Many Thanks

One of the items on my 25 for 2025 list is the practice of gratitude, which has been shown to increase happiness, strengthen relationships, and generally promote well-being. I have a lot for which to be grateful, including all of you.
So, thank you! Thank you to everyone who reads this blog; to everyone who ever bought an item from me, who subscribes - free or paid - to my Patreon, who ever liked or shared a post of mine all social media. All of you have had a hand in making it possible for me to do my work, and for that I am grateful. 
Here's hoping we all have a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2025. There will be challenges, there will be stumbles, there will be tribulations and celebrations. Let us remain in community, lift each other up, remember to it's ok to accept help during this next trip around the sun. 
Happy New Year from all of us (err, me) at Fine Mess Pottery! 

25 for 2025

 

The first year I did an "XX for 20XX" list was 2019. That list was easy to make, and I felt it made a difference in clarifying my goals for that year. Did I achieve every item on the list? I think you know the answer to that! But I find even partially completed New Year's resolutions get me closer to my goals. You have to know what your goals are to achieve them. 

The subsequent lists have been harder, in part because I took care of the low-hanging fruit the first year. As the numbers went up, the list got harder! Until this year. For some reason, this year the list practically made itself! I had to edit it to keep to 25. Some are tiny. Some are so big they will require their own plan. I x'd out some of the specific financial stuff, since that seems too private to share.
The items in bold are the ones which require a detailed plan; I'm working on those today & tomorrow. 

25 for 2025

• 1.      5 Postcards to Voters a month
• 2.      Birthday & anniversary adventures
• 3.      25+ hours in the studio every week
• 4.      Two new accounts – see list!
• 5.      Daily gratitude
• 6.      Wednesdays with Mom once a month
• 7.      Pedal 6+ miles a day
• 8.      Get dressed *immediately* after finishing workout
• 9.      Increase savings by $xxxx
• 10.   Blog post per week
• 11.  Double Patreon subscribers
• 12.  Double online sales
• 13.   Average 15 grams of fiber per day
• 14.   Stay within my calorie goal 90% of the time
• 15.   Pack lunch 1x week
• 16.   One date with Doug per week
• 17.   Eat only when hungry
• 18.   Fruit or vegetables every meal
• 19.   Meditation 2 mins/day
• 20.   Two social things per month
• 21.   Two outdoor adventures/month
• 22.  Buy less stuff & buy more mindfully 
• 23.  Find time to see the people I miss
• 24.   Floss daily
• 25.   Renew my library card
• 26.   Pick one household project to finish in 2025

More Plate-O-Matic

Proud of myself - I've been very busy making in the studio, even though I have no external pressure to do so. It's the oddest thing - I think I can honestly say that there's nothing I like better than working in clay, but sometimes it takes some extrinsic force to motivate me to do so. Maybe my mental work on discipline is having some effect. 

These pieces will be in the January firing; they will have glaze on the flat portion of the interior bottom, with contrasting glaze dots on the wide rims. The smaller ovals will be the February reward for Pot of the Month Club, the $60 level on Patreon. 

 
I've got a feeling I'm gonna hit the ground running in 2025.

The Week of Reflection 2024

It's time once again for my annual ritual: The Week of Reflection! Every year during the week between Christmas & New Year's, when I don't have classes, no one is waiting for ware, and most of the holiday fuss has died down, I take advantage of my down time to review the year, think about what worked & what didn't, what challenges might arise, and make a plan for the new year. 

A key element is the X for X list; this year, it's 25 for 2025, a list of habits, goals, or changes for the upcoming year. That list will be its own post! 

So, without further ado, let the Week of Reflection commence.

I keep these reflections mostly to personal & professional thoughts. (I have lots of thoughts about the wider world! I use different platforms for those.) The bumps in my road are pretty much like most people's: I wish I had more time. I wish I had more money. I want to maintain my physical health as much as possible. I want my friendship & familial relationships to thrive. 

The past year (two years, really) have seen my business do pretty well! "Pretty well," for me, would probably be "barely surviving" for most Americans, but I'm practiced at the art of frugality & actually need very little to be happy & comfortable. Like nearly everyone, my life would be a little easier with a little more money, specifically to put into savings. I don't know about you, but I am not getting any younger, and while I will make pottery for as long as I am physically able, one day I will need to retire. Becoming better prepared for that day is at the heart of my financial goals for next year. 

