Finally some results

My momentum to finish these new forms had stalled out a bit.
How to tie different styled works together?
How much or how little wire and/or paper to use and not cover up the forms themselves.
Where to begin?

It took a friend coming over and asking, "What are these forms about?" and "what are you trying to say with the wire?" to get my brain to mulling and pondering it all again.

Since my work is about the process as much or more than the end result, I determined minimally that these forms have something to do with rocking cradles and boats, are figurative, representative of some remains or essence. The wire is playful line, an outline of form, a skeleton and foundation, a structure for the paper. The fragile paper is the opposite of clay, translucent but not transparent.

So, guess these forms return me to old ground of trying to show both the inside and outside at the same time...inner beauty defined by the outer form.

Got busy and got a few started and possibly completed...

 

 

 

 

Coming along but a ways to go...

Bisqued piece with nichrome wire ready to be cooked

My head continues to think in pod shapes and I'm adding holes, sometimes deliberately and sometimes as the spirit moves me. Here are some of the solid porcelain shapes.

Some of the shapes are being made in a dark stoneware with a white wash. Others are stoneware with layers of underglaze that will be sanded through... So many variations, but hard to see where this is going without getting any of them DONE to assess it this is a good way to go or not... having fun and making a lot of little fine crumbles that I'll have to slake down and recycle into something else... maybe a cast piece of some sort . . . with wire inside of it?!?

More wire and clay?

I thought that my series of making vessels for wiring up had run its course. Then these forms came to mind, so have to see where they will lead.

I see these as fairly figurative form with a ghost-like silhouette. Two influences I must be following:  earlier work by Christine Bourdette and the subtle forms of Amanda Salov, from whom I acquired a swell little dish last spring sporting this same shape.

The white pieces are porcelain. The dark brown stoneware shapes were layered with grolleg slip, with some edges left showing their brown bodies.

I can see a variety of ways to "lace" these up with wire... can't wait to get them bisqued so I can begin.

Stack Workshop #2

                           

Second weekend of stack piece making... a second weekend that started out cloudy, drizzly and with questionable weather. Lucked out again, tho. Had just enough sun to get everything cut out, made and finished and into the kiln to dry. 

They were still on the moist side the next day, but dry enough to glaze up. This group attacked the glazing with a vengeance of multiple colors on their textured pieces. 

Ann and Hester.

Susan takes a brief moment to contemplate.

Susan and Lynda.

Bold forms from Lynda Farmer

Whimsical marks and brushwork by Susan Pachuta

Texture Queen: Hester Coucke

Kid drawings have helped Ann Larh perfect her brushstrokes.

Some Results

Shown are three finished boat bowls with feet made as a special order for an Etsy customer who wanted something to fit a display shelf. These are all a bit shorter than the 22 inches long she wanted, but I hope they pass muster.

Was a little worried that I was oxidizing the helmer shino at the end of my firing to get the kiln to climb, but these were in the right spots in the kiln and still got the nice burnt orange color I love, and that she requested.

UPDATE: She purchased the second one.
Shipping costs were more than I'd expected. Glad this ended up being 20" so I could double box a 16" into a 20" box. A 24" box costs more than double a 20"-er. Difference of $20-$56!!

The layered glaze workshop had a slight set-back when I managed to blow up the pod pieces I'd created for them to work on. The class still had big enough chunks to sand through their layers and get some results. Shown are a nice variety of textures and variations of sanding techniques from the group.

NOTE: if you stop your programmable kiln in the middle of a cycle, make sure that the temp is BELOW the range you want it to return to, or it will climb to the next stage. The pre-heat went from being a long one to one that was way too short... at least you can see the results of both sides of each pod all in one photo.

First Mini-Workshop

These simple looking pieces belie the many layers of colors layered on them that will soon be revealed. Participants in my first mini-workshop came and glazed last night, inbetween talk about hot-flashes, the mean-street playgrounds on which we played as kids, and things learned in other clay classes.

Next week they'll return to these pieces after they've been bisqued to a lower temp than normal, to sand through to see what they get. Fun for me to see what color combos they chose opposed to the same old tried and true that I seem to do.

This spring I did a major garage and studio clean up with hopes I'd have room to host mini-sessions in my studio. It is an intimate space but seems to work... Next month I'm hosting two stack-making workshops. One is already full, but the second one has two slots open. FMI:  Clay Play with Cynthia

Revisiting an older form

At a customer's request, am trying to make a 22" long boat bowl with feet. Haven't made one of these in years and haven't checked shrinkage in awhile either. This started out over 23" and after the bisque it is already down to being under 22" long. Guessing it will be under 21" after the glaze firing... so would need to make a 24-25" piece to end up with one 22". 

It's got two hairline cracks on the other side from stress pushing it to dry fast and one inside, so now I'm doing what I tell my students not to:  spending time trying to do a patch with glaze, sanded clay particulate, and Apt II to try and fill in the cracks, but knowing my luck they will only open up and get worse in the glaze firing... It's only time and clay and gas to cook the mess. Oh dear.

Red & Black Stack Finds a Home

Got to add this piece to a lovely garden on Grandview Hill west of town today. Misty clouds kept me from seeing any view, but their path with its many discoveries was just as good . . . Plus, it's easier to take photos on days like these.

The rhodies were just ending their run, but the variety of plants and their foliage covering the hillside was still a riot of color and texture.

The stack went in just to the right and in front of the chartreuse smoke plant near the fence. Their gardener quickly transplanted the plant that was there and gave me a level surface for the base. 

My stack will be in good company with these other art focal points in their garden.

