Man! Has it been a long time, or what? 04/10/2012
So it's been a little while since I've been on this thing. Like a couple of months. The November to December season is kind of busy, so there's that, and there are the two kids, which of course keeps a person on their toes, but still...I have no excuse. I might be the only person reading this thing, really, so maybe that's why- a lot of what I have to say to myself I can take care of pretty quickly, without the trouble of going through a blog to do it. The past month has been spent making colors. I have a set of glazes, and they've been fine- but that's the problem. They've been fine. Not great. So the past two months have been spent reading everything I can get my hands on about the world of glaze chemistry, and I'll tell you, if there's a thing out there that would make me want to run screaming into the street, it would be glaze chemistry. I'm learning this as I go, and I understand the basic components of glazes in a very general way, but MAN! It's like sitting through high school chemistry while drunk. Not that I know what that's like. But we're making progress. So far the definates are the clear, the black, the blue, and a nice brown I'm starting to play around with. I've got a green that's very formica-ish, and I'm not sold on it, but it's growing on me, kind of like, well...formica, I guess. The new colors you can see here. That's it. Back to work. Add Comment Waiting...and waiting.... 10/30/2011
 Kiln, fired to 2254 degrees F. Hot stuff! So I'm sitting in the living room, listening to my wife watch "Grey's Anatomy" on Netflix in the kitchen, and trying to hold onto my patience with both hands. Not because of Grey's, especially- my relationship with that show is not something I'm yet willing to talk about in public. I'm holding onto my patience because I fired the kiln last night, it's been cooling all afternoon, and we're probably about 1/2 an hour from opening it up and seeing what we got. This is one of the most exciting parts of pottery for me. With the wheel, when you mess up it's fast and easy to get past- scrape the work off the wheel, let it dry a bit, re-wedge it, and try again. Bang- done. In the kiln, though, if the glaze is to thick, or if it didn't bisque (dry out) well enough, or if the glaze is runny, you can get all kinds of fun stuff going on. Explosions, cracks, fused work, etc. And yes, a lot of this is mitigated by years and years and years of experience. Unfortunately, I'm still a couple of groups of years short. So this is the exciting part. Glazes, when you put them on the pots, look nothing like the finished product- I have a blue glaze and a pink glaze that look exactly the same when they come out of the glaze bucket. And sometimes glazes mix into unexpected shades- I have a clean and a blue that, when overlapping, turn into a VERY runny black (I found this out about two firings ago. For the uninitiated, very runny = going at a kiln shelf with a power grinder). I'm sitting here, holding onto my patience, and writing about it is not helping. Excuse me- I've got to go check the temp again. Busted 10/28/2011
About 14 weeks ago now I tore the tendon attaching my bicep muscle to my forearm. I was moving something heavy from the roof of the car, by myself like an idiot, and on the way from the roof to the ground there was a sickening sort of pulling and snapping- super gross, and super painful, and one of those injuries that immediately lets you know you're not just sleeping this one off. So I had to have this thing reattached, which has basically meant no time working on the house, and no time working in the studio. For the first three weeks, it barely meant any time off of the couch. Disappointed. I got to read a bunch, which was nice, but sitting around and feeling useless while there is so much to do really stinks. But!! This is not why I'm writing! I'm writing to say that, after 14 long weeks, I'm back in the studio and making work! I'm going to have to kick along at pretty good rate, sure, but I think I'll be able to get my inventory up for the fairs and markets coming up this holiday season. I've been working on my mugs and handles, two weak areas, and I've been very happy with how much has come back so quickly- all that talk about muscle memory was more than just talk, I guess. I ran the kiln for the first time in a long time last night, and bisqued the crap out of everything- looks like I'll be able to glaze a bunch of stuff tonight and run the kiln again tomorrow. Which is very exciting for me- I've got a personal goal here of putting some new pictures of work Sad, sad potter. 06/22/2011
