Joining the Pottery Blog Community

I've decided to start a pottery blog in order to create a "behind the scenes" reality for others to see. I have been finding other potter's blogs very interesting lately, some of which I've linked from this site. I thought it would be a great source for other people to get to know the artist behind the work and how the work was created. Oftentimes things happen throughout my day in and around the studio that I wish I could share. This way I can translate some of what I see and do to other inquiring minds. It can be a journal of sorts, a way of translating my creative process, through describing the many facets of things that happen in my life as a potter. However, if I don't appear here too often, it could be because I'm lucky to not be staring at the computer and I'm either making pots, outside planting, hiking, or shooting photography.

Warm Spring Day in the Dogwoods

Spring has been exploding all around here for quite some time, but only now am I having the time to get outside and really enjoy it. This week I made it up to one of my favorite hiking spots, north of Roan Mountain, called Little Hump Mountain on the Appalachian Trail. It welcomes beautiful views of Roan Mountain and Mt. Rogers and the weather was completely clear. It's amazing how refreshed I feel after hiking anywhere, really, just to get out and clear my head!

Busy times have been around. I recently fired a kiln load in mid April amidst some spring retail shows I had. The past couple of weeks I've been trying to complete to-do lists that somehow or another just keep growing. After unloading, I've been busy sanding, pricing pots, completing wholesale orders, shooting images of my work, and countless other things. I've also been cleaning up the studio from the last cycle and am getting ready to start making pots again. I am anxious to get going again in the studio because there were some new things I tried in the last firing that I want to carry further into the next round of pots.

These small square pieces are fresh from the recent firing. They have evolved from my original round "Bark Plate" to square pieces that are of various sizes, these being about 4" x 4. They are textured using a branch impressed into a slab of clay. I texture these both on the front and back and there are feet on the back where I have looped wire so they can be displayed on the wall. I'm very excited about how these have been evolving and I think that now they have an option to hang it opens up a lot of new possibilities. A grid of them looks interesting on the wall, suggesting a landscape.