Rejuvenate 3 of 3

An older wheel thrown piece fired with Mayco Cobblestone. REALLY neat stuff.

I was able to attend a workshop hosted by Lisa Bare Culp at her studio for glazing and it was AMAZING and so beneficial. Lisa is the head ceramic artist for Mayco glazes right here in the heart state, so she spends most of her day testing glazes and testing glazes, and testing some more glazes and different combos, and the results are amazing.

One of Lisa's gorgeous pieces.

I was at this past years Winterfair helping a friend out and she introduced me to a good potter friend who asked who I was taking classes from. I said Lisa’s name, and he said, “You’re in wonderful hands.” It’s true—I can’t complain and last night confirmed it. I can’t wait to see the finished tiles we created and I REALLY can’t wait to start stocking up my Mayco inventory. I have a few of their glazes and they’re great commercial glazes.

Anyways—I am back in the studio after a winter hiatus and in between the craziness, but it feels great.

Some test tiles of some really old toxic glazes. No wonder they're so pretty.

Part of a painting I've been working on for a southwestern painting set. Made me think of the test tiles from all the different colors.

A potter's wishlist...

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me.... well, a lot of things.

In the past couple years, the holidays seem to be anything but joyous and plentiful. My husband and I have no exchanged gifts on Christmas for the past couple years, because we have both been so broke, and it came down to, "Do I buy the DVD set he's been wanting, or do we pay the electric bill?"

Neither of us really NEEDED anything. Who gives a crap about phones, ipads, and MP3 players? They're short lived electronic devices... certainly nothing I get giddy about.

As I regained my interest in ceramics this past January, I have come to see the expenses of buying clay, glaze, slip, stain, molds, etc...

So if Santa were to ask me what I wanted from Christmas, then here's a quick list. Nothing fancy, but just some essentials, and then some.

Bamboo tools' Siphon Blower (See a couple entries down about what it is)

Naomi Cleary tumblers

Carolyn Concho bowl--

Shimpo VLITE Potters Wheel

(5)-12" drilled plastic batts (10" drilled holes)

Now--- For the fun part

GLAZES!!!

MAYCO Jungle Gem glazes (Non Toxic) ALL OF THEM

MAYCO UG-19(Electra Blue Underglaze)

MAYCO UG-50(Black underglaze)

MAYCO UG-51(White underglaze)

MAYCO SW-101 (Stoned denim Stoneware)

MAYCO SW-104 (Black Walnut Stoneware)

MAYCO writer bottle and tip (18ga)

__________________________________

So yes, I have a list of wants a needs... now if only I could find such a generous Secret Santa....

If I don't write before... Happy Holidays to you and yours!!

Redware

I have a couple of prefired lovelies to show today.

These are pre-fire and pre-glaze. I am hoping for a close to terra cotta look once they pop out of the kiln.

I have discovered that red clay is very difficult to work with on the wheel. It makes porcelain seem like working with a cloud. It took me a while just to get the clay centered.

The thing I hate most about it is that it's MESSY! At least with stoneware I can brush off the dried bits and run to the store afterwards, with red clay, it has me rethinking the whole "apron" thing.

Big news!!! How could I forget to mention this! THE NEW KILN WORKS! I tested it with a very low firing cone, but it shut off great, so YAY!

With the new kiln working means that the

Houston House is prepping for classes! We hope to have more info posted after the new year!

With the new kiln came some extremely old glazes, and I mean OLD... like... glass-jars-and-crumbly-yellow-labels-old. Also, they are toxic, so no chip and dip bowl decorating with them. So I've dusted off the cobwebs, squished the black widows, and added some water to them... hopefully to bring them back to life.

Sorry--- no pictures. It's hard to take pictures when you're jumping and screaming about spiders.

With new-old glazes comes testing, so I spent a short part of my evening making small testing tiles.

I am thankful for Thanks-Giving, which gives me time off from day work to immerse myself in the studio!

UPDATES--UPDATES---UPDATES

Whee! Updates! First off, as I am typing this the kiln is getting all wired up and ready to fire, which is GREAT, because I bought some red low fire clay after checking our CAD's story about potter Daniel Ricardo Teran who uses such a simple technique, but BOY what talent does he have!? I am absolutely inspired from his studio to the techniques and meanings behind his work. A lot of Daniel's work displayed on his site depict the works of a man caught in between a tin foil hat, and an environmentalist... but it's all in good flavor.

Another cool thing I discovered was this Siphon Blower, which makes penny pinching potters like myself drool. With this product there is no need for an expensive air compressor, and then the expensive gravity fed spray guns. All you need is this helpful gadget and a good set of lungs. Genius!

WELL, look at that purdy pot sitting on my work desk! Yep, this is one of my smaller Mayco pieces I didn't take home. While I'm not 100% thrilled with the outcome of it due to some glaze not reacting like how I envisioned, it still makes a nice little pencil holder, and I got plenty of comments about it at work, too!

POTTERY CLASSES ARE COMING TO THE HOUSTON HOUSE!!

You should be very excited, because I am SUPER excited and can't wait to get started!!!!

Can ye fathom the ocean, dark and deep...

....where the mighty waves and the grandeur sweep?

And where squids and whales sleep.

I've finished another series. and they're now nestling in a nice warm kiln... unscathed and not cracked.... hopefully.

Did you know, that I am uneasy about squids and octopus, and I get satisfaction in conquering the beasts of the sea when I bite into some fried calamari on an Asian buffet?

Octopus and squids are weird. I was traumatized after watching something on the history channel about how they have these giant beaks, and can literally snap through a thick metal cable, which they then compared to a human bone.