So we made the decision recently that I would not go back to work. That I would, with much hard work and a little bit of luck, pull in some money as a full time potter. So far, we're doing ok, but that's mostly because I'm still getting checks from my old job. It'll get scary in a couple of weeks, so I'll write more then. However- as soon as we made this decision, we also decided to do some work on the house-.not a huge project, but one that would make the space more livable, more friendly for kids, more bearable in the winter. In order to make our budget, I'm doing a lot of the work- most of the demo, a lot of the rebuild, and almost all of the finishing. This is fine, but it cuts into my studio time, and I've had to close the studio for the time that I'm working. Thus, I'm a sad, sad potter. But here are some pictures of the house. That makes me feel a bit better. Having fun making sinks. 04/01/2011
We're looking to do some work on our house, silly people that we are. When we moved here to Vermont we bought an old 1870s farmhouse that we absolutely love, which is good: one, because you really should love where you sleep at night, and two, the house has got some serious problems. For one, it leaks heat like a sieve. When the previous owner told me that they only filled the heating oil tank up twice during the winter, he neglected to tell me that they must have also been closed down the entire house and lived in the car. Because the place is drafty, as old houses are, and we spend much of the winter plugging up the doors with old dishtowels. Makes it homey. The second thing, which is totally our fault, is that we bought a house for four people that only has two bedrooms. Which isn't huge- my brother and I shared a room for years, past when we needed to, for some reason- and my children could absolutely do the same. If they had to. Which they might not, because we want to do some work on our house. Anyway, my point is this; I get to make a sink, because I'm dangerously crafty. This means if I don't know how to do something I'm totally willing to try and figure it out, which has been fine with making tables and things but has earned me a couple of band-aids with electricity, for instance. My wife is not fond of this. For the upstairs bathroom we need a new vanity, which I am putting together, and in a new vanity you need a new sink, which I am also making. I'm very excited about this. The problem is that clay, when bisqued and fired, shrinks. The shrinkage rate is mostly uniform, about 15%. Mostly. I've made the measurements and think I've got it right, but I won't really know until I fit the sink with the drain, which I am strenuously avoiding doing. But it'll work out- I'm sure of it. So here they are. I have three, which is two more than I need, so if you'd like one...just let me know! Glazes 03/13/2011
Over the past couple of weeks I've been getting into mixing of glazes. It's much like cooking; the right combination of ingredients can generate an amazing presentation, and you could also mess it up pretty royally with just the slightest miscalculation. And like cooking, you sometimes need to scrape the burned burned up bits off the bottom of the pans. Though with glazes it tends to be more fun, cause you get to use a metal grinder, hammer, and chisel. The pics below are the glaze colors I've settled on. Seemed reasonable to get four or five colors in pretty solidly, and then branch out from there. The other part is that the glazes do some crazy things when mixed together- the white speckle and the powdery blue are fine on their own, but also make a drippy black-blue when combined, which was a total bonus. After the show. Like, months after the show. 11/22/2010
OK. Things have been very quiet for awhile, what with a trip to Florida and a fallen tree and the new garden that's going in the backyard. Then there's our son, of course, and the new daughter who'll be making an appearance soon, and time just seems to be getting away from us. The downside is that I haven't been in the studio much. I'm hoping that will change- more work at night, maybe, and some additional time on the weekends. We'll see. Anyway, the newest news is the project for the WATER show at Penny Cluse Cafe in Burlington is finished, and doesn't look so bad. I was pretty nervous about this one- I work in a shared studio, so there's always a chance of breakage of whatever else that's a bit out of my control. Basically, I just drop my stuff off and then come back a week later. They've been great, and I have nothing but good things to say about Burlington City Arts, but still, it's nervewracking. If someone's going to break a thing, I like that person to be me. The theme for the show is water, and I went with the half-empty/half-full idea. We're basically a wasteful culture- how many wrappers do you see in a day?- and water is no different. There's a lot of bad news about where the environment is headed, and I don't think that's a bad thing- we can also tend to get complacent. But I like to stay optomistic, glass half-full, and think that we will be able to create, in some meaningful way, a manner of living with this planet that won't eventually kill us both.  SHOWS!! 04/15/2010
