A Plate A Day

A quick post to let you know two of my plates were featured on A Plate A Day. Click the link to see my Possum Platter, 9" x 12", stoneware with sgraffito (as yet unfired Cone 10), and my Garden Fairy at Dusk, 9", stoneware with multiple brushed glazes, cone 10 reduction. This is a blog to visit regularly so be sure to bookmark the site. Each weekday Mignon Khargie highlights a plate from a different ceramic artist. Thanks Mignon.

Peach Bird

The wheels of progress are turning ever so slowly around here for some reason. Perhaps it's the heat. Gary said it was going to be cooler today, down to 105 from 106 F (down to 40.5 from 41.1 C). That's sure a relief.

I'm trying to load my kiln efficiently and I am wondering if it's too small or my brain is too small? Perhaps I could learn to load the kiln more efficiently by making a diagram of the shelf size and planning where to place the pieces ahead of time. Does anyone do that?

Oh, I do remember Meredith of Whynot Pottery saying her ware cart shelves are the same size as her kiln shelves. Now that's a good idea! Perhaps I can cut out some cardboard templates the size of my shelves and predetermine where I will place the pieces before I load them in the kiln.

An octagon shelf is hard to organize with wares. Large platters and free form bowls don't fit well, cups and mugs fit the best. Perhaps I can concentrate on making pieces which will fit efficiently on each shelf of the kiln, does anyone do that? Even though my platters and free form bowls take up a lot of room, I like making them. I guess I could stack some more pieces inside the bowl for a bisque, but I had a bad experience with this before. My platters with things stacked in them cracked in a bisque. Looking at the top photo, what I need is part of a shelf to place under the bowl and then I can put something small like a spoon rest or two under the bowl. I can always squeeze pendants into leftover spaces.


Now that I've drawn up a few octagon shapes and looked at them and thought about it, I see what the problem is. Right now I have a few odd shaped pieces and I have to fire them all. Once I get all this work fired I can think in advance and make some multiples of pieces and I'll be better able to fit them in the kiln when I fire them. Whew, I'm glad I wrote all this down, now my creative juices are flowing. I just had to give myself time to think about it instead of rushing the process.


When I picked up some clay last month, I bought a few new tools. My wire had a bur and it kept cutting my hand so I was due for another one. I used to have a few others but they seem to have disappeared. I got a small syringe because I thought I could do some detail slip work with it. I have a large syringe I found at the dollar store, of all places, that I really like. This small syringe has the tiniest tip and it's curved, I might have to sieve my slip to get it to pass through the hole.


Then on a whim I purchased a rubber rib. [Notice the rubber rib is a Kemper made in Taiwan. Is anything made in America? Let's see, I know pottery is made here]. I have metal and wood ribs but have never used a rubber rib before. Sometimes the metal rib cuts into the clay so I thought I would try one of these. I was thinking I could use it to smooth the surface of clay slabs. What a minute, I remember Cynthia Guajardo of Colorado Art Studio uses one for that. Maybe I could apply slip into depressions in the clay and then scrape it off with the rubber rib. What do you use a rubber rib for?


You can see I have lots of unanswered questions, so advice and comments are most welcome here. Look at the peach bird, I guess peaches aren't always perfect, kind of like me. All this imperfection sure makes life interesting, doesn't it?

Black Monukka

Black Monukka by Linda Starr

I often thought grapes were overdone. It seemed I saw them everywhere. There were paintings, illustrations, vines in restaurants, and those acrylic grapes. Well, you're probably familiar with what I'm talking about.

I know what you're thinking, not this time. I didn't make a bunch of grapes in clay. Hey, they're overdone. You'll just have to be satisfied with the photo I took. The various shades of purple are wonderful and they contrast so nicely against the green of the leaves. I just love this bunch of grapes and they taste good too.

A short walk in the garden told me why grapes are utilized so much, though. Isn't a bunch of grapes more than just a bunch of grapes? Is it just me, or isn't a bunch of grapes on the vine like a sonata, a Joseph Decker, a Da Heem, a Monet, a van Gogh even? They are beauty personified.

Click on the photo above to savor the subdued shades of lavender and purple in these Black Monukka, seedless table grapes, growing in my garden. Oh, and I take it all back, how could grapes be overdone.

Mod Plates

What the world needs now is color and fun, well at least I do. So I've been using my markers and pencils and drawing and coloring mod plates. I think I can easily adapt the drawings to cups and bowls.


Last post I mentioned I ordered some mason stains. While I'm waiting for them I'm drawing rough sketches and coloring them in to see how they will look before I mix up the stains to use. Some of them will have a background color, but I didn't want to take the time to color them in.




