Spinning

Well, been spinning trying to fill the shelves back up so we can do a couple firings. Summer and the festivals will be here before I know it so i better keep at it.

Facebook account

I am planning on doing a Piece of the Day on the Facebook account, be sure to "like it" when you visit. So I guess that means I will be on there at least once a day. click on the link on the left to get to the page or search for "Up in Smoke Pottery"

Up in Smoke is on Facebook

Up in Smoke is now on Facebook. Click on the link on the left and you will be directed to the page and you can follow, like, be fan of, or whatever they are calling it now. Also been busy in the studio trying to fill shelves for another pit firing we are hoping in the next 2-3 weeks. I will keep you posted on the progress.

White Crane in Omaha

Just delivered this week, several new pieces from last weeks firing ended up at White Crane Gallery in the Old Market district in Omaha. Be sure to check them out if you are in the area.

Opening

Anyone in the area of Worthington, MN is welcome stop by and visit the open house at the Noble County Arts, in the basement of the library. It runs from 1-4 pm, and is showcasing its annual spring show. I know when I dropped off our pieces this week I saw several nice pieces of art I am looking forward to checking out closer when they are displayed. Hope to see you there.

Studio pics

I had a couple minutes, so I took a couple pics of the "new" studio to share. Although it is not finished it will give you the idea of the space.

The wheel area and storage cupboards. The sink is the the left of the cupboards. Behind the chair is the clay storage. I can hold approx. 1 ton of clay at a time.

Here are the storage areas: the one on the left is the finished ware, I still need to move the rest over. The photo on the right is the drying table. Eventually it will be replaced with a rack similar to the finished ware race. The to the left of the drying table I may put a slab roller. I welcome your comments.

Summer Schedule

Here is the start of the summer schedule...

April 11-May 9 Nobles County Area Art Show, Worthington, MN
June 11 & 12 Arts on the Shore, Worthington, MN
July 9 - 11 Brookings Summer Arts Festival, Brookings, SD
August 28 Art Rocks, Luverne, MN


There are a few we are waiting to hear from, but we will update as they come in.

Firing photos

Here are a couple of the pieces finished over the last weekend. It was great to get out and fire again. I hope to be doing another one in a couple weeks.

What a weekend!

Its been a great weekend, the weather held in the 30's in the morning and hit 60-70's in the afternoon. We got out and prepared the pit for firing, cleaned it out and repaired any damage from the cows. We fired a load in the pit, and a load of saggars, and last week spent the week doing blackware pieces. In my opinion we got some great pieces, I especially favor the saggars, they have the same hash marks, but are deeper gray/brown and the oranges are more diffuse giving the pots a warm glow. I might have to keep one for myself, We will see if Kiesha can find room for it.
As for the Pit Firing, another potter suggested I try some bacon grease. He advised he gave interesting results....well I can say this, it did make some interesting patterns on the side of the pots. I placed approx. 2 soup cans of grease in the pit in two different locations the colors of the pots were what I would call swamp green/brown. The pieces gave the appearance of a quilt, with areas of different shades of the swamp green/brown, but the unique part is they had a defined border.
The rest of the pit was normal, lots of great red, pink, burgundy, gray, black, green, and some blue. The new clay held up great, did have some breakage, but I contribute most of those to being inpatient and me lifting the pieces out from the fire. OOPS
This week, wax, photo, and inventory.