Garden Stroll Before Glazing

I decided to take a stroll in the garden this morning before the sun came up. The lighting is really different this early in the morning. On the way to the studio, there are three maple trees. The one in the the middle of the yard is turning color much sooner than the other two. It's only the difference of 10 or 20 feet, but it seems to make a difference in when the leaves change color. The other two are closer to the house and I think its warmer there.


I have raised bins near the studio and they are usually all planted with vegetables, but this year I reserved two bins to try dahlias. If you have never grown dahlias, give them a try. They are so beautiful and they bloom all year long. Towards the end of summer they weren't looking that good, kind of sun burnt, but now they are spectacular again. They're getting taller and taller and the flowers are huge. I think dahlias like the weather a bit cooler. Heck, I do too, our summers really hot here. As the sun came up I noticed the honey bees looking for nectar on the dahlias.






I spent the good part of the weekend planting some trees at the upper part of our property. I know, I know, you're probably saying, doesn't she have enough plants. Hasn't she been complaining about all she has to take care of. Well, yes, that's all true. But in case we don't sell for awhile, I am trying to screen out some of the traffic noise from the highway.


Anyway Cupressus arizonica, Arizona Cypress, are drought tolerant and take little or no care. See, they won't be too much work at all. They make a good screen and wind break and like the heat. The foliage is fragrant and a beautiful gray-green color and the bark is reddish brown. And they grow fast into a pyramid shape. Why didn't I think of these trees sooner? The only draw back I have found so far is the foliage makes your skin itch if you rub against the foliage, which I had to do while planting them. I can't wait for these trees to screen our front yard. Next time you come to visit me in my studio take a look at our future conifer forest, even if the forest is planted neatly in a row.

I've got a ton of glazing to do today so I am off to start in.

Susan Clusener At Clay Mix

There will be a solo exhibit, Contemporary Ceramics Recent Work by Susan Clusener at Clay Mix from November 6 through December 20, 2008. Opening reception will be November 6 from 5 to 8 p.m. Clay Mix is located at 1003 N. Abby street in Fresno. The postcard announcement shows Susan's Pregnant Pear, 26"H x 20"W x 18"D, coil-built earthenware, painted and waxed. Postcard photo by Forrest Doud.

This ... and These ...

One of last year's students made 'This Little Pig' sculpture from Rod's Mix clay and never returned for it. I decided to glaze 'This Little Pig' because he has so much personality. Notice how the front feet look like he is walking. He's walking so fast he's almost falling forward, but not quite. 'This Little Pig' measures 2.5 high by 2 inches wide by 4.25 long and is glazed with an orange shino glaze.


In a previous post, I showed you some of the large crosses I made. My large crosses are popular and folks were always saying to me, "You should make some of 'These Crosses' as pendants". So that's just what I did. 'These Crosses' are meant to be rustic, like they weathered over time, from the earth and returning to the earth. I wanted them to look as though they were, perhaps, uncovered from an archaeological dig.

These rustic crosses are made with black stoneware clay and glazed with a thin coat of translucent glaze, which lets the dark clay show through, as if paint had been worn off of them over time. The largest of the rustic crosses measures 3.25 by 2.25 inches and the smallest measures 2.25 by 1.25 inches. I plan on sanding the backs and will attach them to some leather cord.


Meanwhile, I am in the process of developing a pendant card or tag. I want to be able to attach my pendants to the card and display them in various ways. Stay tuned for my next post where I'll talk about my design process. I'd love to hear any ideas you've seen or know on how to make cards or tags for pendants, earrings, or jewelry display. I am hoping to design something I can print right here on my own printer.

Spirit Bird

One day I was making some bowls and platters from slabs of stoneware clay. I had some leftover pieces of clay lying on the table. I thought I'd relax a bit before cleaning up my work area and use the pieces of clay. I started to pinch the clay together without thinking. I found the clay formed a point at the front and so I joined the back and made a bowl shape. I didn't even use slip since I was just fooling around with some scrap pieces of clay. I just kept pinching the pieces together. I looked at the form and thought I should add some eyes, so I cut them out. Then I thought I should add an adornment at the back. Then I stood back and saw what looked like a nose or a beak was pointing down, so I added the last piece of clay as a small foot.


