A Little Bit of Everything

Last weekend I had a little bit of everything to do....

I threw a round baker.  I wanted to put some handles on it.  I didn't make it back in time, so a handle-less round baker it will be.   

I had some green ware that was ready for sanding.  These platters are now waiting for the next bisque fire.  

There were even some mugs to glaze.  These are going to the Copper Rock Cafe when they are done.  I hope they like them.  

This weekend, I need to throw.  My mug and small bowl inventory is running low and I really need to get motivated to make some.  But it is cold outside, there's a fire in the wood stove here, and this dog is happy with me on the couch.  Even though the dog still smells slightly of skunk (after last week's adventure), it's pretty cozy, and I've been unable to leave.  

What's Next?

As you are aware if you read this blog frequently, the Carolina Pottery Festival was last Saturday.  I think things went very well.  The potters seemed happy and the customers seemed happy (as much as I could tell) with the new location.  Thank you to everyone who came out to see us.  I hope you found just what you were looking for and that you left happy and planning to come back next year.  

Here's a shot of my booth after I got it all set up on Friday afternoon.     

Thank you for not pointing out how terribly wrinkled the table drape is in the back.  Ugh. I wish I could figure out how to store all that fabric in a plastic Rubbermaid tub without having wrinkles.  I briefly considered ironing, but ditched that idea pretty quickly since I was going to have to put the drape back in the tub to get it to the festival location. 

And for the sake of comparison, here's a picture that I found of last year's booth.  

The shelves on top of the table work better for me that the tall shelves I think, and the black pipe and drape in the LeGrand Center makes a much better backdrop than the wall in the space at the mall.  

I'm still working on figuring out how to arrange things so that the pottery is visible and safe (with the tall shelves, I was worried that the whole thing would fall) and  so there is plenty of room for shoppers.  I also need a place that I can be that's in the booth but out of the way.  I need to be accessible for answering questions and and I need space to handle payments and wrap up pots.  This year, I walked around and really paid attention to how other potters had things arranged.  I have some ideas on how to improve that I will try next time.  

And when is this "next time" you ask?  We are planning a mini pottery festival at the studio on Dec 7.  Hours will be 10 am to 4 pm and there will likely be three of us (Allen Griffin, Ronnie Blackburn, and me) there selling pots.  So if you weren't able to get to the Carolina Pottery Festival, come over and see us at A Griffin Pottery the first Saturday in December.  

I also plan to have my annual Christmas Sale on Dec 13.  This sale will be at Casa Jones on Maple Springs Church Rd.  More information about that as I plan.  At this point, my plans have consisted of thinking, "Hmmmm. If I am at the studio on Dec 7, that leaves Dec 13 as the best time to do the Sale at the house."  

Final Salt Fire Post

Here's what greeted us when the kiln was opened.  Actually, "us" is not correct.  I wasn't there when the door was opened.  I didn't get there until after all the pieces had been unloaded.  In fact, one of the potters was already packed up and gone before I could get free from work.  I would have really liked to see her pots.

Of all the things that I fired, I think this bowl may be my favorite.  The inside is so cool!  The bowl is now sitting on my kitchen counter holding the remnants of the Halloween candy.

It probably will not go to the Carolina Pottery Festival next week.

Mugs.....

More mugs....


I was pretty pleased with all the mugs this time around.  Decided to keep one of each for myself.

These turned out great too.  There were originally three of these (think canister set) but one broke before it even made it to the bisque fire.  I was disappointed at the time.  Seeing how they turned out makes me even more disappointed.

Here's the coolest of all the pitchers.  It's part of a cream and sugar set.












I also made several utensil holder/vase things.  This is one of the more interesting ones.


The glaze on this is the same glaze as on the pitcher, the canisters, the blue rimmed mugs, and the rim of the bowl above.  Isn't it interesting how different it looks on each piece?

Salt Fire!

The salt fire that I've mentioned several times over the past few months is happening this weekend.  Ron got it started last night and began adding the salt sometime today.  Here is a video that he took that shows how he adds the salt.



Pretty cool!  Or maybe cool isn't the right word...

When I unpacked all the pieces on Thursday night to begin getting them ready for glazing and firing, I was surprised to find that I had more than I needed for my part of the kiln.

This is what 42 pots looks like.  Better to have too many and be able to choose the "best" ones than too few and have to let the other potters see all the wompy and otherwise ugly pots.  "Wompy" may be a word that I made up (or maybe I've heard it somewhere).  It means slightly off center and out of round.

On Saturday morning I went over to Ron Philbeck's and started glazing pots.  I was too busy to get many pictures of the process.  Below is the canister set with the glaze applied waiting for wadding.  

In a salt fire, the salt reacts with the clay to make the finish on each piece.  All exposed surfaces will react, so alumina hydrate wadding is used to keep pieces from sticking to the shelves and to keep lids from sticking to pots. In the picture below, Allen is gluing wadding on the bottoms of these bowls with Elmer's glue.  The glue holds the wadding in place while it is handled and loaded and then burns away.  I don't understand all the chemistry involved, but the alumina does not react with the salt so there is no finish on the pot every place it is in contact with a piece of wadding.  The bottom line is that since the pot is not in contact with the shelves and the lids are not in contact with the pots, nothing sticks that shouldn't stick.  

(Thanks to Allen Griffin for this picture from the June firing.)  

Once everything was outside, Ron started loading.  He'd figure out what size pieces he needed and we'd take turns handing him things.  

 
And here's a shot of the full kiln.  We are going back over on Wednesday to unload.  I can't wait.  

Cue Dramatic Music

I'm excited to announce that my pottery will be for sale in Shelby at Dragonfly Wine Market!

Those of you who are relatively local may be aware that Dragonfly is moving to a larger location in uptown Shelby.  On Monday they will open on Warren St. next to RollOver.  In addition to selling the wine and craft beers they normally carry, they are going to have a wine bar, and a much larger space for a gallery for local artists.  I dropped off a box of pottery this afternoon.  After a few days, I'll go take a some pictures once they've had a chance to get set up and settled in the new space.

Big thanks to Jamie and Jane for this opportunity!  I'm very excited.

Five Steps Back

Every feel like you take one step forward and then five steps back?  I do.  Thursday evening was like that for me.  After being really tired all week, I kind of hit a wall on Thursday afternoon and realized that I really needed to get some rest.

Even after hitting that wall, I tried to go make pottery.  After all, I am still several pieces short of the 30 piece goal that I have for the Oct 27 salt fire.  I knew that there were going to be some things going on over the weekend that would require my attendance and reduce the amount of studio time I'd get.

After much struggle, I finally managed to make the parts of two cream and sugar sets.  Lids were the issue for me.  I bet it took 6 or 7 tries before I got two things that might work out for lids to the sugar bowls.  Below is a picture of the lids that didn't make it.  I was so frustrated!  

Feeling the Pressure

After taking about a month off, I made it back to the studio last week.  It's so much easier if I can work at pottery with some consistency.  Alas, that is not my life at the moment, so I take what time I can squeeze out of everything  else.  I was able to be there Thursday night, a few hours Friday afternoon, and then my "normal" hours on Saturday morning.  My low back was tired and a little bit sore, but I was pleased overall with what I managed to do.

If these all make it, I'll only need 4 or 5 more pieces to get the 30 I need for the next trip to Ron's for a salt fire.  Definitely do-able!