Squirrels, platters and how to store your butter...

 

As many of you may be aware, the world did not end in 1954.  The planet Clarion did not come to call but Dorothy was undeterred, even though the doctors were watching.

I was actually going to write this up last night, but firefighter duties put a stop to that.  Which brings us to the PSA portion of the blog post.

Fire Prevention Tip #089:  Do not allow squirrels to store their acorns and such in your electrical fuse box.

Oh well; so it goes.

I am firing a bisque today, so I don't really want to be out in the studio anyway.  Air conditioned blogging sounds like a much better option.  I did get a large platter trimmed before the studio got too hot, though.

Here is the platter in question right after being thrown.  I say it is large, but when it is all said and done it will only be around 14 inches or so across.  That is pretty weak considering I used about 18 pounds of clay to make it.  I have not made very many large platters, so it still a bit difficult to stretch the clay to where I really want it. 

Here is the platter in question after a lot of trimming.  I may not be great at throwing platters yet, but I think I got it trimmed up pretty nice. 
I did not take a picture of it, but the foot is undercut on the inside to allow for easy hanging on the wall.  I have tried making holes for a wire, but that just seems like and extra, unnecessary step when this works just as well.  And this way I do not have to worry about orienting my decoration to the wire.  I'm not saying I have failed to do that in the past...I meant for those pieces to look crooked. 
I am going to be making quite a few more of these, both because I need the practice and because that large surface area presents some very enticing decoration opportunities.

Speaking of decoration...

I am totally digging how this one turned out.  This fancy little french butter keeper thing is in the kiln right now.  I have made regular butter dishes in the past and liked the end result, but they are pretty laborious to make.  These are not as complicated (less components to put together) and are probably more practical.

And finally, Mitchmatic: Why Don't You Know?
Hip-hop-ish music, but not really.  Fun stuff.

Up next...ligers!

Yogi, doodles and the nefarious air whales...

No, this is not me.  Although I am diggin'  the beard and the orange diaper.

 I have been dabbling with yoga as a means to adding some stretching to my less than regular workouts.  Nothing like this pretzel looking fellow, just simple stuff to loosen up.  I used to be pretty flexible when I was stretching for sports everyday.  Now though...well, I am not.  Perhaps it will help relieve the tension that builds up after sitting at the wheel or scratching pots for hours on end.

The garden got some much needed tending over the weekend.  Not as much as it really should have had, but perhaps enough to keep it going for a little while yet.  Noah helped out, of course.  He was quite proud of the red tomatoes he was picking. most of which he promptly ate.

See this tomato?  This tomato is going in my belly!

Between the meager harvest from my garden and the bumper crop my father-in-law has been pulling in I was able to make up ten or so pints of pasta sauce.

It is just a package of spice mix that you add to the tomatoes, but it comes out pretty good.  And at $1.50 per package I think it is a bit cheaper than store bought stuff.  And then there is always the satisfaction in knowing that (most of) it came out of your own land.

As far as the studio goes, the glaze firing last week turned out pretty good with a couple minor-ish guffaws.  I was especially happy with how the underglaze pencil experiments turned out.

They fired slightly lighter than when they were first drawn on, but not too much.  The drawings retained the vast majority of their detail, which I was not sure they would do.  I'm not super keen on the drawings on the plain white clay, but they look pretty tasty over the colored slips that I normally use.

The layering thing is pretty cool, and I can get more information on each piece to tell more of a story and such.  I plan on utilizing this a lot more in the next few loads.  Eventually I would like to add even more layers of information with decals and perhaps lusters.

The only real let down in the kiln also happened to be a special order that is over due.

This is not the piece in question, however it was decorated with the same slip.  What was supposed to be a deep red/maroon turned out as a very pale pink.  Not exactly what I had in mind.

The new blue slip I used this time around turned out much better than the red.  It is a bit brighter than the old one, but it works well.

This is a skunk...because I like skunks.

A cartoon owl on a starry night...

Here is another piece that I have been working on for a while now that will hopefully work out better.

Air whales...

...the scourge of the seven skies.

I started with the carvings of the clouds and zeppelins, but then got stuck.  I knew it needed something else and I wanted to use whales, but I wasn't real sure how to get them on there.  When I got the underglaze pencil I took another crack at it.  I like the direction it is going, but I am not sure it is completely there yet.

