I don't know why but I decided to revisit and dust off my blog only to find out the last time I posted was in August 2013. So here I am again a year later. Maybe I should just make this an annual blog!

Along with seriously working and practicing my love of the clay arts, I went back to school last summer to pursue my dream of completing my degree. I got my AA  in Liberal Arts many (ahem!) years ago. Now I'm working towards a BA in Art History at ASU. I was never a very attentive student of history but am finding Art History quite interesting. Maybe it's because I have a different perspective (being "older") on history or because I've purposefully released the long suppressed artist in me, but I am finding the history part so much more interesting than I think I would have had I even considered this in my 20s. Without question there are areas of this study that I find a bit "pretentious". Art historians have their own language, which I find a bit much at times, but am required to learn it nevertheless, especially if I want to do well on papers. Sometimes the art we study in these classes is so over analyzed when all I want to do is just enjoy it for its beauty and to appreciate the skill of the artist.

I really wanted to pursue a degree in something related to the art world as that is what I am drawn to now and because it is about as far removed from the analytical health insurance industry from which I gratefully retired after 25 years. I am able to pursue the degree online which allows me the freedom to work on my assignments and in my studio on my own schedule. I couldn't imagine doing this if I had to be in the classroom several times a week. I have considered changing my major to Art Education since I love teaching others about the clay arts, but it would require a portfolio and actual attendance in the classroom. Both sound a bit daunting. I admit it. I fear having to prepare an actual portfolio, but would do it if I didn't have to go to class. Oh well, the point is to accomplish getting my BA. Something I put on hold years ago as I had no idea what I wanted to be when I grew up. My career in the health insurance industry came along by accident, (as do many careers) and so that is where I stayed. Along with my husband and his career in the banking industry it allowed us to put all three of our kids through college. I can't complain.

Now I am joyfully retired and for the first time ever, consider myself an artist pursing my passion for clay and all things art related. I find myself picking up my pencil and sketch pad whenever I can and last week for the first time in years I painted in acrylics. It just makes me feel so good to create. It is almost a compulsion. When I was much younger and in college I wanted to pursue art as a major, but lacked the confidence. Plus, I just didn't have people encouraging me at that time in my life. So, instead I chose Liberal Arts. Life happens and you do what you need to do. I am on a different path now for what I hope will be many more years to come. I have no regrets. I am thankful and feel incredibly blessed.

It's December already

Here I am in December and unprepared as usual for the holiday season. You'd think being semi-retired I'd have all sorts of time on my hands, but I just keep filling my day with activities. It's not quite as enjoyable going out to the studio to throw when it gets cold and my pieces take days to dry unless I put them in front of my space heater. I'm also teaching a few ceramics classes (mobile paint-on-pottery) for Seniors, plus tutoring elementary kids once a week in the afternoon at The Rock at 32nd Street Community Center AND taking online classes through ASU to finally finish my degree after all these years.  I have to have projects and things to do, it's just part of my nature.

A couple weeks ago I finally took an afternoon to photograph some of my more recent pottery pieces and have posted a few. I am running out of room to store my pieces and really need to get serious about selling them. I find that part of this business to be the hardest. Promoting your own work is hard and goes against my nature. There is always the fear of being rejected and the work is so personal. I just need to put myself out there and do it. Why is it so hard. I have never been good at sales of any kind. Well I need to get over that, so today I finally had business cards made. It's a first step.

Been prolific lately in the studio and trying some new decorating techniques. I can't seem to settle on one path that I like when it comes to ceramics. I'm always trying something new. There is just such a huge learning curve when it comes to clay and so many ways to go. I haven't found the path I love the most. I enjoy the wheel and hand building and alternate both as I feel inspiration.

I recently made a large fish platter and left it on the mould too long so it cracked. I've spent countless hours fixing it with paper clay and finally had it bisque fired knowing it would crack again, which it did. I've been sealing the cracks with paper clay and plan to glaze and fire it. I am determined after all the work I've put into this piece that it will survive, even if it is only in my kitchen.

What's happening in the studio in 2013.

