I’m so used to cranking out as much pottery as I can usually this time of year. You know, getting ready for all of the summer art fairs. Racing to meet deadlines. Scheduling and working towards kiln dates… work, work, work. But this whole Coronavirus thing is really screwing up my mojo! With all of the summer art fairs being cancelled one after another, it’s weird to NOT have that kind of pressure & incentive to keep busy in the studio. Plus, the fact that there is NO ONE around in the studio… there’s no excitement or “energy” there either! It’s just WEIRD.

But, I have been working in the studio… trying to keep busy… trying to maintain some sort of “normalcy” in my life. Trying to find it anywhere I can! So I finally made enough work to fill a bisque kiln. So here it is… layer-by=layer. Not my tightest packed kiln… but it did feel good loading & closing the lid!

Bisque Layer #1 – mugs, oval vases, bowls & ornaments

Bisque Layer #2 – more oval vases, bowls, square vases, berry bowls and more ornaments!

Bisque Layer #3 – sgraffito platters, platters, spoon rests, tiny bowls and a square vase!

Bisque Layer #4 – more berry bowls, mugs, bowls and couple square vases

Bisque Layer #5 – small plates for berry bowls stacked to fit.

i didn’t think I even had quite enough work to fill the kiln. Turns out that I did… as there were still a few pieces that didn’t quite fit into this load. Luckily, the top shelf worked out pretty well… loading pretty much right to the top. Not a lot of extra space there!

So I’ve often said the best thing in the pottery studio is POWER TOOLS!
Especially when “drilling” lots of drainage holes into the bottoms of a bunch of berry bowls?!
So why not use a POWER DRILL to drill the holes?!

So I’ve already trimmed the bowls, and let them stiffen up to the “drier-side” of leatherhard. Not squishy. Not tacky. But definitely NOT bone dry yet. And then I start by making the first ring of holes just inside the footring… and then continue on the outside of the footring, between… staggered… lined-up… all different patterns!

And then I let them sit out a bit longer so the drilled “burrs” will brush off easily. Once the shredded debris stiffens up, I use a stiff paint brush to wipe all of those extra pieces off both inside & out! It’s always fun to see the drilled pattern after cleaning out the debris!

Now that they’re drilled full of drainage holes, I’ll let them dry to bone dry. And then I’ll take a green scrubby 3M pad to smooth out some of the rough edges before bisque firing.

Next up?… throwing a bunch of small plates to work as the drainage catch plate!

So my friend Cory McCrory has been working on a new teapot for an upcoming show. And don’t for a moment think it is a “normal” teapot thrown on the wheel like I would make. Oh no… that’s NOT how Cory rolls!

Instead, Cory makes these elaborate, handbuilt sculptures with paperclay that have made me smile for YEARS!!! We first met at the Hinsdale Fine Arts Fair when our booths were one row away from each other. I could see her work, she could see mine… but we didn’t have a lot of time to go over and look as we were both busy in our booths. But I could already tell from a distance that I was enamored already!!! I finally made it over to her both and instantly fell in love with Cory AND her amazing work!!!

So if you’re NOT following Cory on Facebook or Instagram, you definitely should be!!! She’s been working on this amazing teapot for the past couple weeks… and graciously been sharing photos every step of the way. I’ll post a “teaser” of the finished underglazed version as it goes into the kiln here. But for the full “start-to-finish” Photo Album, click here for a link to her Facebook page.

Another productive studio night with a lot of stamping. The bowls were thrown (against my natural instinct) without a spiral… and you know how much I LOVE a good spiral!!! But these are going to become berry bowls, and I didn’t want the spiral to “get in the way” of the drainage holes I’ll be drilling through the bottom later.

Bowl #1 –

Bowl #2 –

Bowl #3 –

Bowl #4 –

Bowl #5 –

Bowl #6 –

Bowl #7 –

Bowl #8 –

Bowl #9 –

Bowl #10 –

Bowl #11 –

Bowl #13 –

Bowl #14 –

Bowl #15 –

So for now they’re all stamped and back under plastic for the night. I’ll tackle trimming the bottom to add a foot ring tomorrow… and then drainage holes after that. Once trimmed & drilled, then I’ll throw a batch of small plates to fit… drainage catch plates for the berry bowls!

And while I was already in the studio stamping… I decided I might as well just continue & stamp the lidded jars that were already under plastic in my studio. So I did… I mean, I was already there!

Just a quick “tour” while I was stamping my latest batch of mugs… showing the plain mug after throwing, after being stamped, as well as the handmade clay stamp that did the hard work! I was just there pressing…

Mug #1 –

Mug #2 –

Mug #3 –

Mug #4 –

Mug #5 –

Mug #6 –

Mug #7 –

Mug #8 –

Mug #9 –

Mug #10 –

Mug #11 –

So for now they’re all stamped and under wraps for the night. I will most likely trim them tomorrow night, and then try to get handles on the on Monday… what a great way to celebrate another Mugshot Monday than by making more mugs!!!

So I finally finished stamping a new batch of bowls. I’ve been trying to stay productive and get into the studio as often as possible… but with all of the craziness going on these days, it’s tough. Luckily, my studio is very safe & isolated these days. Lillstreet has been closed to the public for weeks now, and I am seemingly the ONLY person there working at night… safely “trapped” in my own little work space… well-isolated from anyone else! And as a potter, I feel like I’m washing my hands ALL the time!!!

So they’ve been stamped… and now they’re all under wraps waiting to be trimmed… and then fired… and then glazed… and fired again! I remembered to take photos of the stamps that did the magic… well, for some of them any ways?!

Bowl A

Bowl B

Bowl C –

Bowl D –

Bowl E –

Bowl F –

Bowl G –

Bowl H –

Bowl I –

Bowl J –

Bowl K –

So my reclaimed clay has been sitting out on my plaster bat for about a week in my studio. Tonight I finally decided it was time to tackle the large pile, cut it up, layer it, slice it, layer it more, pound it into cubes and then bag it up. The “real” wedging will happen when I get around to actually using the clay to make something!

Making some porcelain “carrots” before making porcelain handles. I think it’s a god shape to start with… wedged and compressed into this shape before pulling into handle shape.

So I just finished pulling some traditional handle. I just gotta let them set up a bit… and then I can start attaching them to mugs!!! I like to loop then over like this so that they are already most-of-the-way into curved handle shape before they start to set-up. Of course there can be a lot of re-shaping after they’re attached to the mug!

Here we go…
Score… slip… squish… attach… repeat… repeat… repeat…

Just finishing up the latest batch of porcelain mugs on another Mugshot Monday. Handles are attached & under wraps for the night as they start to dry slowly. Tomorrow I will do a little clean-up on them before I unwrap to let them dry completely.

While we’re all secluded and anxiously awaiting to “reclaim” our normal lives… I thought it was time to turn out another large batch of reclaim clay! A big pile of wonderfully gooey stoneware reclaimed clay ready to set-up on my plaster bat until it solidifies enough to start wedging up again!!! Gotta love FREE CLAY!!!