I guess that is all for now.  Up next...how not to burn yourself while putting a pizza in the oven.  Wait, scratch that.  I was unsuccessful in that endeavor.

Up next...the planet Clarion.

Bats, bags and seeing red...

 

I told my wife that 2013 was going to be the year of the beard.  She scoffed at the idea, citing the fact that thus far in my 30 years of life the extent of my facial hair growth has stopped at scraggly chin hairs.  We shall see...

Ok, I have a shit ton of pictures to put up, so words will be minimal.  First up, making a new bast system.  I never seem to have enough bats when making jars and such so I worked up this rig.  Now I will have a copious amount of cheap bats that will store easily and such.

Tools of the trade: 6.5 inch square cut out of one sheet of masonite, glued to a second sheet of masonite, 6.5 inch squares cut for bats.

Holes drilled for bat pins and notch cut for easy removal of bats.

Edges of bat trimmed down to fit inside splash pan.

New bat system on the wheel with bat in place.

In use.

Jar and lid successfully thrown on new bats and taking up very little space.

I think I may need to put a couple coats of shellac on everything to keep it from warping, but all in all I think it will work quite well.

Last week I went up to Krueger Pottery to grab some supplies I desperately needed to finish up some custom orders and such.  I got a bunch of glaze/slip materials, mostly in 50lb bags as they are much cheaper that way.  The only problem now is that I am not sure where I am going to store everything.  Oh well, small problems.

I also got a Talisman hand sieve to work up my slips and glazes.  I had been having a slight problem with clumps and bits of muck in some of the slips. 

The sieve works fine, but it is a bit smaller than I expected.  The description said it would fit on a "normal size" bucket, which I naturally assume means a 5 gallon bucket, but not so...falls right in.  I guess I will have to make an adapter ring so the sieve can sit on the buckets without having to muck about with it.

I also got a couple bags of plaster so I can finally finish up my reclaim bin.  Now I can recycle the many many pounds of slop clay that have been sitting around the studio.

It does, however, weight just slightly less than an elephant, so I will have to find a good, mostly permanent place for it in the studio.

Yesterday I loaded and fired a glaze load, which is currently cooling.  It is probably cool enough to take a peek now, but I am going to wait a little while yet.  Pictures of finished work next post.  For now here are some pictures pre-firing.

Bisque-ware pre-glazing.

Figures for surprise mugs.  Freaking great and much fun to make.

At ye olde pottery shop I also picked up a underglaze pencil to play around with.  I have tried underglaze sticks before with not very good results.  They were difficult to sharpen and almost impossible to get any detail with.  This new one, though, is cased in wood making it very easy to sharpen.  It also seems to be a bit harder than the last ones I tried, so it holds a tip longer and gets better detail.  My only complaint so far is that they smudge a bit, so I have to be pretty careful while working on pieces.  This, of course, is a pretty minor problem and should be an easy fix.

Underglaze pencil experiments.

I really enjoyed drawing on the pots and was very happy with how the illustrations came out.  We will see how they look after being glazed and fired.

And last but not least, a chance to Philbeck it up.

I got a bucket of terra cotta clay from who knows where and it has been sitting around for quite a while.  The other day I finally wedged it up and ended up with about 35 pounds or so of nice red clay.  Not enough to do much with, but plenty to play around with.

Up next...yoga?

Ferocious felines, a portmanteau and how to make the change...

 

 They are quite possibly the greatest dreams ever.  Enough said.

Now, on to the good stuff. 

There is a serious lack of craft breweries, and breweries in general in southern IL/southeast MO.  Oh, there are a couple in the area.  There is Big Muddy in Murphysboro, Buckner in Cape Girardeau and a couple wineries that have jumped on the band wagon.  I am also eagerly awaiting the opening of Scratch Brewing in Ava.  When you compare it to say, Chicago though, this area really doesn't have much.  Certainly not enough to do a proper brewery trail (although there is talk of organizing one).  As a lover of craft beer, I would like to see this changed.  Somebody get on that.
Actually, if there was anything I could do aside from being a potter it would probably be working in a small brewery/brew pub.  I would be fine with doing little stuff, but it would be wicked cool to help create the brews.  So if there are any breweries in the Carbondale, IL area that have a few extra bucks to throw around (HA!) and need some part time help, give me a shout.

