Adventures in Hand-building

Hand-built turtles and snails for Chime #1

I've still been throwing pots on the wheel, but I've also been doing a little hand-building with friends in the studio. We put together some wind chimes. The first step was hand-building turtles and snails.  I seemed to be a step behind my friends, but it gave me time to think about how to construct this.

Off to the wheel I went! I made two closed forms, one for the upper bell to hold everything and another for an actual bell. I tried a little mishima to adorn the upper bell with a dragonfly.

When constructing the chime, I decided I wanted to add a touch of macrame (which I've never done before), so I went to the internet and found an easy stitch--the half-knot. I am pleased with the result and would like to make another! (Pardon the poor quality of the photo.)

Completed chime

We then started on another chime, making hand-built sections of a fish body. Originally I wanted to use jute to string the sections together, but knowing it's a natural fiber and would rot out in the elements, I chose to use the cord with a percentage of nylon and the macrame half-knot. The jute would have fit perfectly in the holes; however, I was not using the jute. But as they say, necessity is the mother of invention. I begged some wooden beads from my daughter--problem solved!

The neat thing about these projects--and this is really a no-brainer--is that we all three had a slightly different take on the look of the components and how we constructed the chimes.

I still prefer the wheel, but I'm finding a few hand-building projects that I really like and would like to repeat. They also provide a diversion from making wheel-thrown pieces and all the measuring that goes into fitting lids and butter crock pieces. In fact, I'm looking forward to making another tall, hand-built vase!

Fish chime

To Hand-Build or Not To Hand-Build; That is My Question

Fern Platter–My initiation to hand-building

When I took my first pottery lesson, I was encouraged to try hand-building THEN throwing, but I wanted on the wheel. Until this year, I said I would get around to hand-building, but I didn't want to sacrifice time at the wheel for fear I would forget how to throw! But, it was time, so I made hand-building one of my pottery goals for the year, and I've been very slow to start.

My first project was a platter brought about by necessity. My darling husband broke our one large platter that we use each Thanksgiving for the turkey; he neglected to mention this until I noticed it was missing. So, when some friends were about to build platters earlier in the year, I decided it was a good time to work on my goal. Debbie still talks about how I complained through the project! It was the glazing that was so time-consuming. I swore I'd never do another (and I haven't done another platter).

Hand-built Button Vase

I often use a little hand-building to form decorative accents to my wheel-thrown pottery, but I just couldn't seem to commit to the art for its own sake. Other potters I know who are primarily hand-builders do beautiful work, but I didn't have the patience to join them.

Recently, I was unable to use the wheel one night, so I decided to hand-build a vase. This is definitely one hand-building project I'll repeat! Originally, I wanted to use a fig motif, but this particular vase wanted to be something else. As I was adding ruffled edges, I thought about a woman's blouse and used the stamp I had just made to add "buttons". Overall, I'm pleased with the result (Debbie says I'm never 100 percent pleased with anything; I just see where improvements could be made).

Button detail

I am thinking about making more vases using botanical themes following the seasons. I still want to do a vase with the fig motif, and my figs are not yet ripe, so now would be a good time to make one. These vases are a nice little diversion when fitting lids to honey pots and butter crocks becomes too tiresome.

I'm also working on a wind chime with hand-built turtles and snails. The turtles are adorable! I'm trying to think of more reasons to make more turtles! The snails are in the kiln; I hope they come out as cute. Sometime this week, I'll have to construct it. I'll post a picture when I figure it out!

Honey Pots--How Sweet!

First round of honey pots

I've said before that I love when customers makes suggestions on what they would like to see on my market table, and these little gems are a result of their suggestions. There was a fourth, but it didn't dry in time to be fired with the other pots, so I'll likely only have these three to take to market Saturday--if it doesn't rain. There's a 60 percent chance of rain, but I'm hoping the weather man will be wrong!

Other customer-suggested pots are in the bisque kiln and should come out today; I'm excited! Two of the three French butter crocks, one with scraffito and one plain, should be ready to glaze today. They may also make an appearance at the market--it all depends on the final firing. While working on decorating one at the market last week, I had plenty of opportunity to talk about them to people visiting my table, and two people said they definitely want one. My husband's been talking to everyone about them, and he has said a couple of folks sound interested in purchasing one, so I need to get busy! A good problem to have, I'd say.

