Trimming down the stock

Well there won't be much posting of new work here for awhile since I am moving to South Korea in a couple of months. I am working on selling the stock I currently have. I don't know what next year will hold for me as far as pottery is concerned. I won't be able to bring my studio or anything like that so it will probably be a year long sabbatical for me. **sad sigh**
South Korea is fertile ground for potters, at least that is what I gather, so I plan to soak in as much as I can. It will be exciting when I finally do get back to my work what kind of influences will spill over.
I will probably use this blog space to share my Korean experiences as they relate to all things ceramic.


This is a neolithic pot from Korea: wikipedia.org

Yoga people glazed and ready for sale....

I decided to glaze them but to keep the color in a natural tone. I am pleased with the outcome. They are going up for sale in my Etsy shop today.
These measure appox 8 1/2" square and can be hung on the wall with a simple plate hanger.

So yoga lovers....ENJOY!

Yoga Pottery

Here is a set all together. I am toying with the idea of glazing it or not. I do like the natural red clay but glazing will add strength and durability.

More Yoga people

Here are more wall hangings. I am having a lot of fun making them.

Back in the studio

Yay, I am sooooooo happy to be back in the studio, letting the clay direct itself with only a little bit of gentle motivation from my hands.
I am working on a new series called "Yoga People".
These are two of my favorite poses. Eagle pose and standing bow pose.
I am hoping to do a whole series of these wall hanging sculptures.
I have enjoyed yoga off and on for the last few years but only recently have I "kicked it up a notch" and joined a Bikram Yoga studio. Hot Yoga is the hardest physical work I have ever done in my life but it has resulted in undisputable changes in my body. Whoo hoo! It also helps a great deal in alleviating my severe depression.
I've been hearing whispers on the wind that yoga has been getting some bad press lately. RUBBISH I say! The only people I have known to knock it are those that have never tried it. And finally, yoga is not a religion and has no effect on my own personal religious beliefs....I feel that there is still a lot of ignorance that surrounds this practice.

Anyhow, Yay for clay and Yay for feeling good about one's self.

Why the silence??

My apologies for the long lack of posting here. I am dying to get back into the studio as I have a multitude of ideas swimming around in my head. I am completely preoccupied with finishing my tatting book by the end of this month.
As soon as I feel comfortable with where the book is at I will share all my pottery endeavors.
In the meantime I will leave you with a pretty picture to look at:



O.k. maybe not so much pretty as artistic. I had a great weekend with my grandparents in northern Idaho, the highlight of which was visiting this old unmarked cemetery.

Sourdough Starter Pot

My friend asked me to make him a lidded ceramic pot to keep his sourdough starter in.
This is what I came up with. I hope he likes it!

Santa Dog

Well my reindeer bells turned out awesome! I will be listing them in my Etsy shop soon. I wanted to dress my dog up like a reindeer and take a picture of her. She is the best sport EVER! What a sweet girl to let me do these things! Anyhow, I couldn't find her antlers so I just put a santa hat on her and she patiently let me take pictures while my not so angelic cat Raku played with the bell.

Reindeer Bells and more Custom Orders

The funny round looking things are reindeer bells. They sound so pretty, and I thought I would make a few this season.
The white funny looking things are tatting shuttles.
The lidded jar is a custom order for a friend.
I switched to working with red clay for awhile, It is absolutely the biggest pain in the butt because it is ever so messy, but it is really pretty when fired.
All these pieces are still in the greenware state. I have a little sanding to do and then I will pop them in the kiln.

Ceramic Books

I had this idea YEARS ago and then not long after this idea I saw another potter doing something similar so I gave up on it. Then I decided to give it another go. Not only is this a handmade ceramic book but I also handmade the paper in it as well. I recycled all my stupid junk mail and threw in a few organic materials and voila!



I made a whole bunch of ceramic covers for more books, I even made some crystalline book covers but I found that handmaking the paper is a total pain in my tush so if I make future books I will buy handmade paper from other artists.
These take forever and a day to assemble as I hand stitched all the pages into the binding. Of course I did a ton of research on book making and binding before I set out on this surprisingly monumental task.
I am still on the fence wether I will continue along this line. I guess it depends if anyone else shows an interest in them or not. I don't see them being very profitable for me.
Anyhow, I listed this one in my Etsy shop today.

Fantastic Crystals...(sadly this is not my work)

Work by Dwight Crossley
I was delighted to come across my crystalline friend's booth at the Boise Art in the Park festival this weekend. I was familiar with his work and had corresponded with him on crystalline related matters before but I had never met him in person until this past weekend.
His crystals are gorgeous as you can see by this piece that I could not resist buying.
We talked a lot about crystals which was heaven for me since all my crystalline friends are via the internet. It is nice to get an immediate response to your questions for a change. Anyhow, he tried to talk me into switching to the higher cones. And trust me, he is not my first crystalline friend to try and sway me from my stubborn path.
I started out in cone 10 crystals with the idea from the very beginning that I would pioneer in cone 5. I have been working in cone 5 with moderate success for the last two years. Well.....after seeing these beauties I may just throw in the towel and jump in the high fire pool with all my other crystalline friends.

The last of the TULIP series

I love tulips, cobalt blue and coil pots, so I combined those ideas to create my "Tulip Series". I sold many many pieces in this series.
I stopped making them a couple years ago because if I lose interest in something I stop doing it. I know that sounds fussy but it's the way that I am. If I don't have a passion for what I am doing then I simply won't do it.
I have been hanging on to this large pot for awhile and have finally decided to put it up for sale. It measures a foot tall by aprox a foot wide. It is a visually stunning piece with 8 hand painted tulips around the circumference of the pot.

