Shop Update: Chubby Cats!

Remember that story I told you, about losing the wand in the burner channel during the firing? I was lucky the copper & zinc in the brass didn't do more harm. One thing it did do, though, was interact with the items in the kiln that were wearing Bauer Orange Flashing Slip. The white clay pieces turned blue (luckily just a few seashells intended to be refrigerator magnets) which they brown clay pieces achieved almost a wood-fired look. Several of the pinch-cats fell in this category. (LOL CATegory, get it?)

I've been putting a few of these critters in every firing lately. They amuse me to make, and it is not secret that I am a cat lover. I like thinking up their names & personalities, which are loosely based on the many cats I have known. As usual, most of these sold the day I listed them! I do have two left: Gaia and Woody. 

Today is packing & shipping, putting away the photography equipment (can't wait til I have a dedicated space for this. Such a pain in hte ass to put up & tear down the whole thing), posting the functional ware in the shop, and working on the Maine Pottery Tour! 

So, Funny Story...

 

You can recognize the copper blue in 
the burner channel

It's time for our favorite game, that we play after every firing, called How Did Lori Fuck Up This Time? 

I'm kidding, sort of! But I am serious about sharing my goofs, large & small, because I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels like a screwup most of the time - & I want you all to know: you can screw up, even big-time, and still do okay. I do! All the time. 

So, what happened this time? Well, it was kind of funny...or rather, it is now, now that I know it didn't cause any serious mayhem. Before the firing I took apart the sprayer & cleaned out any clumps of crystals of soda ash that might cause it not to work properly when I needed it. I was actually pretty proud of myself for doing this! Like, look at me, all preventative & stuff! I am one competent human! 

~*~LOL~*~

That crusty black material is what remains 
of the spray wand.

Apparently when I put it back together, I failed to screw on a little collar that keeps the brass wand attached to the sprayer hose. How did I discover this, you may ask? Well, my first clue was when, while spraying soda through the port, the pressure from the tank blew the rod right off the hose...and right into the port. 
There was nothing to be done about this in the moment, of course, except replace the wand (YAY EXTRA PARTS), continue spraying, and hope for the best. Brass is about 2/3s copper and 1/3 zinc - both will volatize well before ^10. I feared the fugitive copper might cause some flashing, and I really had (have, lol) no idea what fugitive zinc might do. 

I saw little evidence, actually, that the copper did much. It seemed only to affect pieces that had a specific flashing slip - Bauer Orange. The BMix pieces wearing Bauer turned blue - not the teal blue I would expect of copper, but what looked like a watery cobalt blue. Those are quite nice. There were only a couple items in brown stoneware wearing flashing slip, and good thing, too, because those were less nice; a dull mud-brown color with little shine. 

These shells had only Bauer Orange 
Flashing Slip applied.

So, weird but could have been worse! Overall a very successful firing; I will photograph some pieces on Wednesday & update the online shop on Thursday. Thanks for reading! 

Glaze Goals 2024

On New Years Eve, a friend & I took a hike on the Cliff Walk in Scarborough. (Maine, of course.) It was a grey and overcast day, cold but not too - a day that I once would have stayed home & wished for spring. 
I hike in winter now, with the persuasion of a good friend, and I highly recommend it! I don't hate winter anymore, & I've found that if I dress right (layers!) I don't get cold, thanks to the exertion. 

Anyway! The Cliff Walk has a lot of low cliffs (duh) and also a few stone beaches, where we found oyster shells. They have the most amazing color, and a surface like a frosty-matte glaze. I didn't keep this one (leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but memories) but I did snap this photo...I want to see if I can do something like this with glaze. 

More for the fun of solving the puzzle than for my studio work, although who knows? My clay journey has surprised me more than once. I'm thinking RIO & copper carb, brushed on a textured white stoneware under Rhodes 32. 

I hope 2024 brings you joy & the world peace. Happy New Year to all!
 

Bowls for the New Year

 Making bowls for the New Year's Eve firing! (At the rate I am going to New Year's Eve firing might be a bisque!)

Because I can never *quite* take my teacher hat off, I want to point out a technique in the video. This is only 4 pounds of clay, but it's really useful for larger pieces: centering in sections. I weigh out my clay, then cut the ball in half (or more! There's no limit on how many pieces you can center on), put the first piece on the wheel & center that; then scrape it all dry with my rib and slap the next half on. See how easily the 2nd piece comes on round!

I've also opened the way I would a larger ball - using my right pinkie knuckle & the strength of both hands. Again, very useful for when you are throwing a larger ball.

This Year's Cookies!