Happy Hump Day!

Playing Around

I feel as though I wasn't as productive as I could have been this week in the studio, but I did get a second round of French butter crocks thrown (an observable improvement from the last batch, but more on that in another post), threw five mugs, and hand built a tall vase. I also played with some surface decorating techniques, namely slip trailing and scraffito.

Dunk and go is not my preferred style of decorating pots, but it is quick. I've made several attempts at shellac resist with mixed results, but the last pot was so disappointing that I decided to try something else.

Shellac resist with Spearmint glaze; below, the
underwhelming pot with underglazes.

The only glaze that I've really liked with this technique has been spearmint on a dark clay body. It breaks nicely and shows the depth of the design, but really, how many people are going to love this glaze. Plus, I don't like having too many of the same thing floating around out in the world.

The most recent pot, a vase, was less than pleasing to me. I tried highlighting the design with underglazes and covering everything with a matte clear glaze. Everything disappeared. It looks like random splotches of color with the subtlest of subtle designs. Hmm. Maybe this June is the month of disappointing firings.

Anyway, I tried my hand at slip trailing for the second time. Previously, I used a 19-gauge tip and felt the lines were much too thin. I used a 15-gauge and 17-gauge tip this time with better results, I think. The pot is back in the studio and can't be shown just yet.

However, the scraffito pots, though firsts for me, show promise. It's early. The pots are still leather hard, so nothing is certain until the final glaze firing, but so far, I'm pleased.

I took one butter crock to the market to carve while I sat there. It helped to bring my salesman with me (my husband) because he kept prompting, "Tell them about the butter crock," so I did. Now I have two orders for butter crocks! I'm crossing all my fingers and toes until they make it out of the final firing!

Mugs and butter crock with simple scraffito designs.

Ideas, ideas

We went to Uptown Market Saturday, which didn't go as well as some Saturdays, but that's okay. It's always fun to talk to people and watch the parade of pooches prance by. A few people stopped to admire certain pieces, and while they visited, they made some suggestions of items they would like to see on my tables. I'll try my hand at yarn bowls, honey pots, bacon cookers, and yazamashi pots (Japanese water cooling vessels for delicate teas) this week in the studio.

Attempt #3 in French butter crocks

Hopefully my attempts at the above pieces will be easier than--or rather, more fruitful than my attempts at someone's suggestion that I make French butter crocks. About two weeks ago I sat down and threw three crocks as a first attempt. The first crock never made it to bisque as the inner cylinder was too big around and split the base when I tried forcing it apart. The second crock has been bisqued, but it's just too long to work properly, I think, and will probably end up in the garbage.


So here is the third one, which I think will be good enough for me to try out. I certainly have to think of a way to jazz these babies up--so boring as is. The lid is also a wonky fit because I couldn't get the groove quite right. The tube was a bit long while in greenware stage, so I tried cutting it down with my fettling knife. It fits but has a rather ragged edge. As I said, this will be good enough for me to test.

I may throw a few more of these this week to try and get it right.

My thanks to all who gave me new tasks to try. I really have enough berry bowls and sponge holders, so this gives me a break from some of the normal pieces I throw. Whenever I try something new, whether a new form or new decoration, it's like play time for me!

It's Time for Berry Bowls

Berry Bowls with Lady Bugs

 I had sworn that this year I would get a big batch of berry bowls ready for The Market at Blooming Colors and for the Uptown Market, but my execution of this plan went very slowly. I think, in part, it's because I wanted to try something new instead of sticking with last year's design (shown above) with a simple Heiner Render glaze and lady bug accents.

One of my goals for the year is to do more hand building, so I had decided I would hand build berry bowls using strawberry leaves to form the bowl, and I wanted to put strawberry feet on the bowls as a decoration instead of the lady bugs. It was a disaster! I didn't spray the forms, so the clay stuck fast to the forms, and the bowls were destroyed in the process of trying to remove them. Next, I thought perhaps I could throw the bowls and cut out the strawberry leaves. That didn't work very well either. Add slow firing last month to the mix, and the result is berry bowls delivered at the end of May.

