2010 - a year of change

Hello again. It seems that 2010 is going to be a year of changes. I'm not saying they are all good changes... but time does keep moving forward, so change is inevitable.


My beloved pet (and good friend) Tiger Cat died, leaving his brother and me to mourn our loss. In one way, Tiger has saved the life of his brother, as Hero's checkup at the vet found a hyperactive thyroid for which he now receives medication.


As for Tiger's remains, they are being kept 'on ice' until spring when he will be buried on the farm where he was born. Many of the people that do not own pets may have a difficult time understanding the loss, but I feel I've lost more than just a pet with Tiger's passing. Hopefully the same 'time' that is bringing change will also help to soften this feeling of loss.


Enough of the sad and on with the show...


We recently had one of those very strange days where ice crystals formed on everything outside... it makes for a magical-looking environment, and is always fun to enjoy.

I've been trying to spend time in my basement studio, but it seems difficult to do much there when the weather is so cold. Here is a look at the thermometer in the studio AFTER the heat has been running for several hours. No wonder that clay feels cold!

Notice I'm wearing an insulated vest and there is an electric heater on the floor next to me. Oh, and I'm also wearing long-johns. (No, I'm not going to show you a photo of that!) LOL.

I decided to make a few turtles, so the above photo shows me holding a shell previously shaped and allowed to harden a bit. Next is to make the other parts, so another slab on my roller is in order, as the photo below shows some clay about to be rolled.

The next photo shows the pieces made from the slab just rolled. They now need to 'set up' for a while so they can be attached to the shell made previously. Once attached, then the whole turtle will need to rest until moisture equalization is reached, upon which a slow drying process can be started until the piece is 'bone dry' and ready for the bisque firing.

More interesting photos of the clay works coming soon! Now to find some of that left-over stir fry and have something to eat... yummy!

Dealing with the cold, a bisque load... next up, glazing

It is so cold here lately, that I finally decided I had to do something to help keep my studio warmer. Even the clay gets too cold to handle! Since the weather outside has been below zero a lot lately, that frigid air seems to find many ways into my basement. I found a good use for some bubble wrap and sealed over the door from the basement to the stairs leading outside. The cold air was coming through the door with enough force that I could feel it with my hand. First I used duct tape to tape the joint of the door and the door frame. Then I used some calk in some areas where to door frame met the wall. Then I used screws through wooden lath to hold the bubble wrap in place over the door frame. I also pushed some bubble wrap into a window well to help insulate it. This next year, when it is warmer, I'm going to try a few more ways to keep it warmer in the studio.

I fired a bisque kiln yesterday, and removed the pieces today after it had cooled. Here's a shot showing some clay pads to be used when glaze firing.

More clay pads of various sizes.

A bowl, a basket, and a textured tray. The basket has holes drilled to hold the handle - yet to be attached once it is glazed and fired.

Here is a photo of another one of the one-hand plates for Dad. It allows one to eat one-handed by shoving the food to the edge, and it flips up onto the spoon or fork.

This large platter barely fits into the smaller kiln. If it were any bigger, I would have to fill the larger kiln in order to fire it.

Here's a pic of all the items I removed from the bisque kiln.

This next photo shows something called a Giffin Grip. It is used to hold pots on the wheel while trimming work is done. The fingers on the unit slide inward on spiral tracks as the top portion of the Grip is turned. After the Grip has the pot well held, the whole unit turns when the potters wheel is used. Pretty nifty (and convenient) way to trim in my opinion.

I've already waxed the bottoms to the bisque pots, so next up is to do the glazing and get a glaze kiln loaded and fired. Have fun everyone!

Clay handles, dry hands, frozen water well - are we having fun yet?

Since I had made (called throwing) some cups on the wheel yesterday, I needed some handles for them, so a few hours ago I pulled 17 handles that can be used on a variety of pots, but I made most of them a little thicker for the coffee/beer mugs I'm making. I wrap some short pieces of PVC pipe in a hand towel and then lay the newly pulled handle over it to help it get the correct bend. Everything gets adjusted later when it is attached to the cup or mug, of course.

I had some old handles still around from the last bunch I pulled... wrapped up in three layers of plastic so that they wouldn't dry out. They seemed in pretty good shape, but there were only four of them left, so the new handles will come in handy shortly.

It is very cold out for the past few days, so the combination of the dry air and the large number of times I put my hands in water (for throwing on the wheel, dishes, etc.), the skin on the back of my hands is getting pretty raw. I've just slathered them in lotion and will do so again later tonight before bed. Hopefully they will recover shortly and won't be as sore soon.

One of my brothers called me this past Saturday to say that the water well on the farm in Iowa where our parents live had frozen up. Since I had to look after a sick cat, I couldn't go. But several of my brothers went and they got the pipes thawed and water pressure restored. Thank goodness for brothers!!!!

Another batch of pottery, goodbye to Tiger

This is my buddy, Tiger. He's having a tough time, as he has CRF - Chronic Renal Failure... basically his kidneys have shut down, so he doesn't have much time left with us humans. I am very sad to see him go, as both I and his brother, Hero, will miss him very much.

This is Hero, Tiger's brother. Both of them are over 15 years old now, so I guess all-in-all, they've lived good lives.

My heart is heavy, so I'm going to try to keep busy. Here are some of the recent pieces of pottery I've made. Please feel free to comment on them.

These "snowflake vases" are for a customer's winter wedding coming up soon. She wanted the designs to be all unique, rather than one design on all of them. She plans to put flowers in them on the tables for the guests, and I think some of the guests will get to take them home afterward.

The following small vase is almost 6 inches tall and approximately 3.75 inches in diameter. I am very happy with the glazes and the overall look to it.

This one was a reglazed platter, and I really like how it came out. I call it "The fox and the frog". Can you see them in the glaze pattern? This platter is almost 18 inches in diameter and has a thrown foot with holes to allow a hanging wire to be used to display it.

The following photo shows a very large platter made using both the slab roller and the wheel, which makes for a difficult to create piece, but the results are very nice. The platter is 16 inches in diameter and can be used as a nice serving platter.

It is currently VERY cold here in southern Minnesota currently, with below zero F temps for the past few days. That makes it difficult to work in the basement since all the cold air falls there. I brought a 50 pound box of clay upstairs to help it warm up a bit. Otherwise it gets so cold that my hands get stiff trying to work the cold clay.

The two plates I made for my father recently worked out very nicely, and he wants me to make a couple more that are slightly larger in diameter to stack with the two he already has. The plates are special in that there are curved sides that allow him to use only one hand when eating, and not have to chase food off his plate. The curve inward lifts the food and drops it onto his spoon. Sure beats chasing peas across a flat plate and onto the table!

Take care, everyone.

Carl