Exhibition

So, I really am going to enter my first exhibition--I promise :) I've talked about it before, but I'm really fond of my new work and I'm finally going to take the plunge. And thanks to Judy for putting me on to the 2010 Teabowl National. I also wanted to say thanks for the comments and tips on my last post! I meant to say thanks a while ago, but didn't get around to it--so, thanks!

Anyway, here's the three I'm entering. Wish me luck!

50+

mmmm....glaze drippy

I've finally got over 50 items in my shop! I still have a good many small bowls I can list, but it's nice to meet a small milestone. I've been told many times that things really begin to sell well once you crest 100 items, but that will still be a while. I don't have time to keep enough inventory to fill my Etsy shop and still have enough pots for galleries and any craft shows I may do. One day, one day.

Tonight, I started something new to me--butter trays. Not butter dishes, but trays. Just a flat decorative piece with a handle. I've got them all textured up and I'll add handles tomorrow night. How do you like that grammar, huh?? :) I hope they don't curl up on me. I haven't had a whole lot of luck with flat slab pieces. Too impatient I guess.

I keep telling myself that I need to mix up some fresh batches of a couple of my glazes, but every time I go out to the studio, I pick up clay instead. Will someone come over and make me mix glazes?!

Finished pitchers

I got the kiln unloaded Sunday night, but I also came down with a bad cold/stomach thing that has not been too pleasant. I hope I'm getting over it. Anyway, here's a couple of pictures of the finished products. The one I liked best of course has pinholes on the inside. I think it might have been from dust when I was cleaning up the spout before glazing. I might try to re-fire it.


The really big bowl turned out super nice. The glazes could not have turned out better. I hope it makes its way across the country safely. I packed the crap out of that thing, but I still worry because it was quite heavy and, well, you know. It totally wouldn't fit into my light tent--haha.

That egg looks kinda tiny for a 'grade A Large' huh? ;)

Mmmmm...The other white meat!

Yesterday, I grilled a pork loin roast, and it was AWESOME! This was the first time that I successfully grilled something 'low and slow' (don't ask about the ribs I did a little while back) and I'm finally getting the hang of it. All that I used was a dry rub and seared it, then grilled it over indirect heat for about 2-1/2 hrs. Super juicy and it melted in the mouth! Leftovers for lunch today :)


I've also got a glaze load cooling, so I'll try to get some pictures up later of those pots. This load has the pitchers and the big bowl, so I'm anxious to take a peek and see how it all turned out.


Genevieve got a little car (thanks aunt Addie!) that converts into a walk assist thing when she gets a little closer to walking. She loves it!! Just like with her crawling, she only moves backwards, but we'll keep working on it. All for now, hopefully more later :)

Handled pitcher

Here is a short video of one of the pitchers after they got handles tonight. I'm really starting to like these new[ish] pitchers--particularly where the nice flowing line meets the abrupt angle near the spout. I'm still not 100% sold on the handle placement. I may try moving it down a bit, but I don't know. I think it works pretty well where it is.

I noticed when I got to work and looked at my blog on the computers there that the pitchers all looked squatty compared to what they are really. I guess wide screen monitors have their drawbacks. I wonder what kind of affect that has on online and other digitally submitted work--such as images entered into exhibitions and shows. My 'elegant' pitcher form was totally ruined when viewed in a wide screen format, and I can imagine that all other work may look different on different monitors depending on the screen resolution and aspect ratio.

Some pitchers

Here are a few pitchers that I managed to get thrown tonight. I wedged (I managed to get most of the air bubbles out) five balls of clay, but only four made it through. They are five pounds and about 13" tall. I'll handle them tomorrow. All for now :)

Snow in Summerville?? And a pretty big bowl

We got snow! Like, real snow!! Not that nasty wet stuff that normally falls for a little while and never sticks--this was about 5-6" of fluffy white stuff that even stuck to the roads. I attempted a feeble small snowman, but didn't get very far. We had a blast playing outside yesterday morning, even though Genevieve didn't really know what to think about it. It was all a little too cold for her.


I also finally got my bowl thrown. It did take three bags of clay and several failed attempts before I finally realized that I needed to sit down and use some softer clay. Once I did that, it was a breeze. It wasn't as big as some of the earlier attempts, but it is pretty large nonetheless. I hate to admit it, but in the process of throwing the big bowls, I made the same mistake of accidentally stepping on the wheel and spinning the bowl into oblivion--again. Fool me twice, shame on me I guess.

I also finally made a big bat for trimming wider pieces, but I still need to cut it into a circle. Right now, it is more shaped like a stop sign because I need to borrow a jigsaw from my dad to finish it up. Trimming with it was fun as I tried to keep the edges from nailing my knees while it spun around.

It was nice to get out of my comfort zone throwing the bigger bowls. I had gotten a little too comfortable working in the under five pound range. Now the only problem is that I have those three bags of ruined pots left to re-wedge. I really hate wedging. I think part of the problem is that I am really no good at it. Why is it that I can't get the damn air bubbles out no matter how much I wedge. It is supposed to be the most basic part of being a potter, and I just plain suck at it. Maybe I should really change my kiln fund into a pugmill fund. Or, maybe I'm just lazy.