Spring is finally here and the weeping cherry tree is still with us despite this winter's punishing snow storms and winds, and the best efforts of the carpenter ants and resident red-bellied and downy woodpeckers. This beautiful tree is again raining pink petals on the deck and life moves on.
Nature's awakening this March was accompanied by renewed activity in my Etsy shop. This has been a very good month for Glynt Pottery, so far, and I thank all those people who have shown an interest in my work, including several returning customers.
I was honored to have two pieces included in Etsy Finds this month.
This stoneware box was featured on March 13th. It was hand built from clay slabs that were impressed using a clay stamp. The box is 5 inches tall and would look great in any room of the house! This double-walled bowl was featured on March 25th. This piece was thrown upside down on the potter's wheel. It looks stunning with an ikebana flower arrangement, especially if you were to arrange pebbles or small stones around the extra wide rim. It's also a great bowl to hold potpurri or sea glass, and it makes a great dip dish!
Well, we've made it through the "epic" storm of 2010! All in all, we were okay. We only lost power for about 5 hrs on Friday night (Feb. 5) and it happened late in the evening so we chatted a bit by candlelight and then went to bed. Without the furnace running, it was eerily quiet and that's when we heard the unmistakable "Swoosh... Thwack." We jumped out of bed and looked out the window to see a huge magnolia branch lying on the ground right next to the studio. I was sure there would be some damage, but had to wait until the morning to check it out.
I dug a path to the studio at about mid-day and this is what it looked like (bear in mind that it kept snowing for about 6 more hours!). The cedar three on the right was bent almost to the ground from the weight of the snow.
And here's a picture of the magnolia branch. It appears to have caused no damage at all! It missed both my studio and my husband's workshop, it missed the table with the umbrella and it even missed the a/c window unit and the wind chimes on my studio!
Things are melting slowly because it's still very cold, but we are getting beautiful icicles!
We had about 2 ft of snow and we're bracing for more snow tomorrow! I've lived in this area for almost 50 years and this has been the snowiest winter I've ever seen. And a lovely one at that!
Oh yes, I did continue working in the studio through the storm. I have 2 space heaters that keep the studio toasty warm. I am working on several types of butter dishes, including regular dishes, butter bells and butter domes. I've never made butter dishes before so I don't know what'll come of it, but I will post the results.
My pottery group at Manassas Clay decided to test some new glazes this session. I have been meaning to try some of the recipes in Mastering Cone 6 Glazes (Hesselberth & Roy, Glaze Master Press, 2002), so I chose to try the High Calcium Semimatte Base 1 on page 86. In their book, Hesselberth & Roy present several glaze recipes that they developed, which pass their safety and durability tests. I did not venture too far afield in these tests. I mixed the glazes presented in their book and a few other options where I tweaked the colorants. I did 10 tests in all and now I will narrow down the choices to move on to the next step of testing, which is to mix 1000 gram batches of the glazes and fire them on a pot rather than a test tile. These are the ones I've chosen to move on to the next step (all the test tiles can be viewed on my facebook fan page). I welcome and look forward to feedback with respect to the colors!
Through the years I have found that, of course, Mick is right.
The information I need to make a decision, the lesson I need to learn, the missing piece to the puzzle are all there right before my eyes: all I need to do is pay attention. And a lot of this “paying attention” I’ve learned through the practice of making pots. I can just sit at the wheel and throw a pot and move along. But every so often I am reminded to stop and pay attention, to listen to the clay and listen to myself. And that is what just happened this weekend.
I wanted to get some greenware fired. I had some pieces I had made for an exchange that the Etsy Mud Team is having. I also had some pieces for a commission that I wanted to finish. And, most of all, I had some new pieces: two boxes that had turned out beautifully! I knew that some of these pieces were not yet bone dry but in my hubris I thought I could handle that. I packed the kiln and turned the bottom ring on for most of Friday afternoon, checking the boxes to make sure all was well. I turned it back on again on Saturday and let it run for several hours. Things were looking good so I slowly took the kiln up in temperature and confidently left the studio. When I opened the kiln up today, this is what I found.
The boxes exploded in a shower of bisque shards that landed on every shelf below and in a pile on the bottom of the kiln. All the commission items were hopelessly cracked. I had to laugh at myself! I knew better! What made me think that I could get away with it? Arrogance, of course.
I actually did laugh at myself when I opened the kiln. At another time I might have cried in frustration. I don’t know when I learned this detachment but somewhere along the last few years I stopped attaching so much importance to the end result and focusing instead on the process. [For another perspective on detachment, read Laurie Erdmann's recent blog post.]
In addition, this kiln mishap has provided me with an opportunity to approach the clay with the spirit of learning, to once again sit at the wheel to study the process of making a pot. The centered lump of clay is filled with opportunity to become shards at the bottom of the kiln or a fabulous new pot.
I am a member of The Mud Team, a group of potters who sell their work on Etsy. Periodically, we have challenges and exchanges (we recently had a casserole challenge and a mug exchange).
Our current challenge is to create kiln gods. Those are the amulets that we place on our kilns to ensure a safe firing. I currently use a variety of amulets as my kiln protectors (see April 25, 2009 posting) and have often thought about actually making a kiln god (or in my case, a goddess) of my own. I am back in the studio after the holiday hiatus and found myself with some brown clay in my hands as the thought of the kiln goddess played in my head. It's awfully cold and I do my best to keep my studio warm with the portable heater, but I had to bring a second heater this week. So my mind was full of thoughts of spring and here's the first goddess that emerged: a female torso pregnant with new growth! It evokes creativity and potential and is just the lady I need to look after my firings.
I still had some clay left over so I embarked on another goddess. The thought that came to me then was of stages in life. One of my daughters recently laughed that by the time I get up in the mornings she's had what seems like a full day. I replied that I thought that was as it should be because I am (finally!) retired and she is responsible for a home and two lovely children. My first goddess is the young mother~~my daughters. The second goddess is the crone~~me! Here she is. Once fired, the witness cones in her hair will bend to their particular temperature and, I hope, she'll look more hag-like (and not like the Statue of Liberty or the Geniol ad!)
I do hope that these little sculptures make it through the firing because I'm already a bit fond of them given that I am not a sculptor and this is the first time that I try my hand at something like this.
As 2009 draws to an end, I'd like to thank the many many people who have given me their support and helped make this year a successful one. The wonderful friends who so generously share their advice and expertise, as well as lend an ear when one is needed. The great customers who appreciate my work and keep me busy year-round. My family members who are my greatest fans. And all those who are quick with a comment or good wishes.
To all, my heartfelt thanks and wishes for a bright, blessed and hopeful 2010!
I don't have a large studio so finding a place to put all my inventory, to organize and pack pots to take to shows or to Manassas Clay or to ship Etsy purchases has always been a big problem for me. I was struggling with my boxes following the last of the shows when my husband peeked into my study and said "What you need are some shelves" and off he went! Before I knew it, there he was, with the boards and the tools putting shelves up on the wall!
Now I can see what I have, I know where things are and I can easily find something that just sold on Etsy. Thanks Chris!!!
Here's a picture of the work in progress:
And here's the end result! My study seems huge now... The table is not all cluttered, making it easier to weigh and ship items that sell. And I have a perfect place for taking photos of my work.
Spring is finally here and the weeping cherry tree is still with us despite this winter's punishing snow storms and winds, and the best efforts of the carpenter ants and resident red-bellied and downy woodpeckers. This beautiful tree is again raining pink petals on the deck and life moves on.
