Soup Time!

It's really getting chilly outside! Time to warm up with a nice bowl of soup. Here are some of the soup bowls currently available in my Etsy store:

October 10 Kiln Opening

Getting ready for the Holiday Season! Here's the latest kiln opening... a lot of ornaments, as you can see! I am partial to the trees, large and small, because they are a great symbol of Winter. They have quite a few uses, not just as ornaments. My favorite is to use the small trees as name tags on presents since you can write on the back of them with a Sharpie.

A small disaster on this shelf: I made a piggy bank prototype and broke it's ear when it was already bisqued. I decided to try and see if I could "glue" it back on with glaze. The thought actually crossed my mind that as the glaze melted the ear could begin to slide off the piggy... and, of course, it did... coming to rest on the lip of the mug next to it.

This shelf also shows a couple of salt pigs I made for a friend (a new item for me), as well as a new direction for my lamps. Instead of making them cylindrical, this time I made them as closed forms and carved a crecent moon and lots and lots of stars.

And... I'm loving the green oval dish with the textured rim!

I fired this load a bit hotter than usual and you can really see the results in my green and blue glazes on this shelf.

Almost to the bottom! I like the way the creamer came out with the white interior.

Here's the bottom shelf! I don't know if you can see the difference in the green glaze on the teapot and on the oval cylindrical lamp... Interesting how the far side of the kiln was much hotter and what a difference that makes on the glaze.

That's it for now! Keep an eye on my Etsy store, I'll be listing these items soon.

A Great Week on Etsy!

This lamp was featured in two Etsy treasuries this week and is currently on the Etsy Artful Entertainment Gift Guide!

New Listings!

I've been very busy listing new things in my Etsy store this week. I have 126 items for sale and will probably be adding a few more things in the next couple of days.

I made several sets of "word" bowls, including soup bowls, rice bowls and ice cream bowls, as well as a set of alphabet bowls. Also listed several really nice platters and a whole lot of brie bakers and olive dishes, as well as some mugs, boxes, and vases.

Come by for a visit and help me get to 500 hearts!

Featured in Handmade Registry Front Page

Just found out that my Butterfly Lamp is featured on the front page of My Handmade Registry. What a great honor! Here's the lamp:

Handcrafted Mugs at Walmart for $3

Went to Wal-Mart today to get a gift for my grandson’s birthday and took a stroll along the housewares section looking for the “$3 mug” someone had mentioned. I found it. Here’s one version of it: there are 10 different styles/glazes/colors. And, actually, it’s not $3, it’s $2.46, 80 cents cheaper than the birthday greeting card I got for Alex’s 2nd birthday. A 16-piece (dishes, bowls, mugs) costs $40. There’s also an $11 stoneware baking pan, a $6 pie pan and a $13 covered casserole. All of it made in China, of course. There’s no way that I can compete with those prices!

Until now I highlighted the “handmade” character of my work. I am the only person involved in the entire process in my studio, from wedging the clay to throwing the piece to mixing glazes to firing to marketing and shipping. However, as the photo shows, now Wal-Mart is selling stoneware pieces made in China that are prominently marked with a sticker that states “Handcrafted: Special Glazing Technique Makes Every Piece Unique.” Wow! This blows me away!

These pieces are not unattractive and they make it possible for people who can’t afford my $18-$24 mugs to enjoy stoneware pieces in any of 10 designs. But they make me sad. Maybe I’ve become a pottery snob, but I feel that they lack soul. The Chinese “hand crafter” has left no indication of his/her presence on this mug; there’s nowhere on the mug that you can say “Aha! Here’s the mark of the maker’s hand!” When I first started this blog, my first postings were about this idea of the importance of handmade pots. I quoted Carla Needleman’s notion that “a mug can save the world.” Now, faced with this reality, the only response I can come up with is to continue to make my pots with even more passion and trust that there are enough people who want to own handmade pots as much as I want to make them. Or, as Kevin Crowe, has said “making pots has become an act of civil disobedience!”

Glynt Pottery @ Manassas Clay

This is my current display at Manassas Clay (in Manassas, Virginia). This month I'm highlighting platters, as well as brie bakers and "sweetheart" vases. On the top left are two large platters in a tomato red glaze. With the small bowls featured below each platter, they would be ideal for veggies or chips and dip. The platter on the bottom left has a rustic feel because of the different type of clay used. This platter is a bit deeper than the red ones and could be used for pasta or a salad. The green platter on the middle far right is similarly deeper than the red ones and comes accompanied by two plates

The "sweetheart" vases are on the top shelf (and one on the bottom shelf in front of the brown plattter). I started making these as gifts for my daughters' wedding anniversaries (all 3 of my married daughters have anniversaries in the Spring within a period of 3 weeks!). These are two small bud vases that have been smooshed together and are now inseparable!

I only have 3 brie bakers left at the shop right now as the 2 others sold before I could take the photo! But there are many more brie bakers where those came from!

Other items are the highly textured hand-built boxes, vases and tray and the 3 small soy bottles.

Hope you'll have a chance to visit Manassas Clay soon!