Urns

I have been making ginger jars / cremation urns for a few years now.  It’s not something I go out and market it, but people ask me from time to time if it is something I can do.  I have spoken to other potters who surprisingly freaked out by the idea of making cremation urns.  I’m not going to go into great detail about it is only a vessel, you know darn well what it is for when you are making it.  I’m sure some of those potters who are uncomfortable with the notion of making cremation urns, probably don’t realize that one of their lidded vessels may be holding someone’s remains.

I have never really put much thought into making the urns, it just another vessel at the time.  It began with adding a lids to various vessels, most had knob and/ or handles.  One in particular I added an elaborate handle with lots of flair and flourish.  Of course the flair and flourish broke off, leaving me with a flat lid.  I fired it anyway.  It turned out really cool with great depth in the smoke marks.  1^st show I brought it to it was nearly immediately commented that looked like an urn and it made the lady uncomfortable.  It did continue to venture to a few shows, and I started taking orders for urns, and stocking a few in my studio.  Typically have 2-3 for each person to choose from when they request urns.

Earlier this month, I sold my last finished urn and took an order for another. It was not a big deal.   I had 2 thrown waiting to be finished.  I finished them the next week and completed the order.  Unfortunately, during this week, my sister lost her battle with cancer and her children asked me to make her urn.  This has been a challenge for me this week.  These have been more than a vessel. I have always considered it the utmost honor to have one of my works used for this purpose.  This set of urns have truly been my honor to be part of.

2012 Show Season

With less than a month remaining until the first festival of the season, I was reminded that our shelving unit needed repairs :(  the massive downpour we endured one weekend last year ended up warping the shelves into nice arcs.  Unfortunately, curved boards don't do well to show our booth visitors that our pieces don't wobble.

I guess I procrastinating, since I purchased the new shelving material, and just not working on it yet, but today needs to be the day, at least to start on them.  We debated on building a whole new unit, one larger and much, much lighter, but I'm only going to do the shelves to start with.  With that said, I better get going.

1st show is May 19th in Orange City, IA at the Tulip Festival.  Hope to see you there!

throwing

My Mother-in-Law was so kind to point out this week that my shelves were looking rather empty...So a throwing I will go. Bisqued a kiln load last week, and have one starting this morning and enough pots to light it again in a couple days. It's not that I haven't been working, just not as much as I normally have by this time of year.

I hope to do a foil saggar firing in the next couple weeks, but the W2 is keeping me busy working extra hours. Hours that come out of my throwing time. I guess I need the feel the crunch more than I do right now. I do have enough finish work for the 1st few show, lots of great Pits, just no foil or paper saggars. I have about 8 platters ready to go, which don't see to stick around long at shows or galleries, but I want to do more once my drying containers are emptied.

I figure I've throw just shy of 350 pounds of clay in the past couple weeks, for some of you that not much, but it been all I've managed to get done in the half to one day I've been averaging.

I am working on a couple test piece of a new design inspired by Michael Eden, 3 test pots are under plastic drying now, these are much more labor intensive than our standard pots, lets hope they turn out.

So Far this year we will be back at Sidewalk Arts in Sioux Falls, Artburst in Orange City, and Art on the Lake in Excelsior. Also have a piece touring South Dakota for 16 months beginning in May.

Until next time...

Workshop info

I have been getting a couple inquires about Pit Firing workshops. Yes we do have a workshop format developed modeled after many of the ones I have attended. It scheduled for 1.5-2 days in length. Day one is starts with digging the pit, after an introduction and seeing who many and what sizes of pieces that have been brought. Once the pit is done, we will go to a wheel work, showing how i get the smooth sides, and talk about clay selection, terra sigg vs burnishing. We will also take some time going over various colorants and their effects or reported effects. Somewhere in there will be a lunch break. We will also work on saggars that i use in the pit and build some along the way. We will finish the afternoon wrapping pots for the firing, building the firing base, and packing the pit. At this point we can either light it before dinner or after. I do enjoy lighting the pit at dusk so the color in the flames are more evident. We will meet again on day two, and empty the pit as soon as it is cool enough. We will discuss the results of the firing and talk about sealants, trim the pieces that were thrown yesterday, question and answer period and clean and fill the pit back in.

The 2012 base cost is $600 plus lodging, meals, and mileage from Sioux Falls, SD. ($1 per mile, one way) Material costs are extra if I provide them.

January 2012

Wow, where has time gone. It has over 2 months since i was on the blog, sorry about that. Since I last posted we have had our Holiday Open House, lot of great pieces found their way out our door. Kiesha had prepared a delicious spread of food, I got leftovers for a few days but I didn't mind. The family Christmas came and went. The kids have been busy with hockey, and so have I as a league manager/supervisor, also was talked into being a tournament director.

The end of the year also meant inventory, ugh!, double ugh!! and I am at a point the taxes information is ready for the accountant, just waiting on the w2s from the w2 jobs.

January is also the time we empty the bank account with show applications, this year we are planning on 7 festivals, 5 we have done before, and two new ones. I can say we will definitely be in Sioux Falls at the Sidewalk Arts in September. Other than that we will wait and see.

On the throwing side, I have not touched clay or the wheel since November. I set it up again last night, but not sure when I will get to play in clay. But I do have a couple custom orders due in February, so I best get going soon.

