Survey says...

A big thank you to all the friends who came by yesterday.  I am feeling the love!  I am especially grateful to my survey takers who helped confirm some of my thoughts about how handmade ceramics is shared and used.  Since I do not get to meet my customers directly very often I wanted to gather some feedback.  I asked about kitchen and dining room decor, how often they used handmade ceramics and kinds of dishware currently used including shape.

Of course many of my friends have an eclectic mix of styles and objects in their home.  It is one way we can create balance and harmony in our surroundings while developing our personal aesthetic.  I apologize to any of you whom may have felt a little stress about not having a specific style or theme.  Although, if you are thinking about redecorating feel free to use one of my pieces to inspire you.   HGTV designers will often latch onto an object for inspiration.  One of my favorite episodes of Trading Spaces was a whole room inspired by an artichoke. My dining room is a spring green which complements almost all of my ceramic designs.

Over half of survey participants use handmade ceramics daily and a third use it for special occasions only. No surprise there given survey demographics.  I will continue to focus on service ware that accents current table ware.  I have both Fiesta ware and simply embossed cream ware.  We use my ceramics interchangeably with both.  And as one survey reminded me, the best thing about buying a handmade mug is the coffee, a wonderful daily ritual to warm your hands and spirit however you prefer your caffeine fix.

Round dishes are certainly the norm.  But a number of people actually eat from dishes with corners.  I wouldn't recommend them for drinking hot liquids but new shapes are certainly stimulating providing a new frame for composing healthy meals full of texture and color.  One day in Target while checking out the trends in tableware made in China I overheard the best conversation about square plates.  Clearly these women were on opposite sides of the fence on this one.  My early dishes were wheel thrown and therefore circular until I started squishing them into softish squares and clover shapes.  Then I started to look at glass ware and plastic mold injected forms which come in a multitude of shapes as well as textured surfaces.  I should add there are a lot of fabulous contemporary potters who also manage to make production work "off wheel."  Stacey Esslinger, in Corning, patterns thin porcelain slabs of clay into bowls, vases and pitchers  as a seamstress would to create a bodice with darts and gussets.  Tossing out fat hunks of clay into silky smooth slabs while wielding a giant lethal rolling pin, more fun for this gal than spinning mud.

That reminds me I would rather be in the studio than clicking keys!

Pots Own Mom

Brightly colored pots
A studio of her own
Happy Birthday Mom

This is the lovely haiku my daughter wrote to decorate the cookie cake we ordered for Sunday's celebration.
It's a shame that not everyone will get to read it and quite funny to think if we eat the cake from left to right it may say  "pots own mom."

I am super excited to show off my fully functioning studio and share my creative process with anyone brave enough to dodge the labyrinth of furnace duct work in my basement. Tuesday I decided I could probably fit three firings in this week before Sunday.  I think it was an adrenaline rush after having fired the wood kiln in the snow Monday morning.  So stubbornly I am well on my way to completing three firings in five days and not because I necessarily need the pots.  But because the pots own me.  The entire ceramic process can be lengthy and as I consider new forms and glazes I have been completely indecisive.  Having a deadline or series of goals has really pushed me this week.  Hopefully the turn out and  feedback on Sunday is worth it.  Looking forward to it!

Studio Grand Opening

Spring is blossoming early all around us as it does year round in my cozy new studio.  I began carving out a work space in the basement with the unpacking of 20 some life-size sculptures.  Some of you may remember that event when my smallish urban back yard garden was filled with elegant statuary.  

In the fall of 2010 after much cleaning (flood of '72) two walls went up along with new basement windows, ten new outlets and six light fixtures.  The space was very raw for the last Elmira Open Studio Tour.  I still was working between the Elmira College Studio and 171 Cedar Arts Center to get work fired and glazed.  

