I guess it’s the time to look back on the previous year and make some goals for the year ahead.
Cup Show entries
Looking Ahead to 2014
5 Reasons to Keep Making Pottery
Not that I need any more reasons to make more pots! Anyway, here are 5 reasons that I continue to press on. I’ve made a lot of bad pots but I feel like these recent pots give me some new direction and inspiration for my future work.
Dripping (C)up
Dripping (C)up
Do you see what I did there? The ‘C’ is optional so it can be read “dripping cup” or “dripping up.” Get it?
Technical Info: Fired to ^6 in oxidation, Warm Brown Stoneware. Glazes: Licorice inside, Jen’s Juicy Fruit and Waterfall Brown outside.
Inspired by: Justin Rothshank’s seconds shelf dripping mug and a discussion with Dick Lehman about firing lids on teapots.
Why I like it: Fairly unique?, interesting color patterns, the glaze becomes part of the structure. I like how a little bit of bare clay shows through near the rim even though that was probably an accident.
Where to go next: I’ll continue to fire things upside down. And explore “glaze as structure” instead of just a surface decoration. I think that I could get some longer glaze drips if I get the right firing program set up. I’ll also look into different shapes and textures to see how that affects the glaze drips. I just made a pinch pot with some grooves and stamps just for this purpose. This is actually my third or fourth attempt at this. I have one that is in The Cup: An Interpreted Object. It was my first attempt at firing something upside down and I had some blistering glaze issues which actually look pretty cool. I only finished one before the entries were due or I would have entered this one, above. [Read more…]
Michiana Pottery Tour 2013
It was another pottery weekend on the 28th and 29th of September. I spent a good chunk of Saturday and most of Sunday touring Michiana, gazing at pots, and rubbing elbows with some of the finest potters in all of Michigan and Indiana.
Trail of Pots
Middlebury Fall Festival from the Potter’s Perspective
A milestone has been reached in my pottery career. With a ton of help from my wife, I completed my first festival as a pottery vendor. But not just a vendor, I was also a demonstrator!
The Middlebury Fall Festival took place last Friday and Saturday in downtown Middlebury. To be honest, I didn’t get to take in much of the festival but I had a great time.
Preparation
I felt like the whole week before the festival was crazy. There was so much stuff to do. I got the kiln fired a few days before the festival which is always a lot of work by itself. Then I had to shoot some photos of those pots, haul all the other pots up out of the basement, pack up my wheel, clay and all my tools and put together a few papers for my display. My wife and I also spent one night shopping for wrapping paper, bags, an extension cord and some other items. Then My wife and mother-in-law spent Thursday night cutting and attaching price tags. I brought home two tables from school and dropped them off in Middlebury. Finally, Friday morning we hauled over two car loads of pots, tools, clay and a pottery wheel. And that is NOT a portable pottery wheel!
Setup
vendor tent
They had us located in booth 50 which was the corner of one of the larger tents just behind the information booth. We arrived around 7:30 am, unloaded and got everything set up. It took quite a while and I felt like I was still getting things organized and set up throughout the day. The space was right next to the electrical box and there was a water spigot about 100 ft. away. The festival staff was helpful and very nice too. The festival officially opened at 10:00am and I had my tools and wheel ready to go.