First Place For my Vase

Last night I went to the reception for the Annual Bill and Ann Litaker juried show.  I had entered two items on a whim.  The first piece I chose was the butterfly cruet that had won the Falling Rivers Exhibit during the summer and then I just chose a vase I hadn't sold at the last art show I went to.

Well surprise, surprise I won first place for the vase in the 3D catagory.  I had been informed that I had placed but not what.  It could have been an honorable mention or 1st - 3rd.

By the time they got to my name there were only two prizes left to announce.  First place in 3D or Best in show.  You can bet my heart was beating but alas no best in show and I knew that that vase could not possibly be "best in show" but you never know how a judge will go.  The winner was a young man that I am told just graduated from art school.  He had already won for two other painting so it wasn't a surprise really.  He is very talented.

The judge had these comments on my piece:  "Accomplished technical construction skill is evident in this piece.  What makes it special is the artist's elegant exploration of texture & pattern and the relationship of surface design to the playful vessel style."

The exhibit will run through December at Mint Hill Arts.  It's worth a look if you are in the area.

Buy handmade and support independent artists

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and recovered from the shopping frenzy.  My weekend was spent at the Craftsmen Classic in Greensboro.

Today I started adding new items to my online shop.  This fruit bowl was one of the items listed today. There are other great items being listed daily.  The brie baker set below makes a great gift for a friend, Mom, daughter or hostess gift.

If you are in the Charlotte area and would like to pick up a gift please give me a call at 704-341-0973 to set up a visit to my show room.  I will not be having a studio sale this year but I encourage anyone wanting a piece of locally made gifts to schedule a visit.

New Vases and a teapot fresh out of the kiln

Unloaded the kiln today and here are my favorites. Then loaded the last bisque load before Christmas, then Monday and Tuesday I will glaze for this weekends show.  Wednesday I set up for the Craftsmen Classic in Greensboro. \

Thursday I host around 20 people for Thanksgiving.  Luckily we do potluck so I don't have to make as much, but being the person I am I will make way too much anyway.  I plan on making turkey, scalloped potatoes, modified Waldorf salad, rolls and dessert.  Others are bringing green bean casserole, pasta casserole, meatballs, another side dish and more dessert.  Unconventional menu but should be good regardless.

Friday, Saturday and Sunday I will be at the show and Monday I will start adding tons of items to my online shop.  I have been trying to add new pieces daily this past week.  Just now I added a new hanging wall vase that just came out of the kiln.  **Remember- I am giving away a free gift (valued at $8) with every purchase in November**

Teapots and vases

I am a little bit insane for doing this but I am trying to get into two shows last minute.  The Craftsman Classic in Greensboro over Thanksgiving weekend is pretty much going to happen and I am first on the wait list for the Savannah Christmas in the South.   This means that I am not done making new things for this Holiday Season.

Today I made these three items and another teapot not shown.  I got new stamps last week and used them some.  My hope is that the teapot actually makes it this time.  Third times a charm? Right?

This weekend I will be at the Carolina Pottery Festival in Shelby NC.  This is always a great show with great selection from over 100 potters.

Last weekend I was in Macon for a Christmas Made in the South show.  The photo to the right is of my booth set up.  Now I can apply to art shows for next year.

Explosion in the kiln and a free gift

Wellllll....  It didn't work.  This is the piece that I decided to put directly into the glaze fire without first bisque firing.  The base blew up in the kiln and messed up the platter under it.  Luckily it didn't hit the mugs right next to it, since they were a custom order.  I think this might work on thinner, less complicated pieces.  Besides the base exploding, the bowl cracked along the seam.  It's pretty sad since this piece takes quite a bit of time to make, but I had to try.



This past weekend I finished packing up for the show this coming weekend in Macon, GA.  This is the earliest I have ever been ready for a show.  Usually I am working right up to the day before.  So I am taking the next few days for me.

I got up early this morning and went to a strength training class.  Boy am I out of shape.  I usually do a cardio class on Friday, but my arm muscles are sadly lacking.  I do want to try this class again.  Last spring I lost 25 pounds with Weight Watchers.  In June I had my son's graduation and the trip to England.  Since then I have plateaued.  In March I am going on a trip with my mom, sister, niece and nephew.  So we have decided to have a contest for whichever team looses the most by March.  Hopefully this will push me to work a little harder at counting my points and working out.  I hope to loose 10-20 more pounds.