The following winter I drove back from Boston in a blizzard with a kiln a dear friend of mine scouted out. Shortly thereafter a real floor was installed, faux wood linoleum.  My dad put in a ten foot counter top with cabinets and task lighting during a summer visit.  In mid-January he put up a mini wall and door between the kiln room and work space.  At last we insulated using the rigid foam board from all of those card board crates I dismantled long ago.  Now the studio is warm and pleasant.  I do miss my mid-morning workout playing Just Dance Abba to unthaw. 


The Grand Opening is scheduled for my birthday, Sunday, April 29th from 1-5pm.  Come join me for cookie cake if you are so lucky to be in or near Elmira.

For the Love of Plaster

Just finished teaching a four week class on Basic Mold Making. I'm afraid I may have learned more than my students did.  It's quite a mind bender going back and forth between positive and negative, hump vs. slump...  At the end of the fourth week it was just beginning to click.

I personally have come a long way in my distaste for mold made work.  In my own work I have found a way to create unique forms from the molds.  My favorite mold is a clover shaped bowl made from three separate masonite templates (Andrew Martin style).  The clover shape evolved from thrown and altered square dishes made on the potter's wheel.  I have long since left the wheel not that I was ever that devoted to it.  I prefer slab building.

Thrown and altered

The desire to excessively decorate each form inside and out sent me looking for quicker methods of forming.     I scour the shelves at the thrift store for inspiring shapes as well as vintage glass ware with interesting textures. In the basic mold class we cast simple one piece molds from such a prototype.  Some shapes are better suited as a slump mold such a textured candy dish.  The soft slab is laid inside the mold.  Other shapes we cast the interior/negative space to create a hump of plaster that the slab can cover.  Texture can be applied to the exterior with hand carved stamps. I also try out different styles of feet.  If there is a particular foot I really like or I want to make a set of bowls.  I can set up the clay on the hump mold then cast the form with plaster to create a slump mold.

Clover shaped press mold

Secondary molds are those generated from the primary/basic mold.  I fill the basic mold with clay alter it and cast the new form in plaster.  Sometimes multiple parts of the same basic mold or different molds can be assembled together to generate fresh new shapes.

Plaster sets quickly but the subsequent steps to a finished fired form takes weeks.  Each mold takes a week to dry out after it is made.  If you try to use it too soon it will still take days to a week to get the clay to release from the mold.  I play with the mold for another week.  Casting it with different edges or feet.  A third week for playing with pattern. Dry. Bisque. Glaze.  A month later I'll know if the shape works.  Some are prone to warp or distort.  Trial and error can resolve most such problems.  I have the most problems with circular molds.  Reinforcing by thickening the edge usually helps the circle stay true.

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

http://www.food.com/recipe/pumpkin-doughnut-muffins-martha-stewart-441904
Hopefully, my image gets matched with the recipe at food.com.  I wonder what other recipes need to be displayed on my dishes.  I picked up this recipe last fall when we were growing a pumpkin.  The prolific mystery squash in the garden this year turns out to be butternut.

The muffins were still good despite forgetting the buttermilk. They're best warm.  The doughnut part happens to be the melted butter drenching post baking and roll through cinnamon sugar.

First Day of School

Pretty excited to get the kids off to school today.  I have a cupboard full of pots to decorate.  They are staying quite damp with all this rain.  I guess I should have taken a picture of the bottoms too!  It's like having decorated 8 pots instead of four.  

Still playing with the ikat pattern.  It's really fun to paint so that it has a tromp l'oeil woven texture.  Thinking I should spend more time in the fabric store.  A trip to Mood in NYC would be excellent.  Perhaps I have been watching too much Project Runway when I start to think of my pots as fashion models while designing the pattern to compliment the form.  

The leaf pattern when fired should reveal a layer of leaves below the sponged straw surface.  I had to force myself to give up the tulip pattern for now.  I guess I'm not ready for the seasons to change.  For someone who paints lots of flowers it's hard to get all wintry in September.  After the kids got home I finished one more piece.  Wheat is a happy compromise from this Kansas girl.

