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.

Back to Work

White stoneware clay from NM Clay

I headed down to the studio last weekend with hopes of working, but it was just too cold.  I tried again this weekend and finally made a few things, in spite of the cold weather.  Cold weather does not make for inviting working conditions in a potter's studio.  Your hands are constantly submerged in water, and even when it starts out as warm water it will never last long.  You'll laugh at this, but there is actually a little wind that comes off of the rotation of the wheel.  You put that together with cold clay and you have some miserable working conditions.  I do a number of things to combat these factors, such as storing a few bags of clay in the warmest room of my house.  This means that I am constantly hauling 25 pound bags of clay up and down my driveway, but it helps.  I'll spare you with the specifics of trying to get my side of the studio warm enough from the wood stove that lives in the other room of our studio.  Let's just say that it is a trial.

So, I made a few pieces with some new clay that I am trying out.  I am trying a white clay body from New Mexico Clay.  I have steered clear of white clays in the past because I haven't liked the way some glazes look on them.  I am curious how this clay will work on my current palette of colors.  I am always experimenting, but I'm also looking for a clay that warps a little less.  Some clays warp more than others.  I have stopped using a particular clay that feels so good to work with, yet warps terribly.  I am finishing up a commission of large plates and that has led me to this experiment.

Now that the plates are complete, I will finish up another small commission next week.  Then I will turn my attention to all of the many items I sold out of in the past few months.  I will be making more butter dishes, pie plates, casserole dishes, and plates of assorted sizes.  I currently have none of these items available in my studio, but I do have lots of other items.  You can still find mugs, bowls of all sizes, platters, vases, pitchers, cups, lidded jars, salt pigs, masks, raku pieces, and various other items that I am sure I left out.  I am around most days, just let me know before you head over my way.  If you can't make it, I can always ship it to you.

Pottery in Use

Someone bought this soup bowl set from me and presented it as a gift to their parents this past holiday season. They took a picture of it and sent it along.  I love to see my pottery in use  along with the fact that someone is enjoying it enough to take a picture.

My studio is closed right now, but I will return to my work in February.  The clay is awfully cold in January and I need a break after the holidays. Please check back in and I'll post some of my new work when it starts happening.

Holiday Gift Bazaar

This weekend and next, the Espresso Gallery in Embudo will be holding its third annual Holiday Gift Bazaar.  My pottery will be available there along with Ellen Joseph's Ethereal Glass Design, Cindy Stone's Wild Earth Remedies, Kay Johnson's jewelry, and Melanie Kirby's High Road Honeys and Beeswax Arts.  We will be open from 12-5 on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday both this weekend and next.  Please join us on Saturday at noon for our Open House.  There will be drinks and appetizers for you to enjoy along with meeting the artists.  I will be working on Sunday the 16th if you would like to stop in and say 'hi!'  The Espresso Gallery is located right next to the Embudo Post Office on Hwy 68.