My last posting was a year ago and I wasn't consistent even before that. Now that I am not gainfully employed and am able to devote more time to my passion for ceramics, I am hopeful that I will be better at journaling. We'll see!

So what's been going on for the last year in my studio? I glazed my sculpture and am pleased with the way it came out. I posted a photo to compare with the before and after glazing. I also sold (actually donated) a dozen pieces pieces in a fund raising event at my church. It was exciting to see others enjoy my work and to know these favorites of mine are now being enjoyed and used by others.

Also since last May, I switched from a high cone 10 clay body to a cone 5/6 clay body. I did this because I needed access to quality, consistent glazes with  better firing results. Because I don't have my own kiln and rely on another studio for glazes and firings, I had to use what was available. I wasn't getting the desired results. Switching to cone 5 gave me more commercially prepared glazing options and I now use only glazes I've purchased or slips I've made myself. I haven't branched out into making my own glazes yet because until I increase my work volume, I'm not ready to invest in purchasing all the different chemicals and ingredients needed to make a glaze. 

I'm also still developing my own personal style. My pieces are all over the place and I keep trying different techniques not wanting to settle for one. I like throwing and hand building equally well and when I see a particular shape, whether in nature or elsewhere, I want to see if I can duplicate it. 

Anyway, now that I am not working full-time I have more than tripled my time  in my home studio. I hope for the first time this fall, I will actually be able to participate in at least one local craft show and sell some pieces.

I heard someone say recently that it takes a long time just to learn how to work with the clay; before you can ever get really good at making something. There is so much to learn first, so much trial and error. If you want to work with clay, you have to love the process. If you want instant gratification, clay is not the medium for you. I love working in clay and the anticipation of waiting to see if my next project will work. I've learned more from my failures than from my successes. 

My goal this summer is to spend more time in the studio, branch out in my decorating and glazing techniques, perhaps make a couple glaze recipes from scratch and keep my blog more current. Oh yes... get my own kiln.

My Sculpture

Here is a picture of the sculpture I did awhile back. I still haven't glazed it yet. I like it the way it is and until I decide what final glaze to use, it will stay this way.

My Studio & other stuff

I see it's been awhile since I've been here. Almost a year and I know why, because my day job has been crazy busy and I've been working a lot of long hours. As a result I was spending less and less time at my local pottery studio. So what does a busy person do... get busier setting up her home studio. 

About two months ago I bought myself a pottery wheel. Woo hoo! I 'd quit looking  for quite some time and then one day I decided to look on Craig's list and low and behold there was a brand new posting for a nearly new Shimpo wheel. Within a couple days, several gallons of gas later and a chunk of change, I had my wheel. 

My next challenge was to get it set up and start using it in my spare time.  (What? Spare time?) I've since got it up on a platform of sorts and am learning to throw standing up as the sitting part is not so good for my back. In all my business and poor opportunity to practice throwing, I seemed to have forgotten how to center the clay. I have more clay slop in the bucket than I do on the bat! What is up with this? I've decided I need some expert lessons again. All my video watching of Simon Leach have helped in many other areas other than centering. Oh how I wish I could get some hands-on lessons from him right now. He lives in the US now but I'm afraid traveling to Pennsylvania for a pottery workshop is a little out of my financial league right now.  Sigh..  

I've been alternately hand building and throwing as I love to do both. This past February I managed to take a long weekend with my friend and head to San Diego for a hand building conference. I got a lot of inspiration and ideas, but no hands on work. Next time, I'll sign up for the workshop afterwards. 

I've made a lot of progress though with getting my studio set up and organized. What started out as a decent size space seems be shrinking the more stuff I get and the more pieces I make. I'm learning how to keep track of my buckets of clay slop and recycle the clay. I made a plaster of paris form for drying out my wet clay so I can re-wedge it. I need another one now for my red clay. I've purchased tools from garage sales and websites and scrounged up pieces of scrap wood for ware board; purchased inexpensive shelving from Home Depot and even made my own shelves from the old stand by cedar blocks and pressed boards. Getting water into the studio has proved to be challenging as well. I have a sink in my garage nearby, but without a clay trap I can't rinse anything out in it. These means carting everything over to the other side of the house to rinse off what I can't from my water buckets. I did purchase a clay trap system to install myself, but of course it doesn't fit the way it's supposed to and will require a plumber to do the work.... Can't anything be easy?

