Archive for the “Handbuilding” Category

Hybrid Leaf Vases

I liked making these 2 vases - the bases were made from slabs of clay and the wheel thrown neck was added after the hand built portion of the vase had set up (not quite leather hard) enough to withstand having the neck addition.  I also made a bisque texture plate using ginkgo leaves from the little tree I planted in my yard - though I haven’t used it yet.  The white glaze is new for me - it’s from Mastering Cone 6 Glazes by Hesselberth and Roy, pg. 108 “Faux Majolica”.  There’s a great interaction between the white and the aqua color glaze where they overlap that I really like.

In an effort to use and store a limited number of glazes and all the associated raw materials in my small garagio, I thought this white would be good as both a liner and I might like to try painting some stains on top in the future maiolica style.  I decided to be conservative and only made a 5,000 gram batch just in case I didn’t like it, but I have to say, it fires terrifically!

In regards to glazes, I decided to bite the bullet today and purchased the Digital Fire Insight Glaze Calculator after testing several different programs, even a free glaze calc program.  I’m all about free, unless it isn’t working for me and this one isn’t a terribly intuitive program - but that really applies to me only.  Maybe now that I have the glaze calculation program, I can add my glaze recipe page to my website.  I’ve been too lazy to format tables in word for my recipes and it would be really cool for others to see the analysis that accompanies each.

Square Bottom Mug - hand built from slabs of clay

I really like the way this mug turned out - round top, square bottom and the faux majolica MC6 glaze interacts nicely with this green one too! In an effort to move away from the templates that ceramicist, teacher and writer Annie Chrietzberg gave to everyone this past summer during a workshop I took here in Denver, I tweaked her template just a tad giving the mug a square base instead of a round one.  The tweak was minimal, but effective.

Speaking of Annie - I wonder if her ears are ringing right now…I enjoyed spending a couple of hours with her yesterday in my studio.  She’s warm, funny and very generous with her knowledge.  Oh Earth to Annie…thanks for stopping by!

Meanwhile, yesterday was hectic and I didn’t get a chance to do all my daily Internet activities such as responding to blog comments, answering emails etc.  In the am, I took my daughter to visit the Denver Center for International Studies, which is a 6th grade -12th grade public magnet school in Denver.  Denver residents are lucky to have school choice - but we are also cursed because choosing a school is like applying to college.  She will be starting middle school next year and we’ve narrowed our choices down to 4 including the one above, Denver School of the Arts, Morey Middle School which has a gifted magnet program, and one other neighborhood school.

My first choice for her is the international studies school - it’s so cool, they start studying a foreign language in 6th grade (French, Spanish, Italian, Chinese or Japanese) and they visit countries where their language is spoken starting in 9th grade.  Her first choice is Denver School of the Arts - but they only accept 20% of applicants.  Besides, does our family need more than one artist?  DCIS accepts about 50%, Morey is an automatic in - and the other school is just an extra for decision making purposes.  All 3 of these schools are urban & very diverse - and bonus upon bonus - they provide busing!

The downside to all of school choice is that applications are due by Dec. 12 for following year and include essays, interviews, teach recommendations, test scores - all for 6th grade!  It’s a little overwhelming for both of us.  I promised her that if she decides to go to DCIS, I’ll take classes in whatever foreign language she picks.  Wouldn’t Japanese be cool?  Of course I’d sign up to chaperon field trips whenever possible!

TGIF,

~Cynthia

Relief printed hand built stoneware mugs

I meant to write a blog post yesterday or this morning, but my flash image uploader in my wordpress dashboard wasn’t working and I was forced to upload one photo at a time.  Quelle horreur!  Stomping my feet impatiently and yelling at my laptop didn’t seem to solve anything.  So, today, I did a little computer clean up and also investigated the image problem.  After perusing the WP support forum, I discovered that the new version of Adobe Flash 10 is not compatible (apparently this will be fixed with the next release of WP) - so I had to roll Adobe Flash back to version 9.  What a pain - but, I’m happy to say that my uploader is now working fast and properly so here I am writing this post at 8:40pm on a Monday night.

Relief printed frog stoneware covered box

Sales were good at last weekend’s Colorado Potters Guild Sale.  I really wasn’t sure if they would be given the economy right now.  Maybe folks are feeling a little more hopeful with the election results?  I sold quite a bit of my new work and even some older work that doesn’t quite match what I making now.  Out of 35 mugs, I took home 5 (deservedly so - I will be reglazing them this week).   I love getting this kind of feedback!

