Council 
(DOWNSTAIRS - Warren Street Entrance)
111 S. Washington Street
6 – 8pm, Hal & Corines Face Mug Class will
be open for people to watch students
create face mugs

12. Toscanos Bistro
5 E. Marion Street
5:30-8:30pm, Galaxy Lineberger &
Michael Kimbrell -
monotype prints & painting

13. Workshop Shelby
103 N. Lafayette Street
5:30-8:30pm, Students - crafting

14. Hip-O-Kat Retro & Vintage
105 N. Lafayette Street
5:30 – 8:30pm, Royna Polk - Painting

15. J-Bird's Deli & Ales
106 W. Marion Street
5:30-8:30pm,
Ricky Alexander - painting and disco
inspired songs

Crunch Time

The Carolina Pottery Festival is less than 2 weeks away and we are working like busy little bees in the studio getting ready.  Last week, I fired a glaze fire.  There were some nice pieces in there! 

I was in too much of a hurry to get the light box set up for "real" pictures. 

Slightly different angle on the same piece.

Not a great picture of this casserole.  The handles are different from what I normally do.  They are really comfortable and feel good and sturdy.  I'll do them again I think.

A red bowl similar to the green piece above.

Serving plate maybe?  Kind of a cool effect where I poured on a strip of red and then covered the whole thing in green.  Honestly, I struggle so with glazing white clay.  All my favorite glaze combinations look better on red/brown clay.

Lady and Jeff kept me company last Sunday afternoon while I loaded.  

That is one pitiful dog right there.

As soon as I unloaded the glaze fire, I loaded up the next bisque.  Got that taken care of so that we could get everything glazed this weekend.  I'll fire the last glaze load this week.  I was "supposed" to load it up today, but I was too tired after Sunday dinner at the in-laws and then contest plays at the high school. I'll get that done tomorrow.  Because I'm sure that I will not be tired at all after working all day.  Good plan, right? 

I'm Back!

The past few weeks have been a struggle.  I felt like it was time to return to my "normal" routine in the studio, but I just couldn't.  I was still wearing my "bootie" and being on my feet wasn't really comfortable.  By last Saturday though, I was able to keep my posted open hours during the day (plus a little bit) and there were stretches of time that I realized that I had not thought about my foot.  Very cool. 

Here are a few of the things that I've worked on over the past two weeks.  

Two weeks ago...

A square casserole.

Mug with some extra detail on the handle.

Here is a slightly closer shot of the mug.

I kept the mug itself very plain since the handles were going to be somewhat busy.  They were fun to do, but I'm reserving judgment on the mugs until I get them finished and try them out.

Last week...

I made these last Saturday and took this picture today (7 days later).  They are still so wet that they are still attached to the bats.  It's been ridiculously hot and humid here for October.  The humidity has really thrown us off schedule. I expected things that I made last week to be almost dry enough to bisque fire this weekend.  That's clearly not going to happen. I had in mind to have a bisque fire this weekend, and follow that with a couple of glaze fires to get ready for the Carolina Potter Festival the first Saturday of November.  Thanks to Mother Nature, we are not going to be firing on that schedule.

I did get some glazing done last weekend too.  Right now, there's only about 2/3 of a kiln load, so I am waiting on some others to get some glazing done before I can fire.

This week, things with my foot have improved even more.  After six long weeks, I am out of the boot and in a regular shoe.  It is amazing how much better EVERYTHING is.  I still limp a little and move slower than I'd like to, but I feel like a human again.  

Today in the studio, I made these.  Yep twelve soup bowls and a couple of trays.  If they'll just dry enough to trim them tomorrow and attach handles, I'll feel really good about my productivity.  For now though, it is time to go put my feet up and watch a football game.

Still Not Doing Much

I have to spend more time these days just sitting.  It annoys me, but I have figured out how to use the time that I am forced to sit with my foot elevated more effectively.  YouTube videos.  The main issue with watching videos on YouTube is that I then want to try to make ALL the pots on the video.  New ideas are good and I've been feeling a little stale in what I've made recently.

Here is the best effort from the weekend inspired by a Bill van Gilder video.

