Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

Tonight I tackled my new holiday ornaments.
Again, starting with inlaid glaze in the stamped textures, gently wiped off…
and some iron oxide painted onto the “caps” of each ornament. Then a bit of glaze
sprayed on some of them and some fun in the soda kiln… and voila’… ornaments!!!

Also this evening, I unloaded another bisque kiln! Which, according to the calendar,
will be my last batch of new work for the Holiday Home Show… which is now just
two weeks away! So, with new bisque coming out nice & warm… more glazing to come!

Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

With my soda kiln less than a week away, I’m now in “full-on glazing mode.”
Luckily, since it’s a soda kiln, glazing is pretty much inlaying glaze into my stamped
textures. So I paint on a layer of temoku glaze, then gently wipe off the top surface with
a damp sponge – leaving the temoku in the recesses of the stamps. I find assembly-line
is my favorite method… thanks to the brilliant Henry Ford!

Then a quick liner glaze, some sprayed on glaze color accents and they’re good to go.

Oh yeah… plus some small pieces of wadding glued onto the bottom to keep the pots
from sticking to the kiln shelf during the atmospheric firing.

Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

Tonight in class we tackled another demo… The Menorah Challenge! So let me
just say, I’ve never made a Menorah before. I’ve never even USED a Menorah before!
But I’m always up for a challenge! And tonight was the night.

Each session, I “encourage” my students to choose what object they want to learn
how to make – in addition to all of the usual basics. Two sessions ago it was sake sets.
Last session was goblets. This session it turned out to be Menorahs! Uh oh… what?
A Menorah?… in a wheelthrowing class? Well, like I said, I’m always up for a challenge
and want to keep my students happy!

So, I decided to show my class how o make a hollow tube on the wheel. Which is always
a fun “trick” form to make. I then showed them how to turn it into a Menorah, and we
discussed some of the other options of what they could make out of it.

And just to show my “Gentileness”… I realized the next day that there was one too few
candle spaces on the second one! Oops… luckily, it was still leather-hard so I had a chance
to correct my mistake.

Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

After an INCREDIBLE morning bike ride, it was back to the studio to continue
production for the holidays. After a few days of drying (or a few hours if you’re
a mask) it was into the electric kiln for another bisque firing. Luckily, I had some
extra time which allowed for a few hours of preheating before the kiln kicks into
full firing mode. So it will give the “ever-so-slightly-so-damp” masks a chance to dry!

Layer One: Two new masks, ornaments and a lot of tiles “protecting” the masks
from drying too quickly by the electric elements.

Layer Two: Two more masks, more ornaments and more “protective” tiles!

Layer Three: Bowls, mugs, votives, and a few more ornaments here  & there…

Layer Four: Bowls, tumblers, wall pocket vases and some tripods!

Tripods you say?!… what are they going to be for you may ask?
Well, my plan is to bisque them, dip the tips in kiln wash and then “perch” my ornaments
onto them in the soda kiln. Hopefully, they will give me some good exposure in the kiln
on all sides of the ornaments without needing to wad each of them individually. At least
that’s my plan… we’ll see…

Technical difficulties resolved… and now retroactively catching up!

It’s Halloween and there’s no trick-or-treating for me!
Everyone thinks that being an “artist” is so glamorous, but so many people
have no idea of all the “other” things we have to do besides making art!

I spent much of today doing busy work at home.
Designing & ordering a new postcard for my Holiday Home Show…
Updating a bunch of mail list changes & additions…
Adding e-mail addresses I collected during “Art In The Barn.”
A lot of busy work… and I still haven’t touched clay today!?
It’s amazing how much work goes in to being a self-supporting artist.
When I started off, I assumed I would be playing clay all the time.
Who knew there was so much busy work?

After a beautiful (yet windy) afternoon of riding…
I went back to the studio this evening for some more fun… and more stamping!
Including another batch of mugs, this time made with B-Clay for the back of the kiln!

And there’s never enough bowls, right?
But don’t ask my Mom, she already thinks I have FAR too many bowls in inventory!

Plus, after a lot of stamping… I also cleaned my studio. Long overdue.
Okay, let’s not get crazy. There’s still a LOT to do. But I did make some good headway.
And, prepared another great surprise for my class this coming Tuesday night.
It’s going to be a big night of demos catching up from last week’s impromptu night
with Amy Higgason. So it’s going to be a night of plates, ovals and lidded jars!
And a special surprise “treat”…

So I’ve finally scheduled my next soda kiln firing for Wednesday, November 10th.
Now I’m trying to make all of the work I’ll need to fill it. And to be ready for
my Holiday Home Show which is now just four weeks away! So tonight I stamped,
and stamped, and stamped… larger bowls and smaller cups to become votives.
Looks like tomorrow I might have a LOT of trimming to do?!

This afternoon in the studio, I tried to “finish up” all of Amy’s demo pieces from last night.
A little touching-up, a little cleaning, a little trimming – and now they’re drying! I also took
some time to stamp the plate that I made last night as part of my “scheduled” class demo.
So now, that too is drying, but just to the point where I can trim it!

Yep… it was so much fun last week, that we decided to keep the fun going!
And continue with the cleaning, organizing & inventory-ing again this today.
Luckily we got through the bulk of the pottery – but I still have a lot to tackle.

Why does it seem like my storage room will never be organized?…
even after two full days of work – and filling up two dumpsters with garbage!!!
I’m sure I’m not the only one with this ongoing struggle…

Sounds like fun, huh?
Yes, after a long summer of art fair packing & unpacking… let’s just say
that my storage room was “more than a little” out of control. Yikes!
Crates here… boxes there… pottery everywhere!!!

Luckily, my best “art fair assistants” (aka  – my Mom & Dad) also like to
clean, fold and organize things. Lucky me, huh?! So we spent the day down
in the storage room reorganizing my inventory. We pulled out all the crates,
unpacked everything, dusted, cleaned, separated and even did some re-pricing.
I found a few inconsistencies of prices between similar items. So we developed
some new pricing parameters and everything now makes sense. Plus, I can now
see more clearly what inventory needs to be replenished.

Also, while down there going through everything…
we also pulled out a LOT of pieces for the annual “Tired Of Shlepping Sale.”
I think it will be largest collection of clearance, demo & “shlepped” pieces ever!!!
Yep… coming soon to a Holiday Home Show near you!!!
That’s my place the weekend before Thanksgiving… mark your calendars!