I stopped into the studio this morning to check on my kiln. My cone 04 kiln was “almost’ cool enough to unload. So I waited a few minutes while I put on gloves, and then tackled to warm kiln. I just couldn’t wait to unload my latest batch of terra cotta planters. These will be making their way to the Schaumburg Prairie Arts Festival this weekend.

Schaumburg Prairie Fine Arts Festival
Robert O. Atcher Municipal Center
201 Schaumburg Court in Schaumburg, Illinois
Saturday, May 24th & Sunday, May 25th, 2014 – 10:00am-5:00pm

And the other kiln was still firing… my cone 6 kiln was near the top temperature and the peeps were glowing orange!!!

With the Schaumburg Prairie Arts Festival drawing close, I’m in the final stretch and trying to squeeze in as much as I can. And at this point in the game, you gotta love low-fire terra cotta projects that can be fired once in an electric kiln. So it’s down to the wire… make, make, make… trying to make as many as I can, and get them dried in time to get them safely into the kiln… and back out in time for the art fair next weekend. The sides are set for this batch, next up… bottoms & rims! Then onto another batch!!!

There were so many different styles & techniques displayed on the Minnesota Pottery Tour. So much eye-candy & visual inspiration. Taken out of context though, how many of these ceramic artists can you name based on a snapshot of their decorative technique!?

Artists names will be revealed some time next week!!!
Answers are now posted in RED as of 5/29/14.

#1 : Shoko Teruyama

#2 : Steven Hill

#3 : Andy Balmer

#4 : Bill Gossman

#5 : Dan Finnegan

#6 : Delores Fortuna

#7 : Ellen Shankin

#8 : Richard Vincent

#9 : George Lowe

#10 : Jeff Oestreich

#11 : Jo Severson

#12 : Jenny Mendes

#13 : Suze Lindsay

#14 : Steven Young Lee

#15 : Silvie Granatelli

#16 : Sandra Byers

#17 : Kent McLaughlin

#18 : Karin Kraemer

#19 : Robert Briscoe

#20 : Mark Shapiro

#21 : Mary Roettger

#22 : Richard Hensley

#23 : Simon Levin

#24 : Matthew Metz

#25 : Craig Edwards

#26 : Sarah Jaeger

#27 : Steven Hill

#28 : Sam Taylor

#29 : Steven Young Lee

#30 : Donna Polseno

#31 : Robert Briscoe

#32 : Karin Kraemer

#33 : Ani Kasten

#34 : George Lowe

#35 : Mary Barringer

#36 : Matthew Metz

#37 : Ernest Miller

#38 : Steven Hill

#39 : Naomi Dalglish

#40 : Steven Young Lee

#41 : Mary Barringer

#42 : Winthrop Byers

So glad these turned out as expected. These textured wall pillows are part of a special order I’ve been working on for one of my best customers. I’m generally not a fan of commissions or special orders… but as a special request for a special customer, I had to bend the rules. It’s not every day Marilyn turns seventy!!!

Fresh out of the kiln… soda-fired slab vases! Each with a different texture “picture” on each side. Here’s a few quick glimpses of the latest textures & finishes…

Tonight was another night of glazing fun.
Which I must admit is my least favorite part of the whole process.
But I digress…

So here’s a glimpse into the “fun” I had tonight while I was glazing the textured tile pillows.
So here they are “Before”… fresh out of the bisque kiln.

“During”… when I had coated the tops with a layer of temoku glaze.

And then a gentle wipe with damp sponge to clean off the “high points” and allow the glaze to stay in the indentations.

“After”… and now you can see how the inlaid glaze really helps “pop” the stamped patterns & impressions.

The “constellation” group looks pretty fun… and then there’s details of them too…

Yesterday I made four textured slab vases. With days counting down to my soda kiln next weekend. I only have a few days left… and I’ve decided that yesterday had to be my last day to work wet. That is if I have any hope of finishing them and getting them at all close to dry in time for Monday’s bisque kiln. So today I added some colored slip to the four vases… and for the first time, I used soda clay on one side, and stoneware with iron on the other. I’ve always made them with a different pattern on each side… this time they’re different clay too. Let’s hope it works…

Today I finished another batch of textured wall pillows. I’ve been putting off making them longer than I should. They’re a special order and I’ve known about them for a long time. Knowing that they’ve got to get into my soda kiln next weekend finally became a “good” deadline for me to get my act together!!! So I’ve made more than I need for the special order… hoping that they all turn out well.

Before class tonight I had a bit of time to add some flashing slips
to my latest batch of salt & pepper shakers.

These are handbuilt with clay slabs… and I call them “textured tile” salt & peppers because they are similar to the textured tiles I make. Just a bit larger, a bit “puffier” and will someday be filled with spices! After class, I drilled the shaker holes with my power drill… and now they’re drying overnight as I’m loading them into a bisque kiln tomorrow night!

After spending the afternoon at the Shamrock Shuffle Expo, my biking friend Chris came back to the studio with me to play in the clay. We got to pretend we were “athletes” at the Expo, and then we got down & dirty in my studio. Chris has done a lot of other crafty projects, but this was her first time actually working in my studio. We decided to start “small”with some textured slab plates.

So first I showed her how to pull a slab by hand. And she rolled coils to create her own “slump” mold edges. Then we added textures to the slab… and Chris decided to go with some squiggles on the bottom of her plate using a plastic trowel from the hardware store.

After draping her textured slab over the slump-mold-coils,
she gently squished it in and then cut off the extra edges.

Some more textures to stylize the short ends of her tray…

And yes, those fingernails are an OBVIOUS sign that Chris is NOT a potter!!!
Pretty, but… those nails would have to go!

Chris did a great job, and created a wonderful plate. But the cutest part was when she stopped to admire and take pictures of her own work. Adorable!!!

And not one to stop with a platter… we also made a round bowl and a square plate.

So now her plates are drying. Tomorrow we rest & carbo-load…
for Sunday we will both be running in Chicago’s 8K Shamrock Shuffle!