 My compulsion to make stuff - & make it fancy - does not end with pots! I also make soap, & in December, I make Christmas cookies. The fun for me is the decorating, & I'm happiest when I am learning new things. This year I tried out an airbrushed design. Check it out here:

Review: 23 for 2034

In late 2018, I made a "19 for 2019" list of things I would like to do or habits I would like to acquire in the new year. That went well the first year, less so the 2nd (for REASONS!), and I didn't even try in 2021. I just revisited my list for 2023, and...lol. Some stuff I acheved, some I made progress on, & some I forgot I had even planned to do it! We did get a dishwasher installed - it's awesome & saves me even more time than I thought it would. I do my stationary bike ride nearly every day, I am selling much more online, and I got a time tracker - I average about 11 making hours in the studio a week. Those are some successes, and then there are the items like "learn to use instagram to sell!" & "kayak the Nonesuch" and "get back to writing postcards to voters." Yeah, those didn't happen. Like, at all. Nor did I start cleaning out my car regularly or making clay videos for Patreon. I made a little progress on the attic - called a carpenter, started talking about how much it might cost.

All in all I think the lists help me focus on how I would like my life to be, & help me identify steps to bring the reality closer. So even though I failed dismally at some, the exercise brought about enough positive changes that it's worth doing again. 

Who's with me? (LOL! Like last year, I literally do not know if anyone at all is reading these. I took out the stat counter a couple of years ago, so I may just be shouting into the void.)

3 Days in the Studio

 Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

Yesterday: Packing & shipping! I think I mentioned that in the last few months, online sales have finally become a significant income stream for me. Keep in mind that "significant" probably has a different meaning for me than for most folks; this month my online sales will be about $500. For many people that would cover their lunches out, or their wine consumption, or something else fun but trivial. For me, if it sustains, it is life-changing. Well, at least a little life-changing! Obvious best part, more money. Less obvious: connecting with these folks online who love handmade ware. 

Of course, it's not money for nothing; I have to photograph & list all these items, then promote them online before sale. After sale there's packing, & shipping. Not complaining! I've never shied away from work. I might have to teach one less class in the spring, though, because there's just not enough hours in the day to do everything. This makes me sad even though it was the plan all along. 

Today: more packing & shipping (yay!) and then re-arranging the studio into wetwork mode. Then I can sit down at the wheel & make stuff. I always have more on my list than I can actually do, but I am sorta hoping I can carve out time to make another batch of soap. 

Tomorrow: Mondays are teaching days, from 10 am to 9 pm. Not really time to get anything else done. This will be the last week for 2 of my classes, as Portland Pottery is winding down into the holiday break. 

I hope all is well with you, clay friends, & your holiday season is delightful. 

Chonky Cats & Rustic Pots

 

Another firing is in the books! This time the excitement came when I ran out of propane at the very end of the firing. I don't know if other people fuck up as much as I do, but I always try to be honest about it, because if we're all pretending to be flawlessly professional, then we all secretly feel like losers. I make mistakes, but somehow I'm still afloat as a potter, & doing better all the time. So, if you are also a screw-up, welcome to the club! Pretty sure it contains everybody. The fun people, anyway. 

After many years of having to explain why I needed propane in the middle of the summer, or shortly after a delivery, my LNG company had gotten on a good automatic delivery schedule - their algorithm or whatever was correctly assessing when I would need a delivery. But then I started firing more often, because I am selling more pots! & that threw everything off. 

Anyway. Cone 10 was already down, & I was letting the kiln fire a bit longer. I came out to check it after the last soda application, and - huh - it was firing in oxidation.  I suspected bad news then, but I just pushed the damper further in, until I got the backpressure I wanted, & went back inside. Checked again 10 minutes later, and again, no reduction. I knew then what the problem must be & that it would not sustain a reduction, so I just shut it off, closed up all the ports & damper, & hoped for the best. 

"The Best" is, of course, subjective. When I first opened this kiln I was not entirely thrilled. The surfaces were more rustic than I've previously gotten - drier & more mottled, gray, bone, & tan rather than peachy-gold. I took advice I have often given to students: live with it for a while before deciding. Well, those rustic pots have grown on me! I've been using some of them & I find the subtle surfaces intriguing. 

Anyway! Long story short (too late LOL), I've listed the new pots in the online shop! They'll be available online until December 14th. 

Oh, one more weird thing: Facebook has started to send me money. I don't exactly know why, but I did fill out some kind of online form to be able to take payments thru fb; I thought it was to sell directly from the site. I still think it's something to do with that but what happened instead is, facebook sends me money I guess based on engagement? Not a lot but still, yay money! Especially money that doesn't cost friends & followers anything. So, if you enjoy this blog and want to see work in progress, unloading photos, a few demo videos, follow Fine Mess Pottery on facebook. Like & share stuff if you like it & think your friends will like it! 

I hope I didn't break some kind of rule doing that. 😄

Safe, but Sad

You may have read about my home state lately; we were the latest site of that very American phenomenon, the mass shooting. In Maine's case, the situation was dragged out by a 2-day search for the gunman. The attack left 18 dead & 13 wounded. I didn't know any of the victims, but Maine is a small town; nobody is more than 2 degrees removed from anybody else. I'm certain I know someone who is directly affected. We're all grieving the loss of a sense of safety in our communities. 