By the way,  with every purchase from my online shop in November, you will receive a free gift valued at $8.  So get your holiday shopping done early and get a present for yourself.

New Postcards and a sign

Got some goodies in the mail today.  The postcards to the left and the sign below from VistaPrint, plus some new stamps, corks and olive oil bottle dispensers from Aftosa.

An established potter gave me some advice on the postcards.  She said to buy in bulk and place stickers on the back with sale info, etc as needed.  That way I can get a better price and not worry that I will have too much or not enough.

The new sign was purchased because the banner I got last spring was always wrinkled, no matter how I stored it. Check out the previous post to see what I am talking about. The color is hard to see in the photo, but it is a light green and should look good in the booth.

This past weekend I painted my pedestals and my chair in preparation for the show in Macon next week.  I want it to look it's best because I am setting up the whole display and hope to get a really good booth photo.  As stated before, I would like to try some new shows next year.

For the next two days I plan on glazing.  Yesterday I loaded the bisque kiln, started it and two hours into the firing I realized that I forgot my two show pieces (like the fruit bowl above)  I was so annoyed with myself, because I do not have any more pieces to fire an additional bisque load and won't be making anything else, possibly before Christmas depending on sales or if I get any special orders.    So........ for the first time ever, I am going to try to glaze without bisque firing first.  Cross your fingers.  If I am not a clutch it should theoretically work.  The piece is sprayed blue, then I remove the glaze from the details and re-paint the flowers, etc.

I have been very klutzy this week four different bowls and a teapot that I have done twice now were busted on the way to the bisque kiln.  And another bowl had a crack in the rim. AAARGH.

CCM Pottery Festival Booth

Last Saturday I had a booth at the CCM Pottery Festival.  It was a good day.  The weather was great so I didn't need my tent.  I hung my indoor curtains on the fence behind the booth.  The customers were great.  I got good feedback and my favorite piece sold, which always makes me feel good.

This week I made my old standards, brie bakers, berry bowls, medium bowls and pear bowls.  Next week I will work on slab built pieces including more Grecian fruit bowls, teapots, salt shakers, butter dishes, etc.

The following week will be glazing for my next shows.

My next show is November 8-10 in Macon GA at the Christmas Made in the South.  I have done the Concord show the last few years but this year I waited too long to send in my application. I will be setting up my whole display for the first time, including curtained walls and lighting.  My hope is that I can get a good photo to apply to some different shows next year.

November 16th I will be at the Carolina Pottery Festival in Shelby, NC.  They have moved the show to the LeGrand Center, 1800 E. Marion St. as well as the date.

This week I also added some new items to my online shop, including some in the new eggplant purple and creamy yellow glazes.  I will keep adding items up til the second week in December.

October Favorites

It's been awhile since I have posted.  I've been busy getting ready for the Clay Matters Pottery Festival that's coming up this Saturday October 12th.

The last two weeks I have been glazing new work and I am posting some photos of my favorites.  You can also check out a video HERE.

You can also see more photos on my Facebook page. HERE

The three pots above were made for a couple competitions I will be entering this week.  One for the Falling Rivers Gallery and one for the FUNKtion National 13 competition. The other one will be coming to the festival.

The pot to the left was made with pastry cutters and I made scenes.  The glazing turned out which made me happy because it took me quite a bit of time to glaze.  You never know until the piece comes out.  Often the glazing isn't what I had imagined.

Teapots

Today I set out to make some teapots.  Two of them were new ideas and one a teapot I have made before.  I decided to take some photos of the process.  I am posting a few but I skipped some of the basic steps.

First I cut out a piece of newspaper with the shape of my form.  Then I roll out slabs, cut the shapes out using my pattern, then stamp the slabs.

After the slabs dry for a bit with the fans running I bevel the edges and score.  Next I shape the form using a piece of foam.  The two pieces are put together and place on the pedestal I made while the slabs were drying.  A lid is made, a handle is pulled and applied.

My whimsical spouts are made by pulling a "handle" and placing in on a board in the shape I would like the spout to be and let it dry a bit in the sun.  Next I cut the spout down the middle, scoop out the insides, score, slip and put back together.  This allows me to make any shape spout I like.

Both the teapots below are a new design.  I think I like the taller one best but I think that they actually look good next to each other.

