Hello Blog ……….

Oh my, not a post since April……. 40 lashes with with a wet sponge!  Much has transpired, new work, new equipment, new clay bodies, new glazes and dear Neil the cat has flown through two airports to get to Colorado with very little bleeding by all involved, including the Cleveland airport security guard who insisted on checking him for bombs at 5 a.m. in the morning!  Hell-meow!   He is sort of missed but now bullying other creatures, including the two legged attendants in the mountains of Colorado.

Still working……

Still loving my job but after a year I am realizing how much my personal work is suffering. 

I have had an education on students who attends community college clay classes.  There will be many blogs following this blog on;  What is an original idea and where do they come from and is Disney really your original thought?  Is there original thought on your cell phone?  And why do you need to check with your Mother?  Oh yeah, it's college…….  

300 soup bowls completed and delivered! 

and the event has arrived!  If you would like to attend, here is the link:

Peace Corp Soups of the World event

The Gallery at W78th has moved to a bit better space with more visibility, now residing in Suite 204.  Great neighbors and more traffic, love that! 

This year the gardens went to hell in a hand basket, totally neglected but still paying off.  I have pounds and pounds of potatoes, onions, too much butternut squash, beans galore, basil, carrots are still in the ground, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries, elderberries, peas, tomatoes, loads of herbs and all were shared with that beast of a groundhog.  Although there was not time to wage war on the hog this year, he grew fat and unafraid.  See you in the Spring!  Loads of stuff was given away and loads of stuff was composted as there was no time to can or dry anything this year.   Working at school 4 days a week, the gallery one day a week, home stuff like laundry, groceries, bank and a good dust suck and blow one day a week, leaving me one day in the studio to work or just stare at my wheel.  I managed to squeak out a few late nights several times a week but it was not enough.

Also taught a three day workshop at Touchstone on the woven pots.  Probably won't do that again as the participants stated, there should have been note in the workshop description, it was for people with O.C.D.  I did love teaching the workshop though and everyone went home with a finished pot. 

So why resurrect the blog?  Because I have sooooo much free time these days?  Ooooo I think my hair just caught on fire and my nose grew a little. 

Over the past few months I have been running through at least a hundred glaze tests and clay body tests.  Clay bodies at cone 6 from Laguna, Standard and Tucker…… stay tuned.

As you can see from desk I am swimming in data.  I've had some hits and some misses and surprises.

We've had some big changes in the clay world due to chemical changes, mine changes and political changes, which all impact the price of stuff in the studio.  I just bought a new Skutt kiln and over my pottery lifetime I have owned L&L, Skutt, Olympic, Cress and Paragon, so let's review.  How about slips?  Got those too and recipes.  

And if I get a decent glaze test out of the kilns I will post it with a picture and the clay body I used.

So here is the first the glaze:  

(if anybody uses it please please please let me know what you think and your results)

Silky Matt Frost  

cone 6 oxidation

based on Tony Hanson's glaze off  http://www.digitalfire.com

                                                      Wollastonite            27.0

                                                      Ferro Frit 3124        36.0

                                                      EP Kaolin                35.0

                                                      Silica                          5.0

                                                      Rutile                         5.0

                                                      Titanium Dioxide       3.0

                                                      Mason Stain 6450       3.0

and the last update……. the boat is gone and the chickens remain. 

Still alive!! sort of…….

Over the last few months it's been a little nuts and then there is that thing called winter.  Winter just takes time, lots of time.  Hauling wood, putting on 10 layers of clothes, warming the truck and just getting around……. and that shoveling thing, over it!  Just digging out the chickens was an Olympic event this year.  Hibernation rocks! 

So here are the "Cliff's Notes" of late.  

First off ….. the taxes are done!  #1 reason to keep this blog up to date, to keep track of myself….. apparently I need a leash.  During the three day pencil sharpening and eraser blitz I found myself referring to the blog several times trying to figure out why I had road tolls to the East Coast twice in a week….. 2014 was that kind of year! 

My job as Ceramic Tech, is rocking my world.  Love it, nuff said.   

I have fallen down the rabbit hole of glaze testing, re-calculating and testing again.  

I did have a panic attack when they moved a desk in and told me to use it.  

I use it to store my lunch and coat. 

This counter is where I spend most of my time. 

See all those glaze tests…..  It's been a challenge as we use brown stoneware.  For so many years I have predominately used white stoneware and porcelain in my personal studio.  Gear shift and there was a bit of gear grinding! 

 mix 7500 grams and put the new glazes to work….. 

did I mention we keep 38 glazes on the rack? 

