Showroom Open for Business

Now that I am finished with my Fall shows it is time to organize.  Yesterday I cleaned my studio.  Boy was it messy.  Today I reorganized and added to my main showroom cabinet.  Since I will not be doing any shows until May, the showroom and other NC gifts shops will be the only place to find my pottery for awhile. 

Tomorrow I work my monthly shift at Ruby's in NoDa.  I will be adding a number of items to my unit there, including 3 yarn bowls.  This past weekend Preston Flowers in Cary purchased some new items for sale in their gift shop.  Also, thru December, the Depot in Kings Mountain has some of my pieces in the "Art for Christmas" show.

I hope everyone has a fabulous holiday season & a Happy New Year.

Cake Plate / Chip & Dip

Getting Ready for the Sanford Pottery Festival this weekend.  This will be the second year they have done a December show and the first year I have tried it.  I will be interested to see how the crowds are.  By the way, Military gets in for free with ID. 

This morning I unloaded the kiln, sanded, priced, inventoried & packed.  I also wrapped up a special order for shipment.

As mentioned in the previous post, here is the cake plate/chip & dip from this last kiln load.  Next time I will probably decorate the bottom as well. 

Here are some of the new yarn bowls that were glazed this week.  All six that I threw made it all the way thru the process.  In the past I have had about 50% breakage on the swirl before it could be fired.

New stamp

I loaded the kiln for the last time this year.  I was glad that all the pieces I needed for the Sanford Festival this weekend fit in the kiln.  You can see some of the yarn bowls that I have been making lately plus a cake stand/chip & dip.  At the Seagrove Pottery Festival a few weeks ago I had two cake plates and two different customers mentioned the possiblity of turning it over and using for a chip & dip.  So this time I made sure to glaze the area inside the pedestal portion for that purpose.

A few weeks ago at the Seagrove Pottery Festival there was a booth in our tent that was selling wood stamps.  My husband ordered me these stamps to mark my pieces.  In a few months I will try them out, but the sample looks good.

In a few weeks I will be heading to Montana to visit my family over Christmas, then I will be staying there for a month to take care of my mother during recovery from knee replacement surgery.  So the business will be closed from December 15th-January 31st.  After I return I look forward to experimenting with new designs and glazes.

Carolina Pottery Festival

Saturday I had a booth at the Carolina Pottery Festival in Shelby, NC.  The crowds were good and I met some nice pottery lovers.  I just love it when a favorite piece of mine goes to a new home.

Today I went to a workshop given by our guild.  The presentor was Allison McGowan.  She handbuilds using soft forms.  I would like to try her handbuilt feet, using a thrown pot instead of a handbuilt one.  I am not sure when I will be able to try it. Maybe this week if the weather is good. 

Last week I did so much glazing, there won't be much need for many more pieces.  So, I will glaze one load tomorrow and be done for the week.  Next weekend is the Seagrove Pottery Festival.

Finished Glazing

This is it.  I have finally finished glazing.  For this week anyway.  These three tall vases were the last to come out. I usually make at least 3 at a time to fill half the kiln so that I don't have wasted space. The other half I stack to the top with smaller pieces.  This is the first time that I felt all three pieces glazed the way I wanted.  Usually either glaze runs and sticks a pot to the shelf or the glaze isn't even or the right color.

Tomorrow I head to Shelby for the Carolina Pottery Festival.  This is usually a great show with lots of great customers. My husband will help setup and stay to help until 2, then he will drive up to Kings Mountain to drop off 2 boxes of pottery for the "Art for Christmas" show at the Depot.  This show lasts thru December and will feature great art that makes great gifts.

Tonight is the reception for the Mint Hill Arts "Small Treasures" show from 7-9.  This show also features art items that are great gifts.  I have entered 7 items and hope to go to the reception.  I am looking for some wall art for my house so perhaps I will find that special piece.

My attempt at handbuilding

At least 6 months ago I made this funny jar.  It was an attempt to make a handbuilt triangle shaped item.  Not sure what it could be used for other than to look at since the hole on top is very small.  I decided this week to glaze as many of my experiments from this year as I could get in the kiln. Notice the previous post.  Also I posted some photos on my Facebook page of some more of those pieces. 

There are still 2 more glaze loads to come out this week.  Tomorrow will have my piece for the Seagrove auction, plus the multi-colored dragonfly line(really need a name for that line). The last glaze load will have the big pieces thrown a few weeks ago.  I am excited to see them finished.

Countdown to the Carolina Pottery Festival

Only 5 days left until the Carolina Pottery Festival in Shelby.  I have been glazing this week to get ready for it as well as the "Art for Christmas" show in Kings Mountain that starts next week.

 I finally got around to glazing the piece I made after the Neil Patterson workshop(pedestal bowl in the front). I like how it turned out.  After the bisque fire there was a small crack where the two pieces of the bowl came together, but the glaze filled it in and it looks great now.

Utensil Holder

About a month ago I was asked to make a utensil holder for a customer via Etsy.  She had purchased the matching bowl earlier in the Spring at a show. Here is the finished piece.

Today I made 6 more yarn bowls.  I had decided not to make any more of these due to the fact that I was breaking about 50% during the greenware stage.  Last weekend at the Christmas Made in the South there was a customer that changed my mind.  She indicated that her knitting friends would love to have a yarn bowl.  So I tried again.  This time I cleaned up the sharp edges right after making the cuts, rather than sanding after it's dry. Hopefully this does the trick.

This week I realized that I should have worked a little harder at filling up my bisque shelves.  I find that I don't know which pieces to throw for the next few shows.  Quite a few items are depleted.

Large Pots

Today I decided to make a few more large pieces. All three are made with a separate body and neck piece.  This allows me to make bigger pieces than I can throw in one.  The piece in the middle I have made before and sold recently at the Claymatters Festival.  The one on the left is a new shape for me.  The one on the right has a similar shape to one I have made before but the handles are different.  They will need to dry for a few weeks.  I hope they can be ready for my next show which is the Carolina Pottery Festival in Shelby on November 12th.

This week will be a big push in throwing what I need for the rest of the season.   Next week will be a glaze session for my next 2 shows plus the Art for Christmas Exhibition for December at the Depot in Kings Mountain.  I also need to decide what piece should be my entry for the Seagrove Pottery Festival Auction.