Pit Firing 11-6-11

Well, we did what is likely the final pit firing of the year this past weekend. We dug a new pit, using a trench style vs our old standard a large circle or square. We only had 25-30 pots to fire so space wasn't a big necessity this time.

Using the trench was an learning experiment, I believe I can accomplish the same firing with less materials, since there was less square footage. I used definitely a lot less wood, I left a good size pile from what we would normally use for the firing. The fire also burned longer and the ash bed was very large and took a long time to dwindle down. I also used a lot less chemicals this time, notice a little less of the copper reds, but it produced a lot more greens.

I also encountered higher wind delays, was planning on firing at 8 am, but ended up waiting until 5:30 pm as the sun was setting. This turned out to be a great experience, not only watching the fire in the dark and easily seeing the different colored flames. I also utilized the coal bed to test colorants and see what they produced. I only wish I had brought more alone.

There are a few photos of the firing on Facebook, it will most likely be a while before I clean and seal the pots. We are planning a foil saggar firing this week, and then it hockey nearly every night and weekend from now through March. Don't worry I still get my shelves filled so I can fire once the snow goes away.

Thanks for reading,
Chad

Stoneware

Recently I did another stoneware(cone 5) firing, mainly to complete some custom orders/special requests. this typically not something I do often, but find myself doing more and more of to increase revenues.

This last firing I continued to play with Amaco Potter Choice glazes, and am really liking the results. Very smooth and easy to apply, and doesn't run. I did play a little with layering the glazes over one of my DPS Standbys and the results were wanting me to play more.

I posted pics of what I call the tri-batter-bowls, basically a bowl distorted in to a triangle shape, has 3 spouts and up to 3 handles. I use a different glaze on each side with overlaps in the spouts. The two are sold. the 3rd was a test piece, but will most likely be out for the Open House in December. Kiesha wants a few more also by the open house. given the feedback on both Facebook and Google+, I just might have to do it. It also in encouraging me to delve back into stoneware. I have been toying with it all year, but I think I need to narrow down my color spectrum 1st.

Until next time, take care. I attached the photo of the tri batter bowls incase you don't follow FB or G+

Winterfest

As promised a little more about Winterfest, our 1st indoor show. It is an annual event in downtown Aberdeen, SD. The lights are dimmed and all exhibitors are required to light their booths. We decided to try this indoor show mainly because of 2 reasons, one it is in a market we have not been in, and two it is during a time when we typically have no shows. Also it seemed less like a flea market, which is one in town that keeps trying to get me to pay the $400 booth fee to join every year.

So the Arts Association behind Winterfest recommended to use a canopy to help reflect light in the booth area, so instead of using our 150-200 pound Craft Hut, we found an inexpensive "easy up" style canopy on clearance for $60, it weighs about 60 pounds and takes considerably less room in the SUV. That was purchase number one.

Also since it is in November in Northern SD, camping or sleeping in the SUV is out of the question, so hotel for two nights. It will be a nice getaway for the weekend.

Then came the task of lighting the booth, we had considered using christmas tree lights, but were concerned about the amount of light actually produced. So I put the question out on various pottery forums I participate in, and it was nearly unamious not to use the christmas lights. The big recommendation was to invest in a track lighting system. I did look at and began to design, but since we are wanting to redesign the entire booth in the next couple years, I went with option "C". Clip on lights. I selected narrow brooding lights and utilizing 50 watt halogen flood and spot lights.

We tested the lighting set up last week on a moonless night, it was very bright and the colors seemed true under the lights. I will definetly take photos of the booth once it is set up and illuminated for future use. Now we are trying to figure out if we want to invest in a portable pattery system to light the booth during the summer shows. We will have to see on that one.

So if you are near Aberdeen the weekend before Thanksgiving, stop by and see us. We leave the light on for you! hahaha

Paint the Night Pink

Paint the Night Pink was last Friday Night, what a great time.  I don't think a whole lot of art is sold, but it is such a great night to mingle and chew the fat with other artists and John Q.  Next on the Horizon is Winterfest, our 1st indoor show. More on that later this week.

Holiday Open house update.

Been distracted lately, or busy not sure which.  With the upcoming Holiday Open House in December we decided we needed to refresh the studio/gallery/basement before too many people saw it.  I mean we have had a few people over to purchase pieces, but it was not pretty with the holes in the walls, dingy lighting. 

Well we started by recycling some old barn siding from my Grandparents barn that was torn down about 20 years ago to give a real rustic feel to the wall separating the kids area and the studio.  Gives it a separate feel.  I got the idea from the recent home builders parade of homes, and it was used in a very high end home that was the feature home this year.

I then put us white masonite on one wall in the studio behind the drying / slab rolling table.  Its not that this wall got that dirty, but there were several holes in the drywall, and this way it will be easy to clean.

In the actual gallery area, we moved all the pieces out, and then the shelving, repaired one wall and covered the others with drywall, so instead of looking at framing studs there will be a wall.  It already looks better, and it is only mudded, no paint yet.  Speaking of paint....found plenty at the reuse store for free!  Once the walls are ready, i'll prime and start painting. and get everyting back to normal.  Since we realized we need more pots for winter.

Our gallery in Bemidji, MN nearly ran out of pieces, so we sent a shipment this week.  I am happy to report for the 1st time everything arrived as it was shipped no breakage.  We switched to Fed Ex, not only less expensive, but higher survival rate.

We do have a shipment ready for Piper Gallery here in Sioux Falls, so be checking there soon for fresh inventory.