I love a theme

Sometimes I just don't know what to make. Do we need more bowls? More coffee mugs? But someone (gotta love that Lisa Bartlett!) mentioned a GARDEN PARTY event for outdoor art. HOORAY!  An assignment! I'm keeping them under wraps until the day of, not saying what I made, but so far I have 5 of them in process. White stoneware. Now I'm out of white stoneware. Found a few pounds of red stoneware in a forgotten bag, so I should be able to get 2 or 3 more thrown and dry before I load a bisque kiln.

Things are drying fast this week, since the family room flooded during the big storm, and I have the BIG fan running 24/7 to try to ward off the mold.

Event opens June 17. See you then! :D

If you're on Facebook, here's the info:  Garden Party! Art for the Yard

Passing time

Moved in!

Yesterday was my first shift at gallery sitting, and I spent the afternoon hanging this chocolate brown fabric shower curtain on an overhead conduit, just to have a mostly blank slate. Beige table cloth, bare wood shelf. Plain Jane, I need more displays. I think some tall skinny shelves to flank the table will hide what the shower curtain can't.

My first glitch: I am used to hiding my power strip when I set up for markets. Since this is permanent, and since other people have to use my light switch when I'm not there, I should have pulled it up to where people can find it! I will yank it into a more accessible spot after work on Monday. Don't want anyone having to crawl on hands and knees to find my power source. Booth neighbor Lawrence L'Hote took care of it for me today.

He says an out-of-state visitor came and bought some mugs and plates, too! Can you imagine???? I can't. hahaha I have to run down there Monday and see what's missing and see if I can fill empty spots. I'm dying to know what she bought.

I'm really looking forward to this gallery experience.  Another potter from Access Arts has her table in the next room and she said she brings a book or sketch book with her when it's her turn to sit. I'm really glad she said that. I love walking around the Catacombs sucking up cool energy and getting inspired. It's a good idea to have the sketch book handy!!

Another thing I need is a guest book, or maybe just a sign on a fishbowl (more likely a pottery crock) that says to drop your card in if you want to be emailed when I get new stuff fired. And leave blank slips of paper in case you don't carry a card with you, to sign your name and email address.

Well, there is no shortage of things I need to tweak. :D

Stop the Presses?

Well, well, what have we here? I was happily scooting things around in my little corner of the Catacombs, when Larry the wire art guru slid up to us and announced his neighbor in the main hall was packing out!! 


I high-tailed it across the street to see Lisa (gallery owner) at the mural site on the new building, and checked with her. She said I should definitely take the "new" spot! It will be like coming home. It's a spot I'm quite familiar with from last year's art markets. And a great traffic area too. We helped the nice lady finish breaking down her booth, and I slipped right in.

And LOOK!!! My free banner that matches my free business cards arrived early!!! (Some day I might have an actual business name, but until then, as long as it's free, I just keep using the cartoon stuff with fun colors, and yep, it's pottery, alright!)


Hmm, no metallic wall for magnetic support of said banner... Should have bought those cheap hooks they offered at Vistaprint. 20/20 hindsight!  These walls are ... hmm concrete block? and have shreds of cork still remaining from their long-ago existence as cold storage for produce from the train station next door, if I have my history right.  So anyway the ceiling is wood, so I will do hooks and wires and hang a backdrop, hang the banner, then set about making a display. 


I know it doesn't look like much now, but I need to get Woody to shoot us a video tour of this whole wonderful place and let you have an inkling of what goes on here. It's just all too fun.

Before picture

It's small and crazy, but it's a CORNER, so I love it. I need to color it up and haul away that enormous easel, then start stacking pots! That section of metal wall is just DYING to have some ceramic magnets attached to it. Time to get silly again!


The studio just off-camera to the right here, is a glass artist with some really fun stuff!! The corner where I stood to take the pic, contains some hand-sewn items and a painter whose colors and patterns just SING to me. The TieDye Queen is just around the corner, too, not to mention that amazing recycling guru with the wire art and spoon jewelry!!


My banner won't be here until Wednesday but that's ok. My first shifts for gallery sitting are next Friday and Saturday. I still have to print some flyers, too.


The Catacombs Galleries below Artlandish hold an ever-changing array of local handmade goodness. Arts, crafts, canned goods, and amazing energies.


YOU WISH YOU WERE HERE!

