Feeling Blue

Ahh, big dishes. Well, maybe medium dishes. I'm shooting for 25-30" diameter sometime...

If I keep using really corny titles, I'm bound to run out of them at some point!
Spent some time in the studio recently decorating large dishes (about 15-16" diameter). I made a wide marly in order to do a little cobalt (blue) decorating and to use my new Chinese brushes I bought at the North Carolina Potters Conference. I think I may make the marly even larger in order to put some really big designs on it. Next time.
Looking at images of paint decorated blanket chests and line and berry inlaid furniture last week made me think about various designs. These thoughts converged on the rims:

Making this piece made me think I would call the blog title "Feeling dotty" Maybe I will save that one...

I had a hard time deciding whether to make the leaves all move in the same direction or not. I think the various directions route I took worked out well. Putting a thick blue rim on it also brought everything together.

I trimmed the bottoms of these, and think I might try to make the sides a little more flat next time.

I've never been terribly impressed with feet in general, something to work on I suppose.

Slipware in Shelby

Last week I was venturing into the world of furniture with a presentation at Winterthur's Furniture Forum on a topic near and dear to my heart, sulfur-inlaid furniture. Nerd? Yes. But sulfur inlay is amazing. Just look at this piece:

Skinner Auction: http://www.skinnerinc.com/asp/fullCatalogueSE.asp?salelot=2524B++++228+&amp%3Brefno=++877787

And in case you are interested, I've started a blog on this topic and will hope to get more images and information uploaded in the future.
Now, back to ceramics.

Closeup of one of Hannah's dishes

About a week and a half ago (yikes, time flies) I had the pleasure of going to a workshop with presentations by potters Hannah McAndrew of Scotland and Doug Fitch of England.

Meet Hannah

Meet Doug

They demonstrated traditional slipware techniques which they learned as apprentices and through research and work with archaeological materials. I was so thrilled to learn that Doug works with archaeological material. He did a good presentation on the historical pieces from the Devonshire area and talked about those influences on his work and wares. Here are a few photos of Hannah doing slip work on a puzzle jug Doug made. Doug and Hannah did a nice back and forth of making pieces and decorating their own and each other's work.

Hannah applies her slip trailing on a wet surface of white slip

I love the feet on this bird!I also enjoyed watching her combine fine dotting along with trailing and some combing

Doug demonstrated a technique which was historically used in Devonshire. It involved applying leaves with slip from the same clay the body of the piece was made of. Then he dipped the entire piece in white slip, waited for it to set up, and removed the leaves. It left great impressions of the leaves on the piece. This would be a fun technique to test out sometime.

Doug applying leaves to the pitcher

Doug removing the leaves, showing the impression left  

He also showed his techniques of removing the thick white slip on the surface with a variety of tools creating a decorative surface.

The swiftness with which Doug applied these decorations was fascinating. 

Hannah made a large dish by throwing a base and then adding two large coils for the side and marly. She said she usually applies it as one large coil, but in this case had two separate coils which she overlapped and joined. 

Hannah placing the coils

Hannah throwing the side and marly after the coils were compressed onto the base

Doug made some really beautiful pitchers/jugs. I enjoyed watching him make nice stout handles. I especially enjoyed watching him neck the vessel and make the rim and spout/lip. Watching Doug make spouts and rims made me think more about my own spouts and rims. I have never really been satisfied with how I make spouts, so I may try the way he made spouts in order to see whether that fits the pieces better and feels better to manufacture.

Doug attaching and pulling handle

Doug demonstrating the traditional rolled coil found at the terminal of handles on historic pieces

Close-up of the coil

This was a wonderful workshop, it was great to meet Hannah and Doug, and I look forward to staying in touch with them and following their work. Special thanks to Ron Philbeck for arranging the North Carolina leg of their trip, I'm glad they were nearby!

Slipping Up

A quick post while I am on the road. I wanted to share some photos of painted slip work I did on a few pieces last weekend before heading for the Mid-Atlantic. I've been researching kiln furniture in New Jersey for the past few days, and will be in Philadelphia tomorrow. And then, hopefully this weekend, I'll post an event I am attending that is outside of the ceramics world -- just keeping you in the dark for a few days! Enjoy!

I used to make this design a lot and it was splendid to get back to an old familiar.

Throwing some bottles last week was a necessary stress reliever! Decorating them just made life all the better.

I cannot wait until these get fired!

And a mess of mugs. With wine bottle glass on a lot of them.

High Point Furniture Market

I'm a bit behind on posting, I am sure you have noticed! Being sick and running around like a crazy person is my only excuse. Lots of material to make posts with though, so now I have to get to it:

The other weekend (same as Triad Pottery Festival) I also had the opportunity to do a demonstration at the High Point Furniture Market in downtown High Point, North Carolina. I took a few crocks that were greenware and put handles, stamps, and cobalt decoration on them. It was great to have a finished crock sitting nearby while working on the others.

My demonstration station with completed crocks

Some of my pottery was also on display in the Linwood Furniture galleries. It was great to see my pottery in situ and on some really nice pieces of furniture! Everything looked so at home!

Numerous pieces of artwork displayed in the galleries were made by artists who have work on display at the North Carolina Arts Incubator in Siler City. Ricky Lindley had several of his pieces on display, and also came to do some painting in the gallery:

Apparently, one of the most interesting results of the Furniture Market was to find that people are becoming increasingly interested in buying domestically-made furniture. I spoke with a few people who noticed this at the market, saw that a lot of signs in the galleries made note of "Made in America," and the link above is for an article which recognized the same thing.
Here are some more photos of my pottery hiding among the furniture displays:

"Anagama Mama" and Results

Quick shot of the kiln interior before stoking during the afternoon kiln shift on Saturday

I thought it was just a quip while we were firing, but it may just stick. Joseph Sand referred to me as the "anagama mama" the other weekend for working the front chamber of his kiln and posted this on his most recent blog post.I went to pick up my pottery last week and was pleased with the results. Joseph's kiln opening sale is this coming Saturday and Sunday, April 9th and 10th. I highly recommend going if just to see his very shiny pieces from this past firing!
Here are some of my results from the firing:

Cream and sugar

Mug with some really sexy orange-peeling!

Compost Crock

Compost Crock and Lid

I had a few dishes where the glaze went a little crazy, but not enough to make it a second!

Interior of lidded jar. The celedon glaze was quite vivid on the interiors of several pieces

Bottles were shiny and beautiful. Some were rather metallic-looking!

Triad Pottery Festival

The inside of the Curb Market

Today I had the opportunity to participate in the 13th Annual Triad Pottery Festival. It is held at the Greensboro Farmer's Market at the Curb Market near downtown Greensboro. All of the people who attended were really nice and friendly, so I had some wonderful conversations with people who stopped by my table.

My table with the beautiful backdrop of a fire hydrant and brooms!

The farmer's market tables are like small boxes or stalls with ledges. This worked out well so things could not get knocked off onto the floor, but made it difficult for how to lay out the space.

All that brown, I tried to bring some color in with flowers!

I took a few compost crocks to debut, and was surprised that I did not sell any of them! I think I need a sign that reads, "I am a compost crock!" It's always funny to think about the things you think will sell the best, and then you are surprised when those things don't sell. I hope to continue having the opportunity to participate in this festival. The location is quite good and the people are really great. The variety of pottery that is available also makes for a great variety of people who are browsing and buying.