Say hello to Maggie.

  Maggie is the new cat my wife and I decided to get recently.  I am not entirely sure why my wife wanted to get a cat.  I think it has something to do with thinking it would be cute watching Noah playing with one.  It is kind of cute, but only for us.  Maggie seems terrified.  Of course that may be because Noah's idea of playing with Maggie is getting 2 inches from her face and laughing hysterically. 
I am hoping Maggie grows up to be a ferocious beast and hunts down all the moles that have been tearing up our back yard.  In the mean time she has been running around the studio pestering the dogs and such.  She seems quite interested in whatever I am doing, trying to jump in my lap and get on the wheel whenever I am throwing or trimming, attacking my elbow when I am decorating, etc.  It is not too bad having her around the studio most of the time.  She has only broken a few pieces...so far.

Luckily these were not among them.

Baa!

 

Baa?

 

I made these beer steins recently featuring people with sheep heads, or "sheeple" if you prefer.  Now, there are some particular associations with the word "sheeple."  Although this is where these pieces started, once I got working on these they became more about the visuals and less about the meaning.  I was really just having fun with the images, seeing how different sheep heads would look on different bodies and such.  They start a story in my mind.  I am hoping they do the same for other.  I think I may continue this line of decoration and do a little run people with various animal heads.  Swine-dividuals?  Cow-mans?

  Last post I was rankling about the oppressive heat.  As luck would have it two days after that post my wife's grandpa brought over this little gem! 

Sweet, sweet conditioned air!

He has owned numerous rental properties and now has quite a collection of things that were left behind, this being among them.  I thought it was going to be a bit too small at first, but not so.  I usually only run it at about 20 - 25% power and it cools the garage-io plenty for comfortable working conditions.  Freaking great.

And finally, I have been seriously thinking about making a major style change with my pots lately.  Currently my work is sgraffito decorated stuff fired to cone 5/6 in an electric kiln.  I enjoy the pieces I make, but came on this style more as a result of circumstances rather than choice. 
 Originally I wanted to get some sort of graphics on my pots.  The more I work on pots and in my sketchbook, though, the more I want to see the illustrations on paper instead of on pots.  That idea has been floating around in my head in a sort of insubstantial way the past few months or so, but was really solidified in the past two weeks.  I have been working on building up inventory and have found myself putting off the decorating part of the work in favor of throwing more.  A pretty fair sign that it may be time to move in another direction.

In addition to graphic pots (and probably before those, actually) I have always been extremely interested in wood, salt and soda firing.  The pots that come out of those kilns are just plain beautiful.  There is definitely something to the interaction of the clay and the flame.  Those pots seem to have a different, more natural life than pots that I have been making.

So now the question is how to transition from what I am doing to what I want to do.  Whenever I figure out what I want/need to do I want to get to it right away.  I have plans to go to a wood firing workshop next year, but that is an awful long ways away.  I have looked for other potter wood firing in this area to sit in on or help with firings, but to no avail.  I know SIU (the college 'round these parts) has a wood kiln, but I am not sure how often it gets used.  I am thinking about contacting the ceramics professor there to see if I can help with anything there or maybe even audit a class or something.  If I can get in on something like that I may even try to stretch it into getting into the graduate program.  I am sure my work would benefit from some serious critiques, especially if I am going to try my hand at wood firing.

Ok, that was a lot of eff-ing writing, so enough of this.  Next time...beards!

Kangaroos, the good folk and the complexities of the quadrupel......

 

Apparently the largest kangaroos are the reds, which can grow to a height of 6 1/2 feet.  Disappointing...I thought they got bigger than that. I was really hoping for a nine foot behemoth that could stand on its tail and put a foot through a brick wall...oh well.  On to the meat and...you know.

This is a quick shot of some volunteer potatoes I pulled out of the compost yesterday.  They are all just little things, but they were unexpected so it was just a nice little bonus.

It has been hotter than a...something that is really, really hot...I'm not very clever.  Anyway...as such I moved my decoration operations indoors today (I usually do my sgraffito scratchy scratchy outside, better light & such) in an effort to keep a little cooler.  

It did not work.  My studio is in my un-airconditioned garage, so it is still pretty warm in there.  Not as hot as it is outside, but still quite uncomfortable.  (And don't worry, the dog in the background is not dead, just resting.)  Thus I am now inside working on the computer and whatnot.