The other three - time, health, relationships - are sort of all the same challenge: using my time efficiently enough to give each of those the attention they deserve. Some the goals on my list will be things I want to happen to achieve this; some will be habits I want to form or continue to use my time better. If I see an affordable device that can help, that might be on the list too! I'm a big fan of automation for tedious tasks, and have employed a small robot army for a few years now. Two vacuums, a mop, a cat feeder, and several more conventional robots like the dishwasher & washing machine have freed up time for me. If you know of other household robots, I'd love to hear about them! (Except litterboxes - I keep a close eye on automated litterboxes & so far they are all pretty terrible.)  

Although if I'm honest, it's as much a discipline challenge as a time problem. I put it down to ADHD, but sometimes it's hard for me to start a task even if it's something I know I want to do! Even if it's something I enjoy! Building habits, enlisting buddies, & building in dopamine rewards have all been useful strategies to get around this, and those strategies need to be refreshed. 

Here's wishing for a successful 2025 for all of us! More time, more health, more love & laughs & connection. Thank you for being here & following my journey. 

Plate-O-Matic

I learned this super-easy slab technique at the Kansas City NCECA conference. The conference used to feature a space they called the Process Room, in which artists would do quick, half-hour demonstrations of a specific process. (Fun fact! I demonstrated oval stretched butter dishes in that space, at the same conference.) The Process Room was wildly popular; it required an overflow room, and many conference participants parked themselves in the front rows for two solid days. It has not been a feature of recent conferences. I don't know why but if I had to guess, I'd say it's because it was a boatload of work & we didn't get paid? Just a guess. 

But I digress.

In the video I use a repurposed hump mold made of fiberboard from GR Pottery Forms. They are intended for potters to drape slabs over top, then pop the clay off after it's leatherhard, and they do work well for that purpose, but I find the platters made that way to be quite static. The Plate-o-matic process allows for some post-forming manipulation, so the resulting piece can be more dynamic and fluid. If you prefer, you can make your own plate-o-matic dies out of 1/2" slabs of clay, cut to shape & bisqued.

I've got a new video for paid subscribers at my Patreon page, demonstrating this technique! Check it out at this link.  

The Dark Time

 I once read a theory that sometime in our evolutionary history, humans (or pre-humans) were a hibernating species. In late December, this theory rings true to me.

At this time of year I am reminded that I am a mammal, safe in its den; warm, with plenty of food, surrounded by other soft, warm mammals. The ancient lemur in my brain insists that there's nothing to be gained by moving from this space, until the return of the light. Unlike our evolutionary ancestors, I even have streaming video!
Every year I have a long list of things I hope to accomplish...(read more)

Christmas COokies 2024

Some folks are really into Christmas. Some of this year's Christmas cookies. The bottom photo - the birch trees - is the "official" design of 2024, the one I made a couple dozen of & will send to a few far-away friends. 

I enjoy royal icing decorating, and I always think I will make designs for Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, but honestly it's a production! It takes several hours over at least two days. Usually when those events come around I find I am too busy with my classes & studio work. I do have an ideas for a Mother's Day design, inspired by Renoir. We'll see if that happens of if it stays safely in my brain where I can't make a mess of it. 

Anyway! I haven't been doing much work in the studio, as while my classes are on holiday break I catch up on all the stuff I put off the rest of the year: cookies, soap, home improvement projects. I also work on my annual aspiration list for the upcoming year; this year it's 25 for 2025. Funny, but last year I had a hard time coming up with 24; this time I am having to edit & whittle & prioritize to keep the list to 25. 
You'll hear more about my list during the Week of Reflection, between Christmas & New Year's, when I have time to slow down enough to think. 

Happy holidays, my friends! I foresee some bumpy road ahead but we'll do our best. 

