Small Detour

Today's glazing was interrupted by an out of the blue trip to the vet. My adventurous dog had an injury and needed to undergo surgery for some stitches! Fun unexpected bill! Anyhow, she's doing okay now that's she home, although she's acting rather pitiful. Instead of a lamp shade around her head, I've got her dressed up in an old t-shirt, and I can't help but laugh. It prevents her from scratching at her stitches on her stomach. She keeps looking at me with this inquisitive look asking, "Are you serious? Are you really going to keep humiliating me in this thing?"

If you're not a dog lover, then I'll take you back to the pottery world. I finished glazing all these mugs and am slowly working on some plates and bowls. But I have to stop to pack up some recent Etsy orders, (thank you!). This week's theme at my Etsy shop is "honor your food." You can check that out here.

Back at it

Both of the photo classes went great this weekend and went by in a flurry of discussion and activity! We covered a lot of material but it felt like everyone left feeling more confident in photographing their own artwork and the supplies they needed to do so. I was dreaming all weekend somewhere in the land of f-stops, white balance and pixels. Thanks so much those of you out there reading for participating and good luck to you!

Without much of a breath, I'm back in the studio with a pile of bisqued pots ready to be glazed. First I mixed up 5 glazes this morning and then got started glazing these cups and bowls. The last bisque kiln is about to fire off tonight and I'll just keep plugging away glazing all these pots!

The last class

We unloaded the baby soda kiln last night in class. The first firing was not too bad and the student's were happy with the new possibility of having a new kiln to fire in. That firing lacked color, or flashing from the soda and was cold on the top shelf. Below is the picture from the first firing.

After Will made some minor changes, the second firing went much better and the cones were pretty even from top to bottom. There was a lot more rich color where the flashing slips and even the raw clay looked nice. It's good to see the results got better after only the second firing, that just means that it can get really good from here on out! Of course, I had to remind everyone that even getting results in only the second firing is rare, I had to attribute this early success to Will's ability for soda firing. This time the students were definitely oohing and awing as we unloaded their warm pots. A great end to the last class, complete with a potluck dinner, of course! Next class starts back up in a couple of weeks.


Back in my studio, I finished all of my pots today! I even managed to make 4 ewers which are a a lot of fun to make. They'll have the weekend to dry and then I'll load up my last bisque kiln for Monday and then start mixing glazes and glazing pots. This weekend I'm teaching the digital photo workshop with John Britt. We have two filled classes we're running back to back Saturday and Sunday.

Hope you have a good weekend! Thanks for stopping in!

Finishing up

I'm moving along over here in the studio with some baskets, vases and creamers. Tomorrow I've got pitchers and ewers to finish up hopefully before class. Will fired the converted test soda kiln again today so we're supposed to unload tomorrow night in my class. For those interested, sorry I never showed you the results, but I'll get to it soon as well as show you how the second firing turns out. Things have been a little busy around here to say the least.

I still don't know where I'm going with this vase below so I tried some different things to the rim, like the one on the right but something's wrong with it. I can't figure out which direction I even want to go with it. It's hanging in there but I know it's not quite right yet. The cut rim feels too abrupt or something, it negates the flow of the form I'm striving for. Hmm......where is it. I suppose the lingering idea will come out one day.

This Just In!

I finished up the throwing list with some pitchers and more tumblers below. Now I just have to carry on through with all of the finishing of all these pots covered in plastic surrounding me. I had a serious case of cabin fever, so I managed to sneak away briefly while my bisque kiln was going today for Will's wood kiln unloading. I should probably save the details for Will to reveal at his blog, but I just can't hold these in, and besides I knew I'd get to it faster since he's about to take off for a show.

It was another great firing, with lots of nice soda and flame marks. I was eyeing several plates and these small bowls, only I wish I sneaked away with a few.

This matching bowl and small plate is what I would call hot and spicy with some serious wood ash running down the sides!

