So I spent tonight at the studio stamping pots… okay, squishy pots.
I was kind of in a hurry and wanted to get them all stamped tonight.
For some reason?! Not sure why… I could have done them tomorrow?

Typically I stamp when the pots are a “damp” leatherhard. But since these
were some of the pots I threw yesterday, they were wetter than I would have liked.
So I unwrapped them, let them sit out for a little while and then stamped them
as they slowly stiffened up a bit. But I couldn’t wait.

So instead, I stamped very cautiously!!!

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.

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?!

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!

So I tackled my pile of reclaim clay this afternoon. Fun, huh?
It had sat out open to the air for a couple days on a large plaster bat.
And it was still a little wetter & gooier than I would normally use.
But this time, I had a plan…

Knowing that I have a couple older bags of clay that are a little hard, I decided to use
this opportunity to soften it up with the reclaim. So I pulled it off the plaster bat,
cut it into smaller pieces and did very little wedging to get it more reconstituted.
All in all, my pile of “goo” weighed in at just shy of 90 pounds of new clay! Love it.
So I cut thin slices of reclaim and layered them with thin slices of the stiffer soda clay.
Fun with a wire tool. And lots of layers.

So the trick is to cut the thin layers of clay and alternate the clays you’re trying to incorporate.
Once you have a tall stack, it’s just a matter of slamming it down on the table to “compress”
the layers together. Then you slice the stack in half vertically through all the layers, and place
one half on top of the other half. Pick up the new stack and slam it again. Slice it in half again
vertically and stack it again! Slam it again. Slice it again. Stack it again. Got it?

Several repetitions of this simple task will surprisingly mix your clays effectively. Each time
you re-stack the two halves, it doubles the number of layers. So when you slam it down, the
layers get thinner. Double it again, double the layers and slam it so each layer gets thinner.
Over and over again! I then pounded them into simple blocks of new clay and put them into
clay bags. I’ll keep them sealed up far a week or so before I start using them. But after that…
the possibilities are endless. And I now have a LOT of “new” clay with just a little work!

I’ve always said “I like to play in the mud”…
so I’m starting the New Year with a big pile of mud!!!
I couldn’t decide what to do when I got into the studio today. So it was a bunch of cleaning
and organizing. Prepping for production to begin. Cleaning. Scrubbing. Refilling. Sweeping.
And “cookin’ up” some nice new clay…

Actually, it’s my latest pile of reclaim clay. Having slaked for a couple months over the
holidays, it’s all nice a gooey and ready to start turning it back into clay. So today I turned
it all out onto a large plaster slab to get the drying process started. A couple days on the slab,
and my clay should be “sturdy” enough to start wedging it back up into some nice “new” clay.
And then the possibilities are endless… and I love “free” clay!!

Even with my afternoon “hiatus” bike ride… I’ve finally gotten all of the pottery,
boxes, shelves, crates, masks and everything else downstairs to my basement storage
room. I was so glad that the weather today was warm, the stairs were clear & dry,
and that I’ve got that “New Year’s” bug to start cleaning everything!!!
So, I finally have my condo back to being a condo – and not a retail store.

But now you should see the mess in the storage room!!! Yikes!!!
Not to mention the Christmas decorations that are next to go!