The glazing continues… and it’s pretty much taking over my studio!!!
And making quite the mess on my wedging table.

Since this is a soda firing, a lot of the surface “glazing” will be created by the soda atmosphere in the kiln. So I typically leave a lot of the exterior clay unglazed. Instead, I like to fill the stamped indentations with temoku glaze.

After painting over all the stamps with glaze, I then take a damp sponge and gently wipe off the top surface. Leaving the glaze in the indentations to help highlight the stamped texture.

Wiped clean, ready for wadding and the on to the kiln!

As always, we had a wonderful time at the St. Croix River Valley Pottery Tour.
I toured as usual with my friend & talented metalsmith Sarah Chapman. We both told ourselves we were going to “be good” this time. Good to our wallets. Good to out bank accounts. I would like to think that I did pretty well… maybe?… kinda?… sorta???

The first stop on our tour is Bob Briscoe’s place every year. It’s our favorite… great pots, wonderful artists and good friends. While there, that little itch in my wallet starts up… and I feel completely helpless and MUST add another Matt Metz piece to my collection. It was this sweet little flask that caught my attention. I picked it up right away… and when Sarah pointed out that I was caressing & fondling it… I knew it would be mine!!!

Our second stop was Connee Mayeron’s studio… AFTER a little detour around the construction road closure. Sarah has a slight “addiction/fascination” with the work of Shoko Teruyama. So another piece from her was on Sarah’s list. And let me just say… Sarah’s “fascination” is rubbing off on me too. We both got blue & white tumblers last year form Shoko. This year it was this sweet & colorful floral mug. Detailed carvings with colorful glazes.

At the tent next door… another “addiction” for Sarah… and me…  Jenny Mendes. So much detailed painting, line-work and imagery. Her color palette is always “slightly off”… but in such a cool way.

We then went to Guillermo’s. And then off to Will Swanson’s. It was there that Karin Kraemer’s colorful work brought a smile to my face again. I first saw her work there last year… but the carrots were NEW!!! Such a wonderful color palette. So fun, so cheery. And in Karin’s words “She really stands out against all of the brown pots.” I love her illustration style… and the little surprise she hid in the bottom of the mug!

I did really good in resisting the temptation on Friday…
but not so good when I came back to the Tour on Saturday flying solo. I didn’t have Sarah’s “voice of reason” and just couldn’t resist. I just HAD to have some of those carrots!!! Last year I got a rooster.

At the same location, I found another beautiful mug by Ryan Greenheck that “just had to go home” with me. So much for being on my best behavior?! My wallet never even had a chance… too many great pots. Far too much temptation.

So there they are… the newest pots in my pottery collection. I think I did pretty well adding some beautiful mugs to my Mug Collection. And another Matt Met to my Matt Metz Colleciton… a bit redundant, but you get it.

Until next year…

Had to start somewhere… so first up were these simple ikebana vase disks.

In my pottery class last night, we revisited the Glaze Room and dealt with some more intermediate glazing techniques. Double-dipping, glaze combinations, decorative wax resist, wood ash, stains, spraying and more. Of course we ended with everyone’s favorite. BUBBLES.

A fairly simple trick of adding DAWN dishwashing detergent to a small cup of glaze. Blowing into it with a straw to make bubbles. Then carefully applying them to a glazed pot. Nice patterns. Nice contrast. And so much fun to watch my students giving it a go… like Cecile!

With all the clouds in Chicago today, are you feeling a little “blue” and under the weather? Maybe a little Mugshot Monday will cheer you up?!

After a wonderfully sunny weekend in Minnesota for the St. Croix Pottery Tour, it felt great to get back on my bike this morning. Too bad the clouds are back in full force. We got a brief moment of “crazy cool” sunrise beauty… but then back to clouds for the rest of the day.

And then the “magic” happened…

It was a long drive home… but actually enjoyable with beautiful skies, wonderful scenery, songs to sing with and great road trip snacks! Did I mention homemade pie from Norske Nook??? Any way, I rushed home today to load another bisque kiln. I’ve got a lot of glazing to do before next Friday’s kiln loading. And first things first… got to get ’em bisqued before I can start glazing!

Kiln Layer #1 – mugs, large bowls, and ornaments.

Kiln Layer #2 – wall pocket vases, mugs, tiles and tripod supports.

 Kiln Layer #3 – mugs, tumblers, bowls, and berry bowls.

Kiln Layer #4 – oval vases, mini vases and ikebana vase tops.

Kiln Layer #4.5 – a half layer of berry bowl plates, ikebana vase tops and small cups.

During the tour we heard lots of birds chirping. At least we thought they were birds. That was until someone else told us that sweet chirping sound was actually being made by tree frogs!!! What?… we urban Chicagoans don’t know much about tree frogs?!!!

Intrigued… we set out on finding the source of the sound.
Can you spot it hiding in Bob Briscoe’s wood pile?

Yesterday was a long day of seeing a LOT of incredible pottery. But today it was time for more!!! I returned to a couple of the studio stops on the St. Croix Pottery Tour… but I always look forward to seeing some signs on the side of the road. It started a few years back, but now The Rogue Potters have become and wonderful “unofficial” stop on MY tour!!!

They’ve done a wonderful job of creating a buzz. Handmade signs along the main thoroughfares. Bermashave-style signs to draw you in. More pottery to see???… I’m in!!!

It was such a beautiful day. So great to see that Randal and the Rogues had moved their show outside to enjoy the weather!

While there, it’s always fun to see their kiln shed and the traditional wood-fired brick kiln inside. Such a great place… that I’m sure has dozens of great stories to go along with it.

Always a great way to start the day… my annual Saturday morning visit to Continental Clay in Minneapolis. Filling up my car with some new clay with tons of potential. My car was riding a little lower than normal. Especially with the additional bags of dried porcelain reclaim from my Minnesota potter-friend Emily!