Three sweet little bud vases...

Crunch Time

I finished up these teapots and reed jars as well as started a whole slew of other pots that are now in progress. I have until Friday to wrap things up in the studio before I have to get my last bisque load in and fired before glazing next week. Still moving along my to-do list: tumblers, ewers, pitchers and vases.


I guess the handles on these little jars look like little ears, don't they? They'll look more complete after the firing with a reed handle that I weave onto them.

I see signs

of spring all around! Happy spring! We made it!

I've been enjoying fresh kale from my garden. I planted the seeds last fall and winterized them in the garden all winter, and now they're doing great. The early leaves are delicious in salads, or my favorite, sauteed with olive oil, a little onion, pepper and fresh lemon!

Tea Time

I've been in and out of the studio this week so pots are taking forever to dry and take to the next stage. I got the teapots and lids trimmed this morning and threw some spouts. I'll probably start connecting all the parts tomorrow.

After lunch I'm headed back in to trim some small jars and lids and then I'm off to my class!

Teapot spouts have always been more difficult for me to throw and take my complete concentration or if I'm not careful, I'll lose it as I'm collaring it in. Some good tunes and a good cup of tea nearby certainly helps get through. After throwing I give them a little bend on the wheel after drying them slightly with a heatgun.

Have a great day!

All I need

is a little bit of sunshine...

It was so nice outside today, I really feel like I'm solar powered. I just want to be outside constantly when it's so pleasant like today. I loaded up a bisque kiln load, another good reason to go outside. My electric kiln is in a little old spring house. I love the way greenware stacks up.

I found one of my favorite early blooming wildflowers, the trout lily, which is gracefully littering the woods behind the studio. I'm waiting for bloodroot to make it's appearance, too. I know it's out there. I love identifying wildflowers, often I go hiking with a native plant book in hand.


The daffodils are happy once again after these days of sunshine, and there below, is my guard dog, she's such a poser, isn't she?

"The earth laughs in flowers." Ralph Waldo Emerson

In progress

Today I threw a bit and finished up some other pots. I've got some teapots and lidded jars thrown but nothing seemed to be drying much today so they might take a while to finish.

I finally made enough mugs to move away from mugs. I made a lot for orders but I wanted to have some leftover for other things so I'm going to put a lot of mugs in this kiln load. These trimmed cups below I'm having fun making. The form that I make for my tumblers and mugs I don't trim, so it's nice to have a cup form that I trim a nice foot on. Trimming really does make the base look better, more complete.

It's a busy week getting all these pots done and working for some other potters, teaching my class, and getting ready for the photo workshop I'm teaching in a couple of weeks. Right after that I'm going to fire the kiln, so I have a lot to get finished in these next two weeks.

Only a test

Beware! Kiln talk below


This morning bright and early in the chillingly damp air Will and I loaded up the "new" baby converta-soda-kiln down where we teach at Arts Centered. The key point I have to say is that this was built using all scrap materials, from an old electric kiln to very old warped and broken silicon carbide kiln shelves. It doesn't fit many pots in it, but each student was able to get a couple of pieces in as well as some glaze test tiles with all of the studios house glazes on them so we can see how they fare in here. Will had some obstacles to work around to fit it underneath the kiln shed roof, so it is snuggled right next to the raku kiln.

Will Baker and Tracy Dotson (resident Arts Centered potter) talking kilns

Basically he took out all the elements and the floor ring and built up the brick floor and walls a bit so that the 2 raku burners could be positioned on opposite sides of each other. This also gave more room for stacking space since the burners are actually below the area where the "shell" of the electric kiln wall begins. The shelves we had to work with were small and not quite the right size for an octagonal kiln, but hey, we're recycling here! There really is no chimney on this, only a hole that is cut out of the kiln roof, or lid. We thought she might fire in no time, but it took a while to figure out the adjustments to keep the climb. The damper is a kiln brick that you could move over the hole in the lid. Eventually it fired off after 7.5 hours, but we think the hole in the lid, (or exit flue) needs to be much bigger. The kiln was getting choked up since it didn't have enough pull from the chimney, or LACK of chimney, so we found that we were limited without the usual tools you would have firing a normal kiln with better options for changing the air to gas ratio using dampers, passives or air flaps, etc. Will drilled holes through the kiln wall all around that he sprayed the soda into. He sprayed in 2 pounds of soda...I wanted to dare and go more, but Will was betting for the safe side. We'll see...

