I bought my kiln 3.5 years ago right when we bought the house. It has been sitting in the garage since then because we needed to get appropriate electric service to the garage. Finally, this spring, we got all the details completed. Read more here.
First bisque loaded
Fired and ready to unload.
And another one loaded.
Your multicolored skin smells like earthy patchouli
and I move in close to deeply inhale your scent.
You gently resist at my wire slicing through your body
and then allow my hands to push, pull, scrape, scratch, slap, squeeze and smooth you.
You are patient and forgiving, subtly guiding me into what you would like to be
and planting small seeds of ideas into my mind.
As you dry on the back of my hands, cracking my skin
I tattoo my initial on what you have become, forever leaving my mark.
Mud and I are back together! Well, we weren’t really broken up, we just took some time off. Read eastsidebungalow and you’ll understand why. But so yah, as of the beginning of the new year, I really only work part-time at my job. I wanted to quit altogether but my boss won’t let me. So I work two days at the office, and whatever else needs to get done from home. It is not ideal but it is a start. Today was my second day at home. Monday I just cleaned the studio up and organized a bit and figured out what needs to get done to finally hook up that electric kiln that has been sitting in the garage for 3 years. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s gonna be an easy one, just because another million things need to get done while the wiring is run to the garage. I will spare you the details here, but you may find that info at eastsidebungalow soon. Today I got some work done. I do remember how to throw, it’s just like riding a bike. You never forget even if you don’t do it for 1.5 years. So I threw some bowls, cups, plates and then moved on to hand building. Oh, it’s so fun and makes me happy. Now just need to figure out the business side of things.
Stay tuned.
I just looked at my last post and realized it’s been over a month. Well, I guess the lack of posts might indicate a lack of work being done in the Upham Street Pottery studio. It’s not quite that bad. I have slowed down the amount of work I am putting out mainly due to those other things in life, one being Little Eastside Bungalow. But here are a few new things.
Oh, and yes, we now have a door to the basement to keep the kitties out of the clay. Sorry Schatz and Mietz.
New old door to basement
Yesterday was studio day 3 and it turned out to be a gorgeous day. Warm and sunny. Alas, my basement still requires the wearing of socks. So I threw four plates on my new bats in the morning and I set them outside to dry. I love the warm weather because after only about 4 hours they were basically ready to be trimmed.
Plates drying outside
I also made 8 more bowls. These have a bigger belly and don’t widen very much at the top. That way they won’t spill their insides as easily.
Bowls
And I wanted to show off my fancy Griffin Grip. It makes centering for trimming as easy as pouring your yourself a cup of coffee.
Griffin Grip with untrimmed plate.
A few minutes later, Griffin Grip with trimmed plate.
A little spring time cup with my favorite flower.
Plate Brigade
I have to admit that I am not really into making things exactly the same. A hardcore production potter might call that inability but my aim is not no repeat myself. Things turn out similar size and obviously there is some sort of consistency but I really appreciate the approach of every piece is new and a bit different. I don’t weigh out my clay before, I just eye ball how much clay I need for a cup or a plate or a bowl and go from there. My own collection of work is all different pieces with a few sets of 2 or 3 and I like it that way. I pick my coffee cup depending on how I feel that day and how much coffee I want. I choose my bowl depending on the color of my soup and depending on how much I want to eat of it. I always pick my plate intentionally which has become a great help in being aware and living deliberately. I think there are some like minded people out there that may want to purchase my work. That would be great.
Today was studio day number two. My bowls and plates spent the last couple of days drying and they were ready to trim today. My cat, Schatz, also decided to help. She likes to go into the basement and jump onto the highest spots and the tops of the shelves. Here’s what that looks like:
At least she left evidence
Her little input has reminded me to embrace the accident. Most of the time, the accidental pieces, the one with flaws, the uncentered ones, are the most interesting. So this plate won’t make it into the recycling bucket.
So today I trimmed all the bowls, here are few of them:
And some cups I threw Thursday night with handles;
And here’s a picture of my cats:
Mietz is on top, Schatz on the bottom.
Today I spend my first full day in my pottery studio with my brand new wheel. Today is the first day that I will make pottery with the intend to sell it. Today is the first day of my business that I will call Upham Street Pottery for now. Today is the beginning of something exciting that will be with me for the rest of my life.
Here is a picture of my basement studio, a little make shift yet but slowly and surely it is coming together.
Here is the first bowl I threw on my virgin Brent C Wheel
A little rusty yet, but it lived.
I made 11 bowls and 2 plates. I also finished three hand-built cups I started a few weeks ago and worked on two other cups that didn’t quite know what they wanted to be.
Some pics of the work:
Some bowls
Some more bowls
A plate
Three button cups
Today was so great that I can hardly imagine having to go to my office job tomorrow and Thursday. But Friday will come soon and all those little bowls we need trimming. Yippy.
