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.