Brandon “Fuzzy” Schwartz

Clay Studio Notes: July 2014

Ahhhh, I love summer break. I’ve been using as much of my time off as possible in the clay studio. I just completed a round of glazing and the kiln just passed 1000 degrees. I should have enough stuff for a 2nd firing if I get some of the big bowls glazed. I’ve actually been so busy doing other things that I put this blog entry on hold for almost two months. It was originally going to be Clay Studio Notes from May 2014.

Garage Sales!

It’s no secret that I love garage sales. Mostly because I can usually find something useful for, well, garage sale prices. Here are the latest items that I dug up from a couple different locations.

garage sale finds

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Glaze Fire Results from May

Here are a few pots from the last glaze fire. ^6 oxidation. Stoneware: Warm Brown or Buff Stoneware by Amaco.

Still trying a lot of different glaze combinations and trying decals on different glazes.

I’ll be glazing another load in the next few days. I hope to startÂ concentrating on a few glazes and combinations that I like in hopes of a more defined body of work.

Pottery Weekend

Apparently I took a couple months off from the blog. But now I should have enough content ideas to keep me posting regularly for a while. You can also see my latest activities on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Anyway, on with the post!

What would your dream weekend look like? A while (months!) ago I experienced something that was pretty darn close for a serious hobbyist potter (like myself at this point). To any full time potter it was probably just another day at the office but for me it was something that I look forward to in the future if I ever go “full time” clay.

Rothshank Woodfire with Troy and Moey

On Friday (May 2nd) after school I stopped at the Rothshank wood kiln and found Troy Bungart and Moey Hart on duty. They were trying to get the back chamber temperature up. I sat and chatted with them for a few hours.

Troy and Moe stoking the kiln

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Polar Vortex Inspired Pottery

I recently shot some photos of the most recent glaze fire. These were mostly completed during the polar vortex winter that kept us cooped up inside for months. Which is always okay with me, as long as I have enough clay! Everything was fired to ^6 in oxidation. Clay is either Warm Brown Stoneware or Buff Stoneware or a combination of both. For more details, click on the images.

Favorites

This was my favorite surface from this kiln load. I like the Jen’s Juicy Fruit and Waterfall Brown combo better on the Warm Brown Stoneware but it looks pretty good here too on the Buff Stoneware running over my light brown glaze. It might even run a little more on the Buff Stoneware?

side fired bowl

I was commissioned to make 6 small coffee mugs so I made a bunch. It was nice to do a series and work with some subtle variations. I hope to do some more multiples soon.

series of small mugs

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Closeup Photos: Pots and Tools

When I’m not teaching or making pots, I like to learn about photography. My wife and I do portraits but I have more fun shooting sports, nature and closeup or macro shots.

I recently took a number of photos of some recent pottery and some pottery ribs that I’ve purchased. I’m using a macro attachment on a kit lens so it’s nothing fancy. Probably not even true macro but I got some nice detail shots. For more info about the subject matter: pottery and pottery ribs.

slab built cup closeup

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