New and Improved

Well, once again I have been too (pick one) (busy, lazy, tired, preoccupied, insensitive) to keep up with my blogging. Let's go with busy if we can. Monday my brother and I took a road trip to Tennessee, North Carolina,and back to Ohio. We stopped and saw out great grandfather's grave in Newcomb Tn. Then we went on to the land title office for Campbell County in Jacksboro.We found the deed to some property my great, great, great grandfather had sold in 1833. Fifty acres and a house for 5 cents.It is presumed that it was sold to a son in law but a nickel is still cheap. The deed index did not show when he purchased the land so it had to be before Campbell county was formed in about 1805. There may be a record of it in Anderson county which Campbell was carved out of. That mystery is for another trip. We scooted on down to Asheville for a truckload of clay through a heavy downpour that lasted all day. The good folks at Highwater took care of us and we headed back north. Nice to spend some quality time with the family. I got home about 10 pm tired but pleased.

The next project came from the decision that my beloved Scion XB (Excellent Box) was hitting 95,000 miles and soon would be needing brakes, timing belt, maybe a clutch, etc. My search criteria included something a little larger and more plush. The little Ford Transit Connect van was a contender but I ended up with a new Subaru Forester. Roomy, AWD, Comfortable, still economical.

Finally, Mike Baum had asked if I wanted to slip a few pots into his firing this week so I put in a couple of gallon jars and some refires while teaching a couple of days and taking care of the affairs of everyday life. Maybe I really didn't have time to blog.Thanks for visiting.

Hillbilly Hotbox

Spring has retreated and winter has reared it's ugly head again.I can heat the studio a couple of times a week when I am working out there but I can't afford to keep it warm 24/7 with $4.00 a gallon kerosene.This creates a problem of freshly thrown ware freezing overnight. Not a good thing.What's a poor boy to do? Improvise! I insulated one of the shelves in the studio and installed a lamp for heat.Close it up with foam from Lowes and it keeps the ware from freezing and keeps a day's supply of fresh clay warm at the same time.If it gets too warm I can pull back a corner to vent it a little or put the lamp on a timer.

New Colors

Anyone who knows me knows I would fire all my pots in a wood/soda kiln and fill the booth with orange pots if I could.Well, the community wood kiln has not been fired for a year and given the work, risk, and distance, I probably would not join in if it were fired again. My gas kiln is still not set up (no one to blame but me and the weather). That leaves the little old electric kiln to fill the shelves. Actually. the electric fired red clay table ware is a pretty good mover so it's time to get rolling with some production.

I've made a few dozen bowls and am currently throwing plates and mugs. I'm also trying out some new glazes to add a little variety to the color palette. I mixed up a bucket of zirconium white using the old Hansen 20-20-20-20-20 recipe and like it very well. I also tried it with 2% cobalt added and I like it too when it contrasts with the red clay. The brown pots in the picture are glazed with a recipe for Ketchup Red from the new ceramics monthly. It's browner than any ketchup I've ever had but it is growing on me. The little cups on the edge of the kiln are for a promotional give away we are trying for our Spring Pottery Fair this year.It's not too early to mark those calendars for May 7 in Cincinnati. 60 potters, great pots, nice people.

Ask a Stupid Question

 Anyone who has ever done a show has heard this a hundred times."What do you use that for?"  Now I'll admit that some pots may be a little ambiguous but last week I was making 16 ounce utility (G.P. for the Brits) bowls and a woman came through the studio and asked the dreaded question.I thought I would offer some suggestions today. It's probably best to use a lot of pictures and a few simple words in the captions. If you have other ideas, that's why we have a comment button.

                         

                          

Blog Envy

All the bloggers that I follow must have made a New Year's resolution to pot more often and blog more often about it.Everyone has been posting 2 or 3 times a week.John Baumann has been posting videos that show both his guitar and potting skills(not at the same time but he does whistle and throw a pot at the same time) Tracey Broome has been re-inspired and is cranking out new little buildings. June Perry has been solving Soda firing problems for everyone and Dan Finnegan has made more of his wonderful birds. Me? I've been sitting in my chair with the dog in my lap and the cat on top of both of us.It's called Butt Stuck in Chair Syndrome and it has spread across the Midwest.We'll make some pots when it warms up or at least when the ice melts.

My friend Mike Baum did invite me to put some pots in his firing this week and I never pass up a firing so I did blast myself out of here a couple of times.The brown pot is Ohio Slip sprayed thinly on leatherhard clay then carved before firing. When heavier, it can look just like the old brown Albany slip.Mike's Temmoku glaze works well on my clay and breaks to a beautiful brown in the edges. That's about it for now. Tune in next week.