Making connections
Handbuilt Bowl with text stamped glazed
Is it really Friday already? Time seems to be set on fast forward right now, ‘cuz it’s really flying! This bowl is from the archives [well sort of] - late January, I made some slab built projects inspired by a Bill Van Gilder video I watched. Simple projects that aren’t too difficult to reproduce.
Hand built bowl with text stamp
This bowl was basically constructed using a slab of clay which I draped over a wood block and allowed to set up before removing the block. Any type or shape of support could be used for different types of plates, bowls or platters – more infinite possibilities.
Side view of bowl
I was a little worried about the very wide rim slumping in the glaze fire, but was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t. I did use a ^6 white stoneware that I purchased from Mile Hi Ceramics called “Ash” that I like a lot. I use it for almost all my hand built work now a days. I don’t like to throw with Ash, however because of the extra grog. I suppose I’m spoiled by silky smooth porcelain clays I’ve been using.
Me on left and Deb Babcock in her studio/gallery
While I was in Steamboat Springs, CO last week, I arranged to catch up with Deb Babcock – fellow Etsy Mud Team Member and potter. Last Thursday, after skiing in the am and needing to rest my burning thighs thanks to 17″ of new powder, I took the afternoon off and went into town to meet Deb. She has a great studio space that also serves as gallery/shop space in a strip mall enroute to the ski hill. I was impressed with how bright and spacious her studio is compared to my dingy garagio. She works right in the middle of her shop, but keeps it very tidy due to the retail aspect of her studio. Very cool and creative use of space. It was interesting to learn that 33% of her income comes from Etsy sales and the rest from her shop and local shows. Her busy time is surprisingly Summer/Fall thanks to the enormous snow drifts piled high in front of the shop – but not so surprising since my favorite time to visit the mountains is in the summer!
I really enjoyed meeting a fellow potter and learning how Deb makes it work. And, I am enjoying my new hand built Blue Sky Pottery mug that I purchased from her shop – the photographs in her Etsy shop don’t do her work justice.
Have a great weekend,
~Cynthia
P.S. I’m not sure I like the new WordPress Theme or not – but I was getting bored of the old one. I’m still adding stuff to my side bars, including some music that I’m really groovin’ on right now (that’s coming, I have to reduce the file sizes – so nothing yet). It looks pretty good in Firefox (my browser of choice), but like crap in Internet Explorer. So, if you’re reading this in IE, my apologies – I need to get under the hood and mess with the coding a bit to clean it up. What the hell – why can’t code look the same accross all browsers? That’s hooey.
The Right Tools Make a Difference
Leather hard ^6 porcelain being cut into my desired shapes
Since I’m sharing a booth at the Art Student’s League Summer Art Market this June with 3 other people, I cut myself some slack in the making department. From the get go, I decided that I don’t need to have a lot of inventory since the cash outlay to split the booth fee 4 ways isn’t terribly high. Now that the sale is 4 weeks away, I need to kick it into high gear AGAIN. When will I learn? I’ve set a goal of having 20 porcelain hand painted boxes for the show, some low fire slip transfer wall tiles and maybe some wheel thrown functional work. My space is limited after all. I’ve only made 6 boxes, so this weekend and early next week, I need to get the other 14 boxes made. Painting can happen at a more leisurely piece, but the boxes need to be made so they dry slowly.
Each one of these piles = 1 porcelain box. they range in size from 4″ x 3″ to 2″ x 3″. I will be making a variety of other sizes as well. There are 6 sides to a box and each side needs to be beveled at a 45 degree angle for a nice clean fit.
Nice clean 45 degree angled side
I was so excited to test out my new homemade bevel tool, courtesy of my father in law who was visiting from San Antonio a couple of weeks ago. He is so crafty – I’m pretty sure he could make anything if I told him my idea. Talk about a time saver. I was able to bevel all the sides for all 6 boxes in less than 30 minutes. I experimented with either pulling the tool and pushing the clay through the wire. Both worked equally well. You can also buy a professionally crafted bevel tool from potterytools.com.
New clay scoring tool
I stopped into Mile Hi Ceramics yesterday to pick up a couple of things and ended up spying this scoring tool. OMG – why didn’t I see this earlier? I think it’s a Kemper tool. Another time saver. Can you believe how the price of oil is affecting the cost of everything?? I paid $36.00 for 50 lbs of Aspen ^6 porcelain. I swear last summer it was $22.00 for 50 lbs. I need to go ahead and do a bulk order to get a lower price – because that’s just crazy talk! It didn’t help that I filled up my Pathfinder right after that and it was $60.00 to fill up my not completely empty tank.
Assembly line
I’m not really a production artist – but I do set up a little production line when I’m making these little boxes. It saves time and while one section is setting up, I’m scoring another. It still took about 2.5 hours to assemble all 6 boxes, even though all the pieces were already cut and beveled.
Once I’ve assembled the boxes, they’re not very pretty. I move slowly to ensure that the sides stay “glued” together.
6 freshly assembled porcelain boxes – cleaned up and ready for the fun to begin!
I still need to cut the lids off, add feet & knobs and them finally paint. The knobs and feet are largely dictated by the design I choose for each. I make those decisions as I begin painting. Meanwhile, I’ll leave these tightly covered and wrapped in plastic.
Spring, or maybe summer is finally going to make its appearance in Colorado. Today we’re going to hit 78, tomorrow 84 degrees F! Finally. I’m going to do a little gardening this weekend.
What about you – any plans for the weekend?
XO,
~Cynthia