Let me back up a bit and tell you how I got there.  I went to the studio on Thursday afternoon after work like the schedule at the studio says that I will.  Sort of anyway.  I was almost an hour late because I couldn't get enough done at work to feel like I could leave.  It is just that kind of a semester. Things will improve after Nov 21, but for now, I am completely overwhelmed and swamped.  I was tired when I got there, and I tried to throw.

I made this.

I decided that I really didn't need to be there, so I went home and sat in my chair with my foot up.  I opened up YouTube on my iPad and stumbled across a video from Bill van Gilder.  Bill is a very accomplished potter who also has a gift for explaining what he is doing.  (If you would like to check out his YouTube channel, you can find it here:  https://www.youtube.com/user/vangilderpottery  There is also a nice website at https://www.vangilderpottery.com/)

Every time I watch another potter work, I learn something.  Every. Single. Time.  Ron Philbeck shared a video on FaceBook this week of the technique he uses to glaze the inside of cups (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5_1dakEWn4&feature=youtu.be).  Now I've got something to try when I need to glaze cups.  He uses a wrist twist that makes pouring the glaze out while getting all the inside covered look effortless.  When I do it, it is awkward and messy.  

By Friday afternoon when I was able to get back to the studio (I was late AGAIN), I was ready to try some of the things from the van Gilder videos.  The pot at the top of the page here is the one that turned out the best, but I did make a couple others that were OK.  

This is small, but if I can do this again on a much larger cylinder, 

it would make an awesome utensil holder.  

This casserole was round and then I squared the sides. 

I had tried this in the past with limited success.  This time, it was better.  The handles are van Gilder inspired also.  I was using up some white clay that I've had for a while.  I can't wait to try some of these things with some nice and soft speckled brownstone.  

A couple of weeks ago, I shared pictures of the communion set that I made for the church.  I got a picture this morning of some of the pieces on the beautiful communion table.  Last time I shared, there was a cloth covering up the inlaid wood detail on the table. 

I spent some time yesterday, dusting and rearranging my pots in the gallery at the studio.  I also put out some new pieces.  If you are in Shelby and happen to be passing by when we are open (The goal is: Tues 12-4, Thurs 12-6, Fri 2:30-5, Sat 10-2), please stop in and see what's there.  

It's a Start I Guess

Over the past couple of weeks, I've kind of passed through the studio a time or two just to check on things.  Saturday was the first time I spent any time there or tried to do anything.  I wasn't sure if I could throw pots with only 1.5 good feet, but it was ok.  Not great, but OK.  All things considered, I'll take it.  

I started with a plate.  

And then I sat down for a while and rested.  

 Next I made a vase.

Then I sat down and rested some more.

Next I made some cups.  I did two, rested, then did the last two.

 After that, I went home and took a nap.  I seem to not have much stamina these days.  It's frustrating, but I'm trying to be patient.

Man, I Was Nervous!

I've been working on pieces of a communion set for our church for several months.  I finally got the last piece fired.

There are actually more pieces to the whole set, 

but this picture gives you the general idea.  

We took them to church this morning.  I expected really to drop them off for Pastor Luke to unpack at his leisure...sometime later.  But no.  He wanted to use them this morning. I tried the "they really should be washed before they are used" argument, but he was not going to be discouraged.  Nothing would do but to quickly give them all a wash and get things set up for communion right away. 

I was so nervous.  I kept imagining bad things that could happen like the moisture leaving marks on the communion table, the chalice coming apart in the middle of serving, and the pitcher not pouring neatly.  I would have been so much more comfortable if I hadn't had to witness their first use.  Surprise, surprise there were no calamities. 

While I had the light box out yesterday, I took some pictures of a couple of the casseroles that came out of the last fire.  These are my two favorites.  

I'm not sure when I'll be able to get back to making stuff in the studio.  Soon I hope.  Right now, it's all I can do to go to work and then come home and elevate my foot to try to reduce swelling.  I am trying so hard to be good and not over do it so I will heal quickly.  It's been about a week and a half and I'm tired of this recovery crap. Once the bandage comes off this week, I think some things will ge easier, but it is still going to be a long time before I'm back to normal.