It feels good to get some work done today.  It seemed like I didn't get much done last week.  Last Sunday our water was out all day.  Tuesday afternoon I had a PR meeting for the Clay Matters Festival.  Thursday I had to shampoo my carpets and a dentist appt.  Friday I had to shop and make a cheesecake for a card party on Saturday night.  This week looks clear but I can never tell.  I things go well perhaps I will glaze the following week.

New Pastry cutouts

Yesterday I worked on the long fruit bowls.  When I was in Asheville a few weeks ago, I stopped into a kitchen store and bought these pastry cutters that made birds, flowers, leaves and bee's.  So I decided to try these pastry cutters out and made this bowl.  There are bee's and flowers on the other side  It will be interesting to see how the glazing turns out.  This piece took 3 times as long as the usual and I would guess that the glazing will as well.  So far I like the effect with the raised design.

Today I started glazing but ran out of wax resist so was only able to do half the load.  Luckily by tomorrow I should have some more thanks to Mike from Carolina Clay who is nice enough to deliver it to me tonight on his way home.  Today I got all the special orders done and tomorrow I will just do enough other pieces to fill the kiln.  In a few weeks I will start glazing for the Carolina Claymatters Festival.  I need to kick it up a notch and finish more pieces.

For the last week I have been working on my newsletter.  I suppose that I have started it a little early since I won't send it until the end of the month but had some time a decided to get it done.  If you would like to receive my Fall and Spring Newsletters plus a few in between if there is special news, please sign up on the right hand side of the page.  I promise, only a few per year.  You will not receive them all the time like some.  Sometimes there may even be a surprise for you.

Slip trailing and loading the kiln plus video

My back is finally feeling well enough to work for a few hours each day.  The back specialist said that I had muscle spasms.  While I am happy that it wasn't something worse, I can't imagine anything hurting much worse.  By last Wednesday I could hardly move.  Slowly I have gotten better with medication and icing.

Yesterday I did some slip trail beading then I loaded the kiln.  Today I worked on trays and small wall hangings.

While I was laid up I worked on a video of our local pottery guild's semi-annual festival.  I had taken the video clips last spring and just never had the energy or time to work on putting it all together. It is actually good that I got it done.  It's less than 2 months until the festival and I need to get going on the online promotion.

First Place Win

Friday evening I went to the Summer Art Explosion award reception at Falling Rivers Gallery.  I had received first prize in the 3D division.  This was exciting because it was my first win.  A few years ago I received an honorable mention at the Mint Hill Arts Juried show.  Since then I have not entered into any shows, mainly because I never hold anything back for shows and the timing never works out that I have something available that is worthy.  This time I purposely made 5 items for the show and took up 3.

I did something to my back this week.  Probably lifting boxes full of pottery at the show last weekend.  Every morning I wake up and can't roll over, but as the day moves along I get better.  So I have been working through the pain.  But today I woke up at 4am and could not deal with the pain.  In 45 minutes I will be at the Chiropractor and hope that he can make an adjustment that will fix it.  I really can't take many days off since I have 3 shows this fall and only have 2 boxes of pottery glazed.

Lidded jar

Today I made a couple pedestal pieces.  The piece to the left was initially supposed to be from an inspiration piece, but I didn't look at the photo and had already cut out the lid before I checked to see what I was supposed to be doing.  I will try again next week and make the decanter I was meaning to make.  

The piece on the right is a funeral urn for a customer in Canada that wanted a special urn for a beloved pet.  I hope she is happy with how it turned out.  I made three just like this, but only the one has a name on it.

In the last few weeks I have listed some of my new work on my online shop.  I hope to continue to add items when I have extra pieces.  I am starting to gear up for my fall shows and online holiday sales.  As always I am open to custom orders and if there is an item shown on my blog or Facebook page that you are interested in let me know and if it's still available it's yours.

Village Art & Craft Fair

A few days ago I got a call asking if I would like to the Village Art and Craft Fair in Asheville.  I had applied the last few years and did not get in, but they needed a fill in for a last minute cancellation.  So I said OK but then I had to figure out where to get enough product.  Now I suppose I could have just closed my Etsy shop and taken what I had, but then my display would be a mish, mosh of last years leftovers and a few new pieces.  So I decided to raid two of the consignment shops I recently put new work into and I glazed a load with the best bisqued pieces I had available.  Altogether I think I have good enough pieces for a show of this caliber.  Too bad my 5 very favorite pieces are out at competitions.  Tomorrow morning I will unload the kiln, clean up, price and pack in boxes, then load the truck.  My friend Lynda will be helping me out and we will be staying in our cabin near Bat Cave, NC.  I couldn't afford this show if I had to pay hotel costs as well.

