Welcome to the New Home of Lori Kindler Pottery

Two and a half years ago my family relocated to Tucson, AZ. I made this move with very little enthusiasm because I knew I was leaving behind so many dear friends, a place where I found peace, and a community that had embraced me. My pottery studio was a large part of the peace that I found there, but also a place where I stepped in to the community. When I left Dixon, my wheel did not follow for many months. When it did follow, it was placed in the dim shadows of a garage. We bought a little house with a one-car garage that I thought I could turn into a studio. A couple of days in that soulless dark space had me moving my wheel onto the back porch. I need light and a view! So I battled the mosquitoes and the hundred degree temperatures and the cracking pots until we finally sold our property in New Mexico.....and then we built this little beauty. It's a small fraction of what I had before, and there is certainly not a view of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, but it feels good. Really good.

I moved to Tucson with a random commission for a fermentation crock that someone had seen on my blog. I felt like it was fortuitous that my final special order was headed to the city that I was moving to. So, here I am. It's been a rough couple of years in many ways, but I am making my home here and it only feels right to re-open my studio. Today I accepted the co-chair position for the SACA(Southern Arizona Clay Artists) empty bowls fundraiser put on by ICS, so I'm also stepping into the community. It's been easy to do here. While northern NM will always be a place that I return to, I have come to love Tucson. The arts are vibrant, the food is fantastic, the scenery is spectacular, and the people are welcoming. We have made the start of some great friendships and planted our feet in the community. I look forward to participating in many local arts events and holding open studio hours.

Reflections on The Tour

Once a year I wipe down all of my pottery and put it out on display.  It garnishes every suitable open workspace that I have in my studio.  There is that moment when I have finished the last bit of cleaning and I take a moment to simply admire the work that I have done.  I don't linger long, but it is important to take it all in collectively and feel pride.  Back in my days of training as a classical singer, I had an opera coach that encouraged us to look at a performance as simply stepping out of our linear progression to say this is where I am and where I have come from.   It is not the end product, but the place where my progression has led me, and I will continue from here.  I have always liked this idea, so this is where I am in my journey.

I would like to offer my gratitude to all of the many people that ventured up my dirt road to visit my studio this past weekend on The Dixon Studio Tour.  I enjoyed the support of many Dixon locals, as well as those that came from near and far.  It is a special time for our community when we put on display our talents as artists, organizers, and volunteers.  It is a great undertaking to put on such an event in a tiny village, and one that we couldn't do without the many members of our community that donate their time to helping out the artists in various ways.  Many of us have the support of friends and family that help out by baking, wrapping our goods, directing traffic, and in my case, watching over the kids.  No small task goes unnoticed.  This year the weather was beautiful and the shoppers were out, both are essential elements to a successful tour.  Yes, I would consider it a great success this year.

I took a few special orders this weekend for items that were either sold out or just not in the glaze you wanted.  I will have one more round of firings before Christmas, and then close up the studio for the cold month of January.  If you are interested in a specific item, please let me know soon so that I can get it into the next firing.  There was a great deal of interest in the fermentation crocks and I will be making more for this firing, but it is best to get your name down for one because they will go quickly.   I will not be at the Espresso Gallery this year, but I am always available for you to come by my studio.  Just drop me a line at lkindler@gmail.com to let me know when you will be here.  I am also in the process of replenishing my inventory in my Etsy shop if you are not nearby.  Please keep in mind that I have a lot of inventory that is not on my Etsy shop, so feel free to contact me directly and I will send you pictures of anything you might be interested in.

Cups of Many Colors

I love this photo at the top.  It displays all but one of my glazes.  I got a commission to make these tall cups and she requested that I use a variety of glazes of my own choosing.  There is something incredibly fun about them.  She has a large family with lots of kids.  I can imagine each kid choosing a cup and always knowing which one belongs to them because of the distinct glaze.  I've had a few other mothers come into my studio to choose different cups for each one of their children.  It is the same in my house with no two cups being the same.