Soooo this job is why this blog has been languishing the past few months.  I never dreamed a little 25 hours a week job would be so demanding.  And then there is that gallery I opened, which is why I got the job to pay the rent at the gallery, and then one has to make pots to fill the gallery.  Right now I pretty much eat, sleep and dream about ceramics.  But garden season is here so I need to squeeze out another few hours each week.  Arghhh!  And the river is running and so are the steelhead and I have to squeeze in time to get a line wet.  Blog?  

And then I decided I needed to do the 100 mug challenge…..

And then I needed to go to NCECA in Providence ….. 

and it rained every day…… but it was so worth going! 

And then I got two pots into the Best of Ohio, opening in May.  

If you're in Columbus, check it out! 

Ohio Designer Craftsmen

And then I got in to "All Things Considered" at A Grand Hand in Minn. 

and then traveling to the Fruitlands Gallery at Harvard….. and that is the only way I will ever get to Harvard! 

And then I was asked to demonstrate carving at Touchstone for the big Throwdown weekend….. 

ok I am really excited about this! 

And then the dishwasher broke and I really didn't mind washing dishes for 4 months because my hands loved the warm dish water instead of a cold glaze bucket.  But then Butch flipped out and ordered a dishwasher online!  Just looked at picture on website and whipped out his credit card.  And then it appeared…. and I'm really on the fence over this thing. 

and then my diet changed ….. who needs a dishwasher? 

and I will try to do better keeping this blog up to date with the day to day drivel of my fantastic life or maybe cone 6 glazes and clay….. 

and did I mention the Christmas decorations are still up…… 

A perfect Winter Solstice……..

 Today is the day December 21st, winter solstice, shortest day of the year.  I try to do something every year, as from this day forward we move back into the light.  By this time of the year I am noticing flaps of thin skin growing under my upper arms and the desire to hang from the ceiling in my bat cave.  This is a day to celebrate if ever there was one.  Depending on the weather I will light a fire outside or inside, make soup, go for a walk and just be quiet.  

After a late start to my morning and too many cups of coffee I laced up my new hiking boots and decided to head for my favorite park.  Taking the camera and my bitter half who insisted on going, we hit the park.  

Damp, chilly and grey….. hello Ohio morning.

This park is at a higher elevation and away from the warmth of Lake Erie, surprised to see it frozen….. I had packed the rod and reel.   The lake was alarmingly quiet this morning.  Not a bird to be heard. 

No wind…… still, so very still.  No talking either…. just the crunch of frosty gravel under foot.

My idea of christmas trees….. (golden rod heads)

Suspended and thought of a perfect glaze…… 

so much of this year I felt suspended….. 

my favorite picture of the morning…. 

thoughts of throwing rings on the bottom of a platter or……

 topography maps

What a year….. even the old oaks were blown over this year.

This family certainly weathered a few storms.

it was a prickly year….. I was pretty prickly this year! 

luckily we were protected ……. 

The joys of summer past are but a memory…… 

but new growth…. God, I love nature; at the bleakest times I can always find

new growth, hope for what might come and desire to grow bigger and greener….

On the way home we detoured to my second favorite place…

Paine Falls….. yes, there really is a Paine Falls :) 

the power of water……. the sound, well it can't be explained only experienced. 

I always walk away feeling very good from this place. 

and the small community of hemlocks….. it's how they survive in this 

water and wind washed place. 

Seems there is always a drive through close by…… 

is there anything better then the first dirt on new hiking boots? 

and new inside shoes too…… it's good to have a job! 

Came home, made coffee, ate cookies leftover from the opening last weekend.  

It's the solstice and the weather for Dec. 21st was pretty nice, 32 and cloudy with no wind.  

I planted 85 garlic bulbs in fresh turned earth, it was heaven.  My knee was great!  Indeed, so great I dug the last few of potatoes…… almost 50 pounds!  I dug the last of the carrots and leeks too, so sweet after a good frost.  I cleaned all the leaves off the tree lawn….. and it was dark.  Today was a gift, pure and simple.  Hiking, gardening, planting and harvesting…… a grand day to move into the light of the year……. 

And now for the other lessons in my pottery life…… 

I can't remember what genius said; Location, Location, Location but I have once again……

learned the hard way.  

