Some mugs from test #6

Well hello. Here are just a few cups from my sixth test. Overall I was happy with everything, some more than others. Above is a tumbler that had white slip on the outside. You can see what a difference that makes with my white glaze. Much brighter white and no defects. I wish more of my bisque had slip on it so I wouldn't be having this white issue. I did have three very promising results from my white test the other day however, so hopefully I'll be able to get through my current bisque without any more white issues.

Here is a detail of the blue stripe above. I love what's going on here, and I just love the black, white and blue together.

Here is a cup similar to one I have made before-but that's a good thing. Always good when you know you can repeat something.


Here is the mug that was supposed to have black dots with a black liner, but ended up with stripes. I think the blue is far less overwhelming this way. Well, taking the day off because family is coming, and then tomorrow off because Adam is off on Sundays, so I won't be making much pottery. I do plan on building a new workbench in my studio however as I am badly in need of more counter space, and under-counter storage. Bye for now-

New potters stool

My new stool arrived today. I was in the back yard taking some dazzling photos of my #7mug test results (and I haven't even posted the photos of #6 yet-what a sly devil) and I heard this sound like a UPS truck. I thought- could it be? And it twas. Thanks again to Joy Tanner for sending me this link to Sheffield Pottery where I bought the stool. I still need to get my wheel up a little higher. When I bought it years ago I bought leg extensions for it, but I got the short ones because I thought, what kind of wacko would need 18" extensions on their wheel? I am opposed to putting it up on cinderblocks or such, so I need to figure something else less obstrusive out. So, up above is the stool in its' shortest position.

Here it is in its highest position

And here it is in its clever little potters position. All four legs are independently adjustable. Pretty cool huh?

Here is a little critter I saved from our patio drain. We have to remember to check once in a while because frogs and salamanders can get in, but can't seem to get out. We also just get a lot of frogs on our sunken patio, who, I think go hopping by and drop into the abyss and can't get out. They like to go under and behind our hot tub. I saved two today.

Yesterday was a sad day for the animal kingdom at my house. I found a little blue jay who had obviously been attacked by my cat Batman (I didn't see him do it, but I know it was him) and I held him for a little while but then decided to let what would happen, happen, and put him in the grass under the trees. Later I went to check on him and he was gone! I was excited for about 10 seconds when I turned around and saw a very dead blue jay behind me. Oh well.

I did save a grasshopper from my mystery glaze however. I have the cover off this 30 gallon can, which is 3/4 full, because I'm trying to dehydrate it so I can get rid of it. Little guy was stuck in the glaze on top, so I gently gave him a bath and sent him on his way. Daisy stepped on a frog the other day, and that wasn't pretty. But that's another story.

Mug test #5 and grass

So this mug up above is a little blue. A little too blue. I am retesting it with a black liner, but I got a little crazy and did stripes instead of dots on the other one. So I guess I won't really know what this mug looks like with a black liner, will I?

This one above is okay, but something's missing. Maybe it'll grow on me, but the panel seems like a blank canvas. I'm trying to find a balance between boring and simple. The less going on with the pot, the more I usually like it.

I really like the mug above. I think this is the cup that I talked about in my post about cup shapes that I thought looked like it should go have tea and crumpets with it's big, fat, bow handle. Now it's all dressed up for the occasion. An interesting observation. When I glazed the inside, I wiped the drips off. Let the cup dry for a while. When I glazed the outside, I could see that the glaze was absorbing unevenly where I had wiped, and presumably where the cup was more damp. Really shows you how glaze thickness and such a subtle thing can affect the color.

Afternote: When I glazed mug test #6, I saw the same thing happening when I used this glaze combo again. Where I had wiped drips of blue glaze from the outside of the mug, the glaze seems to be repelled. This time I know it's not an issue of the mug being too damp, for I dried it a while in the sun. I think something in the glaze must be sealing the surface somehow, so I will need to be careful when glazing the inside of pots, or maybe light sanding over the spill area might break the surface.