Here is Spirit Bird, 5.75 h x 5 w inches. I like looking at this ceramic sculpture. Gazing into the eyes, I feel a curiosity. I see wisdom and sadness. I found the perfect gazing height for looking into the eyes while seated is about the top of my computer screen. So I'd like to elevate Spirit Bird and the height needs to be about 14.5 inches tall for gazing from a chair.


I thought I could elevate the sculpture by sliding the foot over a piece of wood. The foot is about an inch deep but not a regular shape because it was pinched together. Perhaps I could whittle a piece of wood the the same shape as the interior of the foot and then slide Spirit Bird over the wood. Maybe I could stain a piece of salvaged wood or a branch, attach the end to the foot and then have a larger block of wood at the bottom to stabilize it. Like this modern furniture designer, Paul Evans metal sculpture is elevated, but the post would be slightly thicker and so would the pedestal.


What do you think about elevating this piece? How could I go about it? Does anyone have any experience attaching wood to ceramics?

Several Disappointments

Yesterday, I made what I call my bamboo pitcher. I used a 6.5 inch diameter piece of PVC pipe as a brace to hold up the sides till it hardened up a bit, which I thought was a 5.5 inch diameter piece of PVC pipe. As the teacher and students got to the class they said the vessel looked too large to function as a pitcher. I had picked the PVC pipe up out of a debris pile in our back yard thinking it was less than 6 inches in diameter and would shrink to less than that and be the right size after it was fired.

After I had the pitcher built I, too, noticed and had to agree, the pitcher was much larger than I expected. Rather than crumple the piece and start over I decided to use it as a plant holder. It's kind of comical really, this pitcher is 6.5 inches in diameter and about the same in height. It would weigh so much if it had liquid in it that the handle would surely pull off, don't you think? Well I'm not perfect, but I try.


So today I went to the studio with the intention of making another pitcher. I had the design all worked out on paper. This pitcher was going to be taller, more slender, just the right size, with just the right size handle, and everyone who saw it would agree it was just the perfect pitcher. I wasn't going to let the disappointment of yesterday's pitcher deter me from success. Oh, no!


Let me preface my arrival at the studio today with... Last week you may recall I made six matching tumblers. I dried them slowly and have been checking on them every day to be sure the drying was going along fine. Last night they seemed almost dry but the bottoms were still slightly damp. I didn't want to risk the bottoms pulling away or separating from the tops. So I decided to finally remove them from the bat last night and place them on the drying shelves (which are open on the bottom) but still keep the tops covered. So that's what I did. Here they are drying nicely.


Last night when I put my bamboo pitcher on the shelf I noticed the door was open to the studio and there was a pretty good breeze coming in right near the drying shelves (not the best designed ceramics studio) but didn't think anything about it. Today when I got to the studio, I uncovered the tumblers to find that five of the tumblers had large cracks up the sides, some on the seam but most on the opposite side of the seam, the side facing the breeze and doorway. Only one tumbler was intact - the one closest to the wall and furthest from the breeze coming from the door. What a great disappointment and loss. One of my toothpick holders also cracked opposite the seam.


I was so devastated at all the time and effort I had lost today, especially since I had dried the tumblers for over a week very slowly, I decided to leave without making anything today. I decided to construct my 'perfect' pitcher tomorrow. Several other things happened today before all this devastation at the studio, so the disappointment just got to be too much on top of everything else. I won't bore you with those details.


Oh, I almost forgot. On a more positive note, I love going to the beach and collecting driftwood and have amassed quite a bunch over the years which I keep saying I'll use some day. So the other day I decided to make a cylinder with a handle where I could place a piece of driftwood through as the portion to carry the cylinder with. Here's the cylinder drying with the side handles with holes in them ready to accept the driftwood after the piece is fired. This one hasn't cracked yet. It did show some signs of stress as it was on the same shelf, but I quickly moved it to a bat to another location and covered it well. Hopefully this one will survive.

Till next time.

Some Informative Bowls

The following bowls have provided me with quite a bit of information about glazes, clay bodies, form, and function. The wheel thrown bowls are a collaboration between my friends Delia and Tom of the "Zen Garden" and myself.