Thanks Mom and Dad!

My parents had the awesome foresight to rent a minivan when they came to visit so we could tool around the finger lakes in one vehicle. Of course anytime I have access to that much cargo space I jump on the opportunity. We hit the ReStore in Corning and found two excellent lower cupboards for next to nothing. They are nicer than my kitchen cupboards. The thought did cross my mind to do an IKEA kitchen makeover and salvage the old kitchen cupboards for the studio. If only there was a store nearby. Maybe I'll get lucky and find a complete kitchen at the ReStore. Now I have a beautiful ten foot counter which holds exactly a kiln load of work or thirty gargoyle masks. My parents enjoyed the temperate climate so much in the basement they purchased and put in more lighting. Had they stayed a few more days I think I could have gotten them to plumb a sink as well.

Second Firing Better Than the First

I guess I got spoiled having my kilns loaded and fired for me at the arts center. It's been years since I've fired my own kilns. Let alone any kiln with brand new elements. My first firing in the new kiln went horribly awry. All the work bloated. Rich dark clay bodies like mine will do that since they are full of organic impurities. My strategy for this batch of pots was to bisque fire hotter and slower to get all the volatile gases out before the clay begins to vitrify.

I never paid too much attention to Val Cushing's lectures during graduate school since at the time I was making sculptures. The technical information pertained to crafting pristine glazes for functional pottery. Often if I did the reverse of what was said making glazes pit, crawl and penetrate the surface. Thankfully I kept good notes and reviewing them was like taking the course for the second time.

When I was in Alfred last summer I discovered Val still sells his orange spiral bound lecture book at the local grocer, Kinfolk. We were his last class before retiring in 1997. It was difficult to imagine who could fill his "clogs." Since then glaze testing at Alfred has greatly expanded from low fire to mid range incorporating much more color than back in 1996. Look at an old Nelson book of ceramics and you will see the most uninspiring collection of brown pots. It's hard to believe that was my undergraduate textbook. Of course back then there weren't encapsulated pigments like those I use today to safely create bright red and orange. And I would not have fathomed becoming a potter myself.

Nine rolls

This is what 9 rolls of toilet paper and 200 pounds of clay will make. Not pictured: a dragon skull, a toucan on a branch, two otters swimming in sea weed, a baby seal, the almost life-size torso of a deer, a fruit platter, three hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil monkeys and another veiled figure. Did you catch all that? Am I missing anything? Oh yes! We dipped, dunked, and schmeared paper clay on an assortment of leaves, feathers, egg cartons, pasta and even a loaf of bread.



The students of 171 Cedar Arts Center had free reign since I knew a little secret. The center would soon be getting a new kiln with a grant from the Community Foundation. So why not fire anything and everything under the sun.




The addition of paper pulp makes a very sturdy clay which builds quickly and thinly. If it wasn't possible with regular clay, paper clay could do it. Wings, single strands of hair, standing soft slabs, twisted kelp, a hollow branch, skinny giraffe legs, nothing could defeat the power of pulp. We attached to fired bisque ware and bone dry paper clay. We patched cracked or broken pottery with it. The clay fired up fabulously and took glaze like regular clay.

In the fall we'll do it again with porcelain paper clay. There is always plenty of clay to reclaim and I saved the toilet paper from the mummy wrapping contest at the library. I can't imagine what people were thinking when I asked to have it.

Hook up woes

On my blog bio I joke about voltage.  But seriously I had no idea it was going to be this complicated.  The kiln is 208 volt not 240 volt.  I can replace all the heating elements or see what happens.  The electrician hopefully has a magic wand.

Well Coiffed Fish

Abel is usually the first one down to my studio after the bus drops them off from school.   There's always some new clay critter in the works to visit and his belly needs a snack asap.  Today he agreed to snap a quick pic before claiming the last Irish Cream Brownie.  It's amazing how he can keep his hair so fresh and perky all day.  He had a similar profile for his President's Day portrait silhouette.  

