A Tale of Two Jugs

One of the nice things about coming home this week was that I had a kiln waiting to be opened.There were a bunch of red clay pots that I had glazed with my blue that was too thin. Not terrible but not great either. These have been reglazed and I'm firing them again.They may not work out but I didn't have much to lose by trying.The other pots included these jugs that had been sitting around for a couple of months. The taller jug was dipped in Ketchup Red then sprayed with my ash glaze (50% Ohio Slip 25% wood ash and 25% whiting.) The shorter one was sprayed with the same Ketchup Red and the same ash glaze.Same clay and they were fired side by side to cone 6. The difference? Where it is thin, Ketchup breaks to blue or black. The sprayed glaze was thinner giving the two pots totally different looks from the same glazes.

Home Again

My whirlwind tour of the Carolinas continued after leaving Seagrove. I rolled into Charlotte on Saturday evening to spend some time with our daughter and her husband. Sunday started with a nice brunch and moved into a trip to Home Depot and planting a little garden in the afternoon. It was a nice low key day with plenty of time for catching up. Monday was the big day of the visit. Kate teaches Art at Hough High School in Cornelius and it was time to start the unit on Ceramics. I was guest lecturer and demonstrated wheel throwing for a total of about 125 students.They were attentive, well mannered, and we all had a good time. It is nice to feel like your grown children still need you.

Tuesday morning I headed off for home with a detour through Asheville. My friend Lori Theriault is part of VILLAGE POTTERS in the river Arts District and she was happy to give me the grand tour of her new studio. It is a big old factory building and the potters have a beautiful flower garden at the entrance that welcomes you as soon as you drive up. The building is totally renovated inside with a nice little gallery, studio spaces, kilns (including a new gas kiln), classroom space, a glaze area and just about anything a potter could want. It's on Lyman not far from 12 Bones BBQ. I met several of the other potters and everyone seemed very nice as well as very talented.If you are in the area, stop by(or stop and buy.)

My final stop in North Carolina was Highwater Clay. I was very pleased that Cobalt Carb. is on sale at $19 a pound ( Cobalt oxide $33) This is way down from a year ago so I stocked up a bit, got some of my favorite Forbes Wax and headed for home. I did make a stop in Campbell County Tennessee but it did not require a trip to the courthouse or the woods this time. Quickstop Beer, Bait and BBQ looks just like it sounds but it has the best lunch in the county. You can get well fed for the trip to Ohio for about $5 and it is just off I-75. Just don't go for the ambiance.

Here are a few pictures including a very nice mug that Mark and Meredith gave me and a jug from Sid Luck. You are not allowed to take pictures of the faces of High School students so there is only one from Monday.

Saturday

Saturday morning came several times thanks to my neighbors at Motel6. For some reason folks were coming and going all night with noisy cars and sub woofers blasting . What was that old Dr Pepper slogan 10, 2 and 4? That was my schedule. The morning was frosty in Winston Salem and I was anxious to get down the road to Seagrove.

I had gorgeous weather and smooth sailing so it only took another hour or so to arrive at the North Carolina Pottery center. I love to see their collection of both early and contemporary pots. Useful first and beautiful in their usefulness. I particularly like the old jugs and churns that show skilled hands producing enough ware to make a living. Ware that is solid and true not fussy and pretentious. I was permitted to take pictures inside but many pots were behind glass so pardon the reflections. I highly recommend a stop if you are ever in this part of the world.

From the Pottery Center I visited a few shops in town, then I made my way out to Whynot Pottery to meet Mark and Meredith Haywood. We had a very nice visit and I got to take the grand tour of the operation. It's so nice when you meet old friends for the first time.I went out to Sid Luck's and got a tour of his groundhog kiln. Then went to Bulldog Pottery  Bruce and Samantha were out but I got to see their work and had a nice chat with Ed. A few stops later, I met Michele Hastings and saw the Potter's co-op in town. What a nice bunch of folks I met on this trip! I really enjoyed my day and am now in Charlotte with my daughter. Tomorrow I will be showing her classes how to throw or should I say turn clay on the wheel then heading for Asheville Tuesday.

Friday

This morning I left a glaze kiln cooling off and headed down the road to North Carolina for a Saturday in Seagrove, a visit with our daughter, and to demonstrate wheel throwing for her art students in Charlotte. It will be a short trip with a return Tuesday but I like to keep busy. I came down through Andy Griffith country on the way down and am currently in a Motel6 in Winston-Salem. When you see signs like RJR Blvd. and Tobaccoville Next Exit it reminds you where this part of the country made it's wealth. Even the no smoking room in the Motel is a wink and a nod because they give you an ashtray! I'll try to get some pictures from Seagrove tomorrow and post again later this weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

Missed the Lottery, Made No Pottery

It's time for an update but there is little to write about on the pottery front. I've been bisque firing some red clay pots and glazing others for the next gas firing but that's the bulk of dealing with pots this week. I did start a new kids class at Middletown and did a wheel workshop for 20 middle school kids at Baker Hunt in Covington. It was a fun day and all of them got something thrown by the time we were done. Mainly, I have been taking care of the affairs of living.

Tina's Dad died a few years ago and her stepmother is in a retirement center. Tina is trustee of their home and property. The place was rented for a couple of years and the tenants started some renovations ( with permission) that were not finished when they moved out. I spent a couple of days last week extending the depth of door jambs so the casing would line up with the increased wall thickness from new drywall, then applying new casings and baseboards. It was a lot of work but it looks a lot better. It's always a challenge to finish up projects that other people didn't quite think all the way through. I finished up the week climbing up and down off the tractor patching potholes in their 3/4 mile gravel driveway and hauling some firewood out of the woods with my brother. I'm beat and I plan on spending today doing as little as possible.

Future plans include a trip to Charlotte next weekend to see  our daughter and demo wheel work for her High School Art Classes. If I can work out the schedule, I might even visit a couple of potteries while I am there! Thanks for stopping by.