Excessive heat aside, here are a few of the things I have been working on the last two days.

Hopefully these wine buckets/crocks will be occupying shelf space in a local gift boutique.  I like the one on the left with the offset feather/leaf thing.  The one in the middle with the lattice pattern is so-so.  And I am really digging the one on the right with the art nouveau-ish flowers.  Thoughts?

One of the things I am working on while escaping the heat is drawing.  I try to work in my sketchbook whenever I get a chance, which is unfortunately not too often.  It is usually when I have a custom order for a subject I have not really worked with before.  Thus is the case today.  I recently got an order for a mug with a fairy on it.  Now I am not really a fairy kind of person, so I need to do a little research and drawing first.  Where to turn (aside from the computer webs)?

A fantastic little book called Faeries by Brian Froud and Alan Lee.

I originally saw one of Froud's books in the Barnes and Nobles and loved both the style of the art and the fantasy theme (I am a bit of a geek some times).  Being remarkably cheap though, I passed on getting it.  Later when I needed reference material for a fairy order I knew exactly what to look for.  Off to the Bookworm (our local book store) to get this classic tome. 

And lastly, while in town getting a great book on the wee folk I also acquired a fine bottle of beer to celebrate yet another year of not dieing.  

In case you cannot read that label, the brew is Three Philosophers from Brewery Ommegang in NY.  It is a very complex, very tasty quadrupel ale with a dash of a cherry ale thrown in for good measure.  It takes some time to work through all the different things going on in this beer; definitely a sipper.

Up next...dreams of flight.

-Rob, Simple Circle Studios

Monkeys, pie and how not to fix a truck...

 

 The first monkey to be sent successfully into space was Albert II, a male rhesus monkey, who made it to a height of 83 miles (134 km) on June 14, 1949. Albert II was carried aboard a V2 rocket as well, though his fate was not as lucky as that of the fruit flies: a problem with the parachute on the recovery capsule sadly led Albert II to his death from the force of the impact upon landing.

Courtesy UniversityToday.com.

This past Sunday my sweet wife did something unprecedented...she baked a pie.  Scratch that, she baked two pies.  It is not like she never bakes pie, but it is pretty damn close.  If you count the one she baked for me Sunday, I am averaging one pie every five years.  It is ok though.  She made me a pecan pie and it was freaking fantastic.  Which naturally leads to the question, how long does it take one person to eat a whole pecan pie?

The last piece...such a sad, sad day.

I managed to make this one last two days but it took a great deal of restraint.  I probably could have polished it off  as soon as it came out of the oven.

And after she finished making my pecan pie she made a chocolate pie for herself.  The thing I have always thought was kind of funny about chocolate pie is that it is just chocolate pudding in a shell.  Why not just put it in a bowl and save yourself the trouble?  

On a side note, these are the egg yolks she used to make her pie.  Now those are some big, orange yolks...definitely NOT from factory farm chickens.

 And now for the (unfortunately) continuing saga of the truck.  I thought the fuel filter did the trick.  I took the truck for a spin after I switched it out and it ran fine.  The next day I went into town to run some errands and my trusty, reliable truck shit on me again...twice.

Luckily I was right next to the sweet wife's place of employment and was able to swing it into the parking lot.  There it sat for the past week plus; I finally go it home today. 

 Now, it could be fixed.  Since the fuel filter didn't correct the problem, it is probably the fuel pump...or something else fuel related.  The alternator also appears to have gone by the wayside, though.  Again, it could be fixed, but the sweet wife and I have been dabbling with the idea of getting a new truck anyway, so now seems like a pretty good time.  I am actually going to look at a truck tomorrow, so hopefully the saga will conclude by the week's end.

**Wait!  There is late breaking news on the truck front!  My two year old son just said he could fix my truck with prunes...perhaps...perhaps...

In studios news, I would like to again sing the praises of the portable, home made damp box.  I think I did a post on it a while back, but I couldn't find it.  The idea originally came from Meagan Chaney and I have been using it successfully since I read her post.  Basically you fill the bottom of a plastic container with plaster.  When the plaster is set you saturate it with water and add a lid...boom, instant damp box.

