I spent the day today in my basement storage room getting ready for this weekend’s art fair.
A lot of people don’t quite understand all of the work that goes on “behind-the-scenes.”
It’s not just the “fun” of making pots. There’s a LOT of work that goes on throughout the year
to keep the business running. Today it was “processing” all of the pieces that have come out
of my recent kilns. A lot of prepping, pricing & packing… and a LOT of pottery!!!

The good news… that after a VERY long day with the help of my best art fair assistants ever,
we got everything packed up and ready for the weekend. In fact, everything is already packed
in my parent’s van as well. We have a Friday afternoon set-up for the Barrington show. And it
will be extra nice to not be packing the van in the morning AND setting up in the afternoon.
I feel like we have a little head-start on it all this time!

After a frantic & productive weekend, and some fast drying in front of the fans,
everything was ready to be loaded & fired in the electric kiln. My plan is to fire to cone 04
so that I can bisque my stoneware, aas well as single-fire my glazed terra cotta pumpkins!
Sure, it may not be my tightest packed kiln ever. But considering I had nothing
even in the works just five days ago, I think I filled it pretty well.

Layer #1 – clear glazed (yes, the green turns clear) mini pumpkins and some ovals.

Layer #2 -more ovals, stamped bowls and a couple terra cotta pieces left over from Camp.

Layer #3 – even more ovals… and two terra cotta trays being re-fired for studio friend Lisa.

Layer #4 – clear glazed Jack O’Lanterns… and one lone oval that didn’t fit down below!

Friday…
After the Lillstreet staff party on the rooftop, I threw a LOT of pieces & parts.
Throwing both stoneware and terra cotta in alternating “waves”  and trying to clean up
everything between each so that things didn’t get all mixed up!

Saturday…
When I came into the studio, I altered the cylinders into oval shapes & stamped them.
I also started giving some shape to the pumpkins… both large & small. Turning the smooth,
round thrown shapes into irregular pumpkins!

Sunday…
I attached bottoms to the oval cylinders and added some more details to the pumpkins.
First it was the stems, then it was carving the Jack O’Lantern faces and warty-bumps!

Monday…
I added colored slip details to the ovals, and painted the pumpkins with colored underglazes.
Painting the pumpkins really brings them to life.

And now, everything is sitting in front of a couple fans overnight… as they are being “rushed”
to get into an electric kiln tomorrow night. I even placed them all on plastic grids elevated on
wood sticks so that air can circulate under the pots as well… hoping to dry them faster &
more evenly!!! And if all goes well, everything will come out well. And the Halloween novelties
I was so motivated to complete will make it to the Barrington art fair in time!!!

I also took a lot of photos throughout the production line.
Coming soon… I’ll be posting some step-by-step process pictures of all three shapes!

Bowl #1… a simple serving bowl, in desperate need for some surface decoration!

Bowl #2… a little lower, a little flatter and too plain to leave alone!

So I just looked at my calendar… and had a momentary panic
when I realized that “Art In The Barn” is just a week away.

Sure, I’ve got plenty of work from my latest soda kiln…
but I always think I need to make more. And I’ve got a couple days, right?!
So why not put the pedal to the metal and make some things quick!

Tonight I threw a LOT of pieces!!! Multi-tasking between stoneware & terra cotta.
Trying my best to not contaminate one or the other too much. I really thought
I needed to make more Halloween novelties in time for “Art In The Barn.”
But, I was pretty sure I can’t make enough to fil the entire electric kiln, so why not
make some more ovals as well? You know how I love making ovals…
almost as much as making mugs?!!!

It’s never too soon to start making new Christmas ornaments… right?!

It’s always so exciting to see what happened while the kiln was firing.
You glaze them and imagine one thing… sometimes they work, sometimes
they don’t, and sometimes… it’s just a wonderful surprise!!!

As part of today’s “must-clean-studio-while-firing-kiln” program, I just plopped
out another huge pile of reclaim clay onto my plaster bat. This is the second half
of the scraps that Amy bequeathed to me earlier this year. Yippee – more free clay!!!

So I finally finished glazing & wadding my pieces. Exhausted. Relieved.
Once they’re all done, the go onto my rolling studio cart (that my Dad made for me),
and we all go downstairs on the freight elevator. A little rickety, but still much
better than carrying everything by hand down to the first floor!

And yes, that is masking tape stretched across each shelf acting as a “safety belt” to keep
the pots from hopping off the shelves as they jiggle down the hall & elevator.

Take the tape off, and I’m ready to start loading. The back stack is always the quickest.
I think it’s the fact that it’s one shelf, no seam and you have a whole cart of possible pieces.
When you get to the front, it’s two shelves with a seam between shelves to contend with…
and the selection of pieces left on the cart is beginning to dwindle. So it’s all a big game
trying to get everything in, packed well, but not too crowded, but crowded enough to get
my money’s worth! Too loose and everything doesn’t make it in. Pack it too tight and
the soda atmosphere doesn’t have any room to travel around the kiln –
and you end up with some dry pockets!

So here’s a glimpse of the back stack…. with tall, textured slab vases all the way to the top!

And here’s the completed front stack. Complete with cone packs… which I have
a tendency to forget until it’s too late and I’ve already started bricking the door.

Now that it;s all packed, the front door is bricked into place and it’s good for the night.

There are still far too many naked pots in my studio.
I just unloaded my second bisque kiln.  I now officially have a LOT OF POTS
to glaze & wad before I can ever start loading tomorrow night. Yikes!!!
Not quite sure how & when this is all going to get done?!