- Taxes! I got an extension to file my taxes, because April 15th landed right in the middle of the most intense part of planning the pottery tour. I had all summer to do em but, well, you know...
- Clean studio & set up for making. Yeah, this one is not going to happen.
- Harvest herb garden & start processing. Probably not this one, either.
- Clean turtle tank! My little guy, Red, is inside until spring now. He deserves clean water. I already did this one.
Sunday, October 13, 2024
By the Hum of the Burners
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Blah, Blah, Blah...
...Patreon.
The weekly (free!) photo dump post is up. Thanks for reading! If you feel like subscribing - even for free - that's helpful to me, as Patreon puts pages with more subscribers higher in the Search results.
Either way, happy Sunday!
OH WAIT I ALMOST FORGOT
The Pottery Stairs are out on Cony St.
Saturday, September 28, 2024
Throwing a Knob on a Leatherhard Lid
Friday, September 13, 2024
Wheel Cam!
It's a throwing week - my favorite! Although I am kind of like a dog that way, every week is my favorite. Tonight I hosted - if you want to call it that - a live wheel cam event on YouTube, making mugs. It's not live anymore, but you can still watch the video:
Thursday, September 12, 2024
Prevent Warping with this One Weird Trick!
The video is here in its entirety, but if you liked it or found it helpful, subscribe at Patreon for free, or paid options start at $1.50/month. Thanks for being here!
Tuesday, September 10, 2024
Fat Bears 2024
Inspired by the annual Fat Bear contest at Katmai National Park, I made chubby bears with my handbuilding class on Monday.
These will be soda fired, hopefully a nice dark chocolate brown. Look for them in early October!
Monday, September 9, 2024
Are We There Yet?
Not yet!
But almost.
Luckily my funk from yesterday did not last long - just long enough to remind me how much those moods suck. Thanks for all the kind messages. I love you guys.
Sunday, September 8, 2024
My Old Friend
For no particular reason, I am having a difficult week. It doesn't make any rational sense; the weather has