Still not creeped out?

They're smart... REALLY smart, from the way they attack their prey, and plan their dinner. Screw Moby Dick. I am afraid of squids and other tentacle beasts of the ocean deep.

Why do I paint them and draw them? I don't know. I don't have a phobia, but rather a genuine uneasiness about them. Either way, I am excited to see how these turn out.

Also, here's another shot including two other pieces that are prepped to be refired after testing some glaze out. I'm pretty excited about them as well.

Back to basics

I'm not going to lie. August is my crazy month in which my schedule is immensely overloaded.

Not to be snooty, or irresponsible to obligations temporarily, but this is one of those Oprah "live for you, and you alone" pep talks. Mine just isn't on a daily basis... JUST until September.

I have some inventory built up, but I'm probably going to cast of couple more pieces before I feel satisfied enough to start selling. My biggest thing for September is kiln time. A lot of these pieces are getting bisque fired, then clear coat fired. Kiln time takes a lot of my evening, because I have to sit around wait for it to ramp up.

I got around to hand building again last night. I can't tell you the last time I sat down to work on a handbuilt piece that wasn't a sculpture. I made a floral pot dedicated to my very own Mammaw in West Virginia. It didn't hit me till the piece was nearly finished, and I felt like it was missing something, so added some small rosettes on the left side of the piece in which I wanted

to dedicate it to her, because of her enjoyment of growing roses and flowers, and to the fact she worked as a florist.

I can't ever look at a bright pink/fuchsia rose without thinking about my Mammaw.

This piece is called, "The Florist" and I plan on entering it into the members exhibit for the Covered Bridge festival come September.

A side view of the handle, and

rosettes.

I think this is why I am so partial to hand built pieces, and I feel more of a connection to them. If I lose a porcelain cast piece, it's nearly not as overwhelming as losing something that took a considerable amount of time to construct and put creativity into.

Okay, and now, but not least: GLAZE PARTY!

I've been busy cleaning out underneath the cabinet! Once these are finished, I may sell them. There's nothing I'm really dying to keep out of this bunch. Maybe someone else can appreciate them! I'm excited to see the pieces once they go through the kiln!!

Glazes and the Craigslist mold adventure.

Well, the guessing game is over. My pieces have been fired in the kiln, and I was surprised by some results, and of course mostly disappointed with the rest, which is why I have decided to move onto working with under glazes, and stains for a while. I only have a couple of pieces that I took pictures of the finished product. The rest have been packed up in a box for future refirings, or whenever I get around to them again.

I ran into a bit of a surprise this past week. I was reading up on a tutorial on Ceramic Daily Art’s site about using slip casting molds as push and peel molds with stained clay. I was intrigued, so I went about on Craigslist to see if anyone was getting rid of their surplus of ceramic molds, and boy was it my lucky day. I’m used to seeing ceramic molds on Craigslist, but they usually are around 10-15 molds, and the seller usually wants over $100 for the whole bulk lot, which I usually shake my head and say, “Oh well", and pass on and wait for something better.

I got lucky last week. I found a guy in New Albany whos Dad used to run a ceramic slip manufacturing company and he was posting on Craigslist trying to get rid of the vast amount they had accumulated. In fact, the pictures he posted did no justice. The guy had literally a small hardware store sized barn full of racks and racks and RACKS of ceramic molds and was only asking for a mere $20 per four shelf rack. So, I was running away with these $17-$100 a piece molds for a damage of $40 at the end of the evening. I managed to make out with around 35-40 molds.

(RIGHT PICTURE: Our newly found treasures. )

I felt like I was on American Pickers, rummaging through this old man's collection of molds. He must have had around a couple thousand of molds. I was like a kid in a candy store as my husband pulled me away from the racks and racks of molds. The guy’s son told me about when business was booming, and the processes they went through to make the ceramic slip. They were extremely friendly and helpful, which is something that's hard to come by on Craigslist with the "Buyer beware" mentality.

The trip was successful as I got what I was wanting. I was able to find a teapot mold AND a separate mold for tea pot spouts and tea pot lids. <-- (My absolute worst enemy) Also, I was able to locate a lot of plain molds for plates, vases.. etc.

So there was much shuffling around, cleaning, fighting off black widows and organizing in the basement at the Houston House, and I used some empty shelves in the basement to house my small collection, because I know I’m not going to use all of them, so I figured they’d work out good for maybe a future class, or if someone else enthusiastic such as myself drops by the art league.
(RIGHT PICTURE: A 1960's lamp Crest mold we snagged.)

Speaking of the Houston House, I must be doing something right, because I have been asked by some of the ladies to teach a ceramics class, and don’t let my timid outward appearance and emotions fool you, I am E-X-C-I-T-E-D!

This will also give me an excuse to order some Speed Ball ceramic underglazes for me to test and for the class, as they are easier to paint with and not as much of a hassle as my experience with Stoneware glazes. I've used SpeedBall Stoneware, and underglazes. I wasn't impressed with the Stoneware Glazes they produce as they look very opaque, and look much like you tried to color your piece with a permanant marker. However, I was told the underglazes they produce with a stoneware top glaze usually turn out flawless.

Happy Trails until next time!

Guessing Game.

I'm hosting a guessing game for the next pieces I'm going to show. These pieces have been glazed in a couple of glazes, and are waiting to be fired in the kiln. Take a look at them, and decide what color they're going to turn out, and you'll see the finished product most likely within next week sometime.

I think most of you will be surprised at the outcome.

These next pieces have a concoction of ceramic slip and black pigment, or stain as it's called in the ceramic world.

And finally, a new piece called "The Heartstrings that bind us together."