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Well, it's been an interesting week. I had a dealer meeting to go to on Wednesday in Welcome, NC (that's outside of Lexington somewhere), and I had to pick up a trailer at my uncle's in Winston Salem Tuesday night. I figured that while I was in NC, I would make the trip to Highwater Clays to pick up a bunch of glaze chemicals. (By the way, Asheville is in no way on the way to Winston Salem from Charleston, and I spent much of the past few days driving.)

I had a great time in Asheville. I hit Highwater around 10:30 and left about an hour later loaded down. I did manage to forget the 50 lb bag of silica that I needed. But anyways, after Highwater, I walked around downtown and went to a few galleries. I particularly enjoyed Blue Spiral, and seeing Kenneth Baskin's work was great. Ken was one of my favorite teachers in college and really got me making decent functional work in college. I think he had more influence on me than anybody else. Tom Turner's porcelain was absolutely beautiful, and another of my favorite Southeast potters, Jim Connell had some nice work on display.

I had lunch at a great pizza place--I can't remember the name now, but I sat at the bar and had some great dark beer and talked politics with a salesman in town for business. It was really funny, because he makes furniture on the side and had some really great retro inspired work that he showed me on his phone. Isn't technology great! I need to move some pictures to my phone :) It is really interesting how many people have the need for a creative outlet, and meeting this guy was a real treat--tailored suit, clean shaven, and much the opposite of me :) But, we both shared the need to create, and surprisingly, very similar political views.

So tonight I finally got to get back to mixing glazes. I finished the red that I was short of Gertsley Borate, and it made a lot more than I thought it should. It was just over 11,000 grams after colorants and bentonite, and made probably 8 gallons. I do mix my glazes fairly thin, but seriously, is it supposed to make that much? I know some chemicals need more water than others, but I haven't really mixed enough glazes to figure all of that out. I have The Ceramic Glaze Handbook that I am going to pull out tonight to see if I can figure anything out. If you've got any suggestions or comments, let me know.

I was going to talk a little politics, but I'm too tired tonight. Let's just say that politics suck and so do both presidential candidates. The end!

Penis pot?

So...I made this pot today and in my brain it looked great. When it was done, I looked at it and thought, boy doesn't that spout look like a penis! So, I took it inside, and Lindsay confirmed my analysis. I wanted the spout to mimic the neck, so I added the little ridge.

What do you think? Is it an everyday, run of the mill, normal spout? Or does it turn an otherwise cute little ewer into a penis pot? My problem is that I have a few more to put spouts on and I don't want to make a line of penis pots! They make nice little bud vases, but I really wanted to make some ewers. I covered them tightly in plastic with some spouts, so I can wait a couple days for a consensus on the subject.

I think that I am finally getting the knack for pulling handles off of the pot. Here are a couple of pitchers that I think turned out pretty nice. They still aren't exactly what I want, but they are getting closer. I find that I end up making a much more substantial handle when I pull them off of the pot. I guess it's just like everything else, practice makes more perfecter....or something like that!

A few new pots and wheel setup!

I haven't been blogging as much lately as I would like, and I haven't had time to comment on everyone's blogs, but I have been reading them. Anyway, these are some new creamer and sugar sets--I think they turned out pretty well. I also built a table for my wheel so that I can stand up and throw again. I did this in college and I really missed it, especially my lower back! I am heading to Sam's this weekend to get some of those cushy mats to stand on to help my legs.


I started mixing up a 10,000 gram batch of a new glaze and found out that I was 865 grams short of Gertsley Borate! How frustrating. I really wish that I lived closer to a supply that carried raw materials. It is nice living close to Coastal Ceramic Supply, but they order materials as needed which means about two weeks of wait. I have decided that it is not economical to order them online because shipping is almost as much as the materials. I'll be making another order on Monday, and I'm getting full bags this time instead of small amounts. I just thought I could complain some, so there you go :)

Hope everyone is having a great weekend! The weather here is fantastic! Sunny, low 80s! Talk to you later!

