Butter Says Take It Easy

We have a half wall on one side of our living room where Butter likes to perch each day. The wall has a nice piece of solid alder wood I had made as a top cap, so I have it covered with bath mats so he doesn't scratch the wood. First cat I have ever seen cross his legs; Butter always has his legs crossed just like this when he's up there. I think Butter is contemplating the meaning of Labor Day and has decided it means to take it easy.

Suzie's Looking for a New Home (maybe)

Suzie, my lavender gift shop mascot, is looking for a new home. Suzie has graced my shop for almost four years. How did Suzie get her name? About a year after I opened my shop, a visitor to my gardens came in the shop and said, "That used to be my dress!" The visitor's name was Susan. I got the manikin in one second hand store and lavender dress in another. Susan said she sold the dress because it didn't fit her any longer, but she was so happy to see her former dress put to such good use.

This weekend I'm turning my gift shop into my clay studio. I'm planning on keeping as many bookshelves in the room as possible. I'll devote a shelf or two for my most popular lavender products, and the rest will be set aside for drying shelves and for finished ceramic pieces. The rest of the room will house my work table, my new slab roller and all my work tools and equipment. When I originally built the gift shop, my husband said I wouldn't be able to fit very much in a 10 by 12 foot room without it looking and feeling crowded and I surprised him. This time I am hoping to surprise myself by making efficient use of the space for working with clay.

Right now I have space in one of our bedrooms, but now that there's carpet in the room, it's not practical. That space is so messy right now, I can't even post what it looks like for fear you all would think I'm a slob. I put a canvas drop cloth under the work space, but I am afraid the carpet will be ruined. And then there are the buckets of water. My cat has decided she likes drinking the irrigation water from the buckets better than from her own water bowl, and I'm always afraid she's going to knock the bucket of water over. I have the slab roller in the screen room along with the kiln and pieces of clay drying in cabinets and closets and everywhere else I can find space.

Gee, looking at Suzie's photo above, maybe Suzie won't be moving after all. I really like her so I might just find another spot for her around here. And besides, I looked for a long time to find just the right lavender dress for the manikin. Anyway, if all goes according to plan, I hope to be in my new space some time next week.

Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Peppers...

I'm growing Cubanelle peppers this year for the first time and I'm really proud to say I have had great success. They are really producing. There's 40 peppers in this basket and all of these were just picked from two plants in my raised-bin, vegetable garden. These peppers are like an elongated bell pepper, but smaller. Each pepper is about 4 inches long and about 1.5 inches wide. I've had much better success growing Cubanelles than bell peppers. Most often Cubanelles are picked when they are light green, but I like them when they are red and orange. They look so pretty cut up into a salad.


The white spotting you may see on the peppers is from our irrigation water which leaves a slight mineral deposit when it dries. Once I wash the peppers the white spotting will disappear. I am growing all my vegetables without the use of any pesticides. The Cubanelle has a mild flavor and is good to eat just plain.

Peppers have Vitamins C, B6, B1, E, K, folate, fiber, potassium, manganese, molybdenum, copper, tryptophane, and about 20 calories per pepper. Peppers also have beta-carotene, lycopene, and phytonutrients lutein and zeaxanthin. What does all that mean? Peppers are one of the best foods you can eat.

Have you had your pepper today?

Hanging Ceramic Sculpture & Mid Fire Glazes Fired In Reduction To Cone 10

Here's my cat, Butter, relaxing in the bathroom sink. Cats always seem to find a place to relax, it doesn't matter where they are. I think Butter likes the sink because it envelops him and the sink is soft and cool to the touch. Butter barely fits in the sink because he's a big cat. Folks who see him for the first time say he looks like a small mountain lion.

This semester at college, I'm taking Ceramics Studio, an independent study class. One of my goals is to experiment with mid fire glazes and fire them in reduction to Cone 10. Last year I made a couple of small sculptures and used Duncan glazes and they came out OK, so I'm willing to experiment with more mid fire glazes firing them higher than the norm.

Here's a small sculpted head of a cat I did last year. It's about 4.5 inches in diameter overall. I glazed the piece by brushing on Duncan Cone 6 glazes and then firing in reduction to Cone 10. The glazes didn't run but they did fade a bit. I was willing to risk Cone 6 glazes in a Cone 10 firing, because the piece being fired was lying flat on the kiln shelf. I also made sure to leave a good amount of unglazed waxed space along the bottom edges. I used several coats of glaze so the color didn't burn out in the firing.

