Bowls and prints out the door!

I had a few side emails from friends & family wondering how the bowls turned out. Nothing exploded in the kiln, which is a good thing! They were plopped into the kiln on the damp side after glazing. Those muffled thuds must have come from the neighbors house, not my garage. This is all a learning experience that will get tweaked a tad more with each batch to come. Color intensity was lost with exception of the blue. I need to apply the underglazes evenly & thicker for more intense color. The overglaze changed the maroon & cinnamon quite a bit. More experiments to come including one to really check the clay shrinkage. Part of the bowls should head out the door today.

It’s a nice feeling to know pieces of me are heading out into the world. Some of the dog prints will also leave the house today. Last night I spent time packaging an Emma print order in addition to  Evelyn’s Tree  for family distribution. A Japanese paper order arrived yesterday so I can jump back into finishing editions.

This week an invitation to show at a Corvallis venue arrived thanks to artist friend Julia Lont. Nice! Yikes! I have a few ideas popping thru my brain but it has to be ready by the beginning of the year. Guess I’ll have to pull out the botanical prints (shooting star & camas) for the job and maybe a dog print? Cut paper botanical silhouettes? All of the above? We shall see!

Sea Squirts

Opening the kiln was fun this morning, especially when I found this little guy. He was the best looking of the group so his photo had to be taken.

He can rest on your desk or even hang from the wall (due to the hole on his underside).  I might just need to make more so he has some colorful friends to chill with.

This one had good tentacle color.

🙂

Kiln findings

It’s been well over a year since opening the kiln last and I was surprised to find work waiting to be fired.  Two mugs, a canister that was supposed to be a tea pot, trials of some printmaking techniques and a few crazy sea squirt creations. Back in the winter of 2009, I had the opportunity to take a workshop from Ginger Steele when my mom was ill. Ginger specializes in beautifully stamped thrown and hand-built wares. Many of her pieces grace our cupboards and counter top. I was hoping the workshop would help push me back into the world of ceramics but it was not to be. However, I did create two mugs and the canister/teapot. Life happens. My mom died in 2010, cancer diagnosis with my dad (plus 7 broken vertebrae), my own illness and that year was pretty much a waste. Fortunately art projects helped with the healing process.

The sea squirts, as I recall, were pretty fun to make. Maybe more to come depending on how the firing goes.

26 bowls are now loaded and cooking as I type this entry. 5 colors total for the interior: deep yellow, maroon, avocado, cinnamon & electric blue. At some point tomorrow I’ll be able to pop open the lid and see the results. Tracie will be receiving her bowls on schedule! My family & Dave’s will have to wait. Dave scheduled an Austin trip starting Christmas day.  I get to stay home with the evil dogs & work on pottery.

Oregon & the Pacific Northwest are loaded with potters of all types. Finding a niche in the field seems difficult, but artists do it all the time.  Do I want to find a place in the ceramic world? The jury is still out. I’m just trying to figure out where I fit with art in general. I keep getting pulled in so many directions depending on what I need/want to say.

A good friend loaned me his kick wheel many years ago. If he ever wants to reclaim it, I would happily give it back. Especially if it helped get him back into ceramics! Sean, I’m talking to you man!

More throwing & trimming

Many people love heading to malls for shopping but I can’t stand it. My worst nightmare is to be stuck in a mob of insane shoppers during the Christmas holiday. When I was younger it was fun to go and dream of purchasing nice clothing, cool gadgets, and a variety of stuff. Then I grew up & didn’t want to become a typical American consumer. These days I try to make better educated purchases with electronics,  use items until they are no longer serviceable, purchase artwork (functional & decorative)  from friends & make donations to worthy causes. Holiday gifts? Please don’t make me enter box stores packed full of people! Instead, let me purchase art supplies from local & west coast retailers to make my own gifts.  It has it’s pros & cons. It allows me to focus on production and drop some of the worries behind, but also easy to put off since it’s just family. So what will people be receiving this year? How many of  XXX do I have to create and not purchase?

Last night I sat down and made a list of close family deserving of a holiday bowl. I discovered the list wasn’t small. 50? Really? Holy cow! This list includes nieces & nephews plus their serious significant others,  extended family due to marriage, plus my siblings, beloved uncle & aunt in Eugene, Dave’s siblings, remaining parents…. amazing! I could create one large serving bowl per family, but what’s the fun in that? I’m about individual gifts this year. I must need my head examined since this IS December 14th. 10 days until the local bowl distribution Christmas Eve.

Damn, I knew I should have purchased more clay while in Eugene yesterday!

The first ones thru the trimming process.

The bowl size has changed to maximize clay. They are starting out with just over a pound of clay. The first 25# yielded 16 bowls minus 2 flubs, averaging 1.5# starting weight. Now I’m working on my second 25# bag of Georgie’s White Salmon clay which should yield 20 bowls. So far 12 bowls thrown today and plenty more hours ahead before dinner. Or is there? Below image is current batch o’bowls

The next batch of bowls...