The photo below is the large fermentation crock that I pulled out of the kiln this morning.  I had two in this firing and they are both spoken for.  The bad news is that I had one crack before it even made it into the first firing.  That was heartbreaking because a lot of work went into it, but this is the way the clay crumbles.  I'm excited about these crocks and I plan on making many more.  Every time I tell someone about them, they hand me a new idea for marketing them.  I'm hoping to find the time to run with all of these ideas that people are throwing at me.

Although the cups and crocks are already spoken for, I did unload a number of items that will simply be for sale in my studio and on Etsy.  I have french butter dishes back in stock.  I also have this beautiful raku wall pocket to the left available.  I love this piece, and I am very happy that I managed to get it out of the kiln with my tongs before breaking it.  It was a little dicey there for a minute, but well worth the struggle.

Fermentation Crock

Moat

Crock base

Lid

Many months ago I was asked by a local friend and farmer to make a German fermentation crock.  I had no idea what she was talking about.  She started describing a large gallon-sized crock with a moat around the top for water to make a seal that would keep out the mold and bacteria.  She sent me some pictures to clarify my fuzzy understanding.  It wasn't entirely clear to me how I would make this work, so it went on the back burner.  The holidays came and went, personal grief entered my life, and I wasn't in the studio much.  As I was getting back to work after all of this, I had a second person ask me to make one.  I gave it some more thought, and the solution finally hit me.  I'm not sure why it took so long, but it did and I've finally taken on both commissions.  I made the moat separately and adhered it to the top of the large crock with some coils once it was leather-hard.  I am very pleased with the final result. Considering they are made in three pieces, you have to add a knob, and they are quite large, it is a lot of work to make these. However, I do plan on making many more of these to sell out of my studio and possibly online.  I personally find them interesting, and I believe there is a market for them.

Fermented foods are certainly recognized as healthy.  Several years ago I read the book Wild Fermentation and was intrigued.  My husband went right after the sauerkraut, but I remember feeling like I wish that we had a good vessel for making it in.  I am making inserts to go along with these crocks so that will weigh down the vegetables to submerge them in the liquid.  I think that is one of the places where we went wrong, but it is the water seal that I believe will make the biggest difference.  Eventually I will make one of these that is sub-par, and it will find its way into my own kitchen alongside all of the other mediocre things that I've made that aren't fit for selling.  It's sad but true; however, I do look forward to giving this fermentation thing a go in a proper crock.

Urns

     Perhaps I should warn you that this may be a rather morbid post, but you probably guessed that from the title.  Anyone reading this that knows me personally will know that I have recently had a death in my family.  A very aggressive cancer took my step-father a few weeks ago, exactly ten weeks from his diagnosis.  I was with him a couple of weeks before he passed, giving me the opportunity to say good-bye.  When I returned home, I went to work in my studio and dealt with the situation in my own quiet way.  Knowing he wished to be cremated, I made an urn.  I made the one in the middle and carved it, but I am not quite sure that it is big enough.  Since making it, I have held the surprisingly heavy box that holds his remains and done a little reading about the capacity needed.  He was a big man, therefore we will need a big urn.  I returned home a little less than a week ago after his memorial and made a few more urns which are a little bigger.  The one on the right is the largest and will probably be big enough, but I will make one more a little larger just to be on the safe side.  Clay shrinks.  A lot.  It shrinks initially as it dries, then again in each firing.  I sometimes feel as if it is a cruel joke to see the miniature finished product knowing how I struggled with the initial large form.  I am becoming stronger, but it is still a stretch for me to throw very large pieces.
     This process has been good for me in many ways.  We all have our own way of dealing with things.  I am not one to show a lot of outward emotion and I don't always have a lot to say, but my mind is constantly moving.  In the studio I work out these thoughts with the flow of my work.  The turn of the wheel calms and balance is found.  At times it quiets my thoughts into mediation, while other times they stream forward.  I always find it interesting to make a piece for a specific person.  They are always there in my mind.  Sometimes I do not know the person well and it is like a shadow hovering in the corner.  When it is someone I am more familiar with, they are entirely present throughout the process.  It is an amazing way of clarifying someone's significance in my life.

