Pottery, Photography, Design - Brandon "Fuzzy" Schwartz
I hauled my pots and pottery wheel over to Middlebury for the annual Fall Festival on September 19th and 20th. It is the second year that I’ve demonstrated and sold pots. This year was even better than the first. Below is a photo that made it into The Paper.
middlebury fall festival publicity
Here’s another quick update which I should have finished months ago. Way back when it was warm outside, I ordered myself some glaze chemicals. My largest order to date, in preparation to mix some of my own glazes and do a lot of testing.
glaze chemicals
So here’s an attempt to summarize what has been going on in the clay studio for the past two months. If you’re looking for pottery, you’ll have to look elsewhere. I haven’t made a pot in about two months. I hope I remember how…
wheel, wedging table, tools
What I’ve actually been doing is putting up some new shelves and cleaning every square inch of every surface. I started way back during Christmas Break. And right now I have a completely clean and organized studio which I hope improves my efficiency when/if? I ever start making pottery again. (Don’t worry, before I added the images to this post I got down into the studio and threw about 15 cylinders.)
Just a quick update to show some new items in the clay studio.
New Shelf for the Clay Studio
I came home one day last week and my neighbor across the street had a pile of stuff with a sign that said “FREE” in big letters. The thing that caught my eye was this beautiful used white shelf. I went over and talked to him for a little while and then carried the shelf across the street and down to my lair before my wife got home. For some reason my wife gets really excited when she gets groceries for free or almost free with her stacks of coupons but then rolls her eyes when I find something for free…
Glaze Shelf
I wiped the shelf down with some water and a sponge and tucked it back by the sink. I loaded it up with a bunch of glazes and other supplies that I don’t use very often. It’s amazing how much room it freed up on my other shelves next to the glaze table. This extra space will be nice when I mix glazes and glaze pots.
New Clay Stamps
I also ordered some new stamps recently. Â Actually one big 4×4″ stamp that I cut into smaller stamps after it arrived. One of the stamps is for a custom order and I got some other stamps that are just for fun or have potential for other projects. I’ve got a nice collection of company and school logos but most of these stamps aren’t limited to one specific project.
As I’m writing this, the kiln is bisque firing at almost 1500F. Soon there will be some glazing to do!
Over Christmas break I got a little time to work in the clay studio. I’ve also had school canceled a few days this winter so I’ve had a little extra time to put up shelves and get things organized.
new shelf – glaze area
I added a shelf at the top of the glaze area which I’m using for finished work and random objects that I don’t really use that often. Now I can use the two bottom shelves for glazes, chemicals and other glaze related tools and equipment. I might try to come up with a row of drawers or containers for storing chemicals.
new glaze area
I rearranged the small set of shelves on the floor and the table. Now I have better access to the whole table and I can move pots from the table to the long shelf against the west wall easily. And I feel like everything is less crammed into the corner. I haven’t glazed anything using this arrangement so I’m excited to try it out.
new shelf at the top
The other shelf I added is above the wedging table/workbench against the north wall. With this extra top shelf I have a lot of space to keep the stuff that I rarely use. Now I can use the easier-to-reach shelves for the stuff that I use regularly. Now I just need some more tools!
shelves near the sink
I also added one more set of shelves near the sink. I just bought the plastic, easy to put together shelves when they were on sale at Menard’s. I use them for drying plastic buckets and containers after I wash them.