Honestly, I thought having my own home studio was only a dream and now it is a reality, so I can't complain too much. I am used to getting by conserving water at the studio I was and still am frequenting for firings, so I know how to do this without the convenience of a sink and endless running water. Clean up takes more time and it is messier, but I can do it. Fortunately, being in AZ I have a lot of red rock in my back yard already so I can take my wheel tools and wheel well  and rinse out what's left into the rocks without too much problem. I recycle as much clay as possible and I'm getting pretty good at it.

Well, I will stop droning on and show you some pictures of my studio and at some of the pieces I've completed in the last year.  I hope to keep this updated a little more frequently.

First Sculpture

Home Studio

I am slowly but surely getting the extra room off the back of our house organized so I can finally make it into my home pottery and craft studio. This room has been used for everything from storage, to painting stage banners for Genesis Church, to private housing for our sons after college and a church intern we had living with us for six months (Hi Jess!) The original owners built it as an exercise room so it has one wall covered with mirrors, which I never bothered to remove.

Several years ago when we decided to paint it white again, there were so many different colors and layers of paint on the walls that it took many, many coats of paint to get it back to normal. The old indoor-outdoor carpet remains specked with all the various paints we used and I have no plans to change it and have even considered just ripping it out altogether leaving the cement floor. Carpet and clay do not go well together.

We keep saying we are going to sell this house, but now is not the time and frankly I'm just a bit tired of waiting on "someday" to have my own studio at home. Life is just too short to wait for "someday" to happen. Our house may be too big for just the two of us, but this room is perfect for a studio since it is separate from the rest of the house which means keeping all that clay dust out. It has its own separate entrance and a very nice AC unit we put in several years ago. There is even easy access to the garage with a sink for running water.

Now that the room is organized and ready, it's time to start looking for the equipment I need. This includes a used pottery wheel, kiln, worktable or makeshift worktable and stool and shelving to say nothing of all the clay tools. Right now, everything I need is readily available at the pottery studio I frequent on a weekly basis. I'm sure the transition will be slow as I find what I need, but I finally feel like I'm well on my way.

So, if you know of anyone who just happens to have a dusty "electric" pottery wheel or kiln that they no longer use and is just taking up space in their garage, just let me know. I guess it's time to start hitting all the garage sales to find old kitchen tools (they make great pottery tools) and some old shelving somebody it selling for cheap. Woo hoo! I'm so excited.

Learning the art of sculpture.

Because I'm always interested in learning new techniques to apply to my clay arts knowledge,  I decided to try some sculpture. The studio I frequent was offering a session with a local artist, so I signed up. This past Sunday I spent 5 hours learning the "very basics" of sculpting a head and face. My teacher/artist Ron, was very hands on and we worked together on the piece as he explained how to get all the facial features balanced. While he did help a lot, I feel I can claim the overall style of the piece as my own. I think I expected to work more on my own, but the great thing is I had a very nice finished piece after 5 hours. I shaped the head, gave it a little tilt and made the neck nice and long.

We used an anatomical head formed in plaster of paris as our model. Once I got the basic head shape down, he showed me how to make and add all the features and get them correctly positioned ; eyes, ears, nose, mouth, chin, forehead. It was a real lesson in facial anatomy.  Ears are definitely the hardest.  He would do one side roughly, and then I would finish and refine it and then add the other side myself. She (my sculpture) had a simple straight forward (no pun intended) expression, which is hard enough by itself. I decided on her hair style and added all the hair myself. I was so happy with the result.

I can't wait to do another one, only all by myself this time, and compare the two. I'll post the pictures soon, so check back again.

More completed projects

While I've been spending as much time as I can in the studio and have completed several pieces in the past six months or so, I've neglected to take pictures. So earlier this week I spend several hours photographing some of my more successful ones.

It's been awhile...

It's way past due for some updates. I've in the pottery studio sporadically, and not nearly enough since my day job keeps me very busy. But here are just a couple pics of pieces I've done. I need to get out my camera as I have more pieces to share.