Three Days in the Studio

 Yesterday, today, & tomorrow

• Yesterday: I unloaded the kiln, discovered that the ware, while still quite saleable, was oxidized & pale. Spent most of the day ruminating on how that came to be, and I think I figured it out! I lit the burners to start the candle extra-early on Wednesday night. By the time I swung the door shut, I'd worked two 12-hour days, I was exhausted, & I just wanted to take a hot bath & get into my jammies. Normally I'd light the candle around 10 or 11 pm. 
  Also different: I turned on the burners proper later than usual! Normally I'd set an alarm for like 3 am, so the smoke generated by the burning wax would be cleared by the time the sun rose, so as not to alarm my neighbors. This time there wasn't much wax in the kiln, and no one wants to get up at 3 am if they don't have to, so I didn't. I slept til 6-ish. 
  All that means that the propane tanks were open for 6 or 7 hours longer than usual. I think this caused the propane to lose pressure as ^10 was falling, which accounts for the stall. I don't know why there was still back pressure, but I did notice it was much more transparent than I'd expect. I think there was just not enough gas coming through the line to keep the kiln in reduction, or to let it climb in temperature. 
  I feel much better about all this now! It's an unsettling feeling, to have something so crucial go wrong, and no explanation for it. 
• Today: Today is grinding & sanding; sorting, pricing, & packing. Some ware will fill orders, some will be delivered to consignment accounts, and some will be held back for the Portland Pottery Holiday show that opens this weekend. 
• Tomorrow: tomorrow I get to make the pretty drive to Wilton, in the mountains of Maine, to deliver mugs to a new account: Chaos Coffee! I'm excited about this, as I have a soft spot for small-town independent coffee shops. They are often hubs for local community. Also a fan of good coffee! Then Monday night is my last class of the session.

After the opening of the Portland Pottery event, then I can start getting in the holiday spirit! Until then it's gonna be work work work. I've got plans, tho! I'm already working on this year's cookie design, and I ordered some new soap scents. 😊

A Whiter Shade of Pale

Well, I unloaded the firing at zero-dark-thirty this morning! Just when you think you know what you're doing, the kiln will surprise you - or at least, me. 

I knew this firing was different than the most recent firings before it. The back-pressure flame was very transparent, even once the sun had set, which usually makes the flame more visible. Even if I pushed the damper all the way in, the flame didn't get any longer, although I did get back pressure out the burner ports, which would indicate a very heavy reduction. So, weird mixed signals all around. The kiln also stalled for nearly two hours with ^11 bending on top & ^10 just barely tipping on bottom. Nothing I did would move those cones! Eventually I had to turn the kiln off, mostly out of concern that a long hold at 10/11 would cause warping. 

Small blessing: that didn't happen. In fact I had only one second in the entire kiln, and that a very minor flaw: one mug got a piece of wadding stuck inside, but it was a very small piece and I can make the resulting flaw almost invisible with my trusty Dremel tool. 

But the pots are very pale, obviously oxidized. I am always hoping for that golden tan that is a common soda-fired surface on b-mix, and which I got quite successfully in the last two firings. I'm not too disappointed - they aren't what I hoped for, but they have a delicate prettiness of their own - but I am a bit worried because I don't know why this firing was different. It may be that in my efforts to tip those cones during the stall I inadvertently slipped the fire into an oxidizing state? I feel like I would have noticed that! But I don't have a better explanation.  

Anyway, that's clay life for ya! I've never been one to hide my errors or pretend to perfection. I think it's important for students & early-career potters to know, they aren't screw-ups! Clay is just like that; there are so many variables that we all get unexpected results sometimes. 

If you want to see the pieces in real life, many will be at the Portland Pottery Holiday Show, December 13th - 24th, from 9 am - 7 pm. Also, you are my invited guests to the opening night party, Thursday December 12th from 5 - 9 pm. I'll be tending bar in my festive finery! 

By The Hum of the Burners

 

When the kiln is firing, I usually don't make pottery. I don't want to start a new making cycle before the old one is finished, and I know that tin a couple of days I will need the studio clear to start the sorting, pricing, and packing process. I find other tasks to occupy my time, like making soap. 

I don't make soap as much as I used to; at one time I thought I would have a secondary business. The decision not to monetize - to let soaping remain a hobby - meant I would only be making a few batches a year. Yesterday was one of those times! This is an old favorite: After The Storm. It has a fresh, ozone-y scent with a hint of violet. 

I also used up the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers in a turkey pot pie! I love pot pie but don't have the knack for crust, so I rarely make it - store-bought crust puts it outside my usual per-meal budget. In this case the crust was the extra in a packet I bought for a pear-Gorgonzola tart I made for the holiday meal, so it counts as a leftover, too! 

Up next: the Portland Pottery Holiday show, the delivery of various orders & inventory, and, by tradition, the Week of Reflection.