Colorado Art Studio

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

Set of wine cups/shot glasses with serving tray

I read a recent article about the dangers (or maybe it was folly) of making new work for an upcoming show without testing and revising the original idea first.  So, here I am less than one month away (24 days to be exact) from the Colorado Potters Guild Fall show in Nov. and I’m making new work.  A couple nights ago, I woke up around 2 am and suffered through a bout of insomnia - my grandparent’s clock that makes noise every 15 minutes and announces the hour with the appropriate loud gongs reminded me that I should have been sleeping at 3am and then again at 4am.  Normally, I don’t have problems sleeping through the night, but every once in awhile it happens.

fish lino-cut

All of a sudden, instead of counting sheep, I was thinking about pottery and clay.  New forms popped into my head and I briefly entertained the idea of getting up and marching into the studio.  I knew that if I turned on the light above my nightstand that my husband would be grumpy - so I allowed my mind to mentally visualize some of those forms in the dark of night.  Vases, tea pots, covered boxes, sets, tiles and more floated through my head.  After I heard the clock ring 4 am, I was feeling sleepy again and drifted off to clay filled dreams until the alarm buzzed 6am.  Luckily, I was able to remember and sketch those ideas out in the morning.

Relief printed fish cups and tray

This isn’t one of the forms that I imagined in the wee hours of Monday morning, but it might have influenced my clay filled dreams.  On Sunday afternoon, I was playing around with a lino-cut that my husband made this past summer of a fish bone skeleton and crafted this little set of 2 small cups and matching tray.  I’m not much of a shot drinker myself, but the cups are a good size for hard liquor.  I use similarly sized cups to drink red wine - and the tray could be part of the presentation, or maybe hold some light snacks.  All three pieces are hand built from slabs of clay that were printed using the lino cut and a sheet of embossed paper.

Butter dish top template

Back to sleepless in Denver….  When I made the set (above) on Sunday, I noted that the tray was the perfect size for a stick of butter.  True confession:  Other than the plastic butter dish that came with my fridge, my other butter dish is a functional but unexciting white ceramic butter dish that I found at a thrift store years ago.  My husband has been bugging me to make a covered butter dish for years.  Consequently, my earlier observation about the tray must have triggered something in my brain that caused me to wake up and start designing a covered butter dish that night.    First thing on my agenda yesterday, was to make a paper template for a slab built butter dish.  I pulled out a stick of butter, along with my thrift store butter dish to get a good look at dimensions - then started measuring and drawing a covered lid on paper.

Figuring out the corner cuts for top of butter dish

The trickiest part was trying to decide if the corners should have a slight curve or come straight down at 90° angles.  I was able to solve the issue by cutting on the diagonal at each corner intersection and then began the process of folding the corners to find a pleasing fit.

The possibility for a variety of other angles could make this a very versatile template

Lid and bottom - not a good fit

I didn’t account for the slight flare that I allowed in my lid template which increased the base perimeter, so I had to enlarge the bottom half of the butter dish template.

New larger bottom tray/butter dish template

Better fit between top and bottom

The alteration does make for a larger butter dish than what one would find in a store, but as a bonus, it will fit odd sizes of butter that one might find at a farmers market or specialty market.

Butter dish top and bottom mock up paper template

First butter dish prototype

I even added a decorative, yet functional handle to the lid.  The one I own does not have a handle which I think is a poor design choice.  The lid routinely slips out of my hands - it’s a wonder I haven’t broken it yet.

Butter dish side view

Once I roll out the clay slabs and print them with whatever texture or lino-cut I want, I place the paper template on the slab and use an X-acto knife to cut the shape out.  I use extremely soft slabs of clay which can be a challenge, but allows for a seamless design and minimal joints.

Meanwhile, there’s so much external noise right now because of the election and all the bleak economic news that makes it easy to become mired in negativity and dare I say hopelessness.  Surprisingly, I am oddly calm and more focused than ever before since I have ready experienced a pseudo personal crisis late summer/early fall before all of this really blew up in the news.  It’s not that I don’t care, because I do, it has more to do with my recent decisions and my resolution to forge ahead with a new sort of intentional life that is helping me weather the storm.    On a related note, I loved Whitney’s post on staying centered that she wrote a few days ago - perfect metaphor for clay people.