Shot glasses and Pitchers

I haven't been able to get into the studio as much as I would like lately, but I've gotten a few new things in the works. I had fun throwing all of those shot glass size test tiles, so I thought I'd make a few more. I really like the way these turned out, and I'm going to make a bunch more when I get some more clay. I'm totally out of clay--except for a half bucket of reclaim, but that takes a couple of days to get back.

How many times can you reclaim clay? I'm sure that some of the slop I have has been thrown about 4 or 5 times, and it is super great to throw now . The only problem is that is smells terrible!! It's nice and moldy, has great plasticity and stands up really well. But, man does it stink! Just curious really :)


These pitchers are fun to make, but I think they need some more work. Something isn't right with them. I tried making the handles that were thick at both ends, but I think these feel too heavy. I also wonder if I should push the form a little more--maybe more bulbous at the base with a longer neck. Tell me what you think. I'm looking for a serious critique here, so go all out--I'm tough!

I hope to get a few more tests mixed up and maybe a glaze firing done early next week. Changing my whole glaze pallet and all new forms really seem to have slowed my production. I can't wait to get some tests done! I'm really waiting on my black iron oxide to come in off of backorder. On my test cups, I plan to paint it in the carvings under the glaze and also paint the same on the reverse side on top of the glaze. I want to have some surface decoration on all of my pots, but I'm no paiter, or drawer (is that really a word) for that matter, so I want to do some basic decoration. I also can't quit dipping and spraying pots, so my decoration has to be in addition to the glazing.

Lindsay's first ultrasound appointment is on next Wednesday, and I'm taking off work to go with her. We are so excited!

Finally! (For two reasons)

The first news is really the more exciting tidbit, Lindsay is pregnant!!!! If you didn't know, we have been trying for almost a year, and just found out Friday night after a party at our neighbors' house.

The second exciting bit of news is that my glaze chemicals came in! I am going to make my list of tests after this post, and get to work tomorrow night mixing them up!

Well, that's all for now. Have a great week!

Ok, so here is my tagging thing. Enjoy!

Here are the rules of tagging:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.

2. Post the rules on your blog. (this is what you're now reading.)

3. Write 6 random things about yourself (see below).

4. Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them. (This is only a game.)

5. Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.

Six random things about myself:

1. I got married when I was 19.
2. I once wanted to be an engineer, even majored in it for a few semesters.
3. I am a car guy, and have been restoring a 67 mustang with my father for about 10 years (kinda stalled on that one)
4. I am a Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings fan, and have read the Harry Potter books all at least twice.
5. I don't like lettuce because of its texture
6. I have a puggle who likes to make noises like a gremlin (not the car).


I am tagging the following.

Maku Studio
Judi Tavil
Lapella Art
The Mudd Pit
Mike's Pots
Alina Hayes

New shelves--already full!

Is the weekend over already??? I have been having a fantastic weekend, mostly sleeping, and napping, and a lot of time in clay. Lindsay and I took Layla (our little dog) to my FIL's pool and swam Sat. I wish that I had pictures of that! She is not the biggest fan of the pool, but she likes to be held in the water, sort of. As soon as you let her go, she swims as fast as she can to the stairs. We then watched Clemson LOSE to Alabama and had a grand ol' time. Sunday consisted of church and napping, but I did load a bisque and got it firing last night. I crammed all of my test cups in with a ton of other work (who knew 7 cu. ft. could hold that much), then built some new shelves that I filled today with all of that bisque.


I also got a new tool that no potter should be without (at least one mixing his own glazes)--a triple beam balance. I got it on feeBay, and it arrived Friday. Now all I need is my chemicals--I'll call about that tomorrow.

Let me know what you think about the new font/colors. I wanted to keep the black background, but I want my blog to be easy to read too.

So, anyways, I need to do that tagging thing, but I'm not into it right now. Tomorrow for sure though!