Wishing I Had Saved

Every now and then, it dawns on me that all the footed mugs I am going to make in Trumansburg as part of Cold Springs Studio are made. That's it. There won't be any more. Usually it takes a call from someone I haven't heard from in five years, who still thinks that we might be open by chance this weekend... before my mind is jogged back to pre-Sept 2009.

Tonight I was looking through old images. I stumbled across these old footed mugs. They aren't terribly amazing, but they were good mugs. I am sure they sold within a week of being photographed. We never had more than half a dozen in the studio for more than a week. I always tried to have at least two dozen in the wings, but if we had a good weekend full of sales, we might sell a dozen footed mugs in an hour's time.

My friend, Renata Wadsworth, bought a used gas kiln off of CraigsList recently. I am excited to see how her gas reduction results compare to her usual woodfired pots. I never got around to building our big gas kiln because I fell in love with cone 6 oxidation color. It wasn't something I planned for... just kinda happened. Now I look back at those surfaces and wish that I had more pots still waiting in the wings to be glazed. Sure would make gift giving a lot easier this holiday season. (kidding... nah, sorta)

Long long time ago

This image was created sometime around 2005. We had just finished creating our first brochure and were working on new images for our website. The original image was photographed with an Olympus C-5050Z... now a 10 year old, 5MP camera, with one of the snappiest lenses I have ever used.

Back in 2010, I began working with Lightroom (probably version 2 or 3), and one of the first things I did was re-edit some of my older images. Partly to see them in a new light, but also just to mess around with images that I liked, but weren't mission critical at the time. Back when I edited this, we were still under the assumption that I would be able to make pots again someday.

Last weekend, I celebrated 4 years since waking up from the coma. Not really something I feel like advertising. Worth sharing? Perhaps. I don't know anymore.

How To Know You Have Arrived

One of the surest ways I have ever found to know for certain, "when you have arrived" is when your pots wind up in the local Salvation Army or antique store. When I lived in Logan, UT, I was shocked to find student pots in the local Deseret Industries (LDS version of Salv.Army). After a while, it made sense. Lots of student turn-over, lots of brown crunchy pots laying around for the next tenants to deal with: Off to the thrift store they go!

Yesterday Nancy and I were hitting the rounds of antique stores in Bloomfield, NY. There used to be quite an array of antique stores all along Routes 5+20 through central NY. Bloomfield was our favorite destination for years!

Yesterday we found one of my oval vases in one of the antique stores. It was a really nice oval vase, undulating rim, sweet little handles/ears, and glazed in Cranberry. Selling for $9.50. Talk about "having arrived!" I was right there next to the Fire King dishes and the other random collectibles that someone thought would be worth something someday. $9.50.

No More Mac & Cheese

When I first made this casserole, I had never joined a thrown form to a slab successfully. Most of the time, I could be assured that there would be some cracking; either an S-crack in the middle or a crack along the seam where the thrown cylinder joined the slab. After trying all sorts of solutions, I tried just dropping the freshly thrown cylinder on the wet slab and leaving them to dry together before doing anything.... and lo-and-behold... it worked. These forms would later morph into my oval baking dishes and my oval pitchers and my oval vase forms.

This is a very used casserole. It was woodfired, with only a liner glaze on the inside. It has seen mostly mac and cheese in its day. Now that I no longer consume pasta and cheese with regularity, it is time for this handsome casserole to find a new home. I give no guarantees about it lasting another decade or two, going in and out of an oven and all the temperature extremes. So far, it has been very accommodating of thermal shock. I would imagine, if you continued baking with it, and NOT preheating the oven, it would last quite a long while still.

This casserole is up for grabs. Pay the postage on it, or come pick it up.

This was the second cup I ever purchased. This was a "second" being sold as a first in a gallery in Northampton MA, back in 1990. Bill Campbell's pots are found almost everywhere in this country. http://www.campbellpottery.com/index.html

Up for grabs.

Other Pots Needing New Homes

Woodfired, but beyond that, I can't remember much. I am mortified that I can't recall who made this. Definitely happened in Utah. Hand sized. Makes a nice cup.

Not a terribly large jar. Great for a small batch of cookies. I think this was made by Tony Clennell but I am not sure. One of my students glazed it at the end of the year when we were emptying shelves and tossing bisqueware.

I can't recall who made this. Tall mug. Nice airbushed blue glaze over Oatmeal, cone 10, reduction.

