Mother's Day again!

Mother's Day is right around the corner -May 12th- and I have been planning the plate for this year's celebration.

Every year we have a family party, and I have been trying to include all the handmade ceramics that I have collected over the years. I have wonderful plates by Mark Shapiro, Richard Aerni, Linda Christianson, Ayumi Horie, Aysah Peltz, Todd Walhstrom, Jody Johnstone, Paul Heroux, Sam Taylor, Scott Goldberg, Bernadette Curran, and others....but I have a nice, big Irish family. We had no dessert plates - a total necessity! So back in 2009 I started making dessert plates, and everyone gets to take home their dirty, sticky plate...I wrote about it here.

I have been working on this year's plate, using the same size and glazes every year, varying the form and the decoration. This year the plates are square, formed on a hump mold, with a foot ring added.

When rolling the coil for the foot ring I mark the lenght in inches on my table...time saver!

On my template I mark the pounds I need for the slab, and that length for the coil footring.

I have finished the glazing, and just added the decals...soon, soon, soon!

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Sawdust & Dirt: In Praise of Liking Mistakes

Sawdust & Dirt: In Praise of Liking Mistakes: Chris Staley and Cody Goddard have made some incredibly compelling videos.  This is one of Michael Kline's favorites and we TOMO POTTERS really liked it too, so as he requested, we are posting the link in our blog as well. Enjoy!

COMING OUT OF THE CABINET

I've decided to come clean, literally. This is a difficult topic for anyone who calls themselves a potter but I have decided to do something about what’s behind my kitchen cabinet doors.  These are the dishes I live with every day.  They were purchased years ago (before I returned to my serious pursuit of clay) and apparently they haven’t fared as well as my marriage has.

DISHWASHER & MICROWAVE SAFE MY FOOT!

 So I have decided to do what any potter worth his/her salt would do – I am finally making myself a set of dishes. I thought about purchasing another set, most likely made in some outsourced factory, but then I realized nothing would be as durable as the dinnerware I make.  Being a functional potter makes me pretty fussy about my glazes. We potters think up all kinds of diabolical torture involving: freezing, heating, freezing, heating; soaking with lemon juice for days, etching with a key, more freezing and heating. All of this to insure our pots will serve their purpose and endure. If only every manufacturer of pottery did the same!

UGH!

Much thought has gone into this gift to myself. They are not typical of what I make and I thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of not worrying about it. I do love matte glazes, but concern about durability has me thinking of glazing the inner surfaces with my clear Chun (thank you Leah Leitson) and my buttery Shimmer on the outside. Unless one of you potters out there has a torture proof clear Satin Matte for cone 7/8 porcelain!

I LOVE NAKED PORCELAIN!
LAGUNA'S MILLER #550

Yummy Neriage

 1995

 

This winter, I am taking a colored porcelain class with Ruth Borgenicht at the Art School at Old Church.   Last year, I happend to get Axner's colored porcelain, happened to find a wonderful book about Neriage when I visited Japan to see mom,  and happened to see Ruth displaying her beautiful Neriage pieces for her new class on the shelf at the school.  I was very glad to have these happenings and here I am.    I enjoy it but it is not easy! 
 

   At this moment, I just enjoy making patterns.

 

 

 

I was little tired mending cracks and scraping, so today I worked in the kitchen.  

 

It was fun.  The procedure is almost same, but the big difference is that they mend by themselves.  Clay gets dry but cookie dough gets soften while working with warm hands. 

  

 

 It was a fun day!

 



Noborigama Firing

The wood firing took place over the weekend January 25th to the 27th.

We prepared our pots with flashing slip and glaze all day Friday.

On Saturday we wadded our pieces, brought them outside in the freezing cold and placed them on tables and shelves according to where we wanted them to go in the kiln. There is a wood chamber that is nearest the main fire box and a salt chamber that is between the wood chamber and the chimney.

Everyone was busy at their work station, either delivering pots, loading pot calling for specific sizes or preparing kiln posts.

The door in the photo above is the wood chamber. Two of my cups are on the top shelf next to Barbara's big cat.  The door one photo above the wood chamber photo is the salt chamber.  I guess my pots are in there somewhere.  Bruce Dehnert estimated we could load about 200 to 250 pots.  I think we packed them in there pretty tightly.

I hope my cup isn't touching the cat.

A little fire breathing demo to breakup the night.  Potters are crazy.

After a long night of maintaining a temp of 1000 to 1600 degrees F the real stoking begins.

Our fearless leader, Bruce.

 After many hours of adding wood, the salt kiln was ready for some NaCl.
This is Christina adding salt on a long flat board. After a week of cooling,
we will be unloading tomorrow.  I can't wait to see everyone's pots!

The wood firing workshop through The Art School at Old Church is finally happening.

Here I am in my new apron, courtesy of Ellen Mulligan, ready to make a few more pieces for an upcoming wood firing in the Peters Valley Noborigama kiln.

Its been difficult to get too dirty with my stylish splint on my wrist, but I think I have an idea.  If I use a mold I won't get too messy.  

This mold is a favorite of mine from a few years back.

  

The lemons look good enough to eat, almost.

Can you tell which are the real lemons.

I made a lid to seal up the hole left by the pour spout of the mold. The seam will also have to be erased and then these will be bisqued and fired in the wood kiln.

My friend, Mikhail

This links to the obit for Mikhail Zakin

http://www.northjersey.com/obituaries/170134366_Artist_Mikhail_Zakin_dies_at_92.html?scpromo=1



It takes a while to absorb a loss, sometimes. Especially when you can still hear the voice, or something happens in everyday life, and you imagine their reaction, before realizing, with a start, that they are no longer there. No more sharing an exciting new artist, or planning a field trip, or just a wonderful lunch and conversation.



Mikhail Zakin recently passed away. Her life was adventurous, and she really was a citizen of the world. She was a wonderful person, a teacher of great insight, a philosopher, but most of all an artist.



She brought her sculptor's eye and hand to clay, and her work has a connection to the earth itself. Here is a link of her presentation to the Potters Guild of New Jersey:

http://youtu.be/Ey2BkOFiMBk


Mikhail was my teacher, my mentor and my friend. She was so generous in sharing her studio, kiln and home. I was lucky, lucky, very lucky to know her.

This past year Mikhail and I worked on a project to make a book of her ceramic work. She had so much to share, I could barely keep up. I'm very happy that we got a chance to finish it together (trust me, I was just following her directions). Thank you, Mikhail.



http://www.blurb.com/books/3511885#

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