at any rate, we'll figure out what to do next time, right?

Then I came back to my studio, threw a board of more mugs, trimmed some cups, slipped some mugs, textured some other cups and even prewedged my clay for tomorrow- Teapots on the agenda for tomorrow!

(So much for my Monday-Friday schedule, it didn't last very long did it? I do think it did make me work more efficiently during those days, though. It's overflowing into my weekend, but at least I got out last weekend while it was pretty.)

Fresh slip and flowers

This morning I threw a new board of mugs and the rest of the day I've been finishing or at least taking pots to the next level. These cups above are freshly slipped and I'm about to go carve some more mugs and then add handles.

I got distracted by all of my daffodils, though. They are blooming everywhere after last weekends great weather, but now ugly cold weather is back. So I just decided to pick a whole bunch of them since they are going to wither in the weather out there. It's nice to put them around to cheer up every room on this gray day! I'm so eager to plant, I ordered a lot of seeds and created a new garden bed the other day. But around here, we have to wait until May to plant...but I can at least start the seeds indoors.

Have a great weekend! Hope someone out there is warm and sunny!

Pots All Around

I've been pretty busy rolling along in the studio. I finished these carved porcelain mugs. They are slightly bigger than my usual mugs and the handles I made a little bigger this time, too. More like a three finger mug, or definite two finger for those with larger fingers. I also changed the angle of the handle slightly, gave it a little tilt that may mirror the mug form better. Handles are infinitely hard. These wall pieces below are drying upside down before I can continue more finishing on them. The clay slabs are pretty soft so I have to wait a while before I can flip them over.

I've got pots in all stages all around, and I'm moving around the studio hopping from various things: throw a new board of pots, trim a board, carve some, slip some, texture, add handles. I need to load a bisque kiln because my carts are filling up and there's no room for the in between pots anymore.

I'm going off to teach tonight, so today will be a lighter studio day. We built a test soda kiln converted from an old electric kiln down at Arts Centered so the students will be glazing for that and we're going to fire it off on Saturday. I'm excited to see how she fires because I'm going to build one of those this summer over here so I can have a few more firings with a quicker turnaround in between my bigger soda firings.

No turning back

We've had such amazing weather the past few days. It felt good to get outside and soak in all the sunshine on a couple of different hikes. I'm afraid it was a teaser, though, like always around these parts, there is usually more winter lingering around.

I'm moving on in the studio to several rounds of cups, mugs with porcelain above, and stoneware cups below that will be trimmed. I took all of my reclaimed clay over to Linda's studio to use her clay pugger and now I'm spoiled. I probably shouldn't have done that because now there's probably no turning back, like it was drinking strong french press coffee! It will make the chunky reclaim clay I had so much smoother to wedge and use. I used to dry out all my scraps, soak them, and then spread it all out as very wet slop out on a plaster table. Now I quicken the process by immediately wetting my trimmings and leftover clay scraps and then pugg them later. This new method saves time, breathing the dry clay dust, and a lot of space that I used to devote to dry clay scraps and slop buckets. Of course, one day this means I guess I'll have to get a clay pugger. I'm still a "wedger" at heart, though. I like that step of getting focused with the clay before I sit down to throw.

My Routine

I finished these oval dishes and bowls today to end out the work week. This is my second round of these oval pieces and I'm feeling pretty good about them.