Making preparations

Just an update even though nobody's reading. haha
Yesterday, I prepared an order at VistaPrint for a 3-foot wide banner that matches my business cards, just in case it would look good in my Catacombs booth. But I didn't order it. Came back today to have another look, and apparently there's yet another special at VistaPrint (when isn't there?) and they had marked my banner FREE from $13.99. Well YES PLEASE! I was ordering a sheet of stickers too. They were a dollar off, same as yesterday. LOL

Well now somehow I've qualified for discounted shipping, so for the original price of the banner, I now have speedy mail, with the new goodies arriving before the business cards I ordered last week.

After dinner I unloaded that glaze kiln. As always, some [LOVE] and some {hmmm}and none of it is unusable. Yes, I'm grateful for the little things!

Working until 430 outside town has its drawbacks. The gallery closes as 5, so I can't squeak in there to choose a spot and pay my first month's rent.... I'm getting REALLY antsy. I just want to GET IT GOING!

Soon, Lynnie, SOON.
:-D

Dude!

Got a slow-burnin' glaze kiln cooling down right now. I should have set it for a faster fire, but well, this will be a live-and-learn situation. I may have some overfired pots BUT most of my glazes won't be worse off for it, if memory serves. Darker, richer, hopefully not bubbled and pocked...... 


I'm just so stoked, though. Might even finally list a couple on Etsy. But I should have my booth set up by the weekend over at the Catacombs. 


Y'all in Columbia, Missouri, come check it out. 

Whew!

Raku. Sun, wind, old friends, new friends, fire, water, snacks, smoke, success, failure.
Fun.
Exhaustion.

Almost there

Artlandish Gallery - more specifically the Catacombs Galleries below Artlandish, is where my pottery will be displayed for sale. As soon as I get this one last glaze firing out of the way. And as soon as I go pick out where I want my booth. And then as soon as I decide how to arrange my shelves and my wares.... Well I'm almost there! I have new business cards on the way that tell you on the back where you can actually find my stuff. The few art markets I've done, it was nice when people asked, "Where can I find your pottery when you are not at an art market?" but my only answer was..... "um, stacked in boxes at my house."  That's all changing now, baby! LOL

I will be in such good company down there. Tie-dyed, recycled, up-cycled, hand painted, carved, tied, hammered, stitched.... there's a lot of good stuff down there in the dark mysterious hallways. I loooove that vibe. The people down there taking their turns at gallery-sitting, have become very precious to me over the last year or so, since I met each of them at this groovy place where artists support each other and we're all doing what we can to support the local economy and the arts. I doubt these people even know how precious they are to me. I must tell them as soon as I see them again!! And though I don't consider my own pots to be art, I still consider myself an artist, and so I belong there with the other artists if I want to be! haha! Sometimes I make arty pots, but I really dig functional stuff; honest, useful stuff, that feels good and might look good, but above all, works good. ;-)

So, I think I am done glazing and now I need to schedule use of a kiln, and get this dang show on the road!!!

ANNNNNNNNNND between now and then, a raku firing and BBQ --- why it's a Raku-B-Q!!!!

It doesn't get any better than this. :D

Symbiosis

A few more little space-fillers are out of the glaze kilns at the studio where I buy kiln space. As I load the shelves in the back room with my glazed wares waiting until I have enough to fire, the studio manager "borrows" a few things here and there when the classroom kilns have empty space.

It's really fun to get a sneak preview of some of my new items. In turn, when I finally load "my" kiln, I will very likely have to fill empty spots with class work because I won't have enough to fill it by that time, if this keeps up.

It's nice to have a place just a couple miles down the road to tote my wares to. It used to be much scarier, but the pot-holes between here and there were filled last year, and I'm moving smaller batches at a time. The bone-dry stuff is the scariest to transport, but the glazed stuff is the most irritating. At least if I buy glaze from the studio, if I chip glaze off, I can touch it up when I get there, from one of their buckets. 

With a nod to the fact that it's Easter, let me just say, these are some really nice peeps:  School of Service: Access Arts

Distractible. Yes.

How sad is it that I can't find any of my dust masks when I want to measure out a little Mason stain for my clear glaze base? Ya know, I went to the studio last night for my micro scale, as I only need to stir up a little at a time. When I got there, a glaze kiln had been opened! Woo hoo!! Glaze Guy, aka Kiln Guy, had used some of my stuff as filler. So I was totally distracted and petted my new doo-dads then ran out to the car for some bubble wrap.

