After my last post I have stayed home. Heading out tomorrow so stay tuned to more adventures off the compound.
I'm still on garden sabbatical so the studio has been busy.
All surface areas are filling and it's time to start glazing and firing. I love this time in the studio because everything is still intact. Nothing has failed due to glazing, firing etc. In an effort to shrink my losses and streamline the studio all functional work will be glazed in white……. for now. I'm thinking by the time February rolls around and I am sick of snow and the bleakness of winter I will be onto something else….. like pomegranate or new spring green. For now I'm just calling it Rustic Cottageware. I can whip myself into a visual frenzy when I think of the covered soup servers filled with rich minestrone and crusty bread on the side. Mugs of hot coffee and tankards of spiced cider. Food porn in virginal white glaze and toasty brown clay highlights makes me go weak in the knees.
Sooooo service for 9! Well actually bee service for 8 and fish service for one….. and I just found lamb and bird sprigs in a bucket! It's going to be a busy winter! Cutting all these sprigs has become a bit daunting. Three and half hours of Masterpiece Theater will get me 54 bee sprigs cut and ready to apply. Each place setting has 7 pieces and 18 sprigs. Yup, I did the math…… sometimes it's better not to know these things.
Speaking of the math……. remember that pug mill? I'm using it just about daily. In the past I tossed my trimmings down the groundhog hole. It just didn't pay to recycle. Over the years my throwing got better and my trimming got less…. so I thought. In the last week my pugged trimmings made 10 cups and saucers for this service for 9. (The extra one is for me.) There is another bag of trimmings filling next to the wheel and will be ready for pugging by the weekend. I haven't really wedged like I used to and the efficiency in the studio has really picked up. As much as I dragged my feet plunking down the money on this piece of equipment it's been a good investment. Also giving me more time to do what I love……. throw!
Let fires burn hot and the clay ring true……
Love the sprigs, Sandy. I've often dreamed of a pug mill but cost and the thought of having to clean the damn thing after using has held me back. (PS .... put your armor on before you head off compound! ;))
ReplyDeleteHey Brenda! Oh I fought buying that thing forever! I stripped it down the first week and then decided to do runs of clay. Right now I'm working through 600 pounds of brown clay, then I will strip it down, a two and half hour project and then do a run of white stoneware…. another 600 pounds. So far so good!
ReplyDeleteGotta say now that I have it I am wishing I'd have bought it years ago. It would have saved my knees as I used to wedge on the floor. The pug mill is cheaper than surgery :) Can't believe I just typed that……. arch!
Pug mills are great. Wish I had one, but I am lacking space in my "studio". I am looking forward to seeing the finished sprig pieces.
ReplyDeleteThe dinnerware is going to be beautiful. Actually, it already is beautiful. I love the look of pots when they are still leather hard.
ReplyDeleteHi Michèle, oh those leather hard pots…… I have never achieved a glaze that looks so good!
ReplyDeleteHad the same problem here Melissa, no room! Bought the smallest one I could get and then made some hard decisions about what stays and what goes. Ended up tearing the studio apart and building a wall the week this thing showed up. Now that it's over its great but that week I kept thinking …… do I really need it?
Today I can answer, yup I do! Figure it's easier to replace parts on the pug mill than me :)
Oh how wonderful! The pottery looks spectacular as always - you're so talented! I do wish we could start lessons again, but it doesn't look good until after the new year (at the soonest). Sigh. I so miss our lessons!! Keep up the beautiful work, and be safe traveling as the weather changes into winter!!
ReplyDeleteHey Nona! Thank you and miss you guys!! Big changes in the studio……. stay tuned! Hope all is well with you and pack :) Time to hunker down!
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