Just Pots

I am working away to stock up for my two biggest shows of the year.  September 28 and 29 is the Shenandoah Fiber Festival and October 5 and 6 is Fall Fiber Festival.  Shenandoah is a new one for me and yes, these shows are two weekends in a row.  I am still wondering if I am crazy.  I know there are artists out there that do an amazing number of shows each year, weekend after weekend, but I am not what you would call a "production potter".  So only trying it will tell!

Somehow the dates have creeped up on me.  We had a family gathering a couple of weekends ago for my Dad's 80th birthday and it seems, despite the event only being one day, that I was more distracted by the thought of 14 extra people in our small house then I thought....so now I am working frantically to throw, throw, THROW.  And I have sheep, alpaca and goats swirling in my brain!

AND I finally fired the glaze kiln full of all those piggies and cows I posted about earlier.  Sometimes it just seems to take awhile to gather a full kiln load.  (Mine is 7 cubic feet if you were curious.  Not too big, and not too small....)  I am happy with all the results.

So now I keep my fingers crossed that my back will continue to behave and that the Kiln Gods continue to cooperate!

The next load drying.....

Pigs, Cows and Chickens. And a few heads for fun.

Requests....

Every once in a while a customer will come to me with a sad face, to tell me how the piece they bought from me...the one they loved the most (so the story goes) has broken.  Usually I make MY sad face and respond with something like "I feel so bad when that happens!  I wish I could replace every one of those broken pots!"  Of course I don't actually do that, but wouldn't it be a nice thing?

This time, a husband came to my studio in a bit of a panic.  Well, he may not have actually LOOKED like he was in a panic but by using my great power of intuition I could feel that it was in there....

He brought me this:

Which once upon a time had looked like this:

He and his wife had bought the piece together as her Christmas present...as he was working on decorating the tree he rubbed against where it was hanging on the wall....and well.  You know what happened next.  So I have taken pity on the poor man (and ironically I have since gotten to KNOW his wife in an entirely different group) and am making them a new one.  I have been thinking of revisiting this style anyway.

New Work

I decided to try something a little different.  I have some customers that like my images but are not too happy with the drippy slip.  So thought I would revisit the buff clay I have thrown with in the past.

(You will also notice, I hope, that I have been trying to improve my photo taking.  Can you tell that the first three pictures were taken after figuring out white balance and color intensity adjustablity??  The next ones not so much...)

It seems so much simpler to skip the slipping, and waiting for that slip to dry.  I did discover that I have to wait longer to paint with the underglazes on the clay (rather then the dry slip).  It seems to apply better on a drier surface.  Decorating on the buff does have some limitations.  I don't get that nice contrasting line in my drawings....which of course reminds me that that is the reason I started to use the white slip and red clay in the first place.

So I have done more of that as well.

(Can't get this nice fence line without that contrast...)

Does the drippyness of the slip bother any of you?

The good news is that all of these pots were purchased in a big wholesale order and are now living (I hope temporarily!)  at the Miller Farms' Farm Store in Locust Grove VA.

I also decided this hot weather meant it was time to do a bit of weaving with cotton for a change.  This will be a summer weight shawl.  Just right for a chilly night under the stars at the beach....

Gratuitous hot dog picture. 

Happy Independence Day!

(4th of July, Fort Rucker Alabama, 1972? )

I grew up with a history lover for a mother. 

 My Dad is first generation American, with German immigrant parents.  

Every time we moved my folks made sure we saw all the historic sites on the road to our next home.  From the Alamo, to the missions of California and the Oregon Trail and Lewis and Clark. From Fort Laramie, Wyoming, passed the Wagon Box Incident (I'm still not clear on that one), Custer's Last Stand, Boonesboro, Lexington, Concord and Plymouth. Jamestown, Williamsburg,  and so many more.  We have so much to be amazed and proud of....and at the same time so much to think about and reconsider. So all day today I think of where we have come from, and  how far we have come, what we need to improve on and where we might end up.

I also think of my Oma who died on this day, and my creative niece who was born today (different years.)

We have our issues.  But I am still thankful for the peace in the streets, the natural resources we are still trying to respect and the diversity that we call America.

Happy Fourth Everyone!!!

Success!

Without giving anything away here is the majority of my first kiln load in my new studio in Fredericksburg!

It was touch and go at first.  My initial attempt to start my L&L kiln for the bisque firing resulted in only a "FAIL" message.  Not something you want to see.

At first I sent a text to my friend Beth who was away at a pottery symposium.....then I called and left a message with our local Kiln Guru....

THEN I posted on Facebook, pulled up my big girl pants and opened up the control box.  Lo and behold everything had been unplugged with the move!  Of COURSE.  So after a simple search on You Tube I was able to jump in, rewire the box, hit start and tada!

It seems a small thing to some but I have been dreading the first time I would have any problems with my kiln.  This is why I bought new.

All my looms are used, I can figure out how to fix wood, iron and metal....but electronics????  Now I feel armed and ready to replace those thermocouples!!

So now I am ready to box up these 40 bowls for Vermont on Monday.  Right on schedule!

I really AM a potter!

A glass....or three.... of wine and thoughts.....

It could be the wine talking....but I was contemplating this post.  Looking through the pictures I managed to take.....and realized.  I am a lucky girl.

LibertyTown Arts Workshop saved me.

I left a job that had rung out ALL my energy....walked straight to LT and signed up for Pottery Classes with Neal Reed.  Seven years later I am a potter.  A spinner.  AND a weaver.  And I have Dan Finnegan and his Liberty Town to thank for it.  I have always been creative.  But it is this crazy place.  The energy.  The people. And the arts that flow from this building that finally directed me to what I love the most.  I do not know where I would be with out it.

Thanks Dan. 

(Pictures from our Ten Year Anniversary this past weekend)

Earth Loom

Blacksmith

I WANT this lathe....

TEN. YEARS.