Holidays and New Year Cheer

Thanks again for every one's support this past season. During the Christmas holidays I had several people show up to the studio and purchase pots. However, the highlight was giving my pottery as gifts to good friends.

In regards to the Kickstarter project, I am finishing up the last few pieces and will be getting those out to everyone towards the end of the January. I hope those of that received mugs or bowls are enjoying them.

In the studio, I am starting new projects. Ladles are something I always wanted to build, not for soup or punch, but for the sauna, Obviously, they have a dual purpose.

 

I am trying a new style of pitcher, using a cheese grader to provide texture.

 Lastly, I really enjoy accessories so I started to make some decanter sets

 

 Meanwhile, we are looking forward to more daylight having just passed winter solstice.

Details

These days I find myself filling orders for the Kickstarter Project. In order to get the pots out the door I spend a lot of time paying attention to the details. The pots are coming out great, the glaze fits and the colors are working. I am learning a lot about the kiln and glaze chemistry.

 

The following video is of the decorating process, which includes the cleaning up of the handles and waxing the handles to ensure even drying on the handles.

Fortune would have it that a local potter had room in her gas kiln. I had three boxes of cone 10 pots bisqued and ready to be fired. I looked througt John Britt's High Fire Glaze book. I made a batch of Turner's celadon, Jeff's red, Leach 4,3,2,1, St John's black, mino shino and Pinnell's weathered bronze. I am really please with the results.

 

Meanwhile, I am back to the working on horizontal forms. Throwing pitchers using the Laguna WSO10 clay. It is trying for me to throw this clay. I ended up faceting and carving these pitchers to make them lighter and to provide surface detail. 

 

Thanks to those who supported my Kickstarter project. 

John Schauer

Mark Dickson and Annie Oberlitner

Jen King

Ali Palaia

Alex Blazzard

Katie Sisum

Erin Hanson

Kira Metis

Rebecca Brown-Medvec

Stephanie Johnson

Morgan Sicilia

Nancy Vait

Halli D Kenoyer

Gold Town Theater

Elizabeth Suttle

The Browns

Desiree Hagen

Tracy Szarzi Fors

Al Breitzman

LuAnn Yanusz

Dave Aplin

Aileen McInnis

Mikela Aramburu

De Patch

Samantha Kramer

Mike Scott

Alison O'Hara

Kathleen Gustafson

Chris Brown

Kaitlin Kramer

Cheryl Cooper

Laura Norton

Robbi Mixon

Mary and Bruce King

Eric Saetre

Karen Wessel

Johnny B.

Amy Budge

Linda Frame

The Kramers

Maridon Boario

Ovid "Pink"Pinkert
Katie Sisum
Dave and Lisa Gerard
Josh Onion and Greta Mawold

Work In Progress

The last two glaze firings revealed some nice surprises. A combination of the glossy base glaze with rutile makes for a nice over lap with the glossy base glaze combinations of copper carbonate and cobalt carbonate which have a green and blue color depending on the combinations. 

Lately, I have changed the foot of my mugs. I trim less to save time and like the look of the flat bottoms. However, I roll mug for a final touch and then impress a snail shell around the bottom of the foot. Also, the handles are improving due to practice and I am concentrating on making the handles thinner and lighter in weight.

 

The studio is packed, not only am I preparing for packaging the pledges for the Kickstarter project, but I am getting ready for a cone 10 firing in a couple of weeks with my East End Road neighbor and ceramic instructor Megan. These days I am preparing glazes for cone 6 and cone 10 firings.

 This week I am packing the kiln for a bisque firing. Waiting for some mugs to dry for the load in the this picture. I am looking forward to glazing these bowls to match up with the mugs.

 While I throw pots for the pledges and work on glaze recipes I am always looking for new ideas and inspirations for future projects. Today my neighbor Amy sent me the picture of brittle stars and trilobites fossils. She thought I would like it and I did. I will mess around with it and see what happens over time.

 Another idea was inspired by plankton. Here is a plate that incorporates some plankton images with brittle stars.

Off for Ten Days and Fully Funded

After putting in two solid weeks of throwing pots and mixing new glazes I have been out of the studio for the ten days attending Alaska Native Engineering  and Science Program (ANSEP) with fifty middle school students from the Kenai Peninsula area schools. This program is to encourage Alaska native students to become engineers and scientists as career pathways. It is a great program that offers fun hands-on approaches to learning about science and living on a college campus. I am part of this program as a paid chaperone, but I believe it is a great offering for these kids as well. It gives kids the opportunity to build their own computers and keep them. Then it provides the students with ongoing support through out their secondary education. 