For some of my first wall hangings the hanging mechanism shows. The one on the right has two holes pierced through and then a wire is strung through the holes and it is hung on a nail on the wall. Kind of tacky looking, especially the way I wrapped the wire. Not having any experience at the time with making pieces that hung on the wall, I didn't think this through while making it. The holes were kind of an after thought.

For the piece on the left I placed a small loop or handle at the top of the piece to hang it from. This one is a little better looking, but when I hang it the nail can still be seen, distracting from the piece. This piece can also be placed on a table top plate holder. Some of my decorative plates can be hung with plate hangers. If the plate is functional and decorative, then a plate hanger works pretty well.

Since I want the ceramic piece to be the focal point, hiding the hanging mechanism is definitely preferable. I'm researching safe and sturdy ways to hang ceramic sculptures on the wall without the hanging mechanism showing. I once saw a large outdoor sculpture hung with nylon rope strung through one hole in the back. I would be afraid the nylon rope would fray and the piece would fall.


For the cat sculpture I attached a small donut to the back when I sculpted it and then pierced two vertical holes through the donut. After it comes out of the kiln, I thread some strong wire through the holes and hang it on the wall. I could have cut the wire a little shorter, but it's kind of difficult to thread the wire through because this wire was thick and it was hard to bend it to get it through the donut holes. It does work quite well, though.

I'm curious about other techniques there may be to hang ceramic sculpture or wall hangings. Do you have any ideas or hints about hanging ceramics you can share?

Otto Heino at College of the Sequoias

Just found out Otto Heino will have an exhibit at the College of the Sequoias (COS) in Visalia, California September 2 to 25. The reception is tentatively set for September 11. Heino has been a potter for more than 50 years and was part of the arts and crafts movement in America. I'm looking forward to this exhibit and its only about a 45 minute drive from my home.

While perusing the Otto Heino website, I noticed there was information about an article in a Finnish magazine about Otto Heino. The Finnish link to the magazine is Suomen Kuvalehti. I also read Otto Heino was born in New Hampshire. So I decided to call Otto Heino's studio to ask about the exhibit. It was fortuitous that I happened to get Otto Heino himself on the phone. My husband's family is from New Hampshire and he is Finnish and Otto Heino is Finnish too. What a small world. We are going to make an appointment to take a tour of Otto Heino's studio in the very near future so we can meet him in person. More about our visit to meet Otto Heino, and about the Finns in New Hampshire later.

My Path of Clay

For over 20 years while designing and installing landscapes and working at various other jobs along the way, I had a dream of some day having a garden to share, to be able to impart my love of nature and plants and landscape design with others. When we moved here over four years ago, we, (my husband and I), developed our lavender and flower farm, literally from the ground up. Grading, installing drainage, building roads, moving boulders, putting in pathways, planting lavender, flowers, shrubs, trees, roses, and natives, building patios and pergolas, building rock walls, building a gift shop, painting signs, developing a website, doing advertising, marketing, and much, much more. I owe a great big thanks to my husband for helping me create my lifelong dream. That's a photo of my husband (tractor operator extraordinaire) taking a photo of me, wearing his garden hat, at an air show we went to recently.


After our gift shop, above, was built I wanted to display the lavender and floral arrangements in some unique, handmade vases. I was disappointed when I couldn't find just what I wanted. I took floral arranging classes eight years ago and wanted to take a ceramics class then, but didn't get the opportunity. So I decided I would take a ceramics class here to make a few vases for my gift shop. The vase with lavender is one of the first vases I made in my ceramics class. Something happened while I was in my first ceramics class, I found clay, or clay found me, and I was hooked.


I never thought there could be something else in life I would like doing as much, if not more, than landscaping. Well maybe not more, but something different and fresh. There is something so relaxing and therapeutic about working with clay. There is something so wonderful about being able to think of an idea and then create it in clay. And there is something challenging about realizing I will never know all there is to know about clay even in a whole life time. Here is something which can keep my attention, keep me stimulated, keep me learning. I just love it...and I want to share my feelings about clay with others.


So now I find myself at a crossroads in my life. I still love landscaping and nature, but after so many years of physical labor in the out-of-doors, I find I can't do what I used to. So I have decided to transition my career path into clay. You'll be hearing more about my transition from time to time. Today, I am combining my garden blog into this blog, so now you'll be seeing photos and posts here about my gardens, like the gift shop and the lavender field photos I have shown.

