Them's the Breaks

Disaster lurks at every turn in clay making. I learned this lesson early on. Breakage or lackluster results happen. As I’ve gained experience over the years, I’ve learned to minimize these outcomes. But they can still occur and it's frustrating -- especially when hours have been dedicated to making a pot.

Long ago I adopted a philosophy that every pot has a life span. Some are very long-lived and survive for centuries (think museum pieces); some of the pieces have a short 'life' and don’t even make it to the kiln. Cracks, glaze mishaps and mishandling can all contribute to the death of the pot. It’s heartbreaking for sure, but the philosophy has helped me to quickly move on. Now, I might keep a shard of a favorite broken pot. Mostly I try to learn from the mistake and make the next piece better.

I love the colors and texture of this new ribbon plate.

Unfortunately the piece did not survive the glaze firing.

A visit to the art supply store always lifts my spirits.

You never know what tool you'll find in the cake decorating aisle!

Finish What You Start

Here's my current knitting project. I have another one waiting in the wings which is good incentive to keep knitting!

I had a conversation at a drop-in knitting group I attended this week at The Knot House. It was about starting new projects before you’ve finished others. I have disciplined myself in my fiber arts to fully complete a project before I start another. Otherwise, I find I have lots of projects started and nothing finished. Based on this week’s conversation, I’d say it’s a common habit in the yarn world and probably happens with lots of creative types.

There is something invigorating about starting up a project and working on something new. The completion and finishing details of many projects is not always as exciting. In knitting it involves seaming the knitted pieces together, sewing on buttons, weaving in loose yarn ends and blocking the finished work. Not glamorous, but all necessary for a finished product.

The ribbon plates and bowl are fresh out of the glaze kiln. This week I'll catalog them before I move on to the next project!

It’s the same process with clay. Creating and making is really fun. The finishing details like cataloging work, photographing, measuring the items and creating descriptions for selling—those are my stumbling blocks. Thanks to the help of my new marketing/PR associate – I am planning to apply the same lessons I’ve learned in knitting to my clay work. Completely finish what you start before creating something new. It’s worked well for me in knitting and will serve me well in my clay. 

I'm happy with the cake stand (and the cheesecake recipe too)! Go to my Pinterest board 'Sweet' to get a copy of the recipe!

Collections

I am an accumulator. I am a saver. I am a collector. These attributes are both helpful and sometimes harmful to my art. I have kept imperfect pieces of my own work thinking I’ll fix them at some point when I just should have junked them and moved on. I have saved lots of ‘stuff’ for later use in my artwork (everything from wire springs in assorted sizes to family jeans to make into quilts). I like to collect specific items like buttons that I can use on the sweaters I knit and some of the clay pieces I make.

This week in the studio, I spent time working with a friend on planning how improve sales of my work. It is an on-going process and I’m excited about the potential.  I tossed lots of those unfinished, imperfect items that were merely a distraction and really not worthy of my time.   I learned a new wood-burning skill that may find it’s way in to my future work. 

I like to display and group collections of my work and other art throughout our house.

My studio is filled with collections and groupings of items I've saved over the years. 

I've organized my button collection by color. 

The jeans, fabric and driftwood are stored and awaiting future projects. 

Nothing like a new tool for the studio!

Revisit

Oh, and she never gives out

And she never gives in

She just changes her mind

(She’s Always A Woman – Billy Joel)

This was a week of looking at the familiar in a whole new way both in and out of the studio. It’s a good exercise for me to recognize in my work and daily life.

I was lucky to attend a Billy Joel concert this week with my husband, daughter and her boyfriend. I’ve seen Billy numerous times over the years. His music and lyrics resonate with me and my family. I love his songs now as much as when I first started listening. Not only does the music evoke memories, but I continue to hear his lyrics in new and meaningful ways as the years pass by. To me, that is art and what I am striving for in my own work.

Part of what keeps me going to the studio is looking at familiar shapes in new ways. And on top of that, when someone tells me that they still use a piece of work I made many, many years back – it’s a good feeling.

My neighbor Candace has a bountiful garden and I am the lucky recipient! Here is a chocolate zucchini cake I made sitting on one of my wheel thrown 'original' cake plates from 2003.