Porcelain Project

Tonight I start a 3 day class at Desert Dragon Pottery to learn the art of speciality glazing on porcelain. I threw six "shouldered" pieces each with its own little drip tray. I can't wait to see how this goes. Let's hope most of my pieces make it through the firing process. I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, I have several new completed hand built pieces that  I will post as soon as I get some good pictures of them.

I'm getting behind

I wish I was better at keeping this journal current. I've been working so many hours at my "paying" job that after I come home, I'm not interested in even looking at a computer. I've only been able to get to the pottery studio once a week on Friday afternoons. That is MY time to de-stress and relax from a busy week.

I'd love to put up a picture of the latest sgrafitto plate I made, but it was ruined in the bisque fire kiln when the person loading the kiln forgot to stilt it because they didn't know it was glazed on the underside. They assumed it was red clay and not red glaze. I've had several pieces ruined in the past several months, one of which is a French Butter Dish. That one made it through the glaze firing process and then the lid wasn't handled properly and was broken after it was removed from the kiln... Several other simpler smaller thrown bowls made it through, but had particles and chunks of stuff from the kiln firing landed in the bottom of 2 of them. This will require grinding away the "stuff" from the bottom of the bowls, adding more glaze and then re-firing.

However, I did finish one project that I'm very excited about. A large hand-built (not thrown on the wheel) bowl. It's bigger than anything I could have thrown and it was my first attempt. I started by rolling out sheets of clay on the slab roller, cutting them into abstract pieces and then laying them over the outside of large bowl. After it dried to leather hardness but was still soft enough manipulate, I I trimmed the edges to look ragged, flipped it inside another bowl of the same size and shape and then smoothed out the inside. I covered it in plastic again, leaving it for several more days and then moved it back to the outside of the form again ( I had two bowls the same size and shape which is why this worked). I continued to smooth out all the edges where the slab pieces were layered and adding my finger indentations to give it a handmade look. It came out so great that many people have asked if it was a thrown bowl.

So, this bowl came out beautifully in the kiln, which was really good since I had the most time invested in it.

Trimming

I had four pieces to trim yesterday all of which took way too long. I'm on my third attempt at a butter dish. I can't remember what these are actually called, they are the type where you put the butter inside a crock, turn the crock up side down and set it inside another crock filled with cold water. You are supposed to be able to leave the butter out on your table or counter top, unrefrigerated, and the water will keep the butter fresh. (You do have to change the water every day or so.) They are fun when you have friends over for dinner as it's better than just setting out a plastic tub of something and are a great conversation piece when your friends try to figure out how to use it. I've found that you do have to use real butter, because the other stuff will just melt and fall into the water which is kind of gross. I digress...

As I said this was my 3rd attempt because these little pieces are not easy since you have to measure a lot to make sure the one piece fits inside the other piece. Well of course, I measured but it still didn't fit since the crock part that goes inside the other part was too long or else the other part was not deep enough, whatever. Being determined to make this work, I carved and trimmed and carved some more until I made it fit. I can say this, the section that holds the butter is kinda small now, so it won't hold a lot of butter.. but it should still work.  I've got to look up the name for this thing...

The other pieces were just regular thrown bowls. The one bowl was so dry by the time I trimmed it that it was almost too late. The best I could do was clean it up a bit on the bottom and smooth it out. It flew off the wheel one time (oops) while I was trimming and broke a chunk off the rim... Ok so now it's got a nice scalloped rim all the way around. Isn't necessity the mother of invention?  I'll post the pics after they're bisque fired and then after they are glazed.

Finished High Fire Projects

Yesterday yielded some great results from the last hire firing at Desert Dragon. I am particularly pleased with my tall coil pot/vase. Glazing any piece that you've spent a long time on (I actually dreamed about this one) creates anxiety for me since I am still learning glazing techniques. (Does the learning process with clay every stop?) Applying glazes you know will run A LOT as I did on my coil pot, made me very nervous, so I decided to wipe it down leaving the bare stoneware in places. The result was very good. The imperfections are what make each piece unique and "hand made".