Yeah, I get free bubble wrap at work and, hey! I'm a potter. I should have bubble wrap! My trunk is full of it. If I could fit groceries in there, they'd be safe.

So I wrap up my bowls and cups and turn around to leave and there's a note on my shelf! A friend has left a book for me to drool over. OMG it's a Kimchee cookbook. She said it's full of great recipes and AWESOME pottery crocks! I told her I wanted to borrow the book for both reasons!!

Grab the book, grab the microscale, bag of bubble-wrapped goodies, and home I go, ready to stir up glaze.

But first, I have to show the guys my bowls and stuff, and then whaddaya know, I have a new camera from Christmas, and then I end up on facebook posting pictures. Oooh I miss my Photoshop.

OK that was yesterday.... today I'm ready once again to measure out a little Mason stain for my glaze base, and I've turned the house upside-down AGAIN, and can't find a dust mask.

The hardware store is a couple minutes away, but do you really think when I get there I'll remember what I went for? They'll have shiny things there, and bird seed, and cool tools and let's not forget jelly beans at the checkout. And not those frou-frou gourmet ones. The real deal, like when we were little.

My semi-annual check-in?

April already huh?


I worked really hard last summer/fall on pottery and moved too fast to enjoy it, busting my back to schlep it all to the catacombs and other local (medium to smallllll) shows.... 


Then I took a nice long break after the Xmas catacombs. Like, for 3 months I didn't touch a wad of clay. Not a smear. I stoked the fire, filled the well, watched videos, read books, made sketches. Ahhhhhhhh finally ready to play again. 


So I'm revisiting my old glaze posts, checking out those pastel colors.... I think I'll whip a couple up real quick! What the hey!!! I have decided to do a permanent* booth in the Catacombs, and no more schlepping! I can just walk a few pots down as necessary! 


Maybe get hubby to shoot some Etsy pics for me and see what that's all about. He's my photographer! Have a look!


I thought I had left my mail order businesses behind when I closed our ebay stores a few years back. LOL It's OK; the US Postal Service is still a super bargain and I appreciate them.


*sigh* OK enough blather. I'm actually ready to go mix up some Opulence and Mason Stains. I have a few white tumblers that don't want to be white any more. ;-)

*permanent as in, until the owner of the building actually thinks of something to do with the space, which I don't know if that's even a goal, but I mean, nothing is forever, right? Except pottery I guess, sometimes.

See ya!!!

Long time no see

Good gravy, it's been 6 months since I blogged. I have about 2 weeks to get my arse in gear for the Catacombs Art Market July 23/24, and was accepted into the Fall Into Art show at the old mall for September. That show may be painfully slow. I hope they promote the hell out of it, because otherwise, who the hell goes to the old mall? It's half vacant. Harbor Freight is at one end, if you need some Chinese tools. A temp employment agency downstairs, wow I don't even know what else is in that building.  Oh well, there are some GREAT artisans involved, so I will be in good company while there. It was "juried" so I don't think I will be among flea marketers. The Catacombs lets everyone in and it's a BLAST, but this will be different. I don't know what to expect.

As for now, I have a bisque kiln firing now and have scheduled a glaze kiln for Wednesday. I know I'll need another glaze kiln but it just might not be done for the Catacombs.

I have a table full of bisque now and might be sitting pretty for my glaze choices, except my Faux Celadon from the studio. They will mix me up a batch and their prices are GREAT.

Meanwhile I'm finally almost out of clay again and it made me nervous. I am in "save up for new house" mode and don't want another clay run. So I got cracking on some reclaim and have some almost dry enough to wedge now, and will slake some more bad pots later. I have buckets in the garage sorted somewhat by color, B-Mix in one and red in the other, and buff goes in either one.

Well ok then. No pretty pictures for this entry. Guess I'll set about glazing, and report back closer to Market time.

Quest for glazes

Well after a couple years of deteriorating glaze results at the studio, Norleen has taken back 100% of the mixing duties, and already there are improvements! I can get back to some happy dipping and food-safe results with no more worries!

My Opulence testing continues for color mixing. I can use them for magnets and candle holders, beads and charms... they would be food safe at Cone 6 but since the studio only goes to 5, I will have to do additional testing before I can make dishes glazed with it.

No matter, glad to have our old standards back in action at Access Arts! Maybe, just maybe, we could have our old Goldenrod and Butter come back! Those were some amazing yellows, sorely missed.

Later, taters!

Getting ready for a happy new year!

Wow I've been too busy to blog. I don't know how people do it.

So my Twisted Sister and I shared a couple booths at the cooler-than-cool "Catacombs Art Market & Bazaar" here in Columbia, MO, down in the groovy North Village area. I am sure hoping all the artistic vibes of North Village are contagious. Made a couple hundred bucks, then sold most of what was left to a dear friend over last weekend. Other online friends are placing orders off the photos I posted. I have had nothing special, but some pretty things, that some people have wanted. My friends love me, that's all.

I was so busy glazing and firing for a couple weeks or more, I have forgotten how to throw! But we have already paid our booth rentals for the next Catacombs event, January 22 and 23 "Love Fest" to shop for Valentine's Day.... I keep wondering if I even stand a chance of making anything Valentiney, but I'm thinking not.... no experience with adorable wall pockets or petite jewelry boxes.... Will have a ball anyway.

My Twisted Sister makes pretty jewelry with Swarovski, silver, and her "therapeutic" paper beads. They were very popular along with her vintage '70s turquoise rings. Later I will make porcelain charms and other beads for her to make jewelry with.

In the meantime, I'm thoroughly disgusted with the glazes at the amazing studio I use. So I had to break down and try to mix my own. I believe I threatened to share this experience with you. Fair warning!

I found Opulence Matte Color Base and bought a bag of that dry mix, and 4 generic colors of Mason stains: Buttercup, Grass Green, Pastel Blue, and Crimson. Here are my first results, just starting at the bottom and working my way up in percentage of stain.

These are Laguna B Mix test tiles fired to cone 5. Rear tiles are 1% of a stain and front tiles are 2% of same.
First up, Grass Green and Buttercup (still invisible at 2%). I like the green!!

THESE. FEEL. SO. GOOD!!!! The backs of these tiles are like the most special river rock or beach glass. Soooo smooth. I'm SO much about the FEEL of my pots. I had to put signs up at the Bazaar: YES! PLEASE TOUCH!!  It's really important to me. I'm very pleased with this Opulence glaze.

Next up, 1% and 2% Crimson and (ahem) Pastel Blue, more later on that.

They still feel beautiful, and I can see I will be in love with the way it treats my textures, but they want more stain before they are "my" glazes.  Closeup below of the 2% Crimson, a sweet pink; much too sweet for this girl!

As for the blue, well, I had my tiny little bowls with screw-on lids to shake my test batches up... was about to walk to the sink for a dribble of water, and DROPPED the bowl of blue stain and glaze powder. It took a small bounce on the table and blue & white dust popped up into the air like it was fired from a gun. Shot across the table top and streaked across the floor. OK so my percentages are a little off on the blue. But it's pastel anyway... I'll want more stain, and actually will probably want a darker stain instead.

Just sweet as anything, and maybe I see a little pearlescence?

Different Drummer

I don't know why, or where the idea came from, but my next project is going to be to make an Udu. The sound of this GORGEOUS CLAY DRUM just completely enchants me. I think I will use decorated slips to make it, because I notice in several videos that the glazed ones sound too tinkly, like someone just slapping a vase. That kind of racket would make me crazy, the way my older brother made us all crazy with his finger tapping all the time. So I will not glaze mine. Then again, maybe my first one can be completely undecorated, so I can just get the sound right. I can see right now this could be a long process.

I got my matte glaze base the other day, and some Mason stains. Will start a few tests soon since the studio glazes are so ugly at ^5. I realize when I get my own kiln, I will have to test all over again at ^6 but I just can't handle those studio glazes any more.

I owe a lot to the studio, and love everyone there, but they get no credit for their cone 5 glazes. LOL

Counting down

Opened a hot glaze kiln tonight. Oochie. One more before the sale I reckon.

Tonight, some good, some bad. The clear glaze at the studio is milky and hazy and I swear I see a hint of lavender in it over my 5/6 red clay. It's tolerable on some things and crazy ugly on others.The white gloss at the studio is still reliable and I'll use it a lot to finish out the pieces for my first sale, with some brights sprayed over top etc... it's pretty and smooth to touch.

Found several coffee mugs to have rough lips. Not sure if I overlooked something before glaze or if glaze has bits in it (some do). Will pay close attention in future!!

The Amaco GDC (Gloss Decorating Colors) over HF-11 (cone 6 white) still come out SMOOOOOOTH and likewise the Potter's Choice Temmoku -- delicious to touch!!!!

I have 6 small, handled soup mugs I'm happy with and 6 soup bowls in same colors that are mostly fine but one of them realized an air bubble in the clay. I usually feel those bad boys while throwing and they haven't got away from me before. It's probably ok but I'll just give that one away to whoever buys the others. LOL

I'm so green at this it's ridiculous..............................

The Year Got Away from Me!

Bless me, Potter, for I have sieved. It's been 2 months since my last... OK enough of that, I'm not even Catholic. Been glazing up a storm!!!

Let me back up. The bank where we do business for many years, offered hubby their main branch lobby gallery to hang his photography for the month of December. This has been planned for months. Then, week of Halloween, they said, "Hey you want November too???" heh. heh. ... heh.  Well he said OK to November 15, then we scrambled to mat & frame a couple dozen pieces.  We decided to use my kiln money for that. Don't want to waste a chance, and I still haven't got a line on a good used kiln yet anyhow!

Meantime, I met a gallery owner who I fell in love with (both her and the gallery) and she wants me to bring some pieces in! WHAT?????? Then I found out about her big sale in December, like a big flea market art sale bake sale thing, HOLY CATS SIGN ME UP.

Not sure what came over me. Remember me? The one with no kiln??? OK so here I go again, toting bone dry "treasures" to the studio and cranking out a couple of bisque firings. I still haven't got room to walk through the house, but I see a clearing. I still have lots of things that need firing.

But for now I'm glazing my ass off and not even throwing. I have no idea what I'm doing buying a booth at a sale. I've never sold to anyone but friends and charity auctions before. Whew!!! Taking lots of coffee mugs and flower pots LOL WE WILL JUST SEE.

Dang it's gonna be a blast, because I am sharing my booth with my Twisted Sistah who makes jewelry and the next booth will be a friend from the studio. A blood sister will be manning the bake sale... The catacombs will be ECHOING I tell ya. (I'm the loud friend, here to tell ya!)

OK so I finally had a chip n dip make it past leather hard stage LOL and I decided to try the majolica on it too. Here's a pic.

It's obviously just sponged pink, orange, yellow, but OUT OF THE BLUE there is a single square of turquoise. LOL  The majolica tests were satisfactory and cheerful. Only the red bowl I painted grapes on, did not have enough coverage of HF-11 white, so it looks real dingy and muted.  The stripey vases and coffee mugs and whatnot came out cute and boy that stuff is smooth as a baby's butt. Too fun. Will do more.

Using a lot of Potter's Choice on some casseroles and mugs, and here are some Coyote cone 6 which is just lovely and smooth even at cone 5. These are "Shino" and "Mottled Blue."

Already tired of most of the commercial ones I have sitting around though, so looking for a nice matte base I can color with Mason stains.... That's another story. I reckon I'll drag you into that mess too.

Watch this spot! LOL

Screwing around while the stew simmers.

It's a gorgeous autumn day in mid-Missouri. The flood in the family room has receded, and I have the warranty for the new heat gun that died in the puddle. I have beef stew in the crock pot and we are just taking it slow.

I have been messing around with some altering and some hand building. Along with some big red stretched pots, I'm in the process of  "screwing together" a bowl.
Practicing on scrap:

I can make a circle in the clay with a drinking straw, then press a screwdriver bit into the center. That needs to be a small bit.

I think I prefer impressing a circle with a round pencil, then dropping a small ball of soft clay into the dent. Stick the ball into the hole by pressing it in with the screwdriver bits. I don't care for the hex head bit so much, but the flat and the Phillips bits are great!

Debating wax resist over the screws come glazing time, and/or other ways to make them stand out. Silly. :-)

Quick break in routine

Took a vacation day, on Woody's day off, so we could go pick up 400 lbs of clay. He said that ought to hold me for a couple weeks. Can you imagine if I had a kiln? LOL The car was NOT happy. I guess fat people don't drive Hondas.

Feels like a Saturday but I have to go back to work tomorrow. But but but but I don't WANNA! I have 150 lbs of red and 250 lbs of B-Mix calling my name from the garage.

But... 9 hours on Thursday and 4 on Friday, I'M DONE.

Should have bought more bats................