Ruffled Berry Bowl with Strawberry Feet

But, my experimentation did lead to some different shapes, different glazing, and different decoration. I stayed with hand-sculpted berries for feet. These are going with me to the Uptown Market in Columbus Saturday, although it seems that people in Columbus are not familiar with berry bowls. I had one a couple of weeks ago, and everyone who picked it up asked what it was. One person must have thought it was to store berries in because he commented that he had more berries than the bowl would hold. Someone suggested I make ceramic strawberries to put in the bowls as display. I have noticed that props can be helpful when selling some items like my sponge holders.

We'll see what Saturday brings. I'm learning that certain markets are better for certain pieces, and it may be that Columbus is not the right market for berry bowls. Or, maybe I'm the only one who likes the berry feet.

Still Superstitious

Last month I wrote about breaking with superstition, but I'm afraid I'm still superstitious. In that post I wrote about my fear of photographing pieces before they complete the process; however, I was going to dare to break that superstitious thinking by posting a pair of carved candle lanterns-the third in the set was not available to photograph at the time.

Candle lantern with carved dogwoods and texture

The lantern that wasn't photographed came out beautifully and sold the very next market day. These are time-consuming but so much fun to make!

Another lantern carved in dogwood leaves somehow cracked in several places during bisque-firing. The studio director apologized, saying it was her fault, but in the back of my mind I thought, "I didn't expect this piece to make it." I tried to fix it during glazing, but there was not hope--it just fell apart in my hands; too many cracks. I can't imagine what she could have done that would've caused so much damage.

What should have been an easy fix in glaze firing wasn't.

The other lantern photographed at that same time was also damaged in the bisque fire, but it suffered only minor damage. The handle had broken from the saucer, but it appeared an easy fix. I "glued" it with glaze and sent it back. Still, I wasn't getting my hopes up; after all, I had photographed it in its raw stage. Sure enough, either in placement or during firing, the top shifted just a bit.

It's still a keeper!

That's okay, though. I love candles, and it's still a pretty piece despite its imperfection. Though it isn't fit for the market, it looks just fine on the bookshelf in our dining room. Maybe one day I'll have more than the imperfect pieces, but for now these will do.

I need to get busy making more of these as they seem to be popular!

Simply Fun

As I struggle to juggle work I must do and work I love (pottery), I often forget to have fun. Now, don't get me wrong; I only make what I enjoy making such as garlic pots and candle holders and teapots (why, I don't know), etc., but I don't often spend my time to just have fun doing something in clay. Today, I had fun three times (makes me think I was unproductive today!).

This face pot was the most fun I had today--I'm planning to plant tarragon in him IF he makes it through the process. I explained my superstition in an earlier post, which has proven partially true in that one of the candle holders broke beyond repair, and the fate of the other is yet to be known. Perhaps Friday it will come from the kiln.

After throwing the form for pot man, I threw some clay that was a bit more than this guy. I made the tallest piece yet, though I'm not divulging measurements since it's still nothing to brag about. I also practiced slip trailing for the first time today on a covered pot. As Anthony (my husband) would say, the result was fairly adequate. Not a bad first attempt but not spectacular.

I plan to make more face pots for the season, and I would like to try to recreate, in some fashion, small pots my grandmother had of women with dangling earrings and stylish dresses--at least they looked stylish from the bust view, anyway. It seems comedy may be easier to attain than elegance; we shall see.

All in all, it was a good day in the studio.

Market Saturday

My non-pottery job, the one that feels so much like a job, is seriously impeding my time to throw pots. Add cruddy clay to that, and not much has gotten done this week. However, the kiln opened today, and a beautiful pot was sitting on top. This little gem, and a mug to match, will makes its way to Uptown Market in Columbus, Ga., tomorrow. I hope the rain will hold off until after noon!

Cedar teapot

I also have one berry bowl to bring with me. I'm still working on two with strawberry "feet" and the other one that should have traveled tomorrow did not make it out of the kiln in acceptable shape. Grrr. I have thrown three others, which are already spoken for if they make it out of the kiln!

A veteran potter said today that she doesn't get upset about the ones that don't make it. She just smashes the failed pot and makes another. I'm trying to adopt that attitude, but I'm not quite there. I said it didn't matter if the teapot didn't turn out; I wasn't counting on it until it came out of the glaze kiln. Well, when I thought we had a kiln stop during firing, I was singing a different tune.