It is becoming easier to throw and faster. Will I be able to make it through the rest of the bag tonight? Guess it all depends on how many beers get consumed at Block 15!

Throwing Bowls

How long has it been? One, two, four or even five years since tackling any wheel thrown projects?  Such a long hiatus. Can I actually center & pull up walls? Yes! Kind of. Fortunately new clay was purchased on Monday. Wednesday my big sister helped move the wheel back inside.  I finally gathered all the necessary tools from the garage & got to work this morning.

Amazingly enough, it was kind of like riding a bicycle.  Centering and pulling up the form came easily. Now shape consistency, that’s a different matter! I tried helped myself out by weighing out balls of clay, but there are still discrepancies.  No worries! They are destined to become gifts and it really doesn’t matter if each bowl perfectly matches the others.  The majority will go to a Christmas Eve clam chowder event at a good friends home.  Each attendee will use it for dinner then take it home. Unfortunately, we probably won’t be able to attend.

During school, I spent many hours throwing pots in the basement of Campbell Hall at Western Oregon University. No windows, two banks of wheels facing each other with open shelves between. Ah, the old days! I always enjoyed that space. When I purchased my wheel & tried to work from home, it just wasn’t the same. Too many visual distractions. Today I set up the wheel in the stripped out bathroom (down to the bare studs!). Not very pretty, certainly on the cool side, but oddly reminiscent of my hours in the basement. Maybe that’s what I need.  A small space, no windows (heat please) and no distractions.

The dogs have not been pleased at the gate placed between us. Yes, I had to separate them from the work. Moby would have just shoved his big snout into everything or tried to climb in my lap. George whined enough to be let in. He’s special! Then he proceeded to wedge himself between my foot & the wall. Ever so helpful. He’s always liked being in close quarters.

More bowls to emerge soon after a dog walk! Tracie & possibly my family will be set for the holiday!

Oh, the clay body is basically a porcelain low- fire. I’ll be using an velvet underglaze of bright colors & a final transparent glaze to finish it off.  Due before December 24th.

What works?

I’m spending part of my day working on photos for the new Etsy account. How does one best represent a simple ornament? Do you hang them, prop them up, use them with other items? Do I try to make a background that’s a single color or use fabric or paper under the works? What will best help sell these little guys?  What target market am I going for? This morning I had inspiration thinking about how people could use the ornaments. Why not for wine bottle decoration, gift box toppers, or wine charms? Take a look at what came up.

There were many images taken to pull out these three.  I’m liking the color combinations between the blue flakes, satsumas and cedar branches. Oh and the Hosho paper is nice and soft looking. I admire so many sellers on Etsy because of their choices with displaying work.  Color, texture and lighting all play a huge part. Will these choices make a difference with my work? Time will tell.

Snowflakes

Oh yes, it’s that time of the year again when the snowflakes come out! I’ll be selling my Flakes winter ornaments on Etsy starting next week. Here is a preview

Each 2 inch ceramic ornament is unique due to the handmade process.  The front is stamped using a hand carved block of my creation. The backside is stamped with a word: Believe, Joy, Imagine, Hope, Love, Winter, Snow, Solstice, Peace. For the pet lovers I offer Woof & Meow. Each flake was gently wiped with a beautiful cobalt blue stain before firing to emphasize the lines. A perfect gift for any holiday party.

Flakes will be sold in a mixed set of 4. Purchaser chooses their favorites from the above word list.

Price: $25

 

Annie in red test

Decisions, decisions… What color to choose for Annie’s scarf? I did an experiment using red vellum & a pair of scissors to get an idea. It  involved creating two prints & combining…. not what I would actually be doing. There was a discovery when printing on vellum:  oil based ink doesn’t dry. Wonder if the water-based would?

Annie on Vellum

I kind of like her all in red…. might make some cool luminaria covering!

Here she is sporting the red shawl/scarf. Think it’s a bit too red. Might end up going for a light green or light blue… Any preferences out there?

Oh, and I won’t be using vellum for the final printing. Most likely it will be a Thai Unryu paper. Currently she is printed on a mullberry paper (more off white) but will probably change to a white Hosho.

Annie getting closer…

It’s been almost a week since working on Annie. My mental deadline for accomplishing 4 dog prints before Thanksgiving has been blown. Oh well! Life happens amongst art projects.  Still working my way to the center of this block (nose & mouth zone) and trying to figure out how the scarf should be draping around her neck plus what color to use. If you’ve forgotten, this is a 7″x 7″ proof of the block. That’s why the inking looks so terrible.

Annie’s owners are thrilled with her progress. She might actually be finished before Friday! Well, depending on what happens in between to distract my focus. 😉