A little detail of above cup.
Here's another stripey cup. I obviously like stripes and dots. I didn't put up all of the cups. Too many photos.

Adam and I are not really into lawn maintenance. It just seems like a silly waste of time to me to be out there chopping all the grass off. We mow our front yard occasionally so as not to offend our neighbors delicate sensibilities, but pretty much let the rest go and mow a path where we want, or need to go. The benefit to this is obvious. My backyard is a haven for butterflies, grasshoppers and frogs. When the wind, or Daisy disturbs the grass, I have seen a half dozen butterflies I didn't even know were there, shoot to the sky. You don't usually see that on two inch grass.

Here's a link to a page I was just looking at by Jeffrey Guin at the blog Clean Mud. He made a raku kiln from a garbage can and has very easy to follow instructions. If you're interested in Raku, scroll to the bottom of the page where it starts and follow it up.

New clay and snow

So I'm pretty happy about the results I have here. I am thrilled with the glazes on this clay body. They look great, and amazingly there are no obvious defects. How is this possible? Five glazes and they all look good? On a body I made? This is someone else's life. The clay is this great dark brown with a hint of red. It reminds me of a dark, hard terra-cotta. So, even though I want to plunge right in and mix up a couple thousand pounds, I'm trying to be sane and methodical about it. So instead I mixed up a 20 lb. batch which I should probably go check on soon. Weird. I swore that I would never make my own clay again because I so despised doing it in college, but I have no reservations about doing it now. I think I much prefer this method of making it (slurry and rack vs. dry in clay mixer). So I better design some drying racks and begin construction.

The thing is, unless someone has a better idea, if this 20 lb. test is a go and I go with this body, I have to imagine how much clay I might use before next spring-and make it all before the weather turns cold. I don't know what the weather is like in other areas where people make their own clay, but in the winter here it can be a bit chilly. Like 25 degrees below zero chilly sometimes, but almost consistently below freezing which I don't imagine is very good for drying clay. Especially the last three winters. They've brought a whole other level to cold endurance.

I was a snowboard instructor for one of the really cold years and on top of the mountain, with the wind blowing and the air already in the below zero range, I remember a day that with the wind chill it was 45 degrees below zero. On days like that we all walked around wrapped up like mummies. You could tell who people were by their goggles, snowboards and occasionally special attire. We had this one guy who taught skiing, who when he wasn't teaching wore a pink snowsuit, with a green furry belt. I didn't even know him but liked him immediately. I got frostbite once on just a little bit of the side of my nose, because there was the tiniest leak of air sneaking in between my goggles and face wrap. I could feel this little sliver of air burning my skin as I blasted down the hill at lightening speed, flipping and jumping and ollies to high heaven-oops, sorry, I got caught up in a little fantasy there. It was really cold anyway.

Oooh.
Aaah.

I almost forgot. Here's Daisy Doo. I made her a little cave under my slabroller. I really need the storage space but I'm hoping to give her a safe place to go during the frequent thunderstorms we have-she usually comes over and stands by me shaking violently, which I can stand for about three minutes. Also just her own little pad. Unfortunately her favorite place to lay is wherever I am standing, which isn't usually very practical. I'm making glazes the other day and walking around her and stepping over her for an hour. But I don't mind in a way because she went through this skittish phase, very skittish, and just walking by her or standing up would freak her out and she'd jump to her feet like someone had shot a gun. It was freakin me out a little. She's a weird dog. She's really good natured and always been treated well, so she has no reason to be fearful, but she has this habit of looking at you like she's done something wrong. She hangs her head low and looks up at you through the top of her eyes and keeps darting them to the side. It's hard to get a picture of her because I feel like I'm torturing her.

I just realized this is my 100th post. I think I am supposed to celebrate or something. So I wept some pretend tears of joy. I think I will be a little more festive on my 365 and 1/4 day of posting.