I am looking forward to next week, back in the studio glaze firing and rolling along with the Kickstarter pledges. By the way, I made my pledge goal in excess of the $2000. The total was $2620 with 40 backers. Pretty impressive. I thank everyone that contributed. Surveys will be out shortly with arrangements for shipping. Stay posted for my progress in the studio. 

Problems with P Squared

This week finds me struggling with pitchers and plates. Plates are something that I really want to master and be able to create a strong surface decoration.

Part of the struggle is trimming the foot and not having the bottom cave in on you. So I have incorporated a plaster bat on the wheel. The intent is to dry out the foot, there by giving me the leather hardness for a successful trim. So far, so good. The above picture shows rutile slip trialing. Hope it works with my glaze.

The pitcher form is the a struggle due to the vessel being part container and part delivering of fluid. I am trying define the two, but still struggle with pulling a pot that has both clearly defined. Handles are a real struggle as well. Here is my latest attempt.

While I ponder these forms at least I am listening to some great music via Spotify. Here I found out about First Aid Kit from Sweden. These two young gals deliver some great duets. Here they are on David Letterman.

Being There for When It Happens.

I heard Kate Maury on The Potter's Cast the other day and she related the craft or artistry of pottery to music and this hit a beat or chord with me. She stated that the influential ceramics teacher, Val Cushings, likened pottery to improvisational jazz. The reference was to jazz in that you really need to know your licks, have the ability to communicate with others, and do your time and practice. Lately, I keep talking about working on my chops in the the studio. As Kate Stated, "you really need your regiment, and sit down, and be there for when it happens. Recently, I sat down and threw 12 mugs and I wrote about how making handles multiple times and how this taught me the subtleties of creating a better handle; economically and aesthetically. The last two days I also threw nine larger bowls and learned a lot about how to open a bowl. I saw how it improves the floor of the bowl and by using double ribs, one inside and one outside simultaneously that is helps in creating the final thickness of the wall, or at least tells you whether to pull up one more time.

Back to music. The reason I brought this up is because I have a gig this weekend. I am playing in Anchorage with Johnny B. A local piano player and composer of multiple styles of music. I will be backing him on the drums and percussion in a production of his original pieces, accompanied by images of Alaska in picture and movie formant. Many of the pictures and movies are taken by Dainel Zatz and have appeared in Alaska Coolest Mamal DVD. As a drummer I have learned that because I have put in my time over the years, that I actually get to be there for when great moments happen; when you are clicking with fellow musician. You feel it and the audience feels it, and that is the moment. This is especially easy and fun when backing up such a fine musician as Johnny Bushell. So, prior to this weekend, all the pots have been trimmed and the base glaze are slaken, and we are off to Anchorage. Looking forward to being there for when it happens.

First Glaze Firing at the Studio

This weekend I kicked off my Kickstarter campaign to raise $2000 in tuition for an eight week workshop I will be taking this spring at Penland School of Craft in North Carolina. It started out with great guns. By Monday I was at the $1770 mark with 25 backers. Not too bad. It has dried up a bit today with no backers. However, I am not going to push it out until the next weekend. Kick starter allows you 30 days to receive full funding. At this point, I feel hopeful and inspired that the goal will be achieved. Thanks to all those who have supported me thus far. 

The inspiration got me in the studio this weekend for my first glaze firing in the kiln. I glazed 33 tiles with variations based on the Glossy Base 1from Ron Roy's book Mastering Cone 6 Glazes. I varied oxides percents, then combined two at a time for the results in the picture below. I am trying to keep it simple. But I can see the next glaze firing I am going to trying three combinations of oxides.

 

Unfortunately, all the glazes caused the Baja mason stain in the slip trail to fade. I wondered if this would happen. Upon further research I am now trying a saturated 25% red iron oxide in my slip and 5% rutile in another. From the 33 tiles, I  picked nine that I will try to limit to three for the next glaze firing. I have a nice yellow, blue, and green. I also tried a standard variegated blue glaze that came out looking great.

 

Another pottery blogger known as Art by Fuzzy experimented with Rob Roby's clear liner glaze and oxides. Since I knew I was going to make a batch of the clear liner in bulk, I figured I would half the batch and add my favorite mix from his color palette. I chose 1% cobalt carbonate, 1% copper carbonate, and 5% rutile. While I like the blue color, unfortunately the Baja mason stain brittle stars were buried on many pieces. If the slip was built up, then you can make out the brittle star. Over all the glaze looks nice for a first trial, and I really like the liner. Behind the cups and mugs you can see a picture that is the result of the 100 gm test glazes mixed into one bucket. This a pleasant combination of greens and browns. The urn in the back is glossy base 1 with red iron oxide washed brushed on the bisque ware. It looks nice.

 

While I waited for the kiln to hit the cone 6 mark Sunday I threw a dozen cups, a couple of bowls, two pitchers,  and a bottle. On Monday I pulled handles and trimmed. I really got to appreciate the pulling of handles when you have so many to do at one time. It actually helps you achieve a better handle. I found myself making subtle changes and being more intentional about the form.

