things get around to taking place...

Sunday night, another mad dash to the finish line of September's First Friday Indie Market, in five short days...one, possibly two glazes firings to do in five short days. and that means done and cool in time to pack Friday morning. i feel pretty good about this rush this time. no new glazes, just application tweaks to the last round. the bisque kiln is cooling now...on at 11 am, off and down to 1435 by 7:30. today was bisque and biscuits...Cyndi and I have been planning a grandma southern meal for about a week...and today was the day...green beans, mashed potatoes, Cyndi's amazing fried okra that I picked from the garden today, my bachelor biscuits and yeast gravy. Will seemed to like it just fine...I look forward to the day he can know the joys of Texas Pete...today was my first time having it on okra...highly recommended!!!
My last post mindset was to make bowls in stacks. That really didn't happen. Lidded jars got in the way, as did plates. Robert gave me tips over the phone from out of state. The bad news is that I broke the best of the bunch hastily, and sloppily loading the kiln this morning. I handled it better than I might have in the past...just some lost mud after all. Right.

So, if anyone is actually reading this, come out Friday night to the Indie Market in downtown GSO. Lots of fun! The poster this month features a painting by my friend and chief marketeer Dara Morgan. Nice one! Here is the poster:



and now for something completely......cool!
the pic below is of the first of my pots to go out west. Friend and fellow Indie Marketer, Scott Neely, who did last months Indie Market's poster, wanted some cups for friends on a rafting trip. Here is one of MY cups, on some one's, (Scott's?) knee, in use whilst rafting down a river. Thank you, Scott!
And that is really the point of making pots...for them to be used, and better yet, for a special occasion; a convergence of friends. so maybe those cups will remind them of a fun and special trip with every future cup of coffee or whatever....nice...



and with that, i am off to bed. more to come this week, really.

no really.

where will we be when the summer's gone...???

that would be, for me, working in the studio as if it were a real job. i am still in shock that today was Cyndi's first day back to school, without kids yet...and that my last post was in that short week of spring we had before summer started this long boil. since then, way back when, Will has grown in so many ways. More words, more climbing, more everything. Every day is sheer joy and amazement. He is sweet beyond belief, holding our hands and giving us sweet baby kisses when we least expect it. In the next moment he is off on a mission, all business all the time, I like to say about him.
In the blur of summer, I have:
made lots of pots, tested lots of glazes, grown, picked and eaten tons of tomatoes, gone to Tomatopalooza, spent some time on Oak Island, attempted to become as smart my new phone, participated in the August First Friday Indie Market, read Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, tweaked glazes, reclaimed clay, met Val Cushing, worked more than I would like to, saw some snakes, sweated, and am now ready to the weather to break!!!
So as we dwindle down the final hot weeks, I really hope I can get into the swing of posting, taking pics, and getting some pots made, photographed, and sold into the hand of people who will use them.
For the August Indie Market I did another whirlwind work schedule, firing twice in three days. I wonder how it is to produce pottery at some sort of relaxed and seemingly normal pace?
The pots seems to be better with each kiln load. I spent most of the summer making bottles and vases. These are things I like, and like to make. The basic premise is simple, but with the smallest tweaks and variations they can become their own distinct pot.
I have been pretty lucky, I think, on the glaze front. After testing a few dozen over several firings in the small kiln, only a few have I really put out of mind.
Some are still being tweaked, mainly for colorant strength, or viscosity. Should have nicked a Zahn cup in days past. I am really trying to work the glazes down to about ten to twelve I really like, and stick with those for a while. The bad news is, the more you dig into them, the wider the possibilities become. Every glaze begats a glaze. "and when i fell on the floor, i drank more"...
After weeks of decorative shapes, I have started back on functional stuff. This will mean more bowls, bowls, and more bowls. While this might sound a bit boring, it really is not at all. If you really thing about a bowl, its size and grip in the hand, and how a spoon might glide along the inner angles, it all seems like a big deal. The difference between eating from a good bowl and a crap one is as important and relelvant as the food in it.
Other than bowls, I plan to focus on jars, plates and mugs. These shapes will keep me busy for a good while.
The September First Friday Indie Market is fast approaching, so while I may be quiet for a couple of days, I will be posting pics of my progress as the market gets closer. If anyone happens to actually stumble in here and read this, hope to see you September 3 downtown GSO. I will be posting the poster soon.
Here is a smattering of photos from the summer....

i should worked much harder...i should have just not bothered

so that sums up my thoughts at this very moment. since that last ancient post, i have done two rounds of glaze tests. the first round was a large bowl with a pie slice approach of 12 glazes.

i'll never make that mistake again.....no.......

that bowl died an appropriate death in a studio accident that took a few more pieces out. in addition to the history, geology, math, chemistry, etc you get with ceramics, the physics of balancing pots on poorly supported shelves is a crucial lesson to learn. and painful. oh well.

so the nest round, fired off Sunday night, was fantastic. 14 glazes, 28 bowls, the small test kiln left to me by my father......and success. Robt called it a home run, which was pretty nice to hear.

so two hours past my normal working dad bedtime and a kiln mostly full is going now.
past the Battle of Hastings a half hour ago, it should be into the Reconstruction by now. all this historical babble is just relevant dates being tied to temps...pretty cool, and not my idea; this comes form aforementioned Englishman, who i must thank for all the help and encouragement. go see him, four miles through the light in Seagrove on 705, the English Potter. discounts for mentioning this ad.

not.

anyhoo, no pics to post of anything i have done. but what i am doing is this:






The Shindig on the Square this Sunday, May 2, downtown GSO. and this is why i have been mixing, glazing, testing, firing and all over again like a mad man as of late. all the whilst trying to be the best husband and dad i can. Cyndi is wonderfully supportive, and Will is growing sweeter, and larger by the day. I love and appreciate you both.