I love my gallery space; huge windows, north light, big space and the best part; I am only limited by my very own self.  It's all mine and I can do anything I have a vision to do…… 

The crappy part of this gallery…… location.  I am down a long dark winding hall on the second floor of the old American Greeting Card building.  

One friend stopped by last weekend and said;  Wow, this place is great for your ego!  Like I have an ego…… of course it was a male friend!  

Since moving in the space so many other artists warned of the show last weekend, Bizarre Bazaar and it was the 10th anniversary.  150 craftsmen would be setting up booths over the four floors of the building.  Somehow they forgot about the west wing of the second floor.  There might be 2,000 people wandering the building.  Don't worry they will find their way to your place.  

Well, I was stocked!  Every shelf was filled.  A few folks did find their way down the hall to my place but they had been over come with glitter dust and glue gun fumes.   I made pecan bars, toffee bars, coconut dream bars, scottish shortbread cookies and ginger snaps.  The cookies were a hit and one woman suggest I package the pecan bars in cellophane sleeves and sell them for $5 a bag.  She tasted all the cookies, had a glass of wine and left $5 on the wrap table.  The next opening I am putting a tip jar on the counter, writing a recipe book and putting pecan bars in cellophane sleeves.  Awesome! 

 In fact the Wednesday before the Saturday opening I built shelves!  Shelves that are 8 feet tall, 10 feet long and 16"wide.  They hold a lot of pots!  

and the big day came…… cars as far as the eye can see…… 

and two food trucks to feed the masses….. 

but alas…….

well it wasn't cancelled and by Sunday night I made my rent for the month but not enough for the electric bill…… do you have any idea how many times I said under my breath….. I am so thankful I have a job!  

I am supposed to be moving by the end of the month to a space more in the swim of building traffic but for now…… well it has been suggested I add lights in the hallway, more signage, a person wearing a sandwich board walking the halls, billboards on the outside of the building…… maybe dancing waters but then I am by the bathrooms and there are always those cookies….. 

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good Night…… 

May Santa be good to all who read this blog……. :)

mov'n slow and recap……

I found myself eating butter pecan ice cream for breakfast….. it's happened, the line of sanity has been crossed.  It happens every December.  I find myself in a chair on a dark morning, the darkest of dark that only cold wet December can deliver, shoveling something in my pie hole.  Today was the day.  We were out of eggs, damn those chickens, bread, oatmeal and everything except frozen peas and coffee. 

I don't even remember how I bent over to look in the freezer, I don't even remember what I was in the freezer for in the first place.  The line in the snow has been crossed and it's time to reel in, slog to the store and buy lettuce.  Do you know how badly I miss my hoop house this year?!  Even with knee surgery over and still sore I would get on my knees for a piece of fresh green anything.  But noooooo….. I found butter pecan ice cream at 6:30 a.m.  even the cat looked at me funny. 

The latest run down on the life of a potter is pretty nuts this time of the year.  It's like eating prunes, is one show enough or is three gonna send me into uncontrollable grippers or straight to the nut house?  I'm on my way to the nut house. 

I did a small show I have not done in years.  There were crafters there I have not seen in years so it was going to be fun.  Catch up on everybody's kids and what they have been up too.  The first day I sold out of $20 mugs….. don't get excited, I took 3. Visited with everybody and at the end of the day a woman bought a nice carved jar for $60.  The hours were short 10 am - 3 pm, unloading was a breeze and I had a few sales. Packed up and rolled to the ceramics lab to load two kilns and scrape shelves.  Long day but good.   The second day things kind of went to hell in a hand basket.  I had no sales and the Army Recruiters set up a table across from my booth.  One word, LOUD.  HELLO, HOW ARE YOU TODAY AND HERE IS FINE PEN WITH THE NUMBER OF OUR RECRUITING OFFICE.  AND BAGDAD IS THE BEST PLACE ON EARTH!  Yes, he really said that…. to me.  Why?  Honestly, I love these guys but nothing says buy pottery like an army recruiting team.  As their voices boomed through the facility I heard an ocarina in the background.  The artist directly across from my booth played an ocarina all day as a way to sell them.  I get it and she sold so many $10 ocarinas I stopped counting. I did a show back in my basket weaving days at the fairgrounds, they put me next to Laughing Sal, a life size rubber woman who maniacally laughed from morning to night… I had a flash back.  At one point I thought I was standing in a bus stop in Peru waiting for llamas to show up.  The guy next to me was just the nicest guy ever but he came for the cafeteria specials, the first day it was spaghetti and meatballs, the second day it was chili.  At least 80% of my booth was dinnerware, I thought I should offer him a dish.  Then the lady who sews shopping bags out of feed sacks came over and started to rearrange my table to "help" my sales.  I'm fine I muttered, stop touching my stuff.  Well, I think you'd sell more if you put this over here and that over there.  Oh look there is some one at your table trying to buy a sack.   There were the cutest screen printed tee shirts with googlie eyes on cats.  They made me laugh and as I sat there descending into craft mania I thought if my youngest kid had worn one of those darling shirts, she would have peeled the eyes off the cats and swallowed them before the cats saw anything.  And did I really want to see googlie eyes staring back at me in a diaper?   All in all Tracey Broome's  posts on shows kept circulating through my head and I bow down to the all knowing TB…. I can't do this anymore, I just can't.  If I want to see old friends maybe we should do lunch?   It's me, it's not you and I love you all but ……. 