Monday I really need to get into serious work mode.  Hopefully I will sell out this weekend. LOL. Then I will need to refill the gift shops plus get ready for the 4-5 shows I will do this fall.  I also have a few orders to fill in the next few weeks.

Spring (summer really) Cleaning

Well, as you can see I can be very messy.  This is my photography studio and shipping room.  I had not cleaned it for quite awhile and my son had also cleaned out his closet and dumped the computer parts right in the middle of it all.  I kept stubbing my toe But what really made me decide to clean is that the shelves in the closet are where I put some of the overflow from my showroom of items listed online and I needed to bring the items back from my studio sale.   I was stepping on packing materials and the desk was a jumble of stuff that mostly didn't even belong in that room.

Before (up)  After (right)

I don't think that the pictures actually capture how bad it was, but now I feel refreshed and ready for sales.

Bisque load going, glazing tomorrow.

Before (left), After (below)

London Trip

A few weeks ago we got back from a trip to London.  This was our 25th Anniversary trip and we had a great time.  To see more photo of the trip, check out my cabin blog.


One item of interest to my fellow potters is that the Victoria and Albert Museum has 11 rooms on the top floor jam packed full of ceramics. The room in the photo was very sparse compared to the following rooms.  Some were floor to ceiling and almost stacked on each other there was so much.  In the next few weeks I make some pieces using photos of pieces from the museum as inspiration.

Vases

I started out the week going uptown to Carolina Clay for some more clay. Then Tuesday I made plates, Wednesday wall hangings (below) and today the three pieces to the left.  The piece in the middle is a prototype and I can see where I need to tweak it a bit. Two inches of the bottom went into the pedestal and threw off the proportions.  I think that the belly needs to be higher up, the pedestal smaller and the neck smaller.

Yesterday I worked on the wall hangings below.  The two on the bottom will have some kind of wire handle to look like baskets.

I still need to make some plates that can hang on the wall.  Tomorrow is slab built platters.  There will be another week of slab built items, then a week of throwing.  I have found that its hard to switch back and forth due to space issues.  Some time next week I will bisque and probably glaze the following week.  Mainly because I have a order for plates that I need to finish.

Today I sent my application in for the Made in the South Show in Charlotte and (new for this year) Macon GA.  Looks like I will be in four shows this year.  Carolina Claymatters Pottery Festival (Charlotte), Carolina Pottery Festival (Shelby), Made in the South Shows (Concord & Macon, GA)  I applied for Adalaya in Huntington Beach, but was wait listed.

I am looking for balance in my life.  Art shows can take over if you let them and I was neglecting my health, family and home.  For a few years I would do around 15 shows, most in the Fall.  My new plan is to workout Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays with lighter work schedule those days.  Then there's the cabin on some weekends and I would like to go there during the Fall leaf season.  In the past, I filled up October with shows and missed out on the best time to go to the mountains.  Then there are my friends and family time.  I got to the point that I didn't see anyone all week because I needed to hit a deadline. Now I try to find time to go to lunch or shopping.

I don't know how the new work will sell yet and so it's hard to know how much to make this summer but I am making things I love and hope others will feel the same.

Earth and Fire Festival

The Earth and Fire Festival in Kings Mountain finishes up this Friday.  I am not sure why I haven't mentioned it sooner but there it is.  Since I had no other shows planned this summer I used four of my new pedestals from my new booth display. I can see from the photo that I need to add some other colors to my palette.  A few weeks ago I did some tests that were promising but I won't be able to use them for awhile since I am in a throwing/making mode.  My next scheduled show isn't until October and I really need to get to work.  Next on my schedule is a dinnerware set for a customer, then wall hangings.  My booth lacks wall art.

My first art competition win

As stated in the last post, I took three pieces to Albemarle for the "Summer Art Explosion" juried show at Falling Rivers Gallery.  Well, I got a call yesterday and guess what?  I won first prize for this olive oil cruet.  It's pretty exciting.  A few years ago I won an honorable mention at a show but since then I had not entered anything for competitions, mainly because I just don't hold favorite pieces back for those times when I need a piece so the timing just never worked out.  I wish now that I had photographed the piece in my photo booth.  The award ceremony is August 9th, 6-8pm.