I think a few of the designs are too busy and some need to be edited. I might switch some of the colors, but I think they live up to being cheerful and it's fun to color them. Now I have to see if I can create them in clay. Perhaps I could make a stencil for the designs and paint the stains that way. Wonder if that has been done before. What do you think?

Doodles

I haven't gotten much done in clay due to the heat. Yesterday it was 112 and today was supposed to be 114, although I don't think it got that high. Then last night after dark, our well quit working. Only air came out of the faucet. Since we are into the third year of a drought, we were scared s@#%less that it was major. After a (literally) sleepless night and waiting all day for the water softener people to come and fix a leak, and the well guy to check our well, we found out it was just dirty contacts in the regulator. What a sigh of relief. But I did read that even a small drip or leak can waste a lot of water a day. So don't let any water leaks or running toilets go, please get them fixed. In the mean time I have been watering up a storm because when the temperature goes over 100, some things need water twice a week instead of once. So even though I reduced my watering areas, my watering has temporarily doubled. Despite the heat everything is looking pretty good around here and my back has been holding up too.


What's all this got to do with doodles? If you are anything like me, when you can't create in clay, you think and dream, and perhaps doodle your ideas on paper. Hey waiting in the drive through bank line I sketched the quail above. Guess I'll have to tape it into my journal. Do you do any doodling or sketching? I have, what I think are, several good ideas rolling around in my head. I was inspired by a couple of magazines I got for Gary to read recently, one called Atomic Ranch and the other Dwell. We're dreaming of our next house. We'd love to live in an atomic ranch styled house. Anyway, I'm formulating some retro designs. In preparation for these designs, I ordered a few (many, don't tell Gary) different colors of mason stain samples and I'm patiently waiting for their arrival. After seeing Kitty Shepherd's slip decorated work, I have wanted to use more colors in my slip decoration. In the meantime, I decided to draw some of my ideas on paper and use some colored pencils or marking pens to color my ideas. My thought behind this is to work out the colors on paper before I actually put the mason stained slip on clay. Since the mason stains are expensive this will save using colored slip to practice with. How about you, do you used colored pencils for your designs?


The colored pencils brought back memories of when I used to design and make quilts back in the late 1970's. Back then there weren't all the computer design programs and there weren't any ready-made plastic templates I could purchase. When I got an idea in my head, I would draw it on paper, usually graph paper so it was to scale, and then I would use colored pencils to color in my design. Once I got my design down on paper, I would make up cardboard templates for each piece of the design, cut them out and place them on the fabric and cut the fabric out. Then I would piece my quilt together.


All the quilts I made back then are long gone, some as gifts to others. My sister still has the baby quilt I made for her son, Casey, almost 28 years ago, and when her grandson, Ashton, was born, his first baby picture was taken with that quilt. Boy was I proud to be a Great Aunt but also proud that a quilt I made so many years ago was still holding up and usable. I have the birth announcement showing the quilt somewhere around here, but I can't find it right now. Since I didn't know the sex of my nephew ahead of time, I made a log cabin style quilt in aqua and purple prints. Some considered those colors risky or outlandish back then, but they looked good together to me. They're not so risky now, the three enlarged and digitally manipulated flower photos above have those same colors and they are hanging above the couch in my family room.


One of the projects Gary and I have been doing is going through all our possessions to see what we need to keep and what we can donate or sell. Cynthia Guajardo will be moving soon and she and I have had several discussions about minimalist living, what to keep and what you can do without. The other day Gary and I were going through some boxes and were pleasantly surprised to rediscover two, pieced throw pillows I made for Gary as a wedding present. Gary and I moved to the mountains and got married in the backyard of the first house we purchased together twenty-four years ago. Before we were married, Gary had once mentioned he loved down pillows. So when I made these two throw pillows for Gary, I ordered some real goose down and put the down in a liner inside the pillow. Then I made the outer pieced pillow portion with Velcro so it could be removed to wash. One pillow symbolizes the mountains where we were moving and the other the new home we would be making together. Of course, we'll be keeping these pillows.


Well I'm back to doodling and coloring. I know you're wondering about all those bisque and glaze loads I'm supposed to be doing, and you're thinking where is the PVC light box? I'll be getting to those projects real soon. Believe me they are weighing on my mind more than yours. It's just been too hot to run the kiln this past week and my back wasn't up to it. Household duties have kept me from building the light box. Besides that Gary hurt his back taking up the slack for me, so I've been taking up the slack for him. When it rains it pours. Wait a minute we could use some rain here in California. In the meantime, once my mason stains arrive, I'll show you some of my colored slip designs on clay.

Shape, Texture, Groups

One Track Mind

Sometimes I think I'm out of touch with the world today and I don't like it and then sometimes I do like it. My modem broke and I almost got it repaired myself, but then I had to call in an expert. Now the modem I purchased is slower than the previous one. I downloaded Windows Explorer 8 and now my computer is even slower than before. And when you're on dial up any slower and you're at a standstill. I might need that computer expert back here again.