Several of the bowls were altered to enhance their functionality. Some of the alterations aid in pouring, drizzling, or holding up a utensil. I am finding that even minor changes in a form can greatly enhance their usefulness in the kitchen or dining. And altered forms are often pleasant to look at due to their unusual shape or the way the glazes may break along the edges.

I noticed all of the ruffled edged brown stoneware bowls had glazes which either crawled, bubbled, or were pitted. These same glazes did not react this way on any other pieces in the same kiln load. This has led me to the conclusion that this clay body is not a good fit with many glazes and so I will not be using this clay again.


Red glazed porcelain, wheel thrown bowl, 3.5 h x 6.5 w inches. Not sure what the little black dot is on the interior, perhaps a concentrated piece of iron or debris in the porcelain clay, but it looks like a personal signature stamp and I like it.


Green to black satin matt glazed, creased edge, slump formed brown stoneware bowl, 2.5 h x 8 w inches. This bowl has creases on one side which help keep a spoon upright in the bowl by resting the handle against the crease. The glaze crawled terribly on this brown stoneware clay.


Non iron blue glazed, wheel thrown porcelain bowl, 2 h x 5 w inches. This bowl is a perfect size for a hand held soup or for dessert. Notice the brown speck. When I was working with the Windsor porcelain I noticed a few brown specks in the clay. At first I was picking them out and then I just left them in thinking they would burn out. The brown specks weren't gritty like grog, they seemed smooth. Now I see they might be part of the character of the clay or an anomaly. I will check with Laguna Clay tomorrow to see what they say. I don't mind the specks as I think they add character, but some folks might want a more pristine coloration for their porcelain.


Tea dust black glazed, ruffled edged, slump formed brown stoneware bowl, 4.5 h x 10 w (widest) inches. This bowl is rectangular in shape and has a cut out on either side of the widest portion which can be used to carry the bowl or to hold a spoon handle up. This stable glaze bubbled and popped in the interior of this bowl, that brown stoneware again.


Blue glazed, porcelain bowl, 1.5 h x 5.5 w inches. This bowl could be taller and would be more useful. The current size lends itself to a child's bowl or for a sauce. The beauty of a solid color glaze in reduction is that subtle color variations are achieved.


Cream and blue glazed, ruffle edged, slumped brown stoneware bowl, 3 h x 6 w inches. This altered bowl lends itself to pouring or drizzling liquid and one side of the bowl is slightly higher to keep the thumb from touching the interior ingredients while pouring. Another one of my ruffle bowls and an experimental glaze. I just can't help but make these forms as they show off the glazes on so many surfaces.


Carbon trap shino glazed, wheel thrown porcelain bowl, 2 h x 5 w inches. This bowl is the perfect size for a hand held soup bowl or for dessert. No carbon trapping here, not like my horseshoe bowl. As I understand carbon trapping is achieved with early reduction, which wasn't the case with this firing. Nice stable glaze though. A blend might bring out something spectacular, I see more experiments in the wings.



Blue glazed, slump formed, porcelain star bowl, 1.75 h x 5 w (overall) inches. This bowl is a good size for salsa or can be used to drizzle sauce or dressing. The points of the star hold a spoon nicely and also can be used to hold the bowl easily when using the bowl for drizzling the contents. I plan on using this glaze in some experiments over and under various other glazes as I can see there are multiple color variations achievable with this glaze in combination with others.


Altered porcelain wheel thrown bowl, 3 h x 3 w inches. Glazed with tea dust black on the exterior and ohata kaki on the interior. This bowl is and has two small spouts on opposite sides one to pour from and one to place the thumb while holding the bowl. This particular ohata kaki glaze lends itself to thick and thin applications. Several other pieces in the kiln load had thinner applications and were spectacularly metallic in nature. I can't wait to try this glaze again.


Blue glazed, wheel thrown porcelain yarn bowl, 2 h x 6 w inches. The hole is intentional for yarn to be threaded through. For it's intended use, this bowl could be taller and a little heavier. The idea for the yarn bowl is for the skein of yarn to stay in the bowl instead of rolling around while crocheting or knitting.


Tea dust black glazed porcelain wheel thrown bowl, 2.75 h x 5 w inches. This bowl is the perfect size for salsa or sauce and is a good weight to keep it from tipping over with a large spoon in the bowl.


