Two of my favorites!… Mugs & Stamps!
Tonight my Beginning Wheelthrowing students finished their first mugs!
They trimmed their cylinders, pulled traditional handles and attached them.
Not bad for their third week of class, huh?!

After finishing their mugs, we then switched over to making stamps!
We always do it early in the session so that they can get them bisqued quickly. Then they
can start using them for the rest of the session. Tonight they made their first stamps…
let their texturing begin!!!

So when I was trimming a bunch of pots today, finishing them off and signing the bottoms…
I remembered how many questions I get during art fair season about my signature on the
bottoms. And yes… for the record… I do in fact sign every pot by hand. One at a time.
It never crossed my mind that many people “assume” that there is a some signature stamp
somehow involved in the process. But the answer is NO. I don’t believe in that. Never have.
I think a signature is a signature. And should be done by hand. If I had a “signature stamp”
then anyone could be “signing” pots with my name?! Interns… Apprentices… Imposters?!
I think it’s important that each piece is signed by hand… by me!

So I teach my students to sign all of their pots as well. And it’s one of my “pet peeves”
when they try to sign their pots with their sharp needle tool. I try to explain to them
that it is too pointy and will just make a scratchy signature that won’t look so good and
will have sharp edges all over the place. Instead, I suggest that they use a dull,
round-ended tool like a pencil, chopstick or ball-point pen to “displace” the clay as they
sign pots instead of painfully scraping into it with their needle tool. In my studio, I use
a ball-tipped tool for my signature. I found it, liked it… and bought a few of them!!!

So over the years, I have signed a lot of pots. And like I said, I never knew that many
people have “assumed” that I used a stamp to keep it so consistent. But it’s not a stamp.

But for those of you have known me and my pottery from the beginning…
you may recall some beginner pots that weren’t signed. My “early pots” have my first name
& year carved in with a needle tool. Yes, I did it too… a needle tool. I have since learned
better. But if you find an old pot with block lettering, we lovingly & mockingly
refer to those ones as “vintage.”

Another productive night in the studio. It’s always so much fun
when you pull a bunch of handles… and your cylinders finally become mugs!

Tonight I trimmed a bunch of things, added bottoms to the ovals and
added handles to the mugs. Getting ready to wrap them up for the night
to keep them “workable” for another day. Once the moisture levels “balance out”
a bit, I’ll add a little slip for a splash of color and then they can start drying!

After throwing some basic shapes last night in the studio, I came back tonight
to start the stamping. It feels good to have things “happening” in the studio again.
The holidays are finally over and things are getting back to normal.

So I pulled out some stamps and started pressing them in. Making the first “impressions”
of the New Year. Sadly, the newest batch of stamps has not been bisqued yet, so I’m still
using last year’s stamps… picking from the “thousands” of stamps in my studio arsenal.

Next up… trimming the mug cylinders, adding bottoms to the ovals…
and handles to the mugs! Otherwise, they’d just be cylinders, right?!

After spending some time “de-Christmasing” my studio tonight
and packing away all of my decorations, I had time left to play with some clay
and make a few new stamps. It’s kind of become an annual tradition…
New Stamps for the New Year!

And yes, I do put my name on every stamp… you never know who’s going to
borrow something, where they may “travel” on their own, and I frequently
let my class students borrow a few to decorate their pots!

My firing yesterday was smooth & effortless. I spent the day cleaning my studio
while I was “trapped” there firing all day long. I started early in the morning so it wasn’t
too late in the evening when I finally turned it off for the day. Then, all day Sunday it cooled
and it was still over two hundred degrees when I got there around 6:00pm tonight. When you
unbrick the kiln door, it’s always great to see the results. A treasure trove full of new pots!

Once the kiln is unloaded and the pots are packed up to take home, then the “real” fun begins.
Cleaning. Yes, the kiln needs to be cleaned after every kiln firing. Scraping shelves. Sweeping
out the fire box. Kiln washing the shelves. Sweeping. Cleaning. etc… all of that “glamorous”
stuff that no one realizes is all part of making that one pot they eventually see at the art fair!

Well, it’s finally my soda firing weekend. It’s been a long & productive two weeks getting
ready… throwing, stamping, firing, glazing, wadding and getting ready to load the kiln.
So I rolled my studio cart down to the kiln room. Safe after the trip down the freight elevator –
thanks to the masking tape “safety belts” that I put on the shelves to keep pots from
“jumping off the cart along the way.

And then it was time to load. Which takes me a lot longer than most people.
Especially with my “addiction” for filling all of the kiln shelf spaces. No shelf space left unfilled.
I’ve got tiles. I’ve got ornaments. I’ve got kiln filler galore!!! So here’s the back stack
of the kiln, one shelf deep. With lots of filler. And ready to start the front…

And then here’s the front stack which is two shelves deep. Including cone packs
in just the right places! Ready to be melted down!

So once it’s all filled up with pots, posts and shelves… it’s time to close the door
with individual bricks. Layer by layer. Brick by brick. Then a quick warm-up…
closed up for the night… and ready to fire tomorrow!!!

While bisque kiln #2 is cooling… it’s time to start glazing the pieces from bisque kiln #1.
So the pieces are spread out all over my studio. And I’m starting the process with glaze
inlaid into the stamped impressions and liner glazes.

One week closer to my soda kiln… and it’s time for another bisque kiln.
Just in time to fire the bisque, cool it and get the contents glazed for Friday’s loading.
It’s been a quick, fast-paced round of production this time trying to make enough work
to fill the soda kiln. I hope this bisque tops it off!

Layer #1 – bowls, ovals, tiles, ornaments… and a couple Karen Patinkin pieces!

Layer #2 – bowls, ovals, ornaments, tiles and soap dispensers.

Layer #3 – ovals, ornament, soap dispensers, tiles and more

Layer #4 – lots of tiles, a Karen Patinkin platter and some freshly made, still wet tripods
for firing my ornaments in the soda kiln. Yes, I made the tripods about 5 minutes before
loading them. Let’s hope they survive the firing?!!!

And, I think I may have redeemed myself a little better this time…
not as much empty kiln space as last time! I love me some kiln filler…

So last night my new postcards arrived… as well as my chocolate cake!
So this morning I’ve been labeling & stamping postcards, and eating cake…
with the hopes of getting them into today’s mail. Then it’s back to the studio
to make more pots. Looking at the calendar, I think today is going to be the last day
to throw wet new work if I hope to stamp, trim & dry them in time for next Tuesday’s
bisque kiln. Which then leaves me just a couple nights to glaze & wad for Friday night’s
soda kiln loading. The holidays are coming quick… and I’m already running out of days!