The plan is finish this firing tonight, peek in on the way to work tomorrow. Hope the big kiln works out as well as the test kiln. I suspect sleep will be difficult again tonight. Sunday night I dreampt that when I opened the test kiln, there were piles of dust where the test cups were. Tonight I may dream of bigger piles. It all starts over again with glazing and loading Friday night, start firing early Saturday am, build racks, unload early Sunday, and off to the Shindig. Wish me luck. Better yet, come out and see what happened. Mention this blog and receive a hug.

and then..........

Next Friday night, the event looks like this:



and look who got lucky! my name on the poster! GREAT BIG THANKS to Chris and Mandy, whom I have yet to meet, the great minds behind this event. i feel pretty honored to see my name in print on that there poster. looking forward to getting a couple of those. the loyal followers here, whomever you might be, know that i did the December First Friday event, which was way cool, way fun. This one can only be better, as it will be spring, and not a cold December night. So again, come to downtown GSO, where it all seems to be happening. 20 years ago, when I was 20, we could run around until the sun came up down there and not see another person. Funny.

So there it is. A lengthy post, and no pics to show. Next time, glaze test pics, pot pics, and whatever else I can come up with.

i've been on the shelf too long........

one more week of silence would take me to a full three months since my last post here. pretty bad, i have to admit. i can say much has happened, and i have actually made a bit of progress, but surely not three months worth. blame it on modern life. this whole having a job thing sure gets in the way of what we would like to be..........

a few things i have to say before i get to pottery.

the sad fact that we lost a dear niece, Sascha "Bella" Hoffmann in a tragic accident in February has really taken the wind out of all of our sails. all i really want to say here is if you love someone, anyone, tell them right now, because everything can change forever in a flash. the lyric that keeps playing in my mind...."you're like the setting sun, you shine and you're gone". Sasha, you will be loved and missed by us all.

the saving grace of spring coming is a great healer. Will and i took a walk Saturday morning, and his delight in his first daffodil was wonderful. no picture of that, but a great memory.

i do however, have these two shots of a spring day and the pure joy of boy and dog...









and with that, spring is indeed just about here....we started cleaning the garden up a bit this weekend, another year we are already behind when we just get going. it always seems to work out fine, so no worries on that point.

the good news is that 3.7.10 marked the date of my first electric bisque load. it took much longer that i expected to fill a kiln with nothing but my own work. Robert helped me load it, and we started the cycle at just before noon that day. i checked every hour, nearly on the hour all day long. around 7 Robert called and insisted a take a beer down and watch it shut off. not only to sort of make sure i still had a studio, but to celebrate this turning point for me. a pony High Life marked the event. how my tastes have changed......
a big thank you to Robert for the help, the instruction, and for making the point i should document all of this here.

so here you go....

just before i opened up...



top shelf, note clever side positioning of bottle, a lesson from Robt.




cone 06, way past flat!!!






and the final two shots of this first bisque firing; all the work i have managed to get done in the last several weeks, an hour here, and hour there...






let the glaze testing begin!!!

no, really

this is supposed to be about my pots. and there are no pics of my pots. and i realize there exist no pics of pots worth posting. i might just write a children's book instead. in the meanwhilst, here are a couple of my pots in Robert Saxby's soda kiln that i was lucky enough to help build, and luckier in that he keeps letting me come help fire. the cost of a few english jabs is totally worth it.

for the faithful, the kiln is a modified Olsen FastFire, that Robt. has modified even more. she is fast, and likes a little wood often. makes for a fun four to five hours, and now that it is really dialed in, i need to throw some soda friendly pots and get over there!

these pots were on the bagwall. luckily, i am the only one that seems to want these special spots, and Robt. is kind enough to put teabowls in there most every firing.

First Friday Indie Market, First Show for me!

here is the setup. i really lucked out on location. my pots should be in lots of people's "let's take our pic by the sign" images. thanks to my friend Robert Saxby.. for the use of the shelves. great design, i plan to steal it soon!

putting black ankle on the signage led to many conversations. one percent of those were with people who had heard of black ankle. by the end of the night, i felt a bit Icelandic..."it's not so great, don't come"...kidding!!!

heaven is yours, where i live

from early fall, a great afternoon "out back". Cyndi took both of these. i love them both, one for the sweetness, one for the perfect composition. both for the memento for will one day.