I am currently in gargoyle mode making down spout covers for spring showers (not the 5-8 inches of snow predicted tonight).  I have the corner window display at Handwork for the first two weeks of April.   It will be jammed full of bunnies, frogs, fish, astro turf and fake rain. Any ideas how to make fake rain...

Phase 2 complete

Before

After

While I was away picking up the kiln, Adam and Richard were installing my new studio floor.  The old floor I imagine was much like the surface of the moon.  It was a composite of undulating cement and river rock.  The new plywood floor is cushy on the feet and my fake laminate flooring makes it easy to mop.  I can even still wear my clogs in the studio despite having lost two inches of head space under my feet.  The next project or phase 3 is setting up the kiln and kiln vent.  Phase 4, lady sculpture storage...and some day a dreamy slate work top like those in grad school.  Abel is shown here at my old drafting table from high school.  Sad to say there will be no fall studio tour to show off my fabulous new space.  Maybe it will become a spring tour in 2012!

The Kiln Arrives, Potter Still Alive

Honestly, when I left Boston I had no idea we were getting blasted in New York.  As soon as I hit the tolls at the state border the first flurries appeared.  It took eight hours to get home.  The worst part was stopping in Owego (about 40 minutes from Elmira) for a celebratory box of fried cheese curds only to discover they were way undercooked.  Totally not worth the effort of leaving the interstate.  The best part:  Olive shoveled out the driveway for me.  Thanks Jaime for setting me up with a beautiful kiln.

In the window

 I'm pretty sure Bryan Adams saw my work when it was in the window at Handwork.  I saw his tour bus parked out front of the State Theater in Ithaca which is right across the street.

After my exhibit in Corning I brought my work home for a week until Lise suggested I put it up at the store where I sell my pottery.  Many people have never seen my sculptural work so it was great exposure.  The members of the artist cooperative got to know me better too.

And I got a candid view of people's expressions as they looked at the work while I dusted the glass ware just inside the store behind the window.  The relationship between the store window and a temple frieze is remarkably similar.  I wish I had had a web cam for those first few days the pieces went up.  Maybe a grant funded project has just been conceived.  Crossroads deadline here I come...

Seconds For Sale

The semi annual second sale starts Friday morning, January 14, 10am at Handwork in Ithaca.  I helped set up three tables full of coop members cast offs.  It's really fun to glimpse into the artist's process by picking through their not-so-good work.  Naturally, I had many pieces to contribute (three bins full).  I had almost one whole kiln load that I didn't like. I also still have three circus teapot sets left from when we lived in Green Bay.  Every time I see those monkeys, lions and bears (oh my) I can't believe I made them.  First, my son was about 8 weeks old when I began sneaking off to the studio in the evening to have clay time. That I could be as productive as I was that year is truly amazing.  Second, I am really not a big fan of circuses, however, I did feel like I needed a reason to use color.  Of course now that doesn't stop me.  It's surprising how quickly the pieces fly out the door.  Never fear there is always more so stop by often if you can.

Precious Melon Photo

I took this when I was consumed with blogging.  I should really show all three shots so you can get the full effect.  There must be a genre for these artful yet practical visuals.   You should see what I can do with a recycled cereal box when I'm not getting enough studio time.

What's Cooking

During the last class of teen wheel we baked sugar cookies in the test kiln. I have always wanted to roll out dough in the studio slab roller for cut out cookies. I used silicone baking liners to sandwich the dough before steam rolling it as thin as possible. They then cooked two at a time on a sheet of parchment. The kiln seemed to only cook the top surface which turned brown and crisp but very gooey underneath. Some we flipped over to cook the other side and some we took our chances and just ate raw.

