BLOG Relaunch - Really!

What's A Relaunch?

A BLOG Refresh With A Commitment 

Someone recently asked me if I was a professional potter and after wanting to say no I found myself saying, yes I am.  You see, I have been telling everyone it's just a serious hobby, but when I told them how many custom orders I have and that I am selling all over the world online I had a bit of a realization that it's true - I am a professional potter.

As a professional potter I have realized the importance of an online regular presence.  I have been doing this with Facebook and Pintrest and have meet so many new people - some even like the work I share enough they have purchased or even ordered custom ware.  It has been really rewarding, but I have neglected my blog and my fans here.  My blog is we're I really can share and I am newly committed to be here on a weekly basis sharing new work, commission and gallery news.

In recognition of my newly found professional status I felt it important to have some new professional photography done for use on line and new print pieces I have planned.  I asked photographer Jeffery Sweet to come out to the studio from Springfield and do his thing - he specializes in portraits.

Please start watching for my weekly posts and send me ideas for future posts.

Tiny Towns

I have been busy building entire towns out of clay and throwing them into the Raku kiln.  They are handbuilt and range in size from 1" tall to 3"tall. They are simply glazed using mostly white crackly glaze.

These little buildings are great for filling up small areas in the kiln and are really fun to build - takes me back to my childhood.

It is fun to know that my little house have found homes not only here in the U.S. but also in Australia and Canada.

I just recently expanded my building to include factories.

Large Raku Bowls

I have been busy learning the "art" of Raku.  One of the forms I enjoy making are bowls that are large, around 15". These large bowls are the largest diameter pot I can fit in my Raku kiln and I have been told that these thin large bowls can be some of the most difficult to nurse through the firing process without thermal shock causing them to crack or worse.  I've had few of those broken ones but also have had more success's than failures.  These bowls have been a good seller for me in the Local Color Gallery in Joplin were I show my work.

Here are a few examples.

Above is a shot of my Raku kiln during firing.  It's heated with propane and takes about 45min.  These large bowls fill the entire kiln so they must be fired individually.

Reached 100 Cup Mark!

I challenged myself a few months ago to make 100 cups and I'm happy that I reached my goal last month. 

I learned a lot about cup making, especially about how important volume and form is.

Perhaps the most important result of this challenge was that I taught myself how to pull handles instead of extruding them.  I had thought that I couldn't pull a handle without someone really teaching me, but I DID IT.

I worked in both porcelain and stoneware.  The brighter colored cups are English Porcelain with Celedon Glazes and underglaze accents.

All the cups are stamped with repeating textures.  The texture was created by using stamps that I made from clay.  Each impression is individually stamped.  If you look closely you can see my finger impressions on the inside of the cup wall were I backed up and supported the clay while stamped.  The result of this method adds a secondary unexpected texture to the inside of the cups.

I think I came along way and it was really worth it.  Here are a few highlights.

100 Cup Journey

74 cups to go! 

It might sound like a lot of cups and it might even sound like a chore,  but I really am enjoying myself. 

I opened my baby kiln today and unloaded my latest batch of cups.  These are all English Porcelain fired to Cone  6 in Oxidation.  All the stamps are created by me and made by me that are used on the exterior of the cups to create the various textures.

I believe I am improving my skill level with each batch of cups.  There are so many steps in the making of one of these cups and all need to be done in rather quick succession before the clay dries too much. 

Let me list the steps:
1) Throw on the pottery wheel the basic cup form
2) Stamp exterior of mug (At this point I have already made 5-6 new stamps for this batch of work).
3) Trim bottom of cup form
4) Extrude or Pull handle
5) Add any slip trailing detail
6) Apply Under glaze
7) Bisque Fire to Cone 05
8) Glaze
9) Glaze Fire and done.

A few of my new cups - I hope you enjoy them as much as I did making them.

Did I mention the 100 cups thing?

That's right, 100 cups.  I have given myself the challenge to produce 100 cups over the next 3 months.  I have been working on cups off and on trying to find my form or voice - a vessel shape that pleases me.  I thought maybe after 100 cups I might be a little closer to the end of my journey. 

These are the second batch of cups I have worked on in the series.  These are porcelain with under glaze.  I thought it would be interesting to show you what a cup looks like before it is bisque fired - you see, these are still just raw dry clay (no firing has been done at this stage in the process).

The raise relief detail is called slip trailing.  This is a liquefied clay that is applied much like a icing on a cake. The color you see is called under glaze which is a glaze that will appear under the more translucent glaze applied after the bisque fire.

Cup Journey

My progression and development of such a simple object as the cup continues and I now think it will be a life time Journey. To take an object as simple as a cup one can can create countless variations.  The search for any artist in his or hers craft is what speaks to them and this is what I believe I'm still searching for in the cup - that voice that tells me this is what I need to make.

I was fortunate to take a workshop from Kristen Kieffer who makes amazing porcelain cups that are richly detailed using stamps, slip trailing, altered forms and under glazes. Most of these techniques I have tried in some small way but never all together and on such a simple shape as the cup.  The images here are some of the cups I have made recently on my journey.