Back to the studio
I ain't rolling no pie crust – excuse my poor grammar
We’re back home from our mini ski vacation and I am back in the studio in a last minute attempt to crank out work for the Colorado Potters Guild show opening April 30th. I’m starting with the more labor intensive, but popular hand-built items like mugs and boxes and will follow up with wheel thrown work next week – this should allow me enough time to bisque and glaze fire everything in time for the opening. Last fall, visitors were very sad that I didn’t bring more covered boxes. I guess that’s a good thing. 
Hand-building square bottomed mugs
I haven’t made any hand-built mugs in awhile, and decided to ease into production by making two mugs yesterday afternoon. I’m using lino-cuts that I fashioned in the shape of my paper templates to make these mugs. I have some ideas for more lino-cuts to expand the line a bit, but I’m not sure that I’ll have time this go around. That activity might have to wait till after the show. I do have 4 lino-cuts though and several soft textures to work with – what do you think – should I make 4-6 of each?
I worked on two at a time to get back into the swing of things
One of the tricky things (for me) in regards to hand-building mugs is to get nice almost seamless interiors and a smooth rim. I used a bit of plastic from a dry cleaning bag and some water to smooth the rim like I do when I throw in an attempt to compress and round the edges of the mugs so that they will be unobtrusive to the user. I also weight the mugs down with some wood boards to keep them from warping while they dry.
Mugs are finished
Voilá, handles are attached and the mugs are ready to begin the drying process. I used the exact same texture for the handles, just with different orientations – I’m not sure which one I like better. There are infinite possibilities just using the same template and textures depending on orientation for a mug or anything else for that matter.
View from the condo where we stayed in Steamboat
After an incredibly mild and fairly warm winter, Colorado has fortunately been graced with snow and lots of it these past 7 days which should help ease the impending summer drought fears just a little bit. While we were in Steamboat Springs for vacation last week, we experienced snowy gray days for all but our last day. Imagine our surprise when we woke up our final day and actually saw the view outside the condo we were staying at – gorgeous! Up until then, we hadn’t been able to see much past the cabin in the foreground. If you click on the enlarged photo,you can even get a peak of a hot air balloon in the distance that was making its way across the valley. We had a great time and the snow was terrific for skiing, but alas, there’s no place like home.
I’ve been on the computer way too long this morning after waking to snow again – but the sky is blue which means that it’s time for me to head to the garagio for the day.
Glad to be back,
~Cynthia
New Lino-Cut Printed Covered Stoneware Box
Flower Lino-Cut Printed Covered Box
Carving house shaped lino-cut
This particular house shaped lino-cut was made for the article that Annie Chrietzberg wrote for the current issue of Pottery Making Illustrated (Jan/Feb 2009 pg 17-20) and this is the first time I’ve actually used it to make something clay related – ’bout time wouldn’t you say? I did just have a flash of an idea as I wrote that last sentence – excuse me while I make a note to self…. Okay, I’m back now and will test my idea later today. In case you’re interested, the house template is 5″ tall from base to peak x 3.25″ wide – the roof begins at 3″ from the base. Don’t ask about the .25″ – it must have been a good idea at the time. Want the template? Click here: house-shaped-template-pdf
Click on one of the images below to see larger construction photos of the “House that Cynthia Built”:
The box is not quite finished yet – I still have to cut the lid off, add some feet and a knob. I made it on Monday, so it should be leather hard by now. I make most of my covered boxes with “stiff slabs” meaning that they are already at the leather hard stage by the time I assemble them. To make this box, however, I used 1 hour old fresh slabs since I needed fairly pliable clay so that I could bend the eves of the roof without worrying about cracking – yet the clay also needed to be slightly stiff so that the walls would not flop over during construction. As with many things in life, timing is everything. 
Meanwhile, I am chaperoning a field trip to the Denver Art Museum and the Colorado History Museum tomorrow with my daughter’s class. I’m bringing my camera and also a sketch pad so that I can get some ideas for new designs. I’m always amazed when I see pottery from eras past - still very fresh – or maybe it’s just that there are only so many things/forms etc. that one can make with clay so we keep reinventing the past? Not sure what the answer is.
See you Friday,
~Cynthia
New Mug Printed with Linocut and Kicking Myself Offline
Leaves hand built mug printed with linocut
I whipped this mug out last Thursday for something special that’s on the horizon…. Despite carving the design in the linoleum last summer, I hadn’t actually used the linocut to date. The template wasn’t exactly made for this type of mug, but I sort of like that the vining leaves are on an angle.
Linocut mug templates – I used the bottom left linocut for the mug above.
Here’s a couple of my linocuts – I’ve added at least 2 since then and have ideas for many more. I like carving the designs into linoleum because it’s a rigid material, maintains a uniform slab thickness and leaves an evenly distributed texture. And while I do use some commercial textures, I really prefer using my own imagery.
Meanwhile, I’ve been spending too much time online between blogging, social networking sites, Etsy Mud Team, my website, emailing and my volunteer duties with the PTA (which involves the computer). My husband was just a tad irritated with me last Sunday and I agreed that I need to find a better balance. It’s hard being self employed because as many of you well know, my computer and internet use is my life line to the world. So many opportunities have come my way and new connections forged that I might never have made without my computer.
I did ask my husband how many hours he spends on a computer at work – he hemmed and hawed and admitted that it was 8+ hours a day – but he emphasized that he leaves it at work. I asked him how he thought I could fit it all in? As a small business owner and mom who works at home the boundaries between work and home life blur considerably.
Nonetheless, I conceded to limit my tweeting, blogging, commenting, Facebooking, emailing etc. to 10-15 hours a week. I try to accomplish my computer time in the morning while having my coffee, but it doesn’t always work. If I put in 20 hours min. studio time a week, that’s still part time work hours on my part and allows me to connect better to my family. Regarding commenting on other people’s blogs – I’ve decided that rather than trying to digest my whole bloglines subscriptions in one sitting, I’ll answer those who comment on my blog first, and then attempt to read 5 feeds a day. That’s so much easier than 70!
Question: How much time do you spend online a day whether you’re for pleasure or business? What is acceptable – what is too much?
Meanwhile, I made up for the perceived neglect by making some home made artisan baked bread…keep in mind that I’ve never made home made bread before – but I found the easiest recipe in the world. I have to admit that it’s delicious and now my family doesn’t want me to ever buy store bought bread again!
Must run,
~Cynthia
New Glazed Work
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