How are garden, landscape and nature posts related to clay? My gardens and nature are one of the many sources of my inspiration for creating in clay. I am inspired by what I see growing around me, the trees, the lavender, and the Canna Tropicana lilies shown below all inspire me. I am also inspired by my husband, who is so supportive of my new found pursuits in clay. All that surrounds me each day rewards me with beauty and inspiration ... as I skip along my path of clay.

A Few New Forms

Been feeling a little guilty since I hadn't posted in a while, and also resentful about not having enough time to work with clay more often. My gardens take way too much of my time. If I don't water it here, it dies. I can't wait till cooler weather. I actually have been working on a few things, in between taking care of my gardens, that is. Here are a couple of tumblers, what I call thumb print tumblers. Green they are 6.5 inches tall and 3.25 inches wide. I am hoping they will shrink a bit. I made them smooth at first, but for comforts sake I like a tumbler which doesn't feel like it will slip out of my hand. So I had the idea to press in the thumb prints where they could be grasped easily. I'm thinking of a few more ideas of how to texture tumblers, to make holding them comfortable. Perhaps faceting the sides, maybe some square tumblers, and a few heavily textured tumblers. I'll be working on those next.


When I go to art fairs I have my business cards displayed on my table and I thought - why not a ceramic business card holder? So here is my first attempt at a tabletop business card holder. I thought of making the lip on the front come down a bit and I could press letters on the front saying "Please Take One" - might be too cutesy, but maybe not, I'll see. I've always wanted to make a ceramic form with some letters on it and have never done it, so here's my chance. I am not quite happy with this particular form, but I'm going to try and modify it some. I have a few more drawings to work from.


Folks are always asking me for spoon rests, so I thought I would make a few more leaf form spoon rests. The spoon rests range in size from about 3 to 5 inches. I've been working with Nara 5 porcelain the last couple of weeks. It is so buttery and not as fragile in the green state as I would have expected. My cat actually jumped on these green spoon rests and they didn't break - thank goodness.

Last are a couple of side dishes - a shell and a star. Each one is about 7 inches diameter overall and 1.5 inches deep. I was thinking since my last name is Starr, I might as well have a bowl in the shape of a star. I have several contemporary glaze ideas for these and wanted to try the glazing out on some smaller forms.

I've been trying to draw up some signatures to have a stamp made up so I can sign the bottom of my ceramics. At first I was just going to have my signature, then I got to thinking of a trademark or stamp that might be little smaller in size, especially for smaller forms. I thought I might incorporate the shape of a star into my signature or mark with just my initials. Once I can pick one from all the different drawings I have made I will send it off to be made up.

My New Slab Roller !

Edwin Batsch, a ceramic and kinetic sculpture artist, made the slab roller for me and delivered it today. Ed is so creative; he can make something wonderful out of what others consider junk. He goes to garage sales and finds things people normally throw away or sell inexpensively, and then uses the stuff in creative ways. Take for instance the handles on the slab roller. Ed got a whole bucketful of acrylic grapes for $5 and attached them on the ends of the handles with epoxy - pretty nifty. So my slab roller has burgundy handles. Of course, it also helps that Ed works in a machine shop part time and has angle iron and welding equipment at his disposal too. I can't wait to use my new slab roller.

Mystery Dog Mug

It's fascinating to me that an artist of a ceramic piece can be recognized by their style. I learn so much from other clay artist's blogs. Patricia Griffin of Clay Mouse Studio has a fun series of posts on her blog about identifying famous potter's ceramic pieces. After reading about each potter, I check to see if the potter has a website and then I read all about their ceramics. I'm learning all about ceramic style.

By reading comments on blogs I am often curious about other ceramic artist's blogs, so I check those out too. After perusing Gary Rith's Potter's Blog, I was reminded of a ceramic mug my husband had when we got married 23 years ago. If you check out Gary's ceramic pieces you'll see why it reminded me of this mug. The mug has moved with us six different times. I always loved the whimsy of the mug and never wanted to use it for fear of breaking it.

Another way to determine the artist of a ceramic piece is to look on the bottom and see if it is signed. So if there is any doubt as to the identity of the artist the signature or mark could be a determining factor.

I took the mug out of the cabinet to look at it again today and was so surprised to see it is marked on the bottom. But which way should I look at the mark? Perhaps the underlines should be at the bottom?

