Blue and Russet Vase with Flowers

Click here to purchase this vase!

I while ago I did a step-by-step on a thrown and altered form that has been fascinating me for a little while now, but I think this is the first time I've shared a fired result. Everythign about this one hit the way I hoped it would - the soda distribution, the way the textures caught the glaze, just the joyousness of the thing. It's for sale, here.

As an aside, I have switched - mostly  - to Squaredup from paypal. It's cheaper, and I have the little swipe device, so I can use the same account for in-person sales as for web sales. Squareup also automatically deposits at the end of the business day (their business day, but whatev, they had to choose sometime) instead of making you log on and request your money. Listing items in my Square store is a little...non-intuitive, though. I have to list them in the library, then import them to the store, and only then can I do things like add a second or third photo. And I haven't found a way to just add a "square" button to pay, like paypal offers, to incorporate into my own website. So, not sure if I am done with paypal entirely. I'm interested to know what your experiences have been.

Pinch, Pinch, Slab

One advantage of a Maine winter is the joy of watching birds at the feeder. Not only do we get a greater variety, but they are more clearly visible against to backdrop of the snow. My morning routine involves a stop at the picture window to smile at my little friends, who have no idea or capacity to wonder who their benefactor is; they are the poster children for living in the moment.

I have two of those plastic tube type feeders - super cheap & functional, the birds love them - a thistle

Oops, thistle sock is empty!
We'll have to settle for sunflower seeds

seed sock that's always covered with finches, and a suet cage that the squirrels already know how to open. I have dedicated squirrel feeder as well but do they appreciate it? Noooooo.)

All those are fine, but lacking something in the aesthetic department. "You know what I'd love?" I asked myself. "A handmade feeder. But they are so expensive!"

D'oh.

Because they are cool and fun and always up for something new, I decided to do this as a project with my handbuilding class. This feeder is constructed of two pinch pots - the body, and the tray - and a slab roof. There's a hole through the bottom and the lid, through which a leather cord is threaded, allowing the feeder to hang, and allowing water to drain out so the seed doesn't rot.

One important feature are small slabs attached on the interior above the openings through which the seed falls. Without these the seed will just flow out, like a bucket with a hole in it! The feeder is of an unglazed brown stoneware, brushed with red iron oxide - fully mature stoneware does not need glaze to make it impervious to water. 

I think I will add a version of this piece to my spring line. My next step is to work out this design as a thrown form. I think it would need to be 3 parts: tray, body, and lid. I could throw the tray and body as one piece, but that would make cutting the seed holes harder. 

I'll try it both ways.

Also, not sure the leather cord is the best solution. It looks nice, especially with the iron-brown surface, but might it rot, or fray? This is, of course, the purpose of a prototype, to get the bugs out. Though hopefully there aren't any bugs in there, yuck. Another advantage of winter, I suppose: at least there's no bugs. 

Today is mean to be a cleaning day - and boy does my house need it! - but I feel this new design calling me into the studio. 

Resistance is futile.* 

*J/K Resistance is not futile. Never.

House Numbers: Mission Accomplished!

A few weeks ago I started a project that has been on my list for over a decade: replacing the address numbers on my house. Finally, the finished result!

I'm delighted with them, although if you look close at the photo you can see the top 1 is broken - I was careless in transporting them green, and that's what happens. I decided to go ahead and use it anyway, because after waiting 10+ years I didn't want to wait another firing cycle. 

The lady at the hardware store where I bough the screws suggested I sell these. An obvious idea, I guess, but not one that I thought of. Whaddaya think, $10 per number, limited selection of colors. four week turnaround...would it be worth suspending my no-custom-orders rule? 

Underglaze and Soda

Red underglaze, no less. And orange.

Fellow potter Nate Philbrick - lately seduced away from clay by the promise of actual cash money to be made lobstering - used to use a couple of AMACO underglazes to cone 10, with brilliant results. That surprised me, and I made a mental note of it, for possible use at a later date. Nate used them for tiny accents, with no glaze, and on the exterior only.

Hot shades notoriously burn out, and despite the success in the stoneware kiln, I figured soda vapor would vanish all traces of color. Expecting exactly nothing, I brushed a little bit on a test piece. And, hey, WOW, red!! and orange!! Brilliant, almost-true color.

As you can see, I had a hell of a time getting a non-blurry photo of this tiny little piece; but it's enough that you can see the color, and a bit of the sheen, from the soda glass. The orange was shinier than the red but neither was entirely dry.

It bears repeating: exterior only, and I'm gonna guess it would be a less-than-pleasant texture over a broad surface. But for details? Delightful.

The specific underglazes  are AMACO 389, Flame Orange, and AMACO 388, Radiant Red, and they were applied after bisquing. (I think that matter but not sure. )