Hope to see some familiar faces at the market tomorrow.

It's Been An Interesting Week

After my first experience with Uptown Market in Columbus, Ga., I was thinking, "How can I go more often?" Anthony came with me, and in between our little conversations, we talked to people, listened to live music, and watched the many dogs of all shapes and sizes. When the noon whistle sounded, we packed up and went to the brew pub down the street. A good Saturday. We're going back this Saturday for certain!

The week has been punctuated with fun and frustration! It seems I've angered the clay gods. Last week I repugged my scrap clay only to find it was short when I threw it days later. On advice from fellow studio potters, I added a bag of fresh clay and repugged again. Now four hours of wasted time (time away from the wheel). Yesterday it seemed no better despite wedging ball clay into it and sprinkling vinegar on it--I must have been missing the magic incantation because it didn't really help. So, I threw berry bowls but not nearly enough. The clay kept tearing on the first pull. Now I'm wondering if the greenware will make it through bisque fire. If it does, I may keep using it for berry bowls and buy fresh clay for teapots and mugs--or anything else that needs a handle.

Jasmine is starting to scent the evening air.

Thank heaven for cool evenings on the deck with my hubby and the dogs. Tuesday night I smelled just a hint of Madison Jasmine, and the next morning I went out to see if it was my imagination or if we had jasmine blooming. Voila! Two or three little clusters like this were in bloom. I can't wait until the deck explodes with the scent of jasmine.

Yesterday's frustration of the clay was followed by the frustration of knowing I would not be in the studio at all today. I suppose I'll use what little free time I have today to run errands--I need bags and stickers for Saturday's Uptown Market. I'm crossing my fingers that the teapot I want to take Saturday comes out of the kiln in one piece. I won't get excited until then because the last time I was excited about a teapot, the glaze ran, and the piece cracked while cooling. How does that happen? Especially after I ran a test piece through first. Grrr.

The first veggie baby appears!

But, fortunately, there are other gifts from spring that help relieve the frustration. Every morning I have to go out into the garden and check on plants. This morning I found the first tomato on the vine. I am sooo excited. It's only a tiny green bump, and like clay, you can't count on it until it goes through the process. So far, we have onions, garlic, tomatoes, eggplant, two bean plants (the only seeds that germinated from the dozen planted), and random volunteers from last year's cucumbers and squash.

The sole survivor.

My other favorite thing about spring is berry bowls! I've been playing with different shapes and colors from last year. Of the four thrown, only one has come out as it should. Two are going back to bisque fire with the hopes their little strawberry feet will fuse with the glaze "glue" I used. The fourth is probably going to Debbie so that she can smash it and use it for a mosaic.

I hope I have a photo of said teapot to publish Friday before packing up for the market.

The Oh, So Humble Bowl

For whatever reason, bowls have not been my favorite thing to throw, but events of this past week have given me a different view.

I packed up a few bowls to take with me to the 280 Boogie, really just to fill up the table more than anything. Several pieces didn't make it out of the kiln in time, so I was worried I wouldn't have enough wares. This is the bowl that's left. Those who bought bowls bought only one, even though each had a mate. Hmm. Maybe people DO like random bowls.

My second new appreciation for the humble bowl came at church Sunday when I was approached by my priest's wife. She asked if I would consider working on a project with her for Lent next year that would also be a fund raiser for the church. Her idea is to sell individual bowls to make the point that there are people in the world who have the equivalent of one bowl of food per day to eat. That's it. I've just completed Education for Ministry through the Episcopal Church and have been wondering what my ministry could be. I wanted it to involve clay, but I guess I lacked imagination to see how that could work out. Voila! I love this idea and will start throwing extra bowls each time I sit down at the wheel.

I 'm a little excited about bowls now. Here's a little bowl I played with in terms of shape and decorating. I stole the idea of painting Iris on the sides--using glaze--from a lady in the studio who made a vase using this technique. There's a mug to match in the kiln room. This may become one of my new favorite things to do!

But enough chattering! I have teapots--and bowls--to throw.