Does anyone know who made this mug? Was it a famous potter, is it a factory mark? Please let me know if you have any clues.

Word Games

Wordle brought to my attention by Cynthia

... a fun and quick diversion, now it's back to work for me.

Promotion Ideas & Opportunities

Before I went to the Mountain Festival this past weekend, I was thinking of ways to improve my booth display. I wanted to make it interesting for those visiting my booth. I already have a written description of how I make my ceramic pieces which I place in an acrylic sign holder. (Get the sign holders that tip slightly backwards, it's easier for folks to read those than the ones that sit straight up). I also have an acrylic business card holder on my table.


I thought I'd make up a photo collage of the steps I take to make one ceramic piece starting with rolling the clay to the 'ready to bisque' piece and then place the collage in another acrylic sign holder for my other table. The piece I used for illustration was my fern leaf, slip decorated platter. It was a good idea since folks were really looking at the collage ... except...they wanted to see the finished fern leaf platter. I didn't have the fern leaf platter with me because it is in the drying cabinet. I'll be sure to have the finished piece with me next time. This was also an opportunity of asking those who wanted to see the fern leaf platter, if they would like me to notify them when the platter was completed.


I made another acrylic sign holder for the other table showing my teapot which won two blue ribbons with a description about that. Another good idea since folks were reading that too ... except ... I didn't have any teapots to sell and people asked me about them. It turns out lots of people love teapots and many collect them. Who knew. This was also another opportunity for me to take names for advance teapot orders. I think I would have better success taking orders if folks can see the actual teapot before they place the order. Since my teapot is in a gallery, I couldn't bring it with me and I don't have any other teapots I've made right now. At each art show I attend, I'm learning ways to promote my wares and discovering more promotional opportunities.

When I came home, I started thinking of new styles of teapots to make and made a few teapot sketches. Later I was reading an email from Ceramic Arts Daily and I saw some information on the National Teapot Show at Cedar Creek Gallery. Have a look. The show is posted on their site and there's page after page of teapots. I have only gotten to the first page so far. Can't wait to get back to them and see all the other teapots. If you don't subscribe to Ceramic Arts Daily, I highly recommend it. There are all kinds of clay tips, videos, book reviews and other tidbits delivered right to your email inbox.

The Company I Keep ...

"Does the carpet color clash with my fur? If it does,
she'll just have to recarpet.
That's all there is too it. I have
my ways of making sure she HAS TO recarpet."



"These high thread
count sheets are heaven
to lounge on. I'm really
glad she bought them for me."

"That bird doesn't know how lucky he is. If I was out there I'd have him in a second, play with him for a while, then bring him in for her. She keeps telling me 'no birds, no birds', crazy woman. Some people just don't appreciate the presents you give them."

Mountain Festival Camp Nelson

Here I am in my booth at the Mountain Festival in Camp Nelson. At 4000 foot elevation, the cool mountain air was welcome from the over 100 F temperatures at 1000 foot elevation where I live. This festival is a small, fun-filled event held each year for the last 42 years. There is music, food, children's activities and much more happening at this art and craft fair and festival set in a beautiful mountain meadow.

I met some great people at the festival and I had lots of wonderful comments on my ceramics. One of the comments which stuck with me was "Your pieces look like they have had your hands all over them, I like that". People are appreciating hand made ceramics and do realize wares they can get more cheaply are machine made and they consider them disposable. Visitors to my booth liked that my pieces are signed too. I also had requests from a number of people to teach a bead making class and a children's clay class. All in all people feel connected to art and many said they wanted to include more art in their lives.

I connected with several potters visiting the festival who expressed interest in getting together when the weather cools so we can have a barrel firing party. I already have quite a few people lined up for this fun event. In preparation for this fun time, I purchased some clay called buff sand from Laguna which is supposed to be good for pit and barrel firings and versatile for hand building and throwing too.

In a previous post I mentioned Paul Andrew Wandless' book "Alternative Kilns and Firing Techniques". I am going to pattern my first firing from information I am reading in the book. I was originally going to have a pit fire but the book says barrel firing can get much hotter than the pit - and it seems much easier to set it up. We'll cut the barrels in half and fire three at a time instead of just one. That way we can get every one's pieces in the fire and not stack the wares too high and risk too much settling and possibly some of the pieces cracking from the weight of the others. So I am off on a mission this morning to locate some barrels for firing.