The pie dish (at least that's what I'm calling it) turned out well also, although the glazing choices with turquoise and woo blue (which looks like blue denim by itself) turned out a little muddy in places. Turquoise runs a lot and woo blue is very reliable at not running, ever. But who wants to glaze everything in woo blue all the time.

Several Projects Completed

Today after several weeks of not being able to get to the studio (work and family commitments keeping me busy) I was able complete several projects. The two I am most pleased with are my scraffito box and my raku vases. After the box was bisque fired (the first firing before glazing, the finished product is like greenware) I decided I didn't want to change anything. Not add another glaze color. The project itself was so labor intensive that I felt if I added anything to it, I would probably ruin it.  So we dipped it in a clear glaze only for the final firing.

As for the Raku vases, I am very excited. I haven't done this type of raku firing before other than a "naked" raku which I hated. It was so labor intensive and the finished product was, well.... awful. Not worth it. With these I painted the dry clay with a red terasidge (I'm sure that is not how you spell it and I don't even know exactly what it is other than some sort of pre-glaze) , then the pieces were bisque fires (high fire, cone 10). I glazed them with the Raku glaze Lustrous Copper and they turned out magnificently. The great thing is that I glazed them this morning and then the Raku firing was immediate so within an hour I had a finished project. Much better than waiting several weeks for the regular high firing which is about once every 3 weeks.

I also raku glazed a little pinch pot. I didn't have too much invested in this little pot. It was my first attempt and it was already cracked before it went through the raku firing. Nevertheless, the color is also awesome. Gold Burst.

I still have a several other projects to complete and it's time to start some new ones. I'll keep you posted

What's next?

I have about six projects in progress at the studio, all in varying stages, but nothing drying at the moment. I know of 4 pieces that should have come out of the bisque fire last week, but have not had a chance to get out there to take a look at them.  I have a three piece set of decorative plates made with a soft-slab technique. The patters on those were made with small leaf stamps on one, a large pebble-look pattern on the second and on the third I used various sizes and shapes of branches or bark and just pressed them into the clay. My goal when they're glazed and fired is to use them as wall decorations over my couch. most likely sitting on a shelf. I have another scraffito platter which should be ready as well, to glaze and then put into the final firing process.

My weekends have been been so busy lately that I haven't been able to get out to Desert Dragon at all so have only been going after work a couple days a week. Not really the ideal way to accomplish a lot.

This weekend I actually crafted a couple of cards, one for my Mother and the other for my daughter-in-law, for Mother's Day. I have the stamping supplies and tons of card stock, but run out of time and end up hitting the card store. I decided this time, I wouldn't do that. Ahh so many ideas, so little time.

The Scraffitto Box

Well I finished carving the box on Wednesday. It became more challenging as I carved each side. Even though I kept it covered in plastic, I waited too long between visits to the studio for carving and by the time I got to the last side, it was very dry. It works best when the clay is still leather-hard and the carvings come off like little curls of chocolate.

It needs to finish drying completely now and then will be bisque fired. What will remain then is virtually like "greenware", on which I can add other glazes or dip in a clear glaze and then proceed with the final firing. What people don't know that  don't work in clay is that the process from start to finish is time consuming. There are many steps and you have to wait between each one. If a piece dries too fast or is bisque fired before it is completely dry, it could crack and break in the kiln. 

I will take a picture if the box after its bisque fired and post it here. I really am excited to see how this piece will turn out as are many of my potter friends who have been watching its progression.

My first posting

Ok, so now I've started this blog which no one but me will ever care about. Well, maybe my kids will get a laugh if I let them know about it. But, I'll have a place to put down my ideas and hopefully make them happen. I've been taking classes at my local favorite pottery studio (Desert Dragon) and have learned all sorts of new techniques for handbuilding. Right now I'm working on a Sgraffitto piece. I did one already. It's carving on clay or other medium. Now I'm doing one on a clay box that I made first. Very time consuming, but fun. Can't wait to see what the end product looks like.
That's the thing about working in clay, you never know what will happen. After all the time you spend on something it could crack or blow up in the firing process. It teaches you to let it go, move on to the next thing. There is no perfection in clay.