Posts Tagged “hand building with clay”

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

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

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