Back to the studio for me,

~Cynthia

I’m happy to report that my studio time is on the upswing-  time and productivity wise. I’m not quite at my 20 hour per week goal yet, but close. Last week, I spent 18.5 hours in the studio either making work, trimming, loading the kiln, cleaning and otherwise organizing my space.  I should probably start keeping track of the business end of things such as answering emails, blogging, accounting etc.  I might be surprised to learn that I work closer to an average 40 hour work week.

Ewww moldy paper clay slip

I was eying a hand built pint sized printed tumbler/cup that I made last summer - unfortunately, it didn’t survive the neglect and heat of the summer, but I kept it because I thought the shape and size would make a nice large tall mug.  For hand building, I use a white cone 6 stoneware clay called “Ash” that I buy from Mile Hi Ceramics.  The clay is not as creamy and white as the porcelain clay that I prefer throwing with, but it holds up better for hand building.

To seal the joints, I use clay super glue - a paper clay slip that I make out of scraps of the same clay body, toilet paper, a little water blended to a smooth consistency.  Since I haven’t made a lot of work in the last few months, I was greeted by a jar of moldy and smelly paper clay slip yesterday.  Yummy.  I was taught that mold is not a bad thing when it comes to clay - and after I stirred it up a bit, my nose became accustomed to the, ahem, fragrant clay.  Reminds me of a favorite past time of my hus…oh never mind - don’t want to embarrass anyone.

Hand built imprinted pint sized mugs

I spent the latter half of the afternoon yesterday reacquainting myself with the hand building process.  I only made 3 mugs, but after building these and remembering the steps involved, I feel confident that I can make these more efficiently today.

Close up of mug and hollow handle

This mug was made using a template that I made from - you guessed it - a pint sized beer glass sitting in my cupboard.  While my goal is to use custom lino-cuts and textures to print my work, I used a heavy embossed paper to print the design onto these slabs and then assembled the mugs one at a time.  I think I can probably work on about 4 at a time today if I work fast.  The trick is using a fairly wet and plastic slab of clay.  If the clay stiffens too much, it will crack and won’t cooperate.  The handles are also hollow and are from a template that Annie gave all the participants of a hand-building workshop last summer here in Denver.

I love the look of the fat handles, but am not sure if I’d prefer holding one of these or a thinner pulled one.  I should glaze a mug and test it out pretty soon.  I might use underglazes to get the eye popping color I’m looking for in my pottery since I haven’t worked out a new glaze palette yet.

Slab built hump molded serving dishes with wheel thrown dip bowls

I’ve been reacquainting myself with my wheel again too which is just like riding a bike.  Since I have an abundance of clay scraps sitting around, I’ve been recycling clay old school - add water, put on plaster slab, wedge when dry enough.  The result is a really, really soft porcelain clay body that needs a slightly different touch than when it comes fresh out of the bag.   Very gentle on the joints; however, overly forceful movements can cause a pot to slump unexpectedly or warp something fierce.

In other news, I was recently contacted by a local wellness/massage business that will be opening in Denver next year to make some custom mugs for them and am going to start working on some prototypes shortly.  The mugs have an interesting twist - so stay tuned.

Meanwhile, I fear that we might go straight to winter from summer - SNOW is in the forecast for Denver this weekend!  Say it ain’t so.  Actually, gauging from the temps that the meteorologists are predicting, if we get any snow it will be the wet slushy kind, though we will be experiencing the first hard freeze of the season.

It’s a good thing I ripped my tomatoes out of the garden last weekend and I’m drying herbs in my kitchen too which smells delicious.  I now have an abundance of green tomatoes, some of which are ripening on my kitchen counters and many others that will require some culinary creativity.  I want to thank whoever it was that suggested the podcast “The Splendid Table” - I just love listening to the show and have many new and interesting ideas of how to use green tomatoes including chutney, tomato pie, relish, salsa, and of course fried green tomatoes.

That’s it for today,

~Cynthia