Adding Up

The past nine years it's felt like the development of new work was incredibly slow, almost to be imperceptible.  But in gearing up to make a flyer to send out to my old wholesale account galleries, was pleasantly surprised to see some forms that have taken shape and are refined enough to be out in the world. 

Those of you who hang in there with this blogette have seen most of them as they came to life and, as par the course for me, caused me some amount of struggle to get them to where they are today. 

Hope a few more of them will be heading out to galleries next spring. 

Buter Dish or Cheese Warmer

River Rock Bowls

Leaf Boat Bowls

Leaf Plate Set

Small Sipping Cups

Unusual Commissions

Beehive in the Greek Style

Sometimes a request for a piece comes in that is too good to pass up. My neighbor happens to be honeybee man and Professor Emeritus Michael Burgett in OSUs Entomology Dept. His "Far Side Entomology" was deemed the Best College Class in the Nation by Playboy in 2010....but I digress.

Prof Burgett has created a Bee Hive "Museum" at OSU's Bee Lab and wants a replica of a greek beehive like they have used in Greece for the past few centuries. Beekeepers arrange sticks across the top and the bees do the rest. There will be a small opening cut into the bottom for the bees once the clay sets up enough.

Key to my taking on this project was Michael's  promise the beehive didn't have to be perfectly uniform. Hives in the images he showed me were probably all coil built as was this one, but by skilled craftspeople who had made quite a few of them. They looked thrown. This one leans a bit and has a slightly wonky top. After taking this photo I noticed one handle was larger than the other...fixed. The lettering will be carved out to say honeybee in Greek.

Hoping this will be 15 x 15 inches after firing.

Looking forward to adding "In the Collection of OSU Entomology Dept's Honeybee Museum" to my Vita.

To Clean or Not to Clean

After a nine year hiatus from full-time pottery making, one should begin again with a clean studio, or?

In nine years doing pottery part-time, cleaning always took a back seat to making. Plus, clean is a relative term. I tend to be one of those people with a few "rat's nests," so even when I DO clean, it may not look like it to anyone else. Alas, clean I must, because the rat's nests were beginning to encroach too much to work.

Out, out, out. Paperwork and other stuff collecting dust. Don't stop to look. Just dump into recycle bin. Damp wipe, mop, mop again.

What to do with all the saved pottery seconds that have good surfaces, things to learn, ideas to remember, but take up so much space?

Many of these pots are clustered on a small ladder shelf that also has some sentimental value. Our home had been the home of Gilda Koblentz, a potter I unfortunately never got to meet. She had her studio in the garage and basement about ten years before we moved in. We took the 220 wiring for a kiln in the basement as a good sign when we purchased. The previous owners had dismantled all of the homemade ladder-style shelf units she's made but many were still stacked up in the basement. I made do with them for a long time before I invested in sturdier gorilla racks. The last of her shelves should probably be replaced, but think I'll wait until the next big clean-up day.

Some New Slightly Different Forms

Another productive day in the studio. So nice having the sun's warmth for speeding things up a little. These pieces were cut out this morning, their two halves shaped and set in the sun for about 30 minutes, flipped and 30 minutes later they were being put together. Then a couple more hours outside, not in direct sunlight, to stiffen them up enough to carve into shape.

Below is the concept of this stacking sculpture with a couple different shaped toppers.
Of course what I start out trying to make never quite comes out as I intend, but that's ok.

Quickie sketch to try and map my way.

Here you can see that it took a couple good whacks with my paddle to get it out of it's morbidly lumpy shape into something a little nicer...

Tube on the left was closed up and
 inserted inside to finish piece for top of the stack.

Form refined a little more and now will be covered up and left to dry so that the wetter inside can even out with the dryer outside. It's getting there.

Dinnerware Set No. 2

Another set of dishes has just left for its new home. This time it was a set of 10 each plates and bowls in two sizes, mugs and some serving ware. As always I'm hoping the new owner understood my warnings that glazes can vary quite a bit from the top to the bottom of my kiln, and that the photo conveyed this properly. She said it looked good to her via seeing these photos on her smart phone while on a camping trip, but I will still be nervous until she's opened up and seen it all.

Now it is a fervent wish that everything will remain safe from the many hands and conveyor belts the three boxes will encounter over the next few days in transit. There was nary a speck of movement when I picked up and shook each box before double boxing into a second box, but know they will get jostled and upended which can loosen up even the tightest of packages.

Being a potter can make one a little superstitious and nervous. Hopefully will also get to experience a lot of happy with a safe arrival and satisfied customer. 

P.S. All arrived safely and the customer liked them. Yay!

Large and Medium Bowls 

Plates showing the glaze variation top to bottom of the kiln.

Gimme one more hour!

Spent today making pots in front of an audience of fellow potters at the Benton Center Pottery Studio at Linn-Benton Community College for the Spring Workshop. Took requests and someone wanted to see one of the more complex twists I do. Of course. 

Many have been made, but not many have been successful, but what the heck. It was a chance to let them see just how rough and crazy it all happens in real life. Decided to make a mini-version and cut out all the pieces to make two-thirds of the shape.

On my side: dry air, a couple extra hands, a concave form and a warm bisque kiln helped get the beginning shapes dried out enough to put together.

Against me: Time. It ran out before I could get the base part dry enough to add the final touches. Came home and used all the scraps that were still wet enough to piece together the top curved piece in gradual sections, and then goo glue it all together and gave it shape with some very soft clay. 

Tomorrow after this is dry enough to work on I'll attack it with my stainless rib with the teeth to give it more defined shape and then see if it's thick enough to carve.