San Diego Reader Shout-out!

Yay! I got a shout out in the San Diego Reader yesterday. Robin stopped by my booth and asked if she could take pictures. I was very glad she wasn't taking pictures of me, just my pots! She gave me a very nice shout-out. Way cool! Here's the link:  http://www.sandiegoreader.com/weblogs/out-about/2012/dec/09/weekend-arts-and-crafts/

And here's the article by Robin (minus a few pictures):

OUT & ABOUT

• BALBOA PARK

Weekend arts and crafts

Robin Tung, December 9, 2012

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San Diego County Art Mart Association hosts art shows the 2nd and 4th weekends of each month from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. If you visit Balboa Park regularly, you've probably seen the little white tents and booths near the International Cottages.

This morning I browsed paintings, glass vases, clay plant holders, and other goods made by local artisans and artists. I found local artist Michelle Reents' handmade pottery booth and stopped to take a look. She had owl cups, vases, and bowls glazed and painted in soft neutrals.

Reents also had a new collection of earring holders she is presenting at the art show. She designed them because she was tired of putting all of her dangling earrings and studs in a single bowl. The new earring holders have a border of holes perfect for organizing jewelry.

This & that

A few weekends back on Sept 15/16 I attended "Altered Ceramics" a clay conference here in San Diego. It was great! With roughly 145 women and maybe 5 men in attendance I got to watch Martha Grover, Marty Fielding, Izzy Davis, and Dennis Meiners demo!  Little things were my biggest take aways. Marty holding up a piece of paper to his pitcher to help him with proportions for a spout, or Dennis' little sprigs subtly showing up in his cups and Martha's vinegar/paper slip.... Yeah! And I really was impressed with Izzy's work but don't have the ambition to add a whole new process (screen printing) to my own work.

Meanwhile, the recycled clay is working pretty well. No unpleasant firings so far! (Knock on wood). I did a recent purge of old bisque - things I just wasn't inspired to glaze. Now there are stacks of fresh bisque piling up and it's time to glaze!

I've got a few glaze tests in the works: 'White' eggshell and Frogskin. Both look nice on my test samples so fingers crossed with mixing a bigger batch for a few larger pieces. I'm also going to give the 'Ketchup Red' another shot on some very dark clay. I know it's mostly about slow cooling to get those iron reds. I worry that slow cooling will mess with the rest of my glazes that are working fine - and I'm lazy - so if the color doesn't come through with a normal firing I'll probably give up on 'Ketchup'.

Owl bank

This was my favorite out of the last glaze. A cute little owl bank. Slot on back for money. The color is yellow-green (on white clay). Taken with my phone so the image isn't the best, but it's the best for now! 

Meanwhile I'm working on some new functional ideas. We'll see how they turn out. I am throwing with recycled clay - it's soft and a bit the bubbly side. I'm being a bit lazy with the wedging. The soft is nice, but the bubbly is not so good! I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for the next bisque.

Slow Saturday in the Park

Whether people stayed home to watch the Olympics or enjoy the beach, there was not a lot of traffic at Balboa Park yesterday. So I decided to take today off! I started the day by putting decals on some pots fresh out of the kiln. That was fun. Of course creating decals meant time on the computer. The computer crashed 3 times which meant messing around trying to figure out what was causing the problem!?! Fingers crossed things are taken care of, but it's definitely time to do a little backing up and then free up some disk space! 
On Saturday I'm going to Alex Long's Copper Raku workshop in Encinitas! So I'd like to have one of my own pieces to raku. Hopefully I'll be able to fill the kiln and finish a bisque before Friday. I'll have to get busy tomorrow and the day after!

Sectional throwing

Early in the week I threw a few big pots using sectional throwing. It's fun but it requires a little patience. The base needs to stiffen enough to throw the second section, so basically it's throwing bases one day, then adding the second section the next. Patience.
Apart from that little bit of throwing this week has been mostly about cleaning. I was hoping to glaze but the garage needed to be organized. Then that spilled over into cleaning my studio space too. Not quite done with the studio, but when I am it will be nice to have a clear work space. Especially since I'll have an "apprentice" ext week. Hubby's niece is coming out from MN for a 2 week visit and I promised to put her to work. ;) Throwing lessons, yeah!

Moving right along

Well, I didn't get into the Potter's Guild. Not a big surprise, but still a little disappointing.

Meanwhile, moving right along.... I've got a kiln to open and some more glazing to do. And I really need to clear out the studio! Top issues (not in order of importance):

• Put a plug/new elements on test kiln.  
• Recycle clay (or throw it away). 1 1/2 tons! That's a lot of recycling and a whole lot of space to free up.
• Glaze or toss pots that have been sitting for WAY too long.
• Test a few new glazes (white, brick red).

I had planned to set up in Balboa Park on 6/23 & 24, but it might just be Sunday since there's no-one to look after my big boy on Saturday. We shall see. 

Getting into gear

A few things have happened since I last posted:

• The kiln plug melted during a firing! Kind of scary. Both the plug and the electrical outlet were totally fried/melted! Honey B. was able to replace both and the kiln was fine, but the whole experience was a little too close for comfort. (Apparently when the plug heats up the screws will expand and then contract during cooling. Over time they can loosen and then the electricity starts arcing! Not good. So just know that it's a good idea to check your plug - like maybe once a year. I've had my kiln for over 12 years and never knew to do that.)
  
  
  
• The Waldorf School May Faire sale on May 5th was a success. The mermaid mugs were a hit! I made six of those and by the day of the sale only had 2 available. Of course they sold first thing!  Definitely something I will be making more of....
  
  
  
• Nothing like a nice basket of warm medals. Yum!  I made 210 medals for my son's 5th grade Decathlon. Kids and adults alike were thrilled with them. Very gratifying.
  
  
  
• Steve Dilley, who teaches at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, put together a Veteran's Art Program at Grossmont College for the spring semester. It was a regular Friday event where veterans could get school counseling and do clay if they were interested. It was fun volunteering for that on a regular basis.
  
  Steve Dilley (instructor), Josh, Eric, Matthew
  
  
• I was accepted into an art group that has a permit to exhibit in Balboa Park. Yeah! Going forward I'm planning to set up my booth in Balboa Park on a regular basis.  I'm shooting for the 4th Sat/Sun of the month.
  
• I applied to the SD Potter's Guild. Finger's crossed! 

Meanwhile it's time to get back in the studio. I've got a few new forms I'm working on and a bunch of ideas to explore. There is glazing that needs to be done. Not to mention new glaze combos and new glazes to test! I've got kingfisher colors on my mind.... Dark blue, aqua, and orange.