First on my list;  Love my new job!  I worked two weeks and after Thursday we are on Christmas break until January 12, I love that!  

Second on the list;  so I have these new dishes that have taken about three months to take from concept to reality.  They are holding up pretty well in the kitchen on their maiden voyage.  I test all functional stuff on myself and family.  It has worked pretty well.  I used to make and sell a lot of honey pots.  I thought this new line would be perfect for honey pots.  I made 12.  I brought one in the house to use and darn if I didn't design the lid right.  Turns out they are a pain in the butt and they will hammered. 

Yup, they sure are cute though.  

Loving the sheep!  Especially dancing around a bowl of navy bean soup!  This was breakfast three days ago.  

And then I watched Nan Rothwell do a quick video on these cute little sushi dishes for Ceramics Arts Daily.  You can watch the video here at:   Nan's you tubes.

They could also be soap dishes, two or three after dinner chocolates served with port, ring holder or just about anything else.  Lose the bees and slap some bells on and you've got a Santa cookie plate.  Yup, I am in my pottery hooker mind….. it's the butter pecan ice cream for breakfast talking…

and about those bees and sheep, I'm slapping them on everything. 

I need chickens, cows and a pig….. my farm will be complete. 

 Ran a few new tests through too.  

What's the point of firing a kiln if you don't have few tests. 

My mind set this time of year is just make pots, make more pots, make many pots, just keep making pots, and I have.  The pots are now stacking up on the floor and they need to be displayed for this weeks show at the gallery.  I don't think buyers want to rifle through stacks of dishes sitting on the floor.  I need shelves.  I searched the internet for affordable wood shelves.  I found the perfect set for $29.99 at Walmart.  Thought I would order on line and pick them up at the store as it is Christmas. The order form asked me for some weird postal code over and over.  Read the fine print…. only available in Canada, not sold in the US.  After realizing I would need to assemble anything shipped I went to the lumber section of my favorite store, Home Depot.  Pulled enough lumber for 8' shelves, 5 deep.  

Pulled out the tools and used the spray booth for an exhaust fan, worked great.  

Finished up around 10 pm last night.  Headed down today to assemble and get ready for the mother of all shows… Bizarre Bazaar

Do you see the hours of this show?  I'm going to die!  I did not sign up for this show but it is in the building where the gallery is located.  Last year they had 3K people show up.  I will be in studio 225, clutching a table and babbling.  It's part of my lease that the gallery should be open during the event.  

The day I walked in the building other artists said:  Oh you're going to be here for the Bazaar, museum putty all your stuff down.  Ok, whatever….. now the time is here and the stories I am hearing are like the coming apocalypse.  I can hardly wait!  There are promises of hand sewn doggie duds, knitters, organic pet treats, a vast array of bead stringers and tinsel tossers.  Oh I am just a twitter with jingle delight.  

In the meantime, Sunday the temps hit 41 degrees and the sun made a rare appearance.  I did my fall pruning.  Pretty late and we will see what survives.  I heard a wonderful woman horticulturist lecture at an arboretum years ago.  Someone in the audience asked about the best time to prune hydrangea particulata.  She said;  Well if I were a man I would give you exact dates but since I am not, do it when you get the kids off to school, the dog vomit cleaned up on the carpet, the 20th load of laundry done and dinner on the table at a reasonable hour….. whenever you get to it!  Permission granted to prune whenever……. thank you! 

and what do you think, hand model for Dove skin care?