This week I have been adding a number of new pieces to my online shop for the Christmas in July sale.  Customers receive 20% off with coupon code CIJ2013 at checkout.

New work

Today I unloaded the kiln.  Most of the load was either for a competition I want to enter three pieces in and jury pieces for a gallery that needs to see work.  These five pieces are my favorite and I need to narrow it down to the three best.  So far my Facebook survey is picking the large piece on the left, no to the next piece and a tie on the three pieces to the right.  I will need to decide by tomorrow so that I can take enter the pieces on Friday.

I also did some tests on a purple matt glaze and a soft yellow.  They looked great and I can't wait to put them on some bigger pieces.  Too bad I don't have any pieces ready.  Today I started back stocking up on pieces for fall shows and pieces for the galleries.  I am completely out of unglazed pieces in the new work.

Yesterday I started setting up for my Christmas in July Sale.  I have set up sections that are 20-40-60%off.  The photo is a sneak peek at the 40% off table.  I few of my friends have already been over and grabbed a few pieces.

Hopefully my advertising via Mailchimp email, Facebook, blog, Google+, Twitter and signage will bring in the customers on Saturday.  I would love to make room for more pieces like those above.

By the way, if you would like to receive email newsletters from me a few times a year, signup on the right hand side of this blog.  I promise not to make a pest of myself.

Christmas in July Sale

Fun vases

Well my son's graduation and party went off with out a hitch.

Last Monday I dropped off pieces at a new gift shop in Matthews, NC called the White Stag.  They are still in the remodeling stage.  The grand opening is July 3rd.  I won't be able to attend since I will be on vacation, but I can't wait to see the store when I get back.

After dropping the pieces off I headed to our cabin with my mom for a week. I stained our new shed, we visited the NC Arboretum and went to the Blue Ridge BBQ festival.  It was good to have a break.

This week I have been working on new work every day.  Today I made olive oil bottles and these two vases.  I am trying to make some pieces for a new gallery that I am going to need jury pieces by mid July.  All the pieces I have made the last few months have gone to a number of other galleries and I do not have anything special ready.  My new work takes so much more time to make that I feel like I am moving in slow motion.

On Friday I will be dropping off work for the Earth and Fire Pottery Festival at the Depot in Kings Mountain.  The show runs from June 25th-July 26th.  The reception is June 29th.

Saturday I will be going to the ClayMatters Guild summer workshop. The presenter is Amy Sanders and I am looking forward to getting more inspiration.

Delivered new work to Falling Rivers

This week my mom is here for my son's high school graduation.  She arrived from Montana at 11:30 last night and today I drug her all over.  First we drove to Albemarle, NC to Falling Rivers Gallery.  I brought two shelving units from my old booth display and filled one with my favorite older pots and filled one with new work.  Then I packed two boxes of older work that had been there awhile and will be listing a bunch of it  on Etsy this week.

Next we came back to Charlotte where I stopped at the ABC store, Bed and Bath, Bath and Body Works, Party City and Sams.  All to get the remaining items for the Bunko Party I am hosting tomorrow and the Graduation party I am hosting on Sunday.  I plain wore us out with all the driving and shopping.

Friday and possibly Saturday I would like to glaze the last two loads in preparation for delivery to the White Stag Gift Shop that will be opening in Matthews in July and to the Earth and Fire Festival in Kings Mtn. later this month.   I also need work for Ruby's Gift in NoDa.  All of a sudden they have been selling my work again.  For awhile all I was selling was the heart dishes and egg separators.

Fun new pieces

Today I worked on these new pieces.  I actually did them from start to finish in one day, usually I roll out slabs and texturize them, let them dry over night, then build them the next day.  Now that the weather is 80+ degrees out the slabs were getting dry enough to work with by the time I rolled out the last batch.  My back is hurting but I am glad to get it all done in one day.  Tomorrow I will work on olive oil bottles.  Then on Wednesday I plan to glaze.