More crazy whacky-ness

Here is the other chips and salsa server. The photo doesn't really show the awesomeness of the glaze. It is called antique blue and it mottles in a very interesting way.
Oh...wait...what's this? There's a surprise inside:

A nice big chile pepper to remind you what the salsa is all about! Boooyah!

I've also been working on some new and interesting crystalline necklace sets. I have some really gorgeous sets I will be listing in the weeks to come.

Colorful Custom Orders and Crazy teacups

Here is a set of custom teacups I did for a friend. I think they are a very soothing shade of yellow. Yellow is one of my favorite colors, I certainly could use more of it in my life. I hope she likes them.
I did another custom order for my friend Diane. She requested 3 small bowls with tatting designs to put her tatting bits into. Plus I believe she collects small bowls. This is a close up of one of the bowls, I really love the glaze on this one.

It seems that I have been doing a lot of custom orders these days which is perfectly fine. I certainly prefer to be kept busy.
Finally, here is a stack of crazy teacups and saucers with tatting designs. These will be listed in my Etsy tatting shop.

I love the orange one where the glaze ran while in the kiln. It's a bit surreal and I like that quality.

Favorite one so far.

This came fresh out of the kiln this morning, I am quite pleased with the results. It is so fun and whacky. I keep meaning to make one for myself because I am the world's biggest chips and salsa fan. All these that I have made before have been snatched up, so I am afraid my personal server will have to wait. After I figure out what the shipping will be I will post this in my Etsy Shop.

Half Done Doily Platter

This still has one more firing to go. This is a very large piece. I call them my "Turkey Platters", because you could fit a turkey on this baby. I can also see it used for serving a large variety of baked goods for a social function...maybe some bannana bread, brownies, cookies, what have you.
Hmmmm, I must be hungry.
I decided to show a picture of it half done because it might not survive the next firing. These platters are very difficult to do. I lose about 50% of them. Not very good odds. The losses are very expensive. I got so frustrated with these last year that I quit making them for awhile....but here I go again. If I am not anything I am persistent.

Greenware

Yep that is what pottery is called before it is ever fired....greenware. Here are some pieces I have been working on. Making a new Chips and Salsa server that I am pretty darn excited about. This one even comes with it's own directions...hee hee.
The teacup and saucer sets are a part of my tatted pottery pieces. Perhaps you cannot see the tatting but it will show up nicely in the glaze firing.

I've been slacking...arghhh, if only I could clone myself.

I listed this Crystalline Necklace in my Etsy shop today. It is one of my very favorites. It looks even better in person. It is strung with real freshwater pearls and is just a stunning art piece all-way-around.

I was supposed to be adding one item per day, but that kind of went by the wayside with a recent vacation I went on.
I am currently in the studio working on some new crystalline glaze recipes. So hopefully I will have some treasures to share in a few weeks.

Eye Candy galore

This is a custom plaque a dear friend of mine ordered. I just love this quote by Satchel Paige! "Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching."

My test glaze shot glasses sold like crazy. (probably because they were so cheap) Anyway, out of 40+ there are only 6 left. Some went to Denmark, some to England and the rest went out all over the United States. Because they were so poplular I decided to make some intentional shot glasses. These are fabulous with Red Mottled exterior. This is one of my new favorite glazing techniques, (which I totally discovered by accident), so you might be seeing a lot of it.
Oooooh, here it is again:

These are large chips and salsa servers and yes they are meant to be as whacky as possible. These are already sold but since they are so much fun I am planning to make a few to put in my Etsy shop. When I get some time I want to make one for myself too!

The Holy Grail

So yes, this is inspired by one of my all time favorite childhood movies, "Indiana Jones".
I made loads of these back in the day and I have finally decided to list my very last one.
I have added a great new category to my etsy shop, it is "15 bucks or less". So if you don't want to spend a lot of money but you still want the quality of handmade you might want to check it out.

Testing Glazes

So I mix most of my own glazes and of course I need to test them. I threw bunches of tiny little cups just for this purpose. This is all cone 5 work. I used Red clay and dipped half of each cup in white slip. I added ridges to see how the glaze would break. These are the perfect size for shot glasses or sake. Anyway they are a surpsising hit in my Etsy shop. They've just been sitting around for a couple of years so I decided to clean shop and make some room. Now at least other people can enjoy them.
I am almost out of them. It looks like I might have to throw some more.

The Life of a Mug

This is a video that I did a short while ago. In a very condensed fashion, it takes you through the whole process of making a ceramic mug from scratch.
Please enjoy.

Nostalgia

Does anybody remember the big rotary dial phones with the long stretchy cords anymore? This is a teapot I made awhile back but finally have decided to put up for sale in my Etsy Shop. It is super fun and it is a working teapot too! I love making teapots. I did a teapot show a few years back that landed me a spot in "Southern Lady" Magazine. I especially love making zany, wacky teapots.
Hmmm..Maybe I'll go throw a teapot today.

My goals and a teaser

My goal is to list a new item in my Etsy shop every day until I have at least 100 items. As of today I have 55 so I am more than half way there.
Here is a teaser of what I listed today.

It's about time

Hello world! I have been blogging about my tatting endeavors since March of 2007.
Why I haven't started a blog about my ceramics only God knows. So yes it is waaay overdue but better late than never right?
My plan is to pick items from my Etsy shop to feature. Here is the first.



This is a wonderful decorative yet fully functional Salsa dish. It is a double-walled vessel which means that it has two walls and is hollow on the inside to make the piece lighter than it looks. This is an advanced potters technique.
It is 100% handcrafted by me. When I say the word "handcrafted" it means that I start with a lump of clay and end up with what you see. I generally do not use molds or pre-manufactured parts.
The pepper that you see was hand sculpted.
This piece has elegant tri-pod feet.
It really is a delightful little pot.