So when I was trimming a bunch of pots today, finishing them off and signing the bottoms…
I remembered how many questions I get during art fair season about my signature on the
bottoms. And yes… for the record… I do in fact sign every pot by hand. One at a time.
It never crossed my mind that many people “assume” that there is a some signature stamp
somehow involved in the process. But the answer is NO. I don’t believe in that. Never have.
I think a signature is a signature. And should be done by hand. If I had a “signature stamp”
then anyone could be “signing” pots with my name?! Interns… Apprentices… Imposters?!
I think it’s important that each piece is signed by hand… by me!

So I teach my students to sign all of their pots as well. And it’s one of my “pet peeves”
when they try to sign their pots with their sharp needle tool. I try to explain to them
that it is too pointy and will just make a scratchy signature that won’t look so good and
will have sharp edges all over the place. Instead, I suggest that they use a dull,
round-ended tool like a pencil, chopstick or ball-point pen to “displace” the clay as they
sign pots instead of painfully scraping into it with their needle tool. In my studio, I use
a ball-tipped tool for my signature. I found it, liked it… and bought a few of them!!!

So over the years, I have signed a lot of pots. And like I said, I never knew that many
people have “assumed” that I used a stamp to keep it so consistent. But it’s not a stamp.

But for those of you have known me and my pottery from the beginning…
you may recall some beginner pots that weren’t signed. My “early pots” have my first name
& year carved in with a needle tool. Yes, I did it too… a needle tool. I have since learned
better. But if you find an old pot with block lettering, we lovingly & mockingly
refer to those ones as “vintage.”

Another productive night in the studio. It’s always so much fun
when you pull a bunch of handles… and your cylinders finally become mugs!

Tonight I trimmed a bunch of things, added bottoms to the ovals and
added handles to the mugs. Getting ready to wrap them up for the night
to keep them “workable” for another day. Once the moisture levels “balance out”
a bit, I’ll add a little slip for a splash of color and then they can start drying!

After throwing some basic shapes last night in the studio, I came back tonight
to start the stamping. It feels good to have things “happening” in the studio again.
The holidays are finally over and things are getting back to normal.

So I pulled out some stamps and started pressing them in. Making the first “impressions”
of the New Year. Sadly, the newest batch of stamps has not been bisqued yet, so I’m still
using last year’s stamps… picking from the “thousands” of stamps in my studio arsenal.

Next up… trimming the mug cylinders, adding bottoms to the ovals…
and handles to the mugs! Otherwise, they’d just be cylinders, right?!

It seems like it’s been far too long…
And with classes starting again in a couple days, I thought I might want
to get back into the studio and make sure that I still remember how to throw!
It seems like so long ago…

After a two-hour Lillstreet teacher meeting, sheesh, I finally made it into the studio
to get my hands dirty. First, I started with a lot clay layering & wedging to get some
of my fresh reclaim clay prepared to go. I had reclaimed a huge pile of clay shortly
before the holidays, and just put it into clay bags to store it until I had time to
properly wedge it up. So today was the day. And then, once I had that “task” done,
it was time to start throwing. I started with a couple simple favorites… mugs & ovals.

Some simple cylinders… proving that I am still ready for class to start on Tuesday.
It may have been a long holiday break… but I’m back and ready to throw!

After spending some time “de-Christmasing” my studio tonight
and packing away all of my decorations, I had time left to play with some clay
and make a few new stamps. It’s kind of become an annual tradition…
New Stamps for the New Year!

And yes, I do put my name on every stamp… you never know who’s going to
borrow something, where they may “travel” on their own, and I frequently
let my class students borrow a few to decorate their pots!

I woke up this morning to Chicago’s first snowfall. Everything was white.
Alas, no morning sunrise bike ride for me. Instead, I used the time to assemble three
new ClayQuilts just in time for tomorrow’s “MUD & METAL” Holiday Home Show!

Just for the record, all of the snow melted within a couple hours.
But it was white when I woke up… I swear!

While bisque kiln #2 is cooling… it’s time to start glazing the pieces from bisque kiln #1.
So the pieces are spread out all over my studio. And I’m starting the process with glaze
inlaid into the stamped impressions and liner glazes.

One week closer to my soda kiln… and it’s time for another bisque kiln.
Just in time to fire the bisque, cool it and get the contents glazed for Friday’s loading.
It’s been a quick, fast-paced round of production this time trying to make enough work
to fill the soda kiln. I hope this bisque tops it off!

Layer #1 – bowls, ovals, tiles, ornaments… and a couple Karen Patinkin pieces!

Layer #2 – bowls, ovals, ornaments, tiles and soap dispensers.

Layer #3 – ovals, ornament, soap dispensers, tiles and more

Layer #4 – lots of tiles, a Karen Patinkin platter and some freshly made, still wet tripods
for firing my ornaments in the soda kiln. Yes, I made the tripods about 5 minutes before
loading them. Let’s hope they survive the firing?!!!

And, I think I may have redeemed myself a little better this time…
not as much empty kiln space as last time! I love me some kiln filler…

Tonight I unloaded my latest bisque kiln.
But now where do I put everything?! I’ve got a lot of glazing to do now…
but I’m still hoping to make another kiln’s worth of new work. And as you can see,
my tables & shelves are stacking up with bisque. So what to do?… Glaze & wad these pots
to get them out of the way? Or make more fresh pieces to fill another bisque kiln?!

Well, by now you know the answer is always ‘make more fresh work.’
I can glaze another day.

After teaching class tonight, I loaded another bisque kiln. One step closer
to my upcoming soda kiln. And you know how I pride myself on packing an
effective kiln. However, I’m kind of embarrassed to say that I didn’t do all that well this time.
I’ve been trying to crank out as much as I can, but I didn’t do so well with the smaller pieces
that fit into all those empty spaces! Sure the first couple layers were pretty good…
but by the third & fourth layers & was out of filler – only large pieces & no filler?!!! Sheesh.

Kiln Layer #1 – ovals & mugs

Kiln Layer #2 – ovals, mugs & bowls

Kiln Layer #3 – ovals, mugs & bowls

Kiln Layer #4 – ovals… and one more bowl!

Hopefully next Tuesday’s bisque kiln will be packed a little tighter…
as long as I’ve made enough new pieces between now and then!!!