I think next session we'll go back to making s'mores. The marshmallows get obscenely large in the kiln and I miss the chocolate!  Sign up for class at 171 Cedar Arts.  We start up again on January 3rd for 7 weeks of sculpting mayhem.

Sticker Risks

For weeks I have been in overdrive producing Christmas wares. Every time I enter this zone of mass production or hyper output my mind wanders and I actually become more creative.  Just today, while shopping at Big Lots the creative force lured me into the craft aisle where what to my wondering eyes do appear but Thickers, thick stickers. They remind me of the puffy stickers from my youth. I had a whole sheet of Ziggy stickers with quote bubbles. Ziggy is a little like Dilbert and Maxine. He's definitely got a chip.  By the way I also purchased Thickers in chip board and foil covered chipboard as shown.

I am going to attempt to use them with clay. If you have seen my pottery each piece is quite unique in part due to my creative A.D.D.  It is impossible for me to let myself make the same thing twice. I need to learn something new each time I make a piece or I get bored.  And if I am bored chances are you will be too.

So we'll see what comes of my new tools.  I can add them to a plaster mold before I cast it with a soft slab or lay out a design to impress on a flattened slab before constructing it into a cylinder to create the body of a mug or vase. The decorative corner pieces are going to become feet for my square dishes. Oh, if only I had bought another package I could use them on my hexagonal and octagonal dishes as well. Yikes, I may have to go back to the store which means I may find more toys to play with.

I'll try real hard to focus and keep to my studio for the next couple of days.

Needs More Cow Bell

It's nice to be back in the studio after the holiday break. I actually got an early Christmas gift (or a late birthday present). I have been rockin out all morning to Pandora on my new Sony Dash. It came yesterday in the mail and my husband and I stayed up late creating different stations.

I'm a little disappointed with my Eye of the Tiger Station. I was counting on it to wake me up and get me moving in the studio. It's one of my favorite tunes on Just Dance. For those of you who play my high score is 11,476. That song is a huge confidence booster and a great warm up (the dance version) when I get a little chilled in my subterranean studio. I frequently take warm up breaks making a cup of tea, checking email or playing Wii. However, I skipped so many of the preselected Pandora tunes that I ran out of skips. It kept playing John Lee Hooker type songs. Go figure. I was sure to thumbs up my favorite tunes, Police, Foreigner, Guns n'Roses, then I noticed how much I really like the cow bell.  I wish there was a way to create a station around this instrument. It is perfect for getting in the decorating rhythm. And I was doing a lot of decorating this morning. My shelves are filling up fast for another pre- Christmas firing but not quite as fast as if I had more cow bell.  Now I know what to ask Santa for!

Sweet Beast

Here's the little beastie himself
at the show posing with his finished
piece. I never saw this piece truly
vertical until it was hung on the
pristine gallery wall the night before
the opening. As you'll see below the
piece was built on a giant easel which
was slightly tilted.

I actually built this to look more hefty
and solid than the other two mural
pieces in the show. However, the
weightiness contradicts the tone of the
subject which is why I chose to paint it
like a cloud alternating layers of
translucent blues and yellows.

The detail to the left is an earlier blue layer.
The thick french cleat adhered to the back
of the piece suspends it from the wall so it
floats about an inch off the surface.

I love the depth within the image, the
vulnerability of the dangling arm and the
intrusive high relief of the wild boar.
Many of the Greek metopes are miniature
scenic sculptures with figures carved in full
dimension on a shallow plane rather than
contrived relief.    It was somewhat difficult
to stay true to this method of composing.
I made many small clay sketches to visualize
and correct the proper pose and tension.

The easel is still flat while the clay sets up.  Once firm it can be tilted almost vertical.  I started modeling from a thick slab slicing through and stuffing with shredded paper to plump out the figures.  The arm was coiled from the shoulder down to the hand.  When dry it was fired flat in one piece in an electric car kiln (my dream kiln) which happens to be the same identical size as the trunk of my car.