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.

Spent a couple hours in the studio tonight layering & wedging
my latest batch of porcelain reclaim.
EIGHTY-SEVEN POUNDS of FREE CLAY!!!

Well worth a little bit of labor.
And now I have 87 pounds of FREE porcelain potential!!!

Another batch of porcelain reclaim on the plaster bat setting up a bit…
wedging to commence soon!

The orange lilies I “saved” from the dumpster at the glitter gig
and brought into my studio last week are looking better than ever!

A little Halloween Eve fun in the studio tonight. Working on my ornaments while resisting (slightly) the urge to break out into The Time Warp. And I’m not too proud to say it… I know all the words and I’m not afraid to sing along!!! So I did.

At the “glitter gig” today we had a bunch of floral come back from yesterday’s events. Sadly, most of the flowers were destined for the dumpster. Except for the ones that I “saved”… and brought to the studio to share with my studio neighbors! A great surprise for three of my neighbors… and a great way to make a vase’s true destiny come to fruition!

In my studio, I now have some structural orange Asiatic lilies… hanging out in a stamped & soda-fired oval vase. Surprise huh?… you know orange is my favorite color. So of course I kept these ones for myself.

And a second group with some red roses in another stamped oval. I love the layered “organization” of a rose as it opens. Some structural repetition… sound familiar?

Over in Lisa Harris‘ studio, I used one of her rectangular footed box vases for an autumnal collection of roses, mums and kale. For more about Lisa’s work, click here.

In the corner, Karen Patinkin got a collection of vibrant red roses. Perfect for one of her porcelain vases with intricate glazing & decoration. For more about Karen’s work, click here.

And Cathi Schwalbe now has a medley of Fall flowers in one of her handmade tumblers. Mums, roses, flowering kale and some seeded eucalyptus. For more about Cathi’s work, click here.

So much fun to see a great splash of color in my neighbor’s studios. Knowing that the flowers should have been in the dumpster by now, but instead now get a “new life” in some beautiful handmade vases!

After cranking through a lot of work getting ready for ART IN THE BARN, I found that I had a lot of clay scraps to reclaim.I’ve been breaking them up and submerging them in my reclaim bucket. So the scraps have slaked down & re-hydrated to a very wet, gooey clay. So I turned it out onto a large plaster bat. The plaster will draw the water out of the clay quicker… and in a couple days I can start wedging it up for a LOT of “free” clay.

And then since I had an empty reclaim bin… I decied to wash it out and switch to reclaiming some porcelain. I had a few scraps of my own to break up. But I also had several clay bags full of porcelain from my friend & potter Emily.

So I started breaking them all up all of the scraps… and then dumped them into my reclaim bin with water.

But then I found several of Emily’s bags had clay that wasn’t quite dry yet. Reclaiming clay works so much better when you start with dry scraps. The water seems to soak in more evenly and faster. So I spread out the rest of Emily’s porcelain scraps so they can dry overnight.

More breaking, crushing, smashing and submerging tomorrow!!!