This is my last full week of work before getting too busy for work for awhile.  I also have to fit in this week shoveling mulch, next Monday I shampoo carpets and heavy clean, Tuesday my mom arrives, Wednesday I drop work at Falling Rivers in Albemarle and shop for groceries, Thursday I host Bunko at my house, Friday work, Saturday my sons high school graduation, Sunday my sons graduation party, Monday work, Tuesday take new work to new gallery in Matthews, head to the cabin with mom,  Saturday work on shed at cabin with hubby (which has been taking forever because of rain), Monday mom heads home, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday work, Friday shut down Esty shop and get pots ready for Earth and Fire Festival, Saturday workshop then drop of pieces for Earth and Fire, Sunday off to England for 10 days.  Whew. TMI?

Re-Organizing

This month I am doing a re-organization of my inventory.  I will be consolidating my different lines and putting them in different gift shops and galleries.  For example, gallery 1 will display all my blue and brown dragonfly line, Gallery 2 the green mist, etc. I am hoping that having a consolidated look will be more appealing to buyers.

I will also be bringing a batch of new work to the Falling Rivers Gallery in Albemarle and to the Earth and Fire show in Kings Mtn.  Then at the beginning of July a new shop will open in Matthews that will carry some work as well.  This will also hopefully refresh my online sales because I will be bringing new pieces back from the gift shops and adding some to the Etsy shop.

Eventually I would like to have only my new work everywhere, but I do need to sell my older work before then.  There are some quality pieces that were made just a few months ago.  So if you see something in my Etsy shop, now is the time to grab it because any day it may be gone.

New Booth Display

This weekend I had a booth at the Carolina Clay Matters Pottery Festival.  This was the first time using my new display and I learned a few things.  First was that I need to make some hanging items.  I had intended to have some ready for this show but I just ran out of time.  The curtains were hung so that I could take a booth photo for applications for new shows I would like to enter. They became a problem when the wind started to blow, knocked over the pitcher in the corner and had to be taken down.  Hopefully this one will be good enough for now because I don't plan on doing any more shows until the fall besides the Earth & Fire Pottery show in Kings Mtn.  There I will be using a table or my old shelves and it's not a full set up anyway.

Also, I learned which items needed to have a higher quantity on hand. Plus, I was surprised to learn that the periwinkle blue draws attention.  I did not expect that and had only made a few items in that color. The new work seemed to be received well and I am excited to move forward.

Today I cut and stamped some slabs that I will finish assembling tomorrow.  I started with pieces I hope to enter into a few competitions I will be entering in June and July.  There are probably enough pieces for the Earth and Fire Festival but I would also like to bring a bunch of the new work over to the Falling Rivers Gallery early next month.  Then I need to stock up for the Fall shows.  The new work takes way longer so I do need to keep at it.

Today I also sent in my application for the Atalaya show in Huntington Beach, near Myrtle Beach.  I had stopped by there last year and thought that it looked like a high quality show.  Hope the weather works out.  Could be really hot or hurricanes, since it's in September.

My favorite pots

Yippee.  I finally got the glaze results that I was looking for.  I did two glaze loads this week and these are my favorite pieces.  There are more posted on my Facebook page.  I did have some other colors which I will work on next week but I think that these will be my favorite.  I did have one really great piece that the lid stuck and while I was trying to bump it loose, I knocked off the knob.  I will glue it back on and it will become an art piece in my house.  I will make another one soon, since it would have been my favorite piece.

Next Saturday is the Carolina Claymatters Pottery Festival from 10-4 at 8300 McAlpine Business Park in Charlotte, NC.  I will be at booth 25, right in front of the barn.  Be sure to stop by if you are in the area.  I will have my new work on display and there will be 55 other potters showing their best work.

More hand building

Yesterday I did quite a bit.  I made 4 slab built oil and vinegar bottles, a casserole, another long fruit bowl and a punch bowl.  I will still need to make 8 cups to go with it.  There is already a ladle that should fit it.  Today I met with fellow pottery guild members to discuss the administrative side of the pottery business.  It was a good day getting others thoughts on photography, pricing, wholesale, etc.

This weekend we go to our cabin near Bat Cave, NC.  Our plan is to work on the shed we are building, but rain is forecast all weekend.  We are hoping that it starts late Saturday and we can get some work done.

Next week I will be back to work trying to get enough pieces for the Claymatters Pottery Festival.   I am going to mix up a few more glazes and can't wait to glaze again.

New pots fresh out of the kiln

Yesterday I unloaded the kiln.  It contained test pieces of my new glazes.  Check out the video for more.