I have had a lid in one for a few weeks that was actually too dry to trim when I put it in.  I pulled it out today and it trimmed just fine.  Perhaps a little on the dry side still, but good enough to get the job done.

Compost crock says, "Me eats garbage, me makes good dirt!"

 And thus ends the Simple Circle Studios blog post number...whatever it is.  Now I have to go brush my teeth; good oral hygiene and whatnot.  

Next time...how tall is a kangaroo?

-Rob, Simple Circle Studios

Don't ever say your car is broke...

Kombucha!!!

Go ahead...click the picture.  You know you want to.
And here you thought I was going to go on some SoAD rant.

A little more than a month ago I did an art fair in Paducah, KY.  Aside from it being a little hot, it was a good show.  Right up until I tried to go home.  I was cruising down the road in my gem of a truck when things went awry.  Whenever I tried to accelerate the truck would hesitate a bit, then pick up again when I let off the gas.  Not a good sign.  (Actually it started happening on the way to Paducah, but only once or twice and I had things to do, so I didn't think about it.)  The problem quickly got worse, forcing me to down shift to 4th, then 3rd, then finally to pull off the road where the truck promptly died.  The sweet wife kindly came to pick me up because it was too late to do anything else.  The next day I borrowed my in-law's car to check things out.  A few hours and two tow trucks later the truck was back in the driveway, still not running. 

And there it sat, patiently waiting to be fixed.  Unfortunately I could not get around to doing that as I was getting ready for another show in three weeks. 

Finally this week, after a kick-ass show in Webster Groves, MO (more on that later) I chatted with our mechanic neighbor and came to the conclusion that it was probably the fuel filter that was gumming up the works.  Between yesterday afternoon and this morning, after two trips to the auto store, the truck is running once more!  Turns out it was indeed the fuel filter causing problems; the new one is performing like a champion...so far.  

Now I have almost three months until my next show, so I have a good deal of time to build up inventory, work on the display and post stuff on etsy.  Heck I just might even have time to get some yard work done.  Or at least post on the blog a little more frequently.

Next time...Space Monkies!

One day Tommy ate a bug...

The Yeti!

  A couple weeks ago I was at an art fair in St. Charles, MO. I had never been there before, but apparently they have a quaint little historic main street area filled with various shoppes, boutiques, restaurantes, etc. it was not too shabby a place for an art fair. Traffic was on and off, partly due to the interesting weather that struck Saturday. I always find it odd when the sky gets made enough at you to throw chunks of ice and such. It rained for a brief bit and then turned to quarter and golf ball sized hail. Thankfully it did not last very long and the weather was a bit better Sunday. I was happy with the whole deal and hope I get to go back again soon.  I would have pictures, but I am terrible about remembering the camera and such.

 I am always amazed at how little time artists get in the studio some times. The two weeks before the St. Charles show I don't think I stepped a foot in the studio. I did however build a new display set up featuring a number of pedestals and shelves. I was pretty pleased with how they turned out, but it will take a bit of tinkering to get everything arranged in the booth just so.

Tools of the Trade

The pieces of the puzzle

The end result

They are still a little rough, but they work.  I will clean them up and paint them eventually, but it is not really a pressing matter as they get covered with cloth for the display.


And on top of the new displays, I finally got a new tent! Some shows require a white tent canopy, but the one I have is blue…shazbot. I was originally looking for a high end tent (craft hut, trimline, etc.) and actually found one for a really good price on ebay. Unfortunately the person who listed it had no idea what they were doing and I never got the tent. Thankfully ebay has a buyer protection program, so I got my $1100 back. Later I found a cheaper tent that, while not quite as good, will serve the purpose and last a good while as long as it is well cared for. It will get a test run this weekend as long as the weather cooperates.

And I finally got around to finishing a few teapots I started a number of weeks ago. I tweaked a few things from the last teapot I made, which did not pour quite right. These have narrower spouts, so hopefully that problem is taken care of. The handles are still a little weak; they need to be a bit beefier in the profile.

And last but not least, for anyone who might be in the following areas at the following times, I have a couple shows coming up in the next few weeks. May 18-20 I will be in Paducah, KY at the Lowertown Arts Fair. June 1-3 I will be in Webster Groves, MO (close to St. Louis) for the Art & Air Festival. It would be wicked cool of you to stop by if you can.


Next time…kombucha!