Art by Fuzzy

Pottery, Photography, Design - Brandon "Fuzzy" Schwartz

Like an Early Christmas!

I opened up the kiln today after yesterday’s glaze fire.  Early Christmas?  Early Christmas!

glazed pots - December 2010

glazed pots – December 2010

I spent almost all of Saturday preparing and glazing and kiln washing.  Everything went pretty smoothly.   I mixed up 10lbs. of Coyote’s Saturated Iron on Friday so it was ready to go.  That, along with my previously mixed Pam’s Blue, gave me two buckets of glaze to dip and pour.  I used a little bit of Coyote Red Gold and one vase has some Espresso Bean but other than that, just about everything else is part of the Pam’s Iron Collection.  (Pam’s Blue and/or Saturated Iron).

glaze fired pottery

glaze fired mugs, vases, bowls

I was happy with the way everything turned out.  No major flaws, no glaze drips, no visible glaze defects, no worries.  The Pam’s Blue running down over Red Gold effect that I achieved last glaze firing came through pretty well in the two bowls that I tried it with this time.   The Saturated Iron came out exactly the same as the pre-mixed pint I used previously.  It might have been just a little thick for dipping because I had to brush off some excess.  This usually left some darker areas compared to the reddish brown in most areas.  Could be something to experiment with next time.  I hope to shoot some decent photos of these pieces tomorrow or the next day and get them posted here (my apologies for the terrible lighting and yellow cast of this photo).

I had a small Holiday Pottery Sale at Ligonier Elementary the past few days.  I got some positive feedback when I stopped and talked to a few people today.  I might have even made enough money to buy more glaze materials!

In unrelated news I’ve been tweaking the design of the blog theme.  I’ll continue to fix things as I discover them.  If you have any feedback for the appearance of the blog I’d love to hear it.

Bisque Fire in Progress

ready to bisque fire

ready to bisque fire

The kiln is on and was at 104F when I checked a few minutes ago.  I’m bisque firing a load of mugs, bowls, vases, and a few other items.  I’ve been busy the last two weeks trying to get everything thrown, assembled and dried so I can get it fired today.  Next weekend I hope to glaze fire so I can have a good selection of Christmas presents to choose from.

clay tools

clay tools

My school was canceled last Monday so I had a chance to do some online shopping at the clay supply stores.  Clay-King sent me a $5 off coupon in their email newsletter and they had glazes on sale so I decided to go with them.  I ordered a few small tools, a pint of clear glaze, some kiln posts, and a 10lb. bag of Saturated Iron dry glaze mix.  Everything except the dry glaze powder was at my house on Wednesday (only 2 days!) and the dry mix ships direct from the factory so it will arrive separately.

Stoneware Mugs and Bowls

I glaze fired a number of pieces two weekends ago.  Mostly mugs with a few bowls of different sizes.  I used Pam’s Blue on most of the work since I still have half a bucket left.  It came out as a blue-green on most of the pieces.  I put it over Coyote Red Gold on the inside of one bowl and it made a spectacular flowing combination.  I also dripped some Red Gold on the Pam’s Blue platter and got some interesting white streaks.  I have another toothbrush holder prototype which seems to work okay and the last pair of “word mugs” are finally finished.

Missing from the pictures are a tea mug that was already sold and a few mugs that were  re-fired to fix some glaze defects from a previous glaze firing.

I’m hoping to get some more items made before Christmas.  A lot of wheel thrown things are planned and I might try some bigger slab platters.

HU Alumni Art Show A Success

HU Alumni Exhibit

HU Alumni Exhibit

On October 2nd, my wife and I traveled back to Huntington University to see some friends, take in some homecoming activities and attend the artist reception for the Alumni Art Show.

It was great to see Professor Coffman, Professor Hopper and a few other alumni artists.  There was a good variety of work and the reception was pretty well attended.

I submitted two ceramic works and a digital photo print.  If you missed the show here is a digital version of the work I submitted:

Under an Oak Tree

Under an Oak Tree

Under an Oak Tree

This is a digital photo that I took near Dublin, Michigan.  It was taken with a Canon 30D and a kit lens with a close-up attachment.

Brown and Blue Vase

Brown and Blue Vase

Brown and Blue Vase

This is wheel-thrown stoneware glaze fired to cone 6.

Brown Lidded Vessel

Brown Lidded Vessel

Brown Lidded Vessel

Wheel-thrown stoneware fired to cone 6 in an electric kiln.

Other Work I Considered

It was tough to decide what to send to the show.  I considered a number of different ceramic pieces and had a few photographs including some from Cancun.  If you would like to read a bit more, you can view my artist statement.  There will also be some photos on the Facebook Page.

Huntington University Alumni Art Exhibit

The Robert E. Wilson Gallery at Huntington University is showing work from graduates of the art program.  I submitted two ceramic pieces and a photograph for the show which will run from September 10th to October 7th.  There will also be an artist reception during Homecoming weekend on October 2nd from 1:3o to 3:00pm.

A few months ago I was contacted to see if I had any interest in an alumni show.  I thought it was a great idea, and so did some other alumni, so I went to work on selecting pieces, dusting off my resume, putting together an artist statement and getting some digital images ready.  The decision process was somewhat difficult because I had sold or given away many of my recent ceramic ware, especially my “favorites.”  But luckily I had most of the stuff from my latest glaze fire and even a few older pieces that I still like.  And I had just taken some close-up nature photos which I thought might look good on a gallery wall.  So I got everything packed up and shipped and I received word Friday that the package arrived safely.

So if you are in the Huntington area, go check out some art work by Huntington University alums.