With last night’s surface decoration demonstrations…
including some techniques from my friend & potter Amy Higgason…
I was surprised with the HUGE coincidence of her posting some pictures
of her own work that she had done in her own studio up in Northern
Wisconsin that same day. So while we were “channeling” the carving style
of Amy Higgason, she was actually doing it too! And much better!!!

Here are some photos of the incredible platter she was working on…
See… THIS is how it’s supposed to be done!!! Stunning as always!!!

Check out more of Amy’s incredible work on her website or Facebook.
Search for Amy at Pigeon Road Pottery.

Yes… in that order.
Generally that’s the sequence I like to do it in.

I stamp my pots when the clay is considered “wet” leather-hard.
No longer sticky, no longer squishy. Yet still moist enough for a good impression.
Too wet and stamps stick, the shape gets all warpy and it’s no fun.
Too dry and the stamp impressions aren’t deep enough and the pot can crack.
Okay, this time they were still a bit squishy… but I digress…
After I stamp the last pot in the batch, the first pot is typically ready to be trimmed.
So I trim them all, and if they are going to be soda-fired, I add some colored slip accents.
Then I set them aside so they can dry… and that’s where we’re at as of tonight!

Tonight I made it back to the studio with one primary focus… handles!
The stamped cylinders were all trimmed and ready… waiting for tonight.
So I came in and quickly pulled all 27 handles – and setting them up so they could
stiffen up a bit. The key to attaching “clean” handles is waiting for them to be
a soft leatherhard, bendable, yet not squishy. Luckily, by time I made it to the end
of pulling all 27 handles… the first ones were already stiffened a bit and ready to go!

So I started attaching handles… score, slip, attach, repeat…
but then I had to take a quick break. My friend & fellow potter Emily Murphy is
in town this weekend and visiting Lillstreet… her former pottery home! And by the way,
she’s huge!!! Very pregnant. Very cute. Looking like she’s ready to pop… but still has
a couple months to go! So after a very quick visit, it was back to attaching handles…
score, slip, attach, repeat… And after a lot of scoring… handles are now in place
and all cylinders are now mugs! Under wraps while the moisture-level balances out
until I can make it back in to add some colored slip accents.

So this morning I got a text message during Step Class.
Typically I don’t even think about it until class ends… sweating… huffin’ & puffin’…
but I was waiting for a “movie response” from one of my friends, so I checked it when
I heard the alert. It wasn’t who I was waiting for. Instead, it was a picture from Pam,
one of my favorite customers, showing me how she had hung the wall pocket vase
she had purchased over the holidays and filled with flowers! She loves it… and I’m happy!

If anyone else has pictures of my work being used in your home, or a friend’s home,
or your office, or your garden… well, anywhere… I’d love to see. I especially enjoy seeing
that my pottery is actually being used and that my customers are pleased.

Take a picture.
Share.

When I unloaded my electric kiln, I finally got my bisqued stamps back.
The newest batch of stamps ready to use. And lucky for me, I had twenty-seven
mug cylinders ready to be stamped! So I set forth and started stamping…

I “forced myself” to only use the new stamps for this go-around. Trying to figure out
which patterns I liked and which ones might not work out so well. I must say,
I was pleased with the results so far…

This afternoon I unloaded my electric kiln full of terra cotta – and some new stamps!
So my first kiln of the New Year is finally done. And everything turned out great!
I especially love the rustic orange color of the terra cotta and the “antiqued” quality
that the black underglaze gives it.

So here’s my dilemma… In my head these were intended to be planters for outside
on your deck or patio. And I know that I don’t like my outdoor plants to have trays
as they collect water and sit in puddles after it rains. So I didn’t make water trays to match.
Should I have made matching trays?! A couple people at the studio have asked
about the trays – and now I’m kind of second-guessing myself. Keep in mind, that not
everyone would need the tray. But if I were to make trays to match, it not only means
I need to make trays to the correct sizes and keep them together as pairs, but it also
increases the price point by nearly double! Is it worth it?!

You know I love making mugs.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… If I could only make one shape or form
for the rest of my pottery career, I would choose mugs. I love making mugs!
So tonight was a fun night as I opened up a bag of my newly reclaimed clay
and set out to make a “bag’s worth” of mug cylinders… which turned out to be 27.

It was extra fun tonight as my friends Pam & Pat just came back from a very long holiday
in Hawaii. They both came into Lillstreet tonight for a potluck, to see some friends
and so Pam could get back to making more pots… to finally get her hands dirty for
the first time this year!!! And since her husband Pat doesn’t work in clay, he came up
to my studio to chat and to watch me throw. I had a small challenge to see how quickly
I could throw all 27 cylinders. Turns out I can throw 27 wedged balls into “mug cylinders”
in about 90 minutes… which also included talking to Pat and watching part of a movie
while I was throwing!!! Not bad. But I’m sure the stamping, trimming, handle attaching,
drying, firing, glazing, firing, etc. will take a LOT longer!!!

It was also fun tonight as I finally got to give Pam her “belated” surprise Christmas present.
A couple weeks ago, Amy Higgason and I had dinner together and we decided to give one
of the bowls we made during our collaboration workshop to Pam. We had made five bowls
together. So Amy kept two, I kept two… and we thought Pam would love the fifth!!!
Pam has been in my class for the past couple sessions and was quickly enamored with Amy
and her techniques during the demo. We knew Pam would be thrilled… and she was!!!

Tonight I glazed the interior of my terra cotta flower boxes with a new
brown low-fire glaze that I purchased from Chicago Ceramic Supply this morning.
I’ve never used this color before, so I hope they turn out “somewhat similar” to the
glaze test tiles they had there! As usual, I went right ahead with “reckless abandon”
and glazed them all… no need to test it on just one, right?!!!

Once glazed, I loaded them all into the kiln along with the long trays.
An overnight, electric kiln firing… and they should be cooled & done this weekend!

So my terra cotta trays & flower boxes are finally bone dry.
So tonight I decided it was time to “stain” them with some black underglaze.
I like the look of the unglazed terra cotta after it has been stained, colored &
antiqued a bit with some black underglaze rubbed into them.

I start with covering the entire piece with water-down black underglaze.
I then let it sit for just a few minutes and then gently wipe off the top surface.
Making sure to to wipe off too much, or too deeply. The idea is to leave some
underglaze in all of the grooves and indentations. Really making the textures
and patterns “pop” without having to cover the terra cotta beauty with glaze

Once they were all stained, I called it a night. They need to dry again completely
overnight. Tomorrow I’ll glaze the interiors with a low-fire brown glaze. They can
then be loaded into the kiln and fired once. If all goes as planned…
they should be done by this weekend. My first kiln of the new year!