Pickles, ruination and a dog...

 

According to this page, that may or may not be reputable,  the world record for the largest potato is 8 pounds, but an unconfirmed contender may have topped it with a 25 pound behemoth that looks like Slimer,

Now, pots and such.  Actually we are going to start off this week with a bit of putting by.

What are these?  Why pickles, of course.  I planted some cucumbers in the garden this year for the specific purpose of making pickles.  This is only the second batch as I only put in four plants and it has been pretty dry, so not many cucumbers.  These are freaking delicious though, and ridiculously easy to make.  I heard about it on the Survival Podcast, or you can check out the recipe here.

In studios news, I got a load of stuff glazed and fired.  Here are some before and after pictures of the top shelf.  I am really digging the tall oval vase forms.  They are fun to make and create a very nice "canvas" for decoration.  Now I just hope they sell so I can make more.

There were also a couple other new forms in this load...small planters, small lidded jars and garlic keepers.  The small jars are possibly one of my favorite forms thus far.

And the culmination of the red clay (again with these references to stuff I put on Facebook!)...

Before...

After.

This teapot and all the other red ware got a nice coat of white slip before decoration.  It worked out much better for some pieces than it did for others.

Alas!  I shall be resting no spoons!

This spoon rest, for example, I tried to move too soon after dipping it in the slip.  Did you know that if you dip a leather hard pot in slip it will rehydrate and become soft again?  Good, because that is just plain common sense!  Only a foolish individual like myself would forget this and ruin a good pot because of it.

 But wait...there's more...

One of these things is not like the other one... some on, sing!

These mugs looked great after I dipped them, all slippy and just waiting for some sgraffito.  When I came back to check on them though, the handle had broken off every single one.  Not sure why. 

Not all of the red ware broke though; and I really dig how the survivors turned out...more folky than my usual stuff.  I definitely want to give this stuff another shot, but without all the ruination.  If anyone out there has any experience with this sort of work and knows what I may have done wrong, or even if you just have any tips in this area, please give me a shout.

As for the stuff that did make it...

The aforementioned small lidded jars and a couple of spoon rests immediately post dipping.

Jars and teapot after being decorated.

Large (16-17 inch) platter with a crane.

The larger pieces (platter and teapot) were sprayed with slip as they would not fit in the bucket, and that seemed to help the breakage problem, but the handle of the teapot still cracked at the bottom.  Knackers.  

These are all in a bisque firing right now.  I am quite anxious to get them glazed and see what they will look like all finished up.  

Actually I would really like to go to it on these things with an underglaze pencil since the experiments and the stuff in the last kiln load came out so well.  Unfortunately my underglaze pencil is almost used up.  And even if it wasn't, my electric pencils sharpener (which is apparently the only way this pencil likes to be sharpened) is jammed, so I cannot even sharpen what is left of it sufficiently.  Oh well, next time.

Speaking of platters, (We weren't really speaking of platters.  That was just a nice way to switch to a different subject.  It's called a transition; I learned about those in English class.  And even though that was a pretty poor transition, we are going to roll with it.) the platters I have been working on are all scratched up (decorated, that is) and in the kiln.  No pictures yet, other than this one.

The platters were too large to fit in the make-shift spray booth that I normally use, so I had to move operations outside.  Luckily it was not windy at all, so the spraying of slips went off without a hitch...the dog helped.  I enjoyed it so much in fact that I may (weather permitting) continue spraying work out of doors.

And last but not least...Saint Vitus!
Old school doom metal band ala Black Sabbath. 

Up next...Timmy Tabasco!

Post Script:  I have a show coming up this weekend in Belleville, IL.  Midwest salute to the Arts.  It kind of sneaked up on me, so I have been rushing to get some stuff done this week.  If you happen to be in the area feel free to stop by and say hi!

Platters, trailer trash and how not to take pictures...

Ligers...

 This...

 

...not this.

Despite what Napoleon Dynamite may have inadvertently led you to believe, ligers are indeed real creatures.  They are feline hybrids and they are freaking monsters.

I am right now, at this very moment, coming to you from Hangar 9, where I am enjoying a very tasty brew.  That's right, I am working from a bar.  Let's hear it for free wireless internet!  I may have to make a habit of this.

