Spent some time tonight trimming my stamped cylinders… with my favorite trimming tool. THE GIFFIN GRIP. It’s a brilliant contraption that instantly centers things and makes my trimming life so much easier in the studio!!! Love it.

Spent the afternoon making some more FREE clay. My reclaim was turned out onto a large plaster bat a few days ago. The gooey clay has firmed up a bit… so it was a day full of “fast-drying” with slices in front of the fan, and a LOT of wedging!!! But still… five bags of FREE CLAY!!! And you know how I like free clay!

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I had a great “surprise” visit from a budding potter from Nova Scotia yesterday. She follows along on Facebook and found herself in Chicago for a conference. So she stopped by and luckily I was around to meet her, chat and give her a quick tour. So much fun to meet some of my Facebook friends in person! Plus, she now has two nice mugs going home with her to Canada!

When faced with a small studio space in Chicago,
organization is the key. And I have one suggestion… PEGBOARD!!!
Go vertical with the help of IKEA baskets & cups.

It’s been a very busy week. Making. Glazing. Loading. Firing.
All in preparation for this weekend’s Schaumburg Prairie Arts Festival.
And while I’m already rushing about, why not add one more project to my to-do-list like developing some new glazes? I’m firing a Cone 6 electric oxidation kiln for some fun bright colors. So I mixed up a few new Cone 6 glaze recipes… hoping that one or two of them might turn out nice?!

I’m firing two test tiles of each color – one for the top of the kiln, and the other for the bottom. As well as a vertical tube to check for runniness. Fingers crossed that something works out. Maybe not in time for this weekend’s art fair… but maybe in time for some new colored pieces for Hinsdale in another two weeks?

Dirty… but still doing their duty!

I’ve been doing so well at reclaiming & re-using my clay…
that I kind of “forgot” to use some of my “new” clay. Well, new back in 2011 or 2013.

Here’s the key to the secret code: The last two digits of the Continental Clay code is the year it was produced, and the number before is the month. So I’ve got boxes from August 2011 and February 2013!!! Both of which were practically dry!

So I spent a lot of tonight pounding the hardened blocks on the ground to “re-awaken” the thixotropic clay. Didn’t soften it enough, so I also added some holes and filled them with water. I’m hoping that in a couple days we’ll be back to some good usable clay, And I’ll be able to use that five year old clay as though it were “new” again!

It was a very productive night in the studio last night.
Looks like I’ve got some stamping & trimming for later today!

Have I mentioned lately how much I LOVE trimming??? No seriously… I do…

Every year it seems like I have  “slow start” in the studio. Tough getting back into the swing of things. Tough “messing up” my beautifully clean holiday studio. But I’ve finished reclaiming clay… I’ve put away the holiday decorations… I’ve watered the plants… I’ve procrastinated enough. So tonight I finally kicked it into gear. And what better place to start than with some new stamps for the New Year?!

So I started to make stamps the way I always do. Made a few… but then decided I should mix it up a bit. So I looked around and found this really great wooden stamp that I picked up at NCECA last spring. I haven’t used it much… and it has been sitting on the shelf for quite awhile. So why not put it to use?!

So I took a small coil of clay and squished it into a portion of the Celtic design. Pressing in, squishing around and gently pulling the clay back out. Suddenly finding that the “reverse” pattern is pretty intriguing.

And if one worked well, why not make more?!…

And then I looked around and found a few more pieces to play with. Some laser-cut pieces of wood that I had not even pulled out of the packaging yet. I bought them, but haven’t really figured out how to use them. Here we go…

And then after a little more detailing… I think I might have a great stamp?!

So again… I kept making more. My thought is always that you should make a LOT of stamps… and along the way you’ll stumble on a few that you really love!!!

So by the end of the night, I have a few double-ended stamps drying for the night. These will dry and be bisqued before I can start using them.