Ruffle edged, slump formed porcelain bowl, 2.25 h x 5.5 w inches. Tea dust black exterior and blue glaze interior with overlapping at each ruffle. I knew there were cracks in the edge of this bowl before I glazed it and I know why they formed. I tried to impress a design on the outside of the bowl when it was too dry and I pressed too hard. But I decided to glaze the bowl anyway because I wanted to overlap the glazes and I am glad I did. I'll try this combination again.

There's a lot of work examining, photographing, and measuring all these bowls. But writing about the bowls has helped me to categorize the sizes and functions of the various bowls and will enable me to look more critically at why I make a particular size bowl in the future, what glazes to use, and what the bowl will eventually be used for.

Stay tuned for the next post where I'll show a few of the miscellaneous pieces from this kiln firing.

Fresh Out of the Kiln

At this point in my life I want to know a lot about clay in a relatively short amount of time, which isn't always possible, but that doesn't keep me from trying. We just unloaded the kiln this evening. From my perspective, I am progressing and learning a lot and the evidence is shown in this glaze firing.


Here you see one of my shell bowls made from Windsor porcelain clay with a beautiful blue glaze. I really like the way this glaze pools at the bottom and I also like the shape of the bowl. Windsor porcelain is a joy to work with in hand building. The clay accepts the glaze nicely and is a good fit. However, the glaze ran a bit at the bottoms of these bowls and will need to be ground down some. I have a set of four of these bowls and one cracked being removed from the kiln shelf.


Here you see the same form shell bowl made with Black Mountain clay with a painted fish under glaze and a transparent over glaze. This is the first time I have used under glazes and I have many more ideas to try with these types of glazes. The transparent glaze over the top has reacted with the iron in the clay body to produce an overall gray or gray-green background color which was not what I was after. I wanted the black clay body to show through.

I am not sure it is possible to achieve an actual clear glaze over a black clay body in a reduction firing. I have one more transparent type of glaze to try that is supposed to be good over oxides, not sure it still won't react with the iron in the clay body to produce the gray tones again. We shall see in the next firing.









If you recall our last glaze firing didn't achieve Cone 9. Here are the cones from this firing. The cones pictured on the left were on the next to the bottom shelf of the kiln and are probably almost Cone 11. The cones on the right were on the top shelf of the kiln and are not quite to Cone 10. We have a discrepancy between the top and bottom of the kiln tempratures and consequently glaze maturation varies from the bottom of the kiln to the top.


In previous posts I talked about my experimentation with platters and plates, I've been striving to achieve a good form from a slumped or humped mold without having the plates or platters warp. For this firing I achieved some successes and failures in that regard. Here is a new square form with four undulations and no foot, this form seems stable and didn't warp at all. The transparent glaze was supposed to allow the blue under glaze to show through, which it did. The transparent glazes was also supposed to allow the black clay body to show through, but again has reacted with the clay body to produce more of a grey tone and has obscured the color of the clay body. I think the transparent glazes are going to take much more experimentation.


This round porcelain plate is made from Windsor porcelain with a blue and salmon under glaze and celadon glaze over the top. The plate was constructed with a slump mold. The plate did not warp and was placed on the kiln shelf with porcelain sand underneath. I wish I had put a border design around the outer edge of the plate. I also want to practice more with under glazes, but I like how the color blended ever so slightly and the celadon almost acts like a clear over the under glazes.


I had high hopes for this medium square platter since I took quite a bit of time formulating, measuring and painting the semi-circle under glaze design on the platter. Here again I used Windsor porcelain on a slump mold with a flat bottom and no foot. Although the platter didn't warp, it does have a large crack on one side. I'd like to try this platter and this design again as it is one of my favorites - a semi-circle design on a square platter.


Previous crosses I have made have warped due to hanging attachments I placed on their reverse. With these next two crosses I left off the hanging attachments and they didn't warp. I will probably be attaching a metal hanger with epoxy to the back of these two. Although I did impress in a nail recess on the upper back, I am not sure that will be sufficient to hang them safely from the wall without risking their falling.


Stay tuned to see more from this firing in my next post where you'll see an unusual pinched and sculpted bowl, yarn bowls, free form bowls, and other bowls with some unique glazes.

