Hand building class

I will be teaching a beginning hand building class for the first time in August at the Ciel Gallery.  It will be a bit of work since I have to bring everything we need to the gallery for the class, including water.  My hope is that if the class goes well, in late October and into November I could do a series of classes with more intricate pieces.   You can check out the details of the class and sign up here.

For an update about my Studio sale:  The sale was OK but pranksters stole my signs the night before the sale, so I am unsure how this impacted the drive-by customers.  This was especially annoying because the signs were special ordered and cost a bit.  I was hoping to use them for many years.

For those that were unable to attend, the online sale is going on until July 20th.  Use coupon code CIJ2014 at checkout for 20% off anything in the store.  Extra savings found in the clearance section.  And as always if you are in the area and would like to stop by my showroom, please call me at 704-408-7996 to set up a time that works for both of us.

Christmas in July Sale

Back by popular demand.  This is the best time of the year to get a great deal on pottery.  I ship all across the country.  Lot's of wedding, birthday, hostess gifts or just start your Christmas shopping early.  Shop online (be sure to check out the clearance section)  or stop by my home studio for an even larger selection of pots on July 12th.

Some disappointment and some fun

Well, I had a booth at the Boardwalk Art Show in Virginia Beach the weekend before last.  I had such high hopes that there would be art buyers at this show since the standards were so high.  I was disappointed.  Everything I sold was truly functional (bowls, pitchers, butter dishes and platters) no teapots and only one vase.  Lots of compliments but I can't pay the bills on compliments.  I can say that Virginia Beach is a great place to visit and I hope to go back for a visit someday but I won't be doing the show again.

 My niece Savannah is visiting me and I have been showing her how to make a few slab built items.  She has made a salt and pepper set, a spoon rest, a bowl and a cup.

We have also visited the Charlotte Motor Speedway, Nascar Hall of Fame, downtown Charlotte and Concord Mills.  My sister and her husband race cars in Montana and Savannah helps in the pits.  I couldn't tell you what type cars they drive but they enjoy it.

We also went to the movie Maleficent.  I really enjoyed it.  There was quite a great message in it.  I think that Mom's will enjoy it even more than kids.  Doesn't show Dad's or men in the best light though so Dad's may not like it so much.

Just a reminder that I am on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest. 

Glazed pieces for the Boardwalk Art Show

Today I unloaded the kiln.  I had many pieces that I really liked and you can see the rest on my Facebook page.

The piece on the left was a new design.  It is a large vase and during drying it was against another piece and warped a bit, but I kind of like it.  The piece reminds me of a centipede.

The pitcher has the new green glaze.  I doubled the copper in the formula and I'm very happy with the hue.  Of course I didn't do a test of it  ahead of time and was very tense waiting for the firing to finish.  I have realized that I don't need to do three coats of glaze on textured areas as in covers the texture too well.

The platters design was a piece of wood trim I found at Michaels.  I just sprayed a coat of light blue in the middle then placed the trim over it and sprayed on the dark blue glaze.

Next week I head to Virginia Beach for the Boardwalk Art Show.  This will be a new show for me and will take a lot of effort.  First the wind and weather can be a challenge.  My hope is for mild weather but the forecast changes every time I look at it.  The second problem is that I am staying in a hotel right on the beach and this takes a huge chunk out of any profit I may have.  Load in will hopefully go well as I have signed up for the drive on program for set up but the challenge will be the tear down, where we will have to cart our wares a block or more to the truck.  The show looks promising for sales because there are around 300 booths and many potential customers.  The quality looks good as well as we can not have anything under $20 in our booth.  Everything has to be signed as well.

I am very excited about my helpers for this show.  My mom and my niece are coming from Montana to visit for two weeks.  It will be great to have company for the 6 hour drive and during the 4 day show.

After we get back from the show my niece Savannah wants to learn how to make pottery so I have started thinking of projects for her to make.

One Image / Two Interpretations

The show at the Ciel Gallery in August is to be called One Image/Two Interpretations.  The photo to the left is my image to take inspiration from.

Today I started my piece.  It was a lot harder that I anticipated putting together 7 cubes.  I originally only cut out 4 pieces for each cube then realized that I needed 2 more for each.  I was planning on making a vase but it just didn't look right,  so I just made an outright art piece with absolutely no function but to sit on a table.  I do not look forward to glazing this piece as it will take time painting each cube a different color.  I will be curious to see my partners piece in August.

Cutout, Texture
Bevel and score

Put the
squares together

Booth Set up and Shenandoah National Park

Last weekend I went to my first new show of the year.  Instead of going to the CCM Spring Pottery Festival like usual, I went to the Crozet Arts and Crafts Show in Virginia.  The show was a bust, probably because in rained most of Saturday.  The one thing that was nice is that what I did sell was mostly my favorite things to make (teapots and vases). I did get a chance to set up my whole booth in order to get a new booth photo.