Post Another Alright, Some Shmatin Glossy Yeah White

So I'm on a quest for white. I dug through some old test tiles to see if I had anything I might be able to use, but no luck. It's frustrating, because I know on a lower iron body many of these would probably be fine. I'm not much of a glaze chemist, so I haven't really spent much time trying to tweak one recipe until I get what I want, although that may be my second route.


I made up eight different tests yesterday. I'll try them out in my next firing and hope for some magic. I have so many recipes compiled, and a lot of the names are really vague. Sometimes I have the source of the recipe so I can just write "Richards yellow" or whatever. But many I don't and so to avoid confusion with all the other Satin Whites, or Glossy Whites (these are not very creative names-who named these? What did they name their children-Small Person?, Little Human? I wasn't exactly creative, but threw the first word that popped into my mind onto the tag. If I were to ever post the recipe publicly for some reason, I would make an effort to locate its origin, and at the very least make sure it was not attributed to me, so I don't see given them nicknames as a problem.

I have:

Alright White
Posts244 White (we know this one!)
Another WSM
Yeah Satin Matt
White Breaking White (take off of Tom Buck's Cream Breaking Red w/no RIO)
Satin Shmatin
Glossy Mossy No Flossy (Glossy Mossy Flossy with no RIO)
Some White Liner (my tribute to a little pig)

Test Mugs #5 is cooling right now. I'm pretty anxious to see this because I have my test clay in there with my glazes. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but it would be nice if it all went well. I kept a small piece aside and test it every day for plasticity and it's improved tremendously in the two weeks or so since I made it. I can bend the snake with no breaking now.

Thunder and teeth

I haven't been doing much work in my studio the last two days, so not much new to show. I added some words to a few of the tooth fairy jars. Thought I'd make a few to fill some other needs as well. I have mixed feelings about doing this. There is a pretty large chunk of myself that feels a little like I'm selling out to do this kind of thing. It's kind of kitsy (kichy?) Not exactly high art. BUT, it does utilize some small spaces in my kiln, and give me something to sell cheaply and in markets where people aren't looking to spend big bucks, or buy big pieces, such as the White Mountain Boogie and Blues music festival I went to Sunday. It's not a craft fair and most people I think would just want a trinket. I think I might rent a space next year and I'm thinking of appropriate items. Of course I would bring plenty of pots that don't feel like a sell-out to me such as mugs (high art!!) and bowls and what not. What a conundrum. I do like making these however, they are kind of fun, so I guess if that is there, then it can't be too much of a sell out.

My back is out a little. I've spent so much time at the wheel the last few weeks and I could feel it cramping up. It's hard to get around the last few days. I checked out Staples yesterday for a new stool. I want something I can adjust so I am standing/sitting. Legs kinda half straight, but weight on my butt you know? But I want a seat that tilts forward as well. The only stool I found that could go to 31" high was 169$. Not able to swing that currently. I'm not really into putting my chair up on cinderblocks and tiltling wedges or whatever, so if I can't find something soon I might try building it myself.

It's hard to believe some areas are experiencing drought now. This summer has been crazy with rain. I've never seen anything like it. More thunderstorms in the last six weeks than I think combined in the last six years. Torrential downpours, days on end rain. I LOVE IT. Now, if I were living a life of something other than say, working? It would be a drag. I normally love to hike and bike, but I just don't know when to do it, and the less I do the less desire and energy I have for it. Along with this rain there has been no heat. Summers around here are usually brutal. Even if it's only 85 or 90 degrees it is so humid you just want to drop dead. My a/c has hardly been on in two months. The rivers are swollen, raging and brown. I wouldn't want to fall in. I do miss hiking and biking though. I love the feeling of freedom, and the connection to my body. Hiking in New England usually has a spectacular reward. Once you are above tree line you can see forever. I stand on the peak, dirty and sweaty and elated feeling high and totally at peace, and try to imagine how far away is my home.