All of these pots are up for grabs. Pay for shipping or come out to the studio to pick them up. Who ever claims them, gets them. I'll edit this post to reflect when they are gone.

Two More Pots Looking For a New Home

This gnarly jar was made by Testuya Yamada, back when he and I were "special students" at Alfred University. This is not a light jar. If you think you want it shipped, I will need a note from your doctor, proving that you have full control of your faculties. (Wood fired, cone 10, with Oribe glaze)

This was made by David Kingsbury, from Ithaca, NY. Cone 10, matte glazes. Quite large; holds more than half a gallon.

Should've Taken Better Notes

I feel like a failure. I look at these pots and I remember the faces that made them, but the names escape me. I think the small mug above was made by Wil Shykaruk from Canada, but it doesn't have his usual chop.  The rest of the pots in this post are anonymous.

This pot has found a new home. YAY!

 The last image is of the very first cup I ever purchased.  My girlfriend at the time, Jen, found it for me in a gallery in Port Townsend. She wanted me to make work like this. Yeah. Not so much.

All of these pots need to find new homes. Prefer local adopters, but if you want to pay USPS or FedEx to get it home, we can arrange for that too.

Seeing Red

In 1992, I started working on developing a copper red glaze that would work consistently in the Alpine updraft gas kiln that we all used at UMASS/Amherst. It had been recently rehabbed by Vince Pitelka, and the kiln was pretty tight. Unfortunately, being an updraft contributed to extremely uneven firings. It was very common to find the pots nearest the bagwall to be under-reduced, or sometimes even oxidized. These two bowls were ones that made it through the firings successfully. The upper image was made from a nice white stoneware I made based on a recipe from Chappell's book. The lower bowl was made from Angela Fina's porcelain recipe.

When I moved to Alfred in 1994, I assumed that I would be doing more copper red glazes. Instead I found myself drawn into ash-glazes and "fake ash" glazes. Something about the rivulet textures and the movement of color was very compelling. As a result, my copper red formulas stayed in the background for quite a while. I came across these bowls today as I was cleaning. Brought back very amusing memories of my first successful firing of an entire load of reds.

More Pots from my Collection

 I am pretty sure this was made by Kelly Sinner at USU.

 I think this one was made by Laura Patterson. Not 100% sure though.

These were made by Mark Lambert, at USU.

Thinking Back

When I arrived in the town of Logan, back in 1995, I had no idea what grad school would be like. Sure, I had my preconceived notions, but no real clue. Something about the sharp slightly dusty smell that fall carries with it, reminds me of that time in UT. (probably because it is never really that arid here!)

These were pots made by fellow students when I was at Utah State during grad school. I wish I could tell yo more about these pots. USU's program was pretty large and the volume of students who moved through every year was massive. I feel negligent for having not kept in touch with many of my fellow alumns. I guess that is my take-away from this week. Quasi-nostalgia for a difficult time in my life, when the pots were the greatest reward. I don't think I would recognize the face of my next-door neighbor of four years (from UT) if I saw them on the street... but I would never forget these cool pots!

Grapefruit will break your heart

This was my first successful cylinder, ca. 1989. Made at Barry University in Miami Shores back when my aunt was teaching ceramics there. I had been trying to throw for about a month. Not much was coming off the wheel in one piece. Up until this point, I had been glazing my "pots" with Duncan underglazes and low fire glazes. I was completely bored with the palette of colors and textures that came out of these tiny cups. I wanted stuff with life, texture... what I really wanted was a higher temperature (gas reduction!)... but that was still a ways off.

Seeing my frustration, my aunt suggested I make my own glazes. She handed me Chappell's Potter's Complete Book of Clay and Glazes and said: go to it. I had no idea what these materials were, or how they worked. No clue about toxicity. Not an inkling about protecting my health.

I started reading and found a glaze called Grapefruit Green. I have always been a fool for greens and blues. I thought that Grapefruit Green sounded so cool. I imagined an unripe grapefruit, much like what my parents had in their backyard in Miami. Having hit thousands of them with the lawnmower, I was pretty sure what to expect.

The glaze turned out so incredibly different from what I expected. I think if it had turned out green, it probably would have been tossed like so many of the pots from this era. Instead, it has traveled with me as I have moved across the country so many times. Not a terribly functional size. You can't really drink coffee or tea from it. It holds pennies well. That's about it. The sides and bottom are incredibly thick. As a pot, there is precious little that redeems it. That color however was my first glimpse into a world that would become my life for over 20 years.