My friend Lynda came with me to keep me company.  This was nice for the 5 hour drive up and back especially.  We decided to start our drive back on Monday by going through the Shenandoah National Park.  The park is maintained very well with wonderful pull outs along the way.  We did come about two weeks too early since the trees at the higher elevations did not have all their leaves.  It will be beautiful in the fall.

Since I didn't sell like crazy at the show I am mostly set for the Virginia Beach Boardwalk Arts Show in June.  I had already started most of the pieces I need to fill in inventory.  Plus, I made 2 more large vases and some platters when I got back. They should dry out in time for glazing at the beginning of June.

Preparing for the Crozet Arts and Crafts Show

Getting ready for the Crozet Arts and Crafts Festival in Crozet, VA this weekend May 10th & 11th.  I realized a little almost too late that I didn't have any butter dishes and Salt and pepper shakers made until last week and hurried up and made a few.  I then hurried up and made a few bowls just to fill the kiln plus the funeral urn for a relative made a 3/4 filled bisque load.  I usually fill it to the brim.

Needless to say the glaze load was not full either but I was very happy with the results.

These three pieces were glazed with a mixture of two similar glazes.  One was blue and the other was supposed to be green but looked almost the same color, so I just dumped them into each other.

I have noticed that the green glazes I have made may look great when I first mix them, but they seem to lose the green after a few uses and turn yellowish.  I am going to up the percent of green colorant in the next batch but will only make a small bucket of it.

I spent the last few days getting my pots ready for the show this weekend.  I had to grind bottoms, sign the bottoms, price, photograph and pack.  The packing also meant rearranging boxes of pots from last Fall's shows.  I removed some pieces I wasn't happy with.  Plus, over the winter and spring I had taken some pieces out for galleries and to sell on Etsy.   I ended up with 8 boxes, which is way too many but I can never seem to leave any nice ones behind.  The Boardwalk Art show is only a month after this one so I will need lot's of pots for that 4 day show.

Vacation photos

Just got back from vacation.  We flew out to Las Vegas, Grand Canyon, Antelope Canyon and Bryce Canyon.  We had an OK time in Vegas but really enjoyed our time seeing the gorgeous scenery as we drove around the Grand Canyon.

We spent a couple days walking the rim at the Grand Canyon (pictured left, top).  The best photos were taken the first late afternoon after a rain storm.  The smog cleared and the shadows were great.

Then we went to Antelope Canyon (left, bottom).  That was our favorite and so much fun.  We had an Indian guide take us through the canyon and he new all about the settings on our cameras.  There are better photos of this one but my computer is still down and I am using my phone photos in this post.

Last we went to Bryce National Park (Right).  We hiked down into the canyon.  It took 2 hours and was fine until the last 1/2 hour of a 45ish degree incline.  My legs were jello afterwards.

So, I am back in the studio for a few days and have made salt and pepper shakers, teapots, fruit bowls, vases, a box, a hanging wall vase and heart dishes.  I am at the point that these items will not make it into the kiln for the show in Crozet but are backup for the next show in Virginia Beach in June.

I will be putting items into the kiln for a bisque firing tomorrow after I do the slip trailing.  After that I will take some new items to the Ciel Gallery for the May show "Into the Garden".  The gallery crawl in Friday, 6-9pm.  Maybe I will see you there.  I will also stop by Ruby's Gift and drop off some new items.

I will begin glazing most likely on Thursday since it's supposed to rain the next 2 days.  I anticipate doing 3 loads to get ready for the next show.  There is so much because a lot of the back stock from the fall shows have been sold on Etsy or sent to various galleries over the winter.

Cookie Jar, Teapots and Vases

Very exited about this weeks glazing.  These are only a few of the pieces out of the two loads and I was happy with 99% of it.  A few of my favorites are shown here but you can see more on the Facebook Page.   I made a new green, which you can see on the leaf piece.  It is a pale green so I plan on mixing in a little more green colorant in the next batch  Although I like it because it matches my new decor in my living room.

The pot to the left is my new cookie jar.  I made myself all new pieces for my kitchen counter since I painted the room a powder blue.  I made canisters, butter dish, salt and pepper, salt cellar, olive oil bottle, utensil holder and a tea caddy.  The tea caddy includes a jar to hold tea bags, sugar jar, sweet and low cup and spoon rest.  My hope is that this will keep my family from leaving them all over the counter now that they are contained in a nice tray.

Two of the pieces will go to the "Into the Garden" show at the Ciel Gallery in May.

Lately I have been trying to stock up on items for my upcoming art shows.  I have one in May and one in June.  I also go on vacation this week so no work will be produced for a week.  At this point only a few more pieces can be made for the May show but I need to have pieces ready for glazing after it for the four day show in June in Virginia Beach.