Lewiston is about 30 miles from Augusta, where I live; a straight drive up Route 202. During the long, frightening stretch between the murders & finding the gunman's body, we all feared he might be out there, planning to strike again. Schools & businesses closed and people stayed in their homes with the doors locked. Like many people, I thought he was probably already dead - the dude wasn't John Rambo or some kind of movie villain, and it seemed unlikely to me that he could evade law enforcement for so long. We couldn't assume, though, so we stayed home & stayed safe. 

Much has been made of his mental health struggles. He was held in a psychiatric facility for a couple of weeks in July, as a result of having threatened the military training center where he served in Saco with violence. His family state he was hearing voices. 
In part of my mind I wonder if they were playing up that part, because it's so painful to believe someone you love could choose to do such a thing. I think that because we've since learned that he'd recently broken up with a longterm girlfriend & recently been fired from his job. The places he shot up were places he might expect to find his ex - she was registered to play in a cornhole tournament at the bar where he killed people, and the bowling alley was a place they had gone together. He killed himself just outside his former place of employment. All this sounds to me like just another angry guy with an assault rifle. 
Anyway - thank all of you for reaching out. I'm safe, my family is safe, but in a way none of us are safe until the scourge of gun violence is addressed. It's time to comfort the grieving, hold your loved ones close, and work together to find a solution. 

Everything Matters

My October firing is in the books! 

After the last firing, during which my sprayer failed, necessitating a frantic drive around town to find a barely-adequate replacement, I ordered two good sprayers with metal wands online.(I actually wanted this one, because it looks so sci-fi; but it's more than twice as much as the ones I got.)  Always good to have back up! The new device performed admirably - better, I'd say, than the original. It sprays in a finer mist than the first, which allows more of the soda to volatize before falling to the burner-channel floor. As a result, the coating of soda glaze was thicker, for the same amount of soda. 

This is no bad thing, but it does mean I'll have to make some adjustments to get the coat of soda just how I like it. There was more grey than I am usually aiming for in this load. It's a pretty grey - light & pearly, flashed with honey-brown - I just want to adjust the ratio a bit, so the next pots will be honey with some grey, rather than grey with some honey. Still, overall very happy with the results. 

I am lately aiming to fire once a month, because my accounts have been doing really well, & I want to keep them stocked up, and have enough to add some new stores this winter. Also, twenty years after Doug built my first website, online orders have become a significant stream of income for me! If I knew how, I would tell you - I'm all about lifting other potters up - but honestly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Here's what I do know: 

• Facebook has always been a good way to generate a sale or two, when I post updates to the online shop. I know everyone hates Meta, & not without reason, but for artists, nobody has yet created a tool to so effectively reach customers.
• I've been posting to Insta, & cross-posting to the Fine Mess business page, a lot more since my friend gave me her old iphone. I don't post literally every day but maybe 10 times a week? Much of it is pottery process, interspersed with some cats, hiking, & gardening. 
• I had a post go semi-viral last summer, seen by about a million people. There was nothing unusual or amazing about the post, so I don't know why, but I did gain hundreds of new followers as a result; and as a result of that I get more interaction per post, which in turn make the FB algorithm show posts to more people. 
• Interactions seem key, so sometimes I will ask for feedback about a new technique or a piece I am working one. 

The takeaway, if I had to guess, is just more posting. I post pots in progress, & I think the audience gets interested & invested in the work. I dunno; what do I know? I'm just guessing. 

Anyway the shop update is live! Check it out here. 

Actually there's only one pot left for sale - & I just updated last night! I better go make stuff. 

Aiming for October 29th for the next firing. 

Trimming a plate

Inconvenient Ideas

 Does this happen to you? You've got important stuff to do - in my case a firing deadline to meet - when an idea pops into your brain and just will not! leave! you! alone! until you make it real. That happens less than it used to- or maybe I'm just better at stomping them down until a better time -  but every so once in a while such a notion will hijack my brain. 

On my commute to class on Monday, I started thinking about a series of images reminiscent of Tarot cards, only more personal: the Three of Cats, the Two of Kayaks, the Page of Snacks; and some Major Arcana: The Potter, The Kiln, Caffeine. I really don't have time to do all of these, but I did do one:

It took me all day, because I really don't know how to use graphics programs; I made a lot of false starts & did a lot of clicking around; in particular I had struggled to make the background transparent, which it needs to be if I am going to use this image for anything. I did, already, upload it to my teespring site where, much to my aggravation, the featured image keeps reverting to the BLANK back side. That seems to be a system glitch, so I am going to have to let that go. 

It has seemed to satisfy whatever noisy, insistent muse put these ideas in my head in the first place, however; at least for now. Tomorrow I will be back in the studio, trimming & slip trailing & mixing glaze - like I should have been doing today. But whaddaya gonna do?