Lucky for me, I have friends with great ideas! In this new rendition of my hand-built cake plate, I've separated and added pieces to include a bowl that can also be used as a stand and an additional smaller plate that can be stacked vertically! 

I've learned to add curves to my hand-built mugs. I think this shape mimics what I used to throw using the wheel. I am also playing with use of matte and shiny surfaces to highlight the texture. 

I made myself a set of dishes using hand-building methods. It's been on my 'to-do' list for quite some time!

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

This title and silly Ren and Stimpy cartoon theme-song sums up this past week for me.  July is a month filled with many family birthdays (including my own) and fond memories of Washington Warthog indoor soccer games where the song was played each time a goal was scored.  My husband was responsible for the team at the sports arena he managed in the suburbs of Washington, DC and our kids had roles on game days as a ball boy and cheerleader, so I heard the song a lot!

I fired a kiln filled with glazed pieces in the studio this week. Opening the kiln lid once the load of work has cooled is always filled with anticipation. I know how I’d like the pieces to look, but clay does not always cooperate, so there is always a chance for disappointment. Not so this time around!

Here is a photo of the commissioned bowl I've been working on. 

I am really happy with the results!

The chalkboards have worked out well. I'm already creating an updated version of this idea to include hooks to hold keys!

I was commissioned to make a cake plate. This is one of the ideas I've begun.

Here is another version of the cake plate idea. The holes can be used for stringing colorful ribbon.

My latest sweater is on display at The Knot House in Frederick, Md. 

Happy, happy, joy, joy, joy!

Bowls

Customers often ask me ‘what can I use this for?’ This is one reason I give out recipes with my work. Bowls offer such a variety of answers to this question – and lots of them are non-food uses. Most potters I know love making bowls. It’s a go-to shape for me as well. I can always find something to place in a bowl. I like having them out on a counter rather than tucked away in a cupboard. 

Bowls can help de-clutter. 

Bowls with holes can be used to wash and store vegetables or fruit. 

This set of triple bowls held my mother's desk-top items. I keep it in my office now as a memento.

By using a bowl on my bathroom counter, I can easily see my earring collection.

Bowls can hold precious collections.

I hope I've inspired you to think outside-the-box for bowl uses!

Favel

 In our household, the word 'favel' is used to describe sitting around doing nothing. I thought it was a Yiddish word. When I looked it up on-line, it had a completely different meaning and origin. This doesn’t deter me. I’m sticking with using favel to describe inactivity.

Overall, I’m more of a ‘shpilkes’ kind of person -- busy, hard to sit still, go, go, go.  I’ve learned through the years to try to temper that with some time to ‘favel.’ It’s a good balance to aspire to. Yoga helps. And I find when I can even out the need to be productive with some time to reflect it’s really the best use of my time.

I've been playing with the use of chalkboard paint on my work. 

This way, people can personalize their garden stakes according to what they have planted.

I've also been experimenting with chalkboard paint on a frame.

Tweak

The thing I continue to love about clay is the abundant opportunity to make subtle (or drastic) changes to my work resulting in a new creative avenue. I love the repetition of making a familiar form, but also enjoy altering the process to create something new and different in my clay vocabulary. Sometimes it takes a long time for the ideas swimming around in my mind to come to fruition – other times there are immediate results. Failure is often my best teacher. Here are some of my latest experiments in the studio. 

I learned about layering color at the Lana Wilson Workshop I recently attended. I made a bunch of test tiles to play with various color combinations.

Learning a new process takes time and patience. 

I'm often surprised with the end results of experimentation. I've learned to document the color combinations I've chosen carefully so I can recreate the ones that I like. 

Here, I've updated a technique I used in the past contrasting a solid color inside with a plain outside. Now, I chose to  highlight the outside texture of the bowl with some of the color. This is still a work in progress. I think next I'll play with using the color in the same way, but use a matt finish on the outside of the bowl to also contrast with the color and gloss of the inside. 

I was asked to create a series of pet urns for display at my veterinary practice Buckeystown Animal Hospital. I will make a customized pet urn for their clients on request.