Just When You Think You're Prepared

Three days before my first official show, Old 280 Boogie in Waverly, Ala., I'm mildly freaking out--on the inside, of course. On a positive note, the business cards arrived today. Does this mean I'm official?

I've been calmly collecting my wares, separating them into piles for the show, the coffee shop,the Market. Today, I assembled the 280 Boogie pile, and I'm dismayed. It's a paltry offering.

 Immediately I think of all the things that could be fired and ready if I controlled the kiln, or had one of my own. Two berry bowls have been languishing for two weeks, along with candle holders, garlic jars, and salt jars I added this week.

There are mugs, but not nearly enough.

A few vases and another random bowl may yet come out of a glaze firing, but I'm not getting my hopes up. They would have had to have been loaded this a.m. in time for me to pick up Friday before 2 p.m. The way timing goes around the studio, I'm not feeling very encouraged right now.

I've decided to make earrings to have another offering. My husband was encouraging by saying that even if the event isn't all I want it to be, it will get the word out.

There are vases and candleholders, but not all that I've made.

There must be a balance to all of this, but I've not figured it out yet. I recently read a blog post where the potter talked about being in that mode of creating and having to make himself stop in order to glaze. Part of my problem, I think, is that I don't have many days where I can just get in that zone and stay there.

There are random bowls and a random sushi set.

There are kitchen items, but more await the kiln.

I'm just going to take a deep yoga breath and let it be.  It will be what it will be.

Breaking with Superstition

Last year, I took a picture of a piece I was really excited about, a piece I was trying a new technique with that seemed to be going perfectly. So, in my excitement, I posted a picture of the work in progress.

The curves and the lines in the piece were so beautiful to me that I just couldn't wait until it was finished to show it off. Hmm. It now holds acorns because the bottom seam came apart in the final firing and it will not hold liquid. From that day forward, I decided that it was bad luck to post work before it went through the final firing. Today, I hope to prove to myself that such superstitious thinking is absurd!

I've been working on what I call candle lanterns. Two are finished and ready for the Old 280 Boogie, but I was hoping the three I threw earlier in the week would be finished in time--they won't. But, I'm having so much fun making them, and there is now this blog to fill, that I'm breaking with that old superstition and posting a photo of the two I carved last night after work.

It's officially spring in Opelika, Ala., which means the dogwood, azaleas, tulips, and daffodils are in full bloom. I had sketched some designs in my little brown book and, while at the studio, I set to work carving one of the lanterns with dogwoods. As I ran out of time before work, I brought the untouched pieces home to carve in the evening. The left piece has a ring of dogwood leaves, and the piece on the right has tulip forms. Today there is much to do as well, but isn't that always the case. Glazing is a priority if I'm to have anything to add to my crate for the Boogie, but there's more carving and trimming to do as well. I love it!

Humble Beginnings

The short, squatty vase in the picture is one of the first pots I made, and I still love it for all its humble imperfection. I keep it on the counter even when it bears no flowers because I love the imprint of leaves, the subtle color, and the earthiness of it. Maybe it's also a reminder of where I began, and when I get discouraged, I can glance at this small vessel and note that I've made progress.

This year my pottery business has humble beginnings as well. Before the year began, I made a list of goals, which included doing at least one spring and one fall arts festival and adding one vendor to my local venues. Done! The first arts festival is coming up April 20 in Waverly, Ala., with the annual Old 280  Boogie. For weeks I've been contemplating business cards; I even went so far is to make a mock up, but the line "website" kept me from ordering. Blog vs. website, which is best? Aren't websites the professional way to go? I've blogged before, so that seemed less intimidating. I follow several blogging potters who have links to true websites, so I decided to take that route as a start. Besides, doesn't everyone like a good story? I know that I prefer the blogs to the websites because they seem more inviting, more of a connection to the potter.

Hopefully the business cards will be ready. I've only myself to blame if they're not. But will the pots be ready? I'm afraid that what comes out of the kiln tomorrow will be it. Certainly the salt cellars and garlic pots won't be ready--they haven't been bisque fired and won't be until Monday at the earliest. If all goes well and firing goes as it should, I could have some garlic pots, berry bowls, tea bowls, and salt cellars to add to what's already packed and waiting for transport. Potting has taught me never to count my pots before they're glaze fired, but I'm crossing my fingers.