The Coolest Thank You Card

Y'all remember a few weeks ago when I went to the Life Enrichment Center in Kings Mountain to do a presentation about pottery?  This is the thank you card that I received about a week later.  I sort of remembered someone with a camera in the room, but didn't pay much attention at the time.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the card!  

This week, I worked on making some funnels. I don't know why Allen decided to make funnels a few years ago, but he did. They've been hanging out in the gallery at the studio ever since and I don't know if a single one sold until I rearranged things after Christmas.  Since then, I bet half of them have sold.  The last person to make a purchase asked if I would be willing to make funnels with a wider mouth to use in filling canning jars.  I finally got down to giving it a try this week.  

After I threw them, I needed to trim them the next day. Normally I trim pieces on a foam bat, but I knew that wouldn't work this time.  Once again, Allen Griffin set me up to be successful.  I found this  on one of the shelves and it was perfect. The funnels got trimmed and stayed round. 

 I hope that after they are done shrinking, they will just fit inside the mouth of this jar.

One of the things that is so fascinating to me about pottery is that I have to think about how a piece is going to function in addition to how it will look.  With these funnels, the bottom needs to be small enough to fit inside the jar and the top needs to be wide enough that it is easy to spoon the green beans, tomatoes, or salsa in.  There needs to be a handle of some type to use to keep it steady, but the handle needs to be high enough that it doesn't interfere with the funnel sitting nicely in the top of the jar.

I'll keep you posted on how the funnels work out. I started with three this time while I worked out all the details.  If they end up being the correct size and working out well, I'll try to make some more.

I also worked on getting some more "wine mugs" made to match the one in the picture.  Fingers crossed that they turn out OK. I still feel very inadequate when it comes to carving the designs on them.

After all that, I started playing around. It was Saturday and I still had a couple of hours before I was scheduled to close up and go home, but I didn't want to start too much that would require my coming back to work on Sunday.  

It's been a while since I played with my texture rollers to do larger pieces.  

I still dig those rollers!  Notice that I almost got a twist in that tall vase. Almost but not quite. I wonder if I'd have stretched it out farther if it would have twisted more.

I also played with one of the tools that is designed to cut facets. I still don't have the hang of this, but I'll get there eventually.  This effort was better than the last. 

 I've got a set of canisters that I need to make very soon.  It's been a long time since I made anything that required a lid like a canister or a cookie jar, so I decided that I really should try it out again before I start on the set that needs to have multiple pieces that match.  Notice that the lid starts out looking very much like a bowl.

And here's the "finished" product.  

I am pleased with the knob on the lid and the overall shape is OK. Although for a canister that a person would keep sugar or flour in, I want the sides to be more vertical than this.  I ended up putting the diamond shaped impressions on it because I dropped a kiln shelf post on it when I was unloading the kiln.  It made a big dent in the side.  Oh well, let's just put a bunch of dents all over it and pretend that was the plan all along.  (I should probably quit giving away all my secrets.)  I'm not wild about the handles on the sides, so I hope that I can come up with something better to do with that for next time.

I know what you must be thinking.  How does a kiln post get dropped on a new piece?  I needed these to dry a little bit more this morning before I finished putting it all together, so I took it back to the counter where there's a fan. It just happens to be the same counter that is where all the kiln furniture is stored.  While the pieces dried, I unloaded the kiln (I fired a bisque on Friday night).  I even thought to myself that it probably wasn't a good idea and that it would be bad if I dropped something.  Sure enough, not long after that, I did. I'm really not very smart. Or I'm lazy.  Maybe both.

Treasures of the Earth

I've been busy.  The Treasures of the Earth Pottery Show and Sale at the Cleveland County Arts Council opens this week.  The opening reception is 5:30-7:30 on Thursday, February 16 at the Arts Council.  This show stays up for a month, so if you can't get by on Thursday night for the reception, make plans to come in sometime in the next few weeks and check it out.  There are a lot of new potters this year, so there will be some new work to enjoy and maybe purchase.

Last weekend, I managed to get a glaze fire done and this weekend has been all about packing up and getting ready for the show.

Here are some of the pieces that came out of the glaze fire...

I'm pleased with how this ended up. I had to fire it twice though.  The ash glaze on the top of the piece was absolutely awful after the firing.  Believe it or not, I dipped the top part in blue and re-fired it.  

Some spoon rests.  I broke the spoon rest at our house the sits next to the coffee pot recently.  I took one of the ones in the middle row that are kind of red/brown and white home to replace it.

White "wine mugs"

Tan "wine mugs"

A few blue/gray mugs.

Bacon cookers.  There's a red one hiding back there behind the others.

Utensil holder

Big green bowl.  This one has some texture on the outside.

Something I tried that's new.  Footed cups.

Getting ready for this particular show involves setting up at home to make sure that the things that I've decided to take will fit on the shelves.  Then I have to number each piece for the inventory sheet that the Arts Council requires and pack it up in boxes.

It wasn't all about packing up this weekend.  I also finished some pieces that were commissioned.  

These took a while for me to figure out.  The first few times I tried to make these soup cups, it didn't go well.  There are eight of these and the customer will pick them up later.

Another new thing for me in recent weeks - pie plates.  The customer requested one to replace a piece that she had used for years and recently broken.  I made three and will let her choose the one that she likes the best.  Then the others will go either to the gallery at A Griffin Pottery Associates or at Buffalo Creek Gallery. 

We have had some unseasonably warm weather recently. Saturday is was beautiful and in the mid 70's.  I love it when I can get work dried outside so that I can finish it up.