After finishing my salt & pepper shakers, I was onto my next project. Refilling my inventory of miniature vases. It’s pretty tough to wedged & throw such a small ball of clay. So I find it so much easier to throw them off-the-hump. Which really just means that I wedge a large ball of clay, and center it very roughly. No need to get it perfect. Then, I pull a small part up to the top of the hump and center just that little bit. Don’t worry about all of the clay below that little bit. Then you throw a small vase and cut it off. Pull up another small bit, center it and throw another small vase. Cut it off… repeat… again, and again!!!

And of course… smaller vases need smaller stamps!

A little stamping… on a little vase… with a little stamp!

Now they’re all stamped and wrapped up in plastic. Waiting to be trimmed and slip accented.

My salt & pepper shaker forms have been stamped and drying to a nice leatherhard. Now they just need holes… for the salt to go in, as well as to come out!!! And what better way than to do them with my power drill?! So much quicker & cleaner than drilling them by hand.

Put them together… aim… pull the trigger and make some holes!

As simple as that. As long as your clay is on the drier-side of leatherhard. If you clay is still a bit too moist, the drill will get gunked-up with clay and not give you clean holes.

Once I drilled them all, I added some colored slip accents to them all.

So now they’re all drying… getting ready for a quick bisque and then into my next soda kiln!

As if fifty potters on a large weekend Pottery Tour weren’t enough…
As if there weren’t enough pots for sale during the Minnesota Pottery Tour?
As if we won’t be overwhelmed by incredible pottery next weekend?!

A week from today, on Saturday 5/11 & Sunday 5/12… there’s a few more pots not quite “on the Tour.” But instead just off the beaten path & well worth the drive. Add them to your own Tour! They’re the Rogue Potters… a rag-tag group of potters who are making some great pots, selling them at incredibly affordable prices and having a wonderful time being passionate about their art & playing in the mud!

Their “humble, little kiln shack” is located just off of Highway 95 at 32280 Vista Road, Taylors Falls, Minnesota. If you’re doing the “official” Pottery Tour next weekend, be sure to watch for their signs along the side of the road. Take a quick detour and follow the signs. It’s worth the trip. They’re in a cool, slightly run-down, old farmhouse with pots in every room of the place! And most likely, you’ll even be greeted by their friendly golden retreiver!

When you do stop by to see them, be sure to say hi for me… and then ask them how they came up with the “brilliant” name for their pottery. You may just be surprised… and then buy some great pots!!!

To see more work & information about the Rogue Potters,
click on the LINK on the right side column of this blog page.

Just one week from today… THE FUN BEGINS!!!

And by all means, you need to go up to Minnesota for the big Pottery Tour!!!
It’s all of the “big names”you’ve loved for years. Fifty incredible potters all within an easy driving distance. I will be going up for the Pottery Tour this year with my “best art fair assistants ever!!!”… yes, my parents are coming with me for a weekend full of incredible pottery! We’ll be doing a little shopping, a little driving, a little gathering of inspiration and a lot of chatting with the artists.

For more information, maps & details about the potters, click here for MinnesotaPotters.com.

Last night I went to see the new, pre-Broadway musical “BIG FISH”. The stage version was wonderfully whimsical & beautifully staged with all of the crazy characters that we first met in the 2003 Tim Burton movie version. A very sweet story of father & son and the mythical stories they shared that were always a bit too “fishy” to believe!

Sure, I’ve been there many times.
I’ve stopped to take pictures at this exact spot many times!
I’ve sat on these rocks. Enjoyed a sunrise. Looked at the lighthouse.
For years.

But today for the first time ever…
I saw this great little running man graffiti along the lakefront.
Kinda like a flip-book of graffiti… with the little jogger painted every 10-feet or so.