Wicked awesome test mug #4 results

So, as you can see from my post title I am pretty pleased with these last results. There are still a few issues I need to deal with, but huge potential I think. The blue really looks nice with my palette, and in practice it interfaces well with the other glazes-a huge plus. I got these issues though, you can even see it in this photo above. My white liner glaze blisters unpredictably, or rather maybe too predictably and I am finding the risk of this unacceptable. I am quite certain this is directly related to my clay body. It doesn't behave this way on porcelain, or if I use it over slip. I have a really high iron body and has been difficult finding glazes that co-exist well with it. But it's the best looking and most mature body I have tested. So I need to do something about that.

This cup above is glazed the same way as the one above it. If you click on the picture you might be able to see a nice attribute of this blue however. Where it breaks over edges it shows the dark body, but then fades away from the dark edge into a pale, whitish color, then goes to blue. This gives it a lot of interest I think. I think it probably has to be the right thickness for this to happen. You can see I chose to have a cup of tea in this one.
This matt black and the blue have a real potential together I think. The issue which you can see on the cup below is that I have to be careful not to let the liner glaze become too thick on the rim or I can get shivering. I know this is not a result of the two glazes meeting, because usually it is fine and I have frequently ecountered this issue in the past with the black liner. So, that should be an easy problem to deal with.

So, below is the same glaze combo as way up above, but with the blue as a liner. Unfortunately I got a few pinholes around the inside of the rim. I am first going to approach this as maybe the glaze was too thick because I held it in the cup for several seconds before draining out. So we'll see about that.

Adam gave me an amazing critique this morning. I thought it was very thoughtfully done and very astute/intuitive/perceptive. He was very happy with the mugs and said that he could really see the style and direction that I am going in. He described the work as playful, whimsical and not really "perfect", but in an intentional way. What did he say, something like the work is mature but yet has a child like quality. He said it way better but it really impressed me how thoughtful his critique was. He noticed the blisters and such said he has become really aware of how much more there is to making pottery, than just making the pots. How many issues need to be dealt with etc. He looks at pottery now with a different eye because of what he has learned from living with me, and has become a professional s-crack spotter. I really appreciated his feedback this morning. It was positive yes, but most importantly inspiring.

So I think this blue, if it can stand the test of a few more test firings is going to be a welcome addition to my work. I know I said a few posts back that I was getting rid of blue, but I was glazing a lot of my work in blue allover, and I think my intention now is to just use this to compliment and highlight the cups with a little color sometimes. I can't wait to test these glazes on that test clay. It's bisqueing now. It has this dark brown, reddish quality that I hope might really add to the glazes as it peeks through. AND NO GROG!!!! Oh happy day, to throw with clay with no grog. Okay, bye.

Covered jars and tooth fairys

Here are five of the eleven jars I hoped to finish today. I've got a little spiral thing going on which I like. It's slip on the pot after it was trimmed, and I'm just hoping there are no unseemly cracks as it drys. You may be wondering, "why does she make so many covered jars? What's up with that?" The reason is that I have avoided it for so long because it was, well, you know, difficult. Making the lids and all that. So I have been pushing myself to become comfortable and good at it. I was focusing on pots with galleries for a while,and now I am trying a flange lid.

I put a little sgraffito (I don't know how to spell that) on a few tiny jars.

My daughter gave me this little jar once that had some perfumed creamy stuff in it, and I saw the jar today and thought it might be a good item to make for all the small spaces (good and faster than my tiny jars). I am thinking that they are tooth fairy jars. I'm going to get some corks and we'll see how they sell. If they don't sell well, I will most likely never make tooth fairy jars again.

Well, I guess that's about it. I don't have the mental energy to write much more lately. Oh, some exciting news. Tomorrow morning I will open up mug test #4 firing. It has a little of that blue in it. Also, a little surprise, so stay tuned.