Colorado Art Studio

Terracotta pinch pot cold finished with paint and beeswax

No decals to share today - maybe next post….  This pinch pot is a sample project that I made for my after school kid’s clay class and was inspired by the book  Finding One’s Way With Clay: Creating Pinched Pottery and Working With Colored Clayswritten by Paulus Berensohn.  I thought it would be a great project for my students whose ages range from 2nd - 5th grade.  I tried to make it a fun project by instructing the kids to animate their pots by adding noses and in some cases full blown faces on their pinch pots.

Terracotta nose pinch pot cold finished - my daughter's nose pot

I normally use low fire white earthenware for my kids classes and decided to mix it up and bring in a terracotta.  You should have seen the kids reactions!  Their whole clay knowledge base was turned upside down - they had no idea that clay comes in colors and of course I had lots of potty talk happening.  “Ewwww -  this clay looks like poop!” etc. etc. 

During our last class, we used acrylic paints to finish the pots and then sealed the exteriors with beeswax as an alternative to glazing since I won’t see the kids till mid January.  We planted grass seed in the pots - which should be fun if it grows.  The grass in my daughter’s pot is just now starting to sprout - I’ll post a follow up photo if it turns out. I think I’m going to make some more pinch pots - it was pretty satisfying.

Meanwhile, I added a Wordpress Plugin that allows user to edit their own comments now for a set period of time in the event of typos etc.  - if you have any problems with it, let me know.  I also recently upgraded to WP 2.7 which allows nested comments, but it’s not functional on my blog yet because I need to update my theme to be compatible with 2.7.  I just haven’t had the motivation to update it yet.

I have some errands to run right now so until later,

~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

Hand built and wheel thrown mugs

I like a very large cup of coffee in the morning and because of this and some other criteria, I’ve set out on a quest to make mugs that I would like to use.  I have about 4 different mug styles that I’ve made in the past 3-4 weeks and am anxious to see which ones sell the best at the Colorado Potters Guild Sale in early November.  I think this will be great feedback - the market is always a fair judge, don’t you think?

This is one of those designs that I conceived during an insomnia laced night last week and I’m still working on the size.  The mugs are huge.  I’m not sure how many ounces of liquid each will hold, but I’m guessing that they’ll hold over a pint.  Yesterday I made some smaller versions and trimmed an inch off the hand built section of the mug.

Slab built stacked vase

Some ideas are better than others and this one falls into the latter category.  It’s okay, but didn’t thrill me once I finished constructing the vase.

Slab built vase with thrown neck

So, I took the same idea and basic shape and added a wheel thrown neck to make a better design.  I like this a lot better; however, when I showed it to my husband he wasn’t very enthusiastic.  The design and shape probably need to be tweaked a bit.  After I looked at the vase on my computer screen this morning, I thought that it might look nice with a narrower bottle like neck.  I’ll try that today.  I’m using my Lid Master Caliper to gauge the width of the neck, but have been throwing it slightly wider than the hand built base so I’ll have to work out a system to get the wheel thrown section just the right size.

I am excited about the size and height of the vase.  I have a hard time throwing more than 5 lbs of clay at a time and it’s hard for me to get any great height using porcelain clay.  I used a white stoneware clay for these pieces and I forgot how groggy the clay is.  Talk about multi tasking - I’m throwing and exfoliating my hands at the same time.

I roll my slabs old school with a rolling pin with 1/4

This photo and the next are for Linda, who recently started taking a clay class in England.  I don’t have a slab roller in my studio and roll my slabs with a large over sized rolling pin on canvas.  I use a rubber rib to smooth out the canvas marks.

My favorite rib - I use it when I throw on the wheel and to smooth and compress slabs

My favorite ribs are flexible plastic ones from Sherrill - they come in 4 different colors which correspond to how firm or soft a rib is.  The green one is fairly firm, but not the firmest one in the bunch.  I use the green one when I’m throwing on the wheel or when I’m smoothing and compressing slabs of clay.

Meanwhile, I only have until the end of this week to make work for the sale in November.  I don’t think I’ll make it to the 105 allowable pots and will realistically have closer to 70-75.  I am going to continue making work though since the holidays are fast approaching.

Have a great week,

~Cynthia

I use a banding wheel to construct my slab built pottery

Today’s post is down and dirty - lots of pictures, little text.  Why?  I’m working away in the studio and my in-laws are visiting which makes finding time for online activity a difficult.  I’m still hand building work and thought I’d show you  my set up.  I tend to work on 4-6 mugs at a time now because it’s more efficient and it allows the clay to rest a bit while I go through the assembly line.

My tools are pretty basic.  I use a drywall board, banding wheel, X-acto knife, sponge, water, paper clay slip, scoring tool, wooden kitchen spoons (both ends), mini Kemper extruder for coils that I force into the joints, along with beverage at the ready and music or favorite podcasts.  What you don’t see is my wheel that is acting as the base of my work table.  That’s going to change today though since I feel like throwing a bit.

Fat bottomed mug

A prerequisite for any mug that I buy nowadays is that it has to have at least a 10 oz.+ capacity and a very stable wide bottom, capable of sitting on the arm rest of my sofa without spilling because this is my favorite place to drink the first cup of coffee of the morning while I wake up.  Most likely, you’ll find me answering emails, blogging and otherwise engaging in online activities in this very same spot.  Sometimes I even read the newspaper, but I’m currently taking a news sabbatical for a bit for my mental sanity.

Bottom

I’ve also been playing around with making the bottom of my work as interesting as the visible portion of a piece.

Same linocut - different shape

Bottom

Linocut used to print my mugs

Kid's Mugs 2nd - 5th grade

I really love teaching kids - they’re a lot of fun and very high energy.  We recently made “soup can” mugs for a project.  They’re a way for the kids to make something functional just for themselves, though, some of the kids were also making presents for their parents.

Pinch pot covered jars

Here’s a recent project - everyone went with a Halloween theme.  They will be glaze fired tomorrow or Sunday and I can’t wait to see how they turn out.

Gotta run, have a great weekend!

~Cynthia