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.