 

Meanwhile, I found myself subbing on Monday and Tuesday and enjoying our first snow fall. Subbing helps me financially to keep playing with the clay and firing it. It is a process that takes time and some money in order to keep improving. The hope is to get better and have people appreciate my pieces and want to enjoy them in their homes.

Until then, I keep practicing.

Hunting and Reflecting In Nevada

Here I am in the great expanse known as the basin and range of the western United States, to be more specific, eastern Nevada. I was able to schedule a trip to see my Dad and spend some quality time hunting for elk. Dad received a cow elk permit this year, so we met up in Las Vegas and headed north for the pinon and juniper country. I really enjoyed my time with Dad. We shared the objective of finding elk as well as sharing tons of laughs. The country offered expansive vistas and subtle colors in a dry and arid landscape that had just received a large amount of precipitation two weeks priot. The plants that were not charred from fires over the past 20 years were verdant and flowering.

Hunting for an animal allows you the ability to closely observe the natural world. You get up at the crack of down and go to camp at sun down. You are there when the animals are on the move and  you wait, and walk, and you observe all that goes on around you. In the evening, you see thousands of spiders ballooning, as they use the winds to disperse and find some new territory for hunting. Evenings also reveal the mountain blue birds flying for airborne insects, bull elk begin bugling, and the temperature drops enough to put on a coat and hat. In the morning, the grackles and ravens fly from their roosts to forage, the bulls bugle in an attempt to gather cows, and the light opens enough to reveal the tracks of those out the night before.

On the fifth day, after many days of not seeing any cows, we finally spotted a group of twenty elk. Although we were not able to get a shot at this group we were fortunate enough see two cows and a bull on the way back to camp. Just as the sun was dipping below the horizon Dad was able to take a 500 pound cow elk. Being a mile from our camp and just near the road we were able to get the cow to camp and hang the meat for cooling.

After the hunt we took a trip to Las Vegas and checked out Aardvark Clay and Supply. This offered me the chance to purchase some items for the studio. Usually, I order on-line or use a catalog. This was a great hands-on shopping experience for me. I procured some glaze materials for my cone 6 glazing trials I will be doing next week.

 

Another highlight of the trip was exploring the back country on some jeep roads with my Dad. Nevada's basin and range is a great place to see beautiful and complex geology and flora. It offered me a chance to appreciate some expressive desert colors and possibilities for future surface decorations.

Raku First Run and Prep for Moose Camp

The last week afforded me some time to set up the Raku kiln. I created three batches of glaze: Simon Leach's Crackle, copper matte, and turquoise crackle. The firing was problematic with the kiln being stuck around 1730 degree Fahrenheit. The copper matte and Simon's crackle needed the 1850 mark.  However the turquoise came out, even though it is a great red color. After checking the great inter-web, I think my entry and exhaust port are too small, notice the orange flame in the exhaust port and flu. So, I will attempt another firing with a large exhaust port. Another theory is to back out the burner from the port so it can draw in secondary air for cleaner gas consumption. Yet another method is to turn the burner down, counter intuitive, but a common point many have made. So, here is what I did; exhaust port is 5 inches and entry port is 4 inches, leaving an inch of air to get in with the burner pulled away. If it is not windy tomorrow, then I will give another try.

Meanwhile, I am preparing for moose camp in a remote location in Alaska. At this point I am looking forward to spending some time in the woods with the objective of filling up the freezer with some moose meat. Getting ready for a wilderness hunting trip in Alaska is quite an endeavor. There is a lot that goes into having everything you need and flying it in with limits on weight.  Since we have been hunting and rafting throughout the state we have the quality gear and a gear list. The gear list is essential, it is continually being revised and tweaked every time we go out. The food prep is another ordeal in itself. With that I am off to prepare another meal.

Sheet Rock Hung and First Bisque at Home

The past two weeks were all about sea kayaking guiding in Kachemak Bay for True North Adventures and staying busy getting the studio ready for the winter. All of the framing, insulating, and sheet rock work are finished. It appears to me that most remodeling or basic construction always entails some problem solving. Today was the three-way switch that turned the outside lights to the garage and studio. A job that should take a half hour ended up being three. Got it right in the end.  Now I am awaiting the mud and taping to begin. The room is brighter and feels more open. I am sure the 10' by 20' space will fill up with equipment and pots in no time.

Finally, I cleared all the sheet rock from the garage bay next to the studio and was able to do my first bisque firing. Things are heating up. Looking forward to making some sample glaze tiles next and exploring some glaze possibilities. The next adventure will be making some mugs and bowls with the cone 6 clay using brittle star theme.