Learning to be fearless

Pushing the clay open

I find that life is a lot like making pots. You spend most of your time trying to make that idea in your head into a real thing you can wrap your hands around. Searching for the perfect job, the perfect relationship, the perfect house… the perfect pot. After much work, you get what you wanted, but it wasn’t what you expected… it turns out that the pot you get out of the kiln isn’t much like what you had in mind. Or after you think you've got it, something goes wrong. After struggling for years you have a moment of perfect understanding and peace… you sit at the wheel and make gorgeous pots effortlessly… and then the moment is gone. I’ve learned that life, like making pots, is about embracing failure. Not being afraid to fail frees us to spread our wings a bit farther, push the clay a bit more… it might collapse… or it might yield a beautiful pot! So it is with life. Looking back I see how fear kept me from much joy. I am learning to be fearless now!

No more pictures!

My studio is small, but I keep everything well organized so that I can function pretty well. Except when I'm glazing.Then, it's a mess of buckets everywhere: glaze buckets, buckets of water for rinsing the bisque ware, buckets of water for rinsing tools as I move from one glaze to the next. Then there are glazed pieces drying on every possible flat surface. So my dance around the studio has to be even more careful than usual. 

Nevertheless, things have gone quite well over all these years. Yesterday my luck ran out. I was standing next to a bucket full of water where I had been rinsing tools and the bottoms of pots after glazing. That means, that the water was full of glaze and clay particles. I reached over a table full of glazed pots to pick up my camera. I grabbed the camera but as I was bringing it over I dropped it in the bucket. What can I say? It was bound to happen. The camera is now sitting in a bag full of rice, but I don't have much hope that it will work again, mainly because of all the grit from the clay and glazes that was in the water.

So... what was so important that I needed to take a picture in the middle of glazing? I wanted to show you the textured boxes that I had been working on at pottery class. Here are the pictures... and really, it doesn't bode well for the camera, does it?

Back to the boxes... They are really cute, with texture on the the outside and inside of the lids and a very clever way of getting it done. When I have a camera again I'll do a tutorial.

Patterns and Texture

 I've been thinking about patterns and textures and reincorporating them into my pottery. I say "re"incorporating because I used a lot of texture when I first started doing pottery. Because it took quite a bit of time to master the wheel, I did a lot of handbuilding at the beginning and handbuilding really lends itself to texture. So, I went around the house and snapped some pictures of textures and patterns around my house that make me happy. I also started taking Jane Cullum's pottery class again for some much-needed community and cross-pollination of ideas. And, because things all come together when I'm on the right track, Jane's first assignment was making small boxes w/ patterned lids! Looking forward to what 2014 will bring!

Christmas Shopping????

My last show of the season is coming up in a couple of weeks! On Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8, I'll be at the 21st Annual City of Falls Church Holiday Gift & Craft Show. In addition to the 50 crafters and merchants there will be entertainment for the little ones, including a visit from Santa! For more information, check out www.fallschurchva.gov/recreation or call 703-248-5027.

I will be in my usual spot: booth 50 upstairs. Come by and say hi!

Tantalizing Thursday Temptations

Thought I'd put up some pottery from Etsy Mud Team members for you to feast your eyes (pottery porn!). Today's highlights are: 

 

A trio of Snow Bell Christmas Ornaments from Botanic2Ceramic. A trio of heavenly bells to tinkle in your home. Each one of them has a slightly different tone. Made of porcelain. They were rubbed with oxides before the final firing. Each one is approx 2" x 2". ( $28)

A yarn bowl from Judith Frederick at ClayCrazy Pottery. This hearts yarn bowl is made of buff stoneware clay and is wheel thrown and trimmed by hand. Judy cuts the heart out by hand and smooths all the edges to ensure the yarn does not drag on the surface. It measures 5.75 inches across at the top and 2.5 inches high and holds an average skein of yarn. ($45)

An Alphabet Bowl - Letter K for Kangaroo - from Karen Fiorino at ClayLick Pottery. all hand thrown from red earthenware pottery clay and decorated with Majolica glaze using bright colors. Each bowl has a fanciful type face for the letters and something that corresponds to it (in this case a kangaroo). The outside of the bowl is decorated in turquoise blue with lots of little cobalt blue dots. Each is signed and dated. SIZE: 5.75" x 2" ( 14.7 cm x 5 cm). ($30)

 A Mandala bowl from Fire n Flux. This bowl features a sgraffito (meaning to scratch, where the design is carved through the layer of colored slip to reveal the clay beneath) design. It was hand thrown on the potters wheel, then a few layers of light blue engobe were painted on, a dark blue engobe was also painted on top with a fan brush to give the color some variance. Once this was dry, the mandala pattern was hand carved.This is completely food dishwasher and microwave safe. It's 2" (5.1cm) tall and 6 5/8" (16.8cm) wide. ($28)

Southern Fried Okra framed tile by Lisa Sowers Finley of LASPottery. This tile is handcrafted from slabs of earthenware clay. After a bisque fire, the tile is painted with black stain and sponged off leaving black in the details. Then it is painted with a translucent celadon green glaze and fired again at a high temperature. The tile is mounted into this shadow box frame that is stained with beeswax and linseed oil. The back is finished with eye screws and wire to hang the frame. This framed tile can also stand alone on a shelf. Size: 8" (20cm) X 8" x 1.5" (4cm). ($38)




And here's a little something from my shop:

This ceramic fruit bowl is the perfect addition to your kitchen. Use it as fruit bowl or colander for rinsing and serving berries, grapes, cherries and other fruits and vegetables. The glaze is a great complement to any kitchen decor. This fruit bowl is 9 1/2 inches in diameter, 4 inches tall and 3 1/2 inches deep.

New Banner!

What do you think of my new banner!

My talented daughter Andrea made it this afternoon. It took her almost not time to get it done and I'm so happy with it.

August already???

Summer is flying by... here it is, already August!

Bucket full of wedding favors!

I spent July hard at work making wedding favors. A bride-to-be in Canada found a photo online of the small vases I made as wedding favors for my daughter's wedding in 2006 and asked for something similar. She liked my existing glazes but also asked for some in amethyst. Not wanting to start experimenting with glazes, I got some amethyst glaze from Laguna at my local supplier (Tin Barn Pottery at Manassas Clay in Manassas, VA). It turned out so well that I went back for more. I think that this fall there are going to be a lot of yarn bowls glazed in amethyst! It's a beautiful satin matte glaze that breaks into lavender as well.

Lots of little vases!

So far I have resisted commercial glazes but this will be my second commercial glaze. I'm already using a satin white that I think is also from Laguna (not sure since I get them at Tin Barn Pottery). As I'm getting older I'm starting to see the advantage of not trying to reinvent the wheel. I never thought for a minute that to be a potter I needed to dig my own clay (although it would be cool to do it once!), so why do I think I must mix my own glazes?

Oh, I'm not going to stop using my tried and true glazes... but from now on, I think that I won't snub my nose at what's already available and will start to make things easier on myself by relying on commercial glazes when the need arises. I want to spend my time throwing and making, not fussing with glazes! What do you all think?

Amethyst glaze by Laguna