OK I twitter, but not really, I don't really get the twitter thing. I could spend the time to learn, but I don't have the time. Then there is face book, I signed up for an account but have never really used it and really feel I don't have time for it either. I do like my blog; it helps me organize my thoughts and every one's comments and advice are so helpful. I love talking virtually with potter's around the world. I also like all the blogs I read, I get to stay in touch with all the wonderful people I have met via the blog-a-sphere and keep abreast about what is happening in clay.


There are two big things getting in the way of where I want to be and what I want to do right now. One is my back which affects everything I do. The other is taking care of this property which I know contributes to my back problems. I don't want to do it any more. I want to move somewhere else so I can set up my dream studio. I also want to travel around a bit beforehand and Gary really wants to travel and move somewhere else too. Especially since he's been taking up much of the slack for me due to my back and now he is wearing down.


Over the last few weeks we have been whittling away (think Craig's list) some of our outdoor possessions in preparation for moving. We've been selling items which are too bulky to move like garden benches, plant stands, and various garden accoutrements. I also have seventeen boxes of garden and other books, yes seventeen, collected over the past 30 years that I need to deal with. I have the titles of three boxes typed up, just 14 more to go. I don't read them any longer and everything about plants is in my head anyway. If not I can always research it on the net. I would donate them, but I could actually use the money. Even at $3 dollars a book and lets say there are 12 books in each box, that's $612, nothing to scoff at. Think of all the mason stain colors I could purchase and I'd still have some money left over to pay a few bills. All this selling takes up quite a bit of time too, so I haven't gotten around to getting the PVC for my light box yet, which I'd much rather be doing.


We also (really Gary) took out five flower beds and one lavender section and we plan to take out another lavender section which will greatly reduce what I have to take care of. I already notice a difference in the workload. This comes just in the nick of time since this week is supposed to be triple digits all week long. Ugh!


Do you notice a recurring theme to this post? It all keeps coming back to clay for me. I just wanna make clay. Sing, "I just wanna make clay" to the song "Girls just wanna have fun". Truth is, that's what's fun for me. So often I have a one track mind and the other things in life seem like an unwelcome distraction. Thanks for being there and for listening, feel free to comment. Oh, I do have some clay related posts coming up, I promise.

Stan Bitters

I finally remembered my camera to photograph the sculptures of Stan Bitters. These monolithic ceramic sculptures were done in the 1970s by the California sculptor. They grace the facade of the Duncan Enterprises headquarters building facing Shields Avenue in Fresno.


The sculptures are amazing just because of their shear size. Some are 14 feet wide and 22 feet tall. When I think of how Bitters made all the textures, patterns, and glazes match, it is truly mind boggling, not to mention the number of pieces needed to complete each sculpture.


Each of the sculptures has a light mounted in front on the ground. I would love to drive by the building at night to see the sculptures all lit.


I love the use of primary colors and the textured surfaces. The deceivingly simple shapes are modern yet classic.



I wasn't able to take most of the photos straight on due to all the cars parked there during the day. Hope you enjoy them.

Graduated Backdrop

I'm learning how to use the graduated backdrop I recently splurged on. I ordered it from Photo Tech Inc. and it was $39.60 for the 31" x 43" size, which included the mailing cost. I decided on the lighter gray one. I can see I have to be careful so I don't get a crease in the backdrop. For now I'm storing it rolled up in the tube it came in. It's not convenient to keep taking it in and out of the tube, but I can't think of another way to store it. I can't leave it out with three cats in our household.


I'm wondering how to photograph plates and hanging pieces. Do you have any advice on how I can keep them propped up while I take the photo? Usually I'm alone when I take the photos and I would hate for the piece to fall on the floor and break. I think the amount of gray for the vase above is about right, but I think the bowl needs more gray. That's something I'll have to keep an eye on as I'm taking photos. I also photographed the barrel fired pinch bowl to the right with the new backdrop.
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I was putting the sprinkler under the sycamore tree the other day and I noticed hundreds of bumble bees resting on the leaves of the tree. I guess they know where the cool spots are during the hottest part of the day.

Boy am I lucky. I've been thinking about making a PVC light box for some time and the other day another blogger posted about one. Soon I'll be posting about their PVC light box and mine and I'll take more photos of the same pieces using the light box to make a comparison. If you have any digital photography hints or ideas, please let me know.

Fire in the Mountains

A week or so ago Gary and I went to 'Fire in the Mountains', a local pottery exhibit of high fire pottery which Cedric and Christy Brown and Linda Spears had at Linda Spears' studio. Here are a few photos from the show. Follow the links to see more of their pottery on their respective websites.

Cedric and Christy Brown

Linda Spears