Hand Built Tumblers

I'm trying to get into a routine of sticking to a list of ceramic pieces I should make each day. It's easy to get distracted when I go to the college studio. I get interrupted by folks going in and out, then there is kiln firing, classroom maintenance, and lots of other things. I have always known I work well without distractions, so I go the classroom before anyone else gets there. I have found I am very productive when I work alone.

The last couple of days I have actually been able to stick to my list. Wednesday I was supposed to make butter dishes. The butter dishes turned out as cheese keepers, but that's OK because I completed them. Tumblers were next on the list. I made a couple of tumblers yesterday, but quickly realized they were too large in diameter to be functional. Those will probably become vases or canisters.


I am still trying to work out in my mind the shrinkage factor of clay. I come from a background of landscaping and I can easily visualize small plants in the landscape as they'll look when they're full grown. Visualizing clay pieces in their finished state is difficult for me. Yesterday I made two tumblers and later I determined they were much too large in diameter to be a tumbler, so they will be vases or canisters. Today I revised my tumbler pattern and hopefully these will be the perfect size for a tall glass of a person's favorite beverage. I feel as time goes by and I have more experience with clay I will develop "an eye" for what the piece will look like in it's finished state.


Today I went to the college studio and set up a mini assembly line process to make tumblers. I had a time limit so I wanted to be efficient with my production. I rolled six slabs of clay in one direction as thicker slabs, set them aside and then added a shim into the slab roller and rolled the six slabs in the other direction. Next I cut out my pattern on each slab and then textured the slabs with a texture tool. Then I set the slabs aside to firm up a bit. Later I joined the slabs into a cylinder shape and set them aside again to firm up before attaching bottoms. Making six of the same piece is much more efficient than making one at a time.

I'll be setting up a front yard booth for our local apple festival for the next several days, so have a good weekend.

Slab City, Salvation Mountain, and the Salton Sea

We're taking a clay detour today. Last Spring we went on a short vacation to the Anza Borrego Desert of Southern California. As we were driving South, Gary told me about Slab City and how lots of snowbirds go there to stay in the winter to escape the cold weather. They stay there in their motor homes and enjoy the sunny desert air. Gary always wanted to see Slab City so we made a small detour on our way to see the wildflowers of the Anza Borrego desert.

I pictured a beautiful desert oasis, but, to me, most of slab city is a barren wasteland. There was, however, a few bright spots that were worth the small detour. There was seeing Salvation Mountain in person. If you are ever nearby, it is worth a trip. To me Leonard Knight's creation definitely portrays outsider art. Leonard has sculpted, painted and created his own mountain shrine to God's Love. All of this has been created with scrounged bits and pieces from dumps and donations from passersby. To me the mountain is a symbol of what one person with determination can do.

Next we headed to the Salton Sea. As the name implies, this is a salty sea, 25% saltier than the ocean. It is also the largest body of water in California at 35 miles long and 15 miles wide The sea is also 227 feet below sea level and only has a depth of a maximum of 51 feet. The Salton Sea is an important stopover point for birds on the Pacific flyway and bird watching is wonderful along the sea. The sea also has one of the most productive fisheries in the world. If you like to fish or bird watch this is a place to go.

Writing about our vacation last year makes me want to go on another vacation real soon.

Say Cheese

A couple of days ago I purchased several plastic forms I thought I could use as hump molds to make a butter dish. I thought of making a butter dish because it's a ceramic piece which doesn't have to belong to a set. Folks might like a unique butter dish, not necessarily matching the rest of their kitchen ware.

Also the great thing about using ceramics to house food which should be kept slightly chilled is that ceramics absorb the cold and retain it longer, keeping the food firm and cooler. Ceramics will also keep food warm longer for the same reason.


But let me back up. Just as I was walking out the front door, I heard a new email announced on my computer. I had to see if there was something important. I received an email from Cynthia Guajardo of Colorado Art Studio's about butter dishes. I was thinking it must be Halloween because it was so eerie that I had intended on making a ceramic butter dish today too.

So I drove to the studio, rolled out my clay and started right in. The hump mold I chose was a bit larger than a butter dish, but I reasoned that it would shrink some. A long story short, the butter dish became a cheese keeper because the dish is a little too large to keep butter in.