And as nice as that may be for me, it will not necessarily make for a better blog post, at least not this time.  As much as I may try, I am not very good with taking pictures of stuff as I am working on things.  Thus a lot of this may be written as opposed to pictorial.  Or it may just be a shorter post; in which case it may indeed be a good post depending on your reading habits.

Enough muckity-muck; on to the goods.

If you follow me on Facebook (side note: my marketing consultant wife would probably say I should encourage you to go to my face book and "like" me and such, but I honestly do not care.  That stuff is not terribly enjoyable to me.)...if you follow me on Facebook you may have seen that I have been coming around on the platter making.  In the last post I said that my platter endeavors were less than satisfactory, only getting a 15 inch platter out of 18 pounds of clay.  After that though I was able to stretch a 17 - 18 inch platter out of 15 pounds of clay.

The platters 6 before being trimmed.  Even with three less pounds of clay, though, there is still a lot of extra clay to be gotten rid of.

This is the scrappy mess of a wheel after the cutting.  And this is after cleaning up most of the trimmings 4/5ths of the way through.  Oh well; so it goes.

On a completely unrelated note, I got a trailer!

A very short time after I got my truck all set up with a camper (for hauling art fair stuffs and camping at those art fairs), my truck decided to give up the ghost.  Although I never put any pictures or anything up here, I got a new truck, but no camper.  Instead of going the camper route the wife and I decided to get an enclosed trailer to haul stuff around.  And it has tons more room and lights for camping at shows.  Good deal.  Now all I have to do is learn how to back it up without running over anything.

Ok, it is getting late (ish) and I am out of pictures, so I am going to officially throw this out into the ether and head home.  But first...Artificial Lover.  Not real sure how to describe this other than oddly good.

Up next...what is the biggest potato ever grown?

It is snowing sideways

Thus far the winter season has been mild in southern Illinois to say the least.  Today, though, the high temperatures dropped into the low 30's and there has been a stiff breeze blowing.  I know this is no big deal for most folks north of the Mason-Dixon, but I hate cold weather.  Really hate it.  I would move to Hawaii if I could.  Thus, after going to the post office to mail a package (Yeah Etsy!) I am hiding inside while my trusty little propane heater warms up the studio.

In other news, Judy Tavill posted a blog about the benefits of a blog vs. facebook; a topic that has been on my mind lately.  I have always preferred blogging, but lately I have been thinking that one is not necessarily better, they just serve different purposes.

As I have said before, I was always opposed to facebook, despite my wife's insistence that I get an account.  It always seemed like a waste of time.  I never saw the point in dealing with all the inane bs that people put up on facebook.  No one cares what I had for breakfast or how many times I blew my nose today or how much I hate doing dishes; or at least they shouldn't.  Find something more constructive to do with your time.  Long story short, I have a facebook account...and it still seems like a big waste of time, at least for the most part. 

Facebook can, however, reach a large number of people quickly, which makes it a good marketing tool.  As some people have commented on Judy's post, a blog is good for connecting with other potters; facebook is good for connecting with potential customers.  This is the only reason I have not deleted my account yet. 
And even better, my wife got me a fancy ipod for Christmas.  This makes it very easy to snap a picture of whatever I am working on and throw it up on facebook without breaking the flow of my work day too much.  I can easily get my work in front of people and perhaps get them interested in what I am doing. 

I still prefer blogging to get ideas out into the ether.  I can flesh things out, think them through a little more, etc.  It is more like a nice letter to a long distance friend(s).  Facebook may have its place though.

And finally, some pictures of the last stuff out of the kiln.  These actually came out shortly before the new year, but I didn't want to put pictures up as some of them were Christmas presents.

Rooster Crock,  This seems to be a fairly popular design as I have gotten a few requests for similar items

Dandelion Vase

Plant/Vine Plate.  Just glad this one made it through without blowing up!

Surprise Mugs.  Each of my nieces and nephews got a personalized mug for Christmas.  Fun stuff

And some of this stuff is in my Etsy shop if you want to check that out.

Well, the studio is probably warmed up by now, so I probably ought to get to work.  It is handles and trimming and plates for the rest of the day.  If you find me on facebook you might get a quick shot of work in progress!

-Rob, Simple Circle Studios