My First Teapot

I have been intimidated by the teapot form, so before today I hadn't attempted it.  There are a lot of steps to it.  First you make what could just be a canister, then you make the spout on the wheel.  You start with a bottomless column and taper it.  Once it is close to being leather-hard, you cut off part of the  bottom of the column at a diagonal so that it can be attached to the canister.  This took me a number of tries, but in the end it worked out.  I cut a number of holes in the side of the canister before adhering the spout. Next I attached the handle, then turned my attention to the lid.  The knob is attached to the lid once it is also close to being leather-hard.  I also put a small hole in the lid to allow air to enter the teapot as the tea is being poured.  Sound like a lot of work?  It is, but I'm happy with my first attempt.  I can't say that for many of the things I've made on a first try.

My Latest Glaze Firing

     I finished throwing the large commission that I have been working on since the beginning of the year.  All of the pieces are bisqued and awaiting the glazes of choice.  In my latest glaze firing, I played around with some glazes that I had recommended to my client on the extra pieces that I threw for his order.  I was pretty happy with the pieces that I have photographed here and they are all available for sale in my studio.

     For the ramen bowl to the right, I experimented with a variety of glazes that I have used before.  Each time that I combine them, they look a little different.  The firing process is such an interesting one.  You never quite know what you will come up with.

A Plea for the Handmade Object

I turned to my journal the other day to get myself through what seems to be the annual January funk, when I realized that I was on my last page.  I must admit that I immediately went to Amazon to order a new one, but then stopped myself.  Instead I turned to Etsy, a site for handmade and vintage items where I have been selling my pottery.  I found numerous journals available in all shapes and sizes, lined and unlined, fabric and felted.  I chose one that was particularly pleasing and it was promptly mailed to me from an individual artisan right here in the United States.  Inside the cover there was a handwritten note to me, thanking me for my business from the very woman that made the journal.  To me, this whole transaction was very satisfying.  Although I would prefer to buy from a local artisan right here in northern New Mexico, I recognize that any shopping I do will be with three young children in tow.  As much as I would like to traipse through the narrow streets of Santa Fe or attend the regular Artist Markets looking for that something special, it's just not the place that I am in.  Since that is a limiting factor for me, I will turn to places like Etsy to support the individual artisan who is trying to make an honest living.  I will know who made them, have a personal interaction with them, and feel more satisfied in the end.  It will not be from some unknown factory with a logo stamped on it.


This year my stocking was full of such original items:  a high quality hand-cut leather belt made specifically for my waistline, and a wallet and business card holder made by a woman in Alaska.  I can only hope that my customers feel the same satisfaction that I feel when I use these items.  I sold a lot of pottery to locals here in Dixon during the studio tour and the holiday bazaar.  I have had many of them stop to tell me how much they are enjoying their purchases and I find that very gratifying.  I put a great deal of myself into my work, and it is nice to have that appreciated.

In this age of "one-click shopping," it is important to hold on to our personal interactions.  An artisan with an entrepreneurial spirit should be considered before turning to the anonymous factory.  Is this the part where I start waving the American flag and reminding you about our American values?  Not today, but I do encourage you to give it all some thought and support the rugged individual.

Happy New Year

The holidays are over.  I have returned from my travels.  I have cleaned out all of my pottery from the gallery now that the holiday bazaar is over.  Out with the old, in with the new....

The New Year is always a time for reflection.  How did last year go?  What will I do differently this year?  New goals are set, resolutions are made.  In my personal life, it always seems to be the same.  I always resolve to exercise more and I also recognize that I need to step out of my introverted shell a little more often--the side of me that my private studio nurtures so well.  This year I am also thinking about where I am going with my pottery.  I am determined to make a raku kiln this year.  I am fascinated by this firing and love the thought of experimenting with it.  I am also thinking about what new venue I will sell at and how to prepare for that. I don't have an answer for that one yet, but I am setting a goal of finding another venue.

So, I got back to work in the studio this weekend with all of these things in the back of my mind.  I was quickly reminded of how much physical work throwing is after taking quite a bit of time off.  With tired hands and forearms, I put the handles on my teacups and trimmed up my saucers today.  These are all part of a larger special order, my largest commission to date.  Not a bad way to start the new year.