Ron was talking about his routine, which is something I'm always thinking about. I'm trying to be more rigid in my schedule with a clearer work time with more time for breaks and resting. I usually work whenever, but this creates a problem of overworking or the opposite, procrastinating! I've never wanted to set up a Monday through Friday 9-5 sort of operation. Sometimes I can't do that if I have a big deadline, or sometimes I just like to work on weekends, and another reason is just that I like the freedom to say I can be off on a Monday if I choose to. But, I've had a change of heart. Or at least, I'm trying to find more of a balance to my work week, so maybe I actually need to set a Monday through Friday schedule. Another attempt is to spend less time at the computer but instead concentrate on reading, cooking and making new friends. It's going to be a good day to be outside tomorrow, I'm headed out for a hike! After our blizzard like conditions on Monday, 73 degrees is going to feel perfect!

Hope you have a great weekend!

I hit "Refresh"

I'm working along in the studio with a lot of bowls, some of my usual textured bowls and another batch of these dimpled bowls above, only this time I added "peaks" or ridges to the part of the rim that divides the four sides.

Then I decided to carve this one below for fun. The others I'm not texturing, can you believe it? I'm just going to use some brighter glazes on the inside as well as glaze some on every other panel on the outside. Just to change things up a bit.

Finally sort of worked through these textured wall pieces below for a custom order, although I need to make more because my flashing slip was too thick and is cracking while it's drying, which will only get worse after the firing. I'm excited about these though. The inside textured part will have glaze on them, and below, you can see I also tried a new foot or base on the back where I will wrap wire around them for hanging on the wall.


Today I went down to Crimson Laurel Gallery, in downtown Bakersville. It's a beautiful gallery full of ceramics from almost everyone around here as well as an ever broadening collection from potters elsewhere. They've done great with my work in the years that I have exhibited there. With consignment galleries, it pays to go back and refresh your display of work. They are just getting going for the spring with a new opening coming up shortly, so I wanted my display to have all new pots. I took a good round of some of my better pots that I've been holding back for other retail shows, and took everything else they had on inventory back with me. It felt good to see them displayed there away from my dusty studio, and nice to see the progression when compared to the work that I had there. I was talking with the owners Dave and John about how important it is to keep changing your work and trying new things. I continually strive to refine and evolve with fresh work as often as I can, which I feel is a key aspect of continuing to grab the audience's attention.

Bird Tracks

It continued to snow all night last night so I woke up to startling blue skies and a clean slate of snow for the birds to hop around in. I love finding their bird tracks all around.

The day started out right with a breakfast of homemade bread topped with some local blueberry jam and my favorite, homemade granola with a bowl of yogurt and honey! And my usual of french press coffee. Of course, this all tasted so much better because it was in pottery.


I threw this batch of bowls this morning and have been trimming the afternoon away finishing up some more of my "dimpled" bowls. I recycle all of my clay scraps so I have a lot of that piled up and need to get that going soon so I don't run out of stoneware. As soon as I move onto cups and tumblers, I decided this round I'm going to make them all out of porcelain because I've been so happy with how they turn out in the soda firing.

Winter Wonderland

It's a winter wonderland over here and still pouring down!

Yesterday I volunteered at Penland for Community Day, helping teach 5 minute beginning wheel throwing back to back to lots of people who came by the clay studio. Other studios were open for the public to browse and take part in some of the hands on craft activities like blacksmithing, glass blowing, photography, paper making, and more. It was a full day!
Lots of adults and kids were there to try their hand at the wheel, some having never tried it or even seen a pot thrown before!

Today I worked on some hand built pieces waiting for some other pots to dry. They'll be ready to trim tomorrow I hope.

The photography class John and I are teaching is full but we are doing another one the following day, March 29 and there are a few spots left I believe. We also will be scheduling another one for another time, too. If you are still interested you can email John about the March 29'th class or to be put on the wait list for the next one. jbritt@main.nc.us