CHRISTMAS SALE

Saturday, Dec 14, 12 pm to 4 pm 

Sunday, Dec 15,  1 to 4 pm

  

Please make plans to come see us. There will be a good selection of pottery from which to choose including a section of half priced items.  Even if you aren't interested in pottery, please stop by for a visit and some light refreshments.  

If you need directions, email me at jonessb91@gmail.com

Mom and Dad will be assisting me on Saturday afternoon since Jeff will be in Chapel Hill for the state championship game.  (Good luck Golden Lions!)  The radio/computer here will be tuned to WADA 1390 while the game is on, so you won't miss a play.  On Sunday, Jeff will be back in his regular position of pottery sales assistant.  We'd love to see you!  

CORRECTION!

Due to the nasty forecast for Saturday, Dec 7, I will NOT be at A Griffin Pottery selling my wares.  Those of use who were going to set up outside have chickened out.  There will be people there in the morning at least, so you are still welcome to come shop.  Only work by Allen Griffin will be available since there's not room in the gallery for all of us.

I will be having my annual Christmas Sale NEXT weekend on Dec 14.  More information will follow at a later date about that.

Need to do a little shopping?

This weekend there are several opportunities to purchase pottery.

Thursday 5:30-7:30 at the Arts Council is the kick off for "Handmade for the Holidays."  This is also their "Renovation Celebration" where they will show off all the work that has been done at the Arts Council in recent months.  Admission is free, so make plans to drop in.
Check out this link for more information.  http://www.ccartscouncil.org/

Saturday, is the Mini Pottery Market at A Griffin Pottery.  Come see me, Ronnie Blackburn, and Allen Griffin and maybe even find something special for that special someone.  We will be there 10 am to 4pm on Dec. 7.  Seriously, I'm going to pack up all my stuff, haul it up there, and get it all set up.  PLEASE come visit us.  Shopping is also highly encouraged.  There will be lots of really nice stuff for sale.

Ron Philbeck is also having his holiday home sale this weekend.  I believe the hours are 10 am to 4 pm on Saturday and noon to 4 pm on Sunday.  Check out Ron's website for more information: http://ronphilbeckpottery.com/ 

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.