My "Say Cheese!" cheese keeper was constructed in much the same way that Cynthia has outlined so well in her post. My dish is just a little larger and is great for cheese. A few posts back I was saying I had always wanted to make a ceramic piece with lettering on it and had never had a chance, well today was the day. Anyway I have a smaller mold to make a butter dish which I will try tomorrow.

Say Cheese!

A Day in the Life ...

Mrs. G of Derfwad Manor suggested a photo essay about a day in my life and that's what follows.


Gary is up at 5:00 am, makes his lunch (unbelievably filthy construction lunch box is noted later by Linda) and before he leaves he wakes Linda up. "Time to get up, I'm leaving". Linda says, "I'm getting up right now". Gary says, "Sure, I don't see any lights on when I drive away". Linda lies there for a brief time and she gets up after she hears Gary's car drive down the highway. Linda thinks - that's why he doesn't see any lights - I get up just after he drives away.


Linda fixes her daily drug - that's what Gary says about her coffee - since he doesn't drink it. He says he's still too young to drink coffee. Gary is approaching retirement age. Wonder how old he thinks you have to be to drink coffee?


Later Linda has her breakfast of champions - low fat granola with some milk while she is checking her emails, reading some blogs and doing some blogging. She notices the cat is still lounging around.


When the sun comes all the way up, Linda lets the cat out. Great horned owls are heard every evening, so the cat can't go out till the sun comes up.


Next Linda does some watering and weeding in the yard. Linda tries her best to keep things green due to high fire danger and weeded in hopes they will sell so they can move to a smaller place with less yard work and more time for a dedicated clay studio. If only the rains would come, Linda thinks she would have much more time to get all the errands done, like the DMV, taxes due in two days, and smog her car which is due in less then 10 days so she can re-up the registration.

Later Linda takes a shower. Next Linda loads her sculpture very carefully into a box in her car and adds Styrofoam peanuts to cushion it. Linda also loads some extra stilts for the glaze load at school as there aren't enough small ones, and she puts some ware boards into the back of her car.


Later Linda heads off to school in her car loaded down with all her clay paraphernalia and all the tables and finished ceramics from the last show. It's easier just to leave the stuff in the car so she doesn't have to load it up again. As Linda leaves, she notices the indoor cat is taking a nap on the couch. Linda drives very slowly to class - pretty unbelievable for her - but she has her sculpture in the car.


Linda always promises to come home early after class, but she always gets home late due to her addiction to clay. Linda spent 12 noon till about 6 p.m. at school today. Linda glazed a teapot, helped her classmate load the kiln for a glaze load, cleaned up and organized all her green ware, and made a clay canister while she was at class today.


Linda also took a small trip to the grocery store during that time to get some cat food for some stray kittens hanging around the ceramics classroom. Linda made a note to herself to call animal control to come and get the kittens. When Linda's instructor arrives, one of the classmates tells him there is dead kitten in the courtyard. Linda feels real bad even though she's been leaving cat food for the kittens each day. Someone tells Linda they think the kitten died from disease not malnutrition. When Linda gets home she sees Gary has left the light on for her.


Linda plies Gary with a glass of ... white grape juice when she shows up late again from her night ceramics class.


She fixes something easy for dinner due to the late hour - pesto over bow tie noodles and perhaps a salad to go along with.


Gary lounges around while Linda makes dinner. While Linda and Gary are drinking their grape juice, Linda tells Gary about loading the kiln, what she made in class, and tells of showing her instructor her sculpture which she, thankfully, got to class in one piece.


Gary says he has something made from clay to show Linda. Gary brings out a car magazine and shows Linda a full size Rambler made out of clay and explains to Linda how car manufacturers used to make their models completely out of clay before they manufactured them to see how they'd look. Gary is amazed at a full size car made from clay and Linda is too. Gary is so supportive of Linda's clay pursuits.



^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Gary goes to bed early since he gets up so early. Gary can't be seen in bed since he has a habit of covering up his head.


After Gary goes to bed, Linda checks the emails again while listening to music on the TV. Linda writes about her day and thinks she should have gotten much more done that day.


Linda makes a sketch of a blue heron which she would like to sculpt next. Even though Linda has only done one sculpture in her life which she completed yesterday, as Linda drifts off to sleep she's dreaming she's a seasoned sculptor working on her next sculpture - a blue heron!