Lots of folks remembered my covered boxes from the spring sale and were asking where I hid them.  I only had about 5 and came home with 0.  I meant to make a bunch of boxes for the sale and just plain ran out of time.  I accepted a couple of special orders for boxes at the CPG sale that I’m going to start working on this week at a leisurely pace.  These aren’t something that I can rush - they take time and careful consideration depending on the theme.

Hybrid mugs - hand built and wheel thrown

People really liked my new mugs - good thing since I like making them!  The relief printed ones in the top image of this post were the first to go, I guess that means that I should really make more of these in the future and also expand my lino-cuts.  I haven’t committed to any more sales events before the holidays - something about which I’m happy.  I plan to continue exploring shapes and different ideas and will also stock up my Etsy shop, which is currently empty.

Hybrid vases

I like the vases - but need to refine them just a bit more.  They would also make a good sized pitcher if I added a spout and handle.

Meanwhile, I spent yesterday reading and commenting on my favorite blogs since I hadn’t had the time to do so the week leading up to my sale.  It feels good to get back to a normal routine.  I know my family has enjoyed having me back. 

The good news is that I have a full kiln load of glazed work that I didn’t get fired in time for the sale which will help fill my Etsy shop.  As soon as I reglaze the mugs, I’ll push the start button.  This week I’m also going to start adding images to my gallery page - I’d say it’s about time, wouldn’t you?

Have a great week,

~Cynthia

Anti-fatigue mat for standing and throwing

On Friday, I drove to the hardware store because I was out of mapp gas for my torch and while I was there, I decided to pick up an anti-fatigue mat for my new wheel set up since I’m pretty sure, I’ll never sit down to throw again.  The mat is cushy and much more gentle on my legs than bare concrete, but it has that noxious rubber/new carpet smell that makes me nauseous.  Anyone know how to get rid of that smell?

On a side note, I was very sad to pull into my favorite mom and pop hardware store that’s been in Denver forever.  The doors were shuttered and a sign read “Out of Business”.  Instead of being able to run in and out of the store fast, I headed over to Home Depot to find what I needed and wandered aimlessly until I found what I needed.

Wheel thrown porcelain orb vases

This is one of my favorite forms to make.  I’m not sure how practical they are, but I like them.  I’m trying to figure out how to finish and glaze these after I bisque fire them.

The cool thing about my recent studio push is that a ton of new ideas are popping into my head every day.  Making stuff is giving me ideas which makes me think that when I’m having one of those uninspired moments, I just need to do something in the studio - anything.  I need to sketch/write some of these ideas in my notebookso that I can explore some of them after the sale ends.  Today and tomorrow are really  my last day to make work for the Colorado Potters Fall Sale opening in 2 weeks.  Today, I’m going to make some butter dishes and tomorrow, I plan on making some ornaments.  I figure the ornaments will dry pretty fast.

Hand built and wheel thrown vases with different necks and two in progress

I’ve also been playing around with different thrown necks for the slab built vase bases.  I kind of like how no two are alike.  Do you ever make stupid mistakes in the heat of making work for a show?  I did that on Saturday and I swear, I almost cried and was cussing like a sailor at my carelessness.

2 slab built vase bases and 4 wheel thrown necks hit the deck - err make that concrete floor

Shelving is at a premium right now and I had placed a ware board with 2 vase bases and about 3 wheel thrown necks on an unstable surface…topple, crash, bang, boom.  Lesson learned.  If I’m going to take the time to make the work, I need to be conscientious of where I place it.

Work is drying everywhere

I think it’s time for me to fire a load of bisque and to start glazing so I can free up some room.  My shelves are full and there’s no extra space for work.  Consequently, I’m getting creative.  If you look closely, that is indeed a margarita sitting on the drywall board.  The drink was courtesy of my husband and was his way of saying, “time to quit for the day.”

Meanwhile, I’ve been having a lot of fun playing around with Facebook.  If you’re on FB, look me up.  I’ve found a ton of old high school classmates and continue to add clay people to my “friends”.  I even chatted with someone from Turkey the other day.

I also have a ton of blog posts lined up - too much to say, so little time.  I actually sat down at the computer around 9 pm last night intending to write this post, but I didn’t have the energy to write.

That’s it for today,

~Cynthia