Studio time...

We've had a busy past few months, and our fair share of ups and downs, but just this past couple of weeks or so, since Christmas and the school holidays, things seem to tentatively be looking up. It's still too early, too fragile, to think much of this in the long term, because we've been here before, and this is bug season, and the school term has only just begun, but we are feeling hopeful and just a little lighter, so we are trying to just enjoy this for now.

In the spirit of this uplift I've clocked some much-needed pottery studio time. I've been dreadfully slow with this, because I knew my next task was glaze testing, and there always seemed to be some reason or other to delay - it was too cold (but my new heater is in now, so this is not an excuse anymore), I didn't have enough time to get started (mixing glazes is time-consuming), I am still waiting for some glaze component or other to arrive in the mail (it's amazing how much stuff you need if you are testing, because there are so many different ways of putting together a working glaze), my studio is too chaotic (this was a bit of an issue for a while, because stuff had migrated in there on a temporary basis, but it's mostly sorted now)... So many excuses!

There are still fairly important things to sort out to make my little studio space work - I don't have a source of running water, so that is an issue,  because I don't like the idea of bringing potentially toxic pottery materials into the house via brushes or buckets. We are now considering installing a washing-up sink outside with a trap to catch heavy particles that I don't want going down the drain. Hopefully this summer...  I also need to repaint the concrete floor in my pottery space, because it's crumbling and therefore generating dust. This also does not allow me to mop the floor, meaning that any spillages will also dry and generate dust, which is a potential health hazard, particularly long-term. I also want to paint the brick-work on the walls because I get so much dirt falling down and contaminating my work space.

That said, it's a good little studio by now. My lighting is sorted out, and I have my awesome little heater, which means I feel less like an extra from La Boheme when I'm working in there at any time other than high summer.

I've even managed to get some of the dreaded test glazes mixed up the other day and I managed to pour only half a bucket of glaze over myself. I call that a win!

Now hopefully one of these testers will generate the glaze that I'm after, because I'm still struggling with that. I want a pure white glossy glaze that covers well and doesn't break over the edges of the little houses that I make. Once I've achieved that I want to make a big badge of glaze and create enough houses to put on Etsy or Folksy to sell so my pottery endeavours become a bit more cost-neutral at least.

I even managed to motivate boy #2 to help me paint the planters that he got for his birthday so they can be moved out of my studio onto the patio. Boy#2 is our green-fingered child, and he loves planting things, so we are hoping to grow some vegetables in his new boxes.

 

Just pottering about...

Weekends are just great, aren't they?

We have a ritual here, which starts with coffee and biscuits, while the boys are allowed to watch a programme or two on the laptop, all tucked up together in bed. We usually have a cat or two in there with us too, but the more the merrier! ;)

Weekends are for doing nothing much, for enjoying each other's company, for playing, for pottering... Of course there are things that need to get done (like the laundry - though I have occasionally forgotten about that, which gets a bit awkward on Monday morning when you realise that the school uniforms are non-too-clean...), but most of all it's for doing whatever you think is fun.

This weekend we spent some time allotmenting (I had some fruit bushes to plant), and since the weather was good we also played in the garden quite a bit. I also practiced a bit on my concertina. I'm still very much a beginner, but D managed to accompany me on the Banjo for 'Danny Boy', so that is a minor success. It didn't even sound completely awful! 

Most of all, though, I played with clay. After being so busy for so many weeks it was such a joy to spend a few hours pottering. I made a few houses (a commission for a friend), and then continued right on and made some more. 

And last but not least, I managed to plant up this little fella. 

Isn't his new haircut fetching? So trendy... ;)

He was a bit of an experiment, and because of that he isn't at all tidy. As I was planing I managed to break one of his legs off. Oops! 

I like him, though, and as a proto-type he works well. There will be more like him, I think.

uh uh...

I didn't really mean to disappear like that.

This time of year is... crazy around here. Three kids birthdays, Halloween, St. Nikolaus Day, Christmas with all the family coming... There is a lot going on, and it's been really hard to keep up with everything, you know?

By now we have two of the three kids birthdays behind us, and Halloween is obviously also done, so I can refocus a bit on getting the remaining birthday and the Christmas festivities organised. 

I'm not complaining, really - it's all been great fun, and I'm also very much looking forward to the remaining family parties, but it can be difficult to find time for anything else this time of year. Every week I am determined to at least post a weekly update but well... it's been a while, hasn't it?

That said, I have been working on things. I'm currently in the process of getting Christmas presents on their way, so a lot of my knitting and crafting has been quite focussed on that. Perhaps I'll manage to snap a few shots of the Christmas knitting tomorrow, but for now, just so I can report on something, here is a little snippet of recent pottery projects:

Little ceramic houses for incense cones or tea lights (although probably best with electric ones, because they can get quite hot). Some of those will be presents, others might end up in the Folksy Shop. There are more of them, but this is a selection anyway. :)

Large platter. I glazed this twice - once with Iron Oxide, and then with a top glaze that was called 'Honey'. I really like the depth of the colours this has created.

Vase, lime green on the inside, glossy white on the outside:

That's enough for today, I have to get on with designing photo calendars as stocking fillers for the family...

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A Year of Projects

Pottery on Sunday #1

Many years ago now I used to go to pottery evening classes.

I loved it. The feel and texture of the clay, the idea of forming vessels from this mallable material, the glazes and the myriad effects that could be achieved. It was both creative and restful, meditative, and calming.

Then we moved up north, and we had three babies, and busy jobs, and a house to restore, and the pottery had to take a backseat for a while. Despite this, spying it in an outbuilding at a place that sold fleeces and spinning supplies, we impulsively bought a potter's wheel, which then also sat, not quite forgotten, but certainly neglected, in D's tool shed. Every so often, when in there, I'd walk over  and stroke over the scratched and marked and dented sides of the wheel, hoping but not quite planning, that one day I might return to pottery.

It seemed a long way off, because there were so many variables, so many ifs and buts, so many problems to sort. Where would I get the clay? Yes, such things can be ordered online, but clay is heavy and it seemed mad to order one bag or a couple of bags and to pay perhaps £30 in postage because of the weight, when the clay alone would perhaps be worth £10. And what about glazes? What would I need? How would I store it safely? How much would it cost? Glazes, if you order more than one (and what's the fun in only having one colour?!), are costly, and, more importanly, they are not safe things have around children. Very often glazes are highly toxic, containing lead and all sorts of other dangerous substances, and they have to be stored and used safely.

Then there is the forbidding expense of a kiln. As a hobby potter I never considered the purchase of a kiln as something that I could justify. These are expensive items, and again, I am not convinced they are a perfect fit with three young children. Where we lived before it was possible, for a small fee, to use the kiln at the local college (where I'd taken the evening classes), but I hadn't really managed to find such a place around here.

Nevertheless, a few months ago I found myself wondering if I could manage another class. I had found one fairly local, at Hull College, and I was just about to enrol when my attention was drawn to another class, much closer, and at a much better time for us. It's been brilliant and all those skills that I thought I'd long forgotten just seem to come back to me.

And the best thing? The ceramics artist who runs it also offers deals that include clay, glazes and firing.

I may have become a little obsessed with clay since...

These are some of the clay experiments from this week, all done at home - I forgot to take pictures of any projects at the studio.

(large platter with inward curving rim and root detail)

(Experiment with coiled vessel construction and pinching of ridges)

(further experimentation with ridges, this time added onto coiled structure)

I've even managed to rope the boys in. ;)

Boy #1's masterpiece

Boy #3's coil pot with 'decorations' :)

Boy #2's 'think big' coil pot plus a star made by boy #1