I have three shows to report, which is very exciting. We are WAY out in front of these guys, but I figure it's better to tell all eleven of you early and often. First, I'll be part of a larger group show called "Water", showing in two locations. First is the Penny Cluse Cafe in Burlington for the month of June. Then the Water show will move to the Brownell Library in Essex Junction for the month of June. The show is a collection of 100+ Burlington area artists around the theme of "water". We were all given a 6x6 inch panel, and asked to create a piece that speaks to the theme. It's been interesting, and with this many artists the variety of the show should be significant. Hope to see you there! Second, I'll have a booth this summer at the Art In Bloom festival, a fundraiser to benefit the Fairfax Fire and Rescue. The festival is a collection of arts and crafts, live music, ice cream, food, drink, and other fun stuff on July 24th, from 9 until 4 (music goes until 5). I'll have a couple of tables up, showing the bowls, mugs, jugs, bottles, and other stuff I've been making. I'll looking forward to this one- nothing better that sitting in the sun, listening to music, and making some money. I am staying firmly optimistic on that last one. Anyway, more information as we get closer. And my information I mean hounding reminders. A few of my favorite things.... 03/22/2010
I thought I'd take a minute and talk about some of the things in my studio that, well, just make me happy. It's raining out today, I didn't get a chance to work yesterday (March Madness, baby!!), and I'm feeling like I just need to talk positively about my workspace for a minute.  This is the workspace. It's a little crowded, but not so bad once your actually in there. The wedging/reclaim/drawing area is in the middle, and has a good amount of clearance on either side. The wheel is in the corner under the window, which is nice, though the window looks out over our driveway, which is not ideal. Win some, lose some. And really, there was no where else to put the drill press.  Here's where the wheel lives. The window is nice, and I think it'll get nicer in the summer when I can open it up and have a breeze coming through. And I can just see the ridges of Mount Mansfeild off in the distance while I'm working, which is also very nice. And there's also the beer shelf, pictured above, built specifically for that purpose. Though it's also very good at holding up a baby monitor.  My son comes into the studio sometimes, and I added a wall of chalkboard paint to help keep him entertained. Originally it was just going to be at the bottom. But why? Who doesn't like chalkboard paint? I went for the whole wall, and now I spend more time drawing and sketching on the wall than I do in a sketchbook.  Wedding ring storage. Otherwise I mark up the sides of all of my work with gouge marks. I keep my ring here while I'm working, and the frequently leave it here while I am not working. At least it's cute, right? Bowls 03/21/2010
 I'm in the middle of trying to make matching bowl sets. It's not going so well. I'm also in the middle of taking this Independent Study class at the Burlington City Arts place in Burlington- which is an awesome place, by the way- and one of the things that my teacher has been talking about is producing work with some consistency. It's interesting- you weigh the amount of clay you are using, take a couple of key measurements, and you should be able to spit out the same basic shape each time. That's the theory. In practice, I spit out a shape very close to the last one but still totally different every time. We're getting there, but still.... There is something nice about making a bowl. The relationship between the potter and the work is different in claythan other mediums I've worked it. It's probably closest to the relationship I had working with glass, except I'm not in danger of losing my eyebrows to fire. Not as much, anyway. In clay I'm constantly having my ego handed to me by whatever work I'm doing. Things are going along fine, and then BAM! Everything spins out of control. Things need to be easy, smooth, and I have to really be careful to understand what the clay wants to do. Usually I can muscle materials into doing what I want them to do- clay, not so much. I'm enjoying it, though. Making something to eat or drink out of is full of a different set of considerations, thinking about what looks good as well as what would be functionally appropriate. Not only should the rim of a cup be nice to look at, it should also feel good on the lips- can't have a sharp edge. You'd wind up with tea all over your shirt, and I would just carry that around with me for the rest of my life. Anyway, status is this- I'm much better at getting an appropriate thickness (this means my coffee mugs are no longer 2 lbs each), though my consistency is still questionable (meaning that a matching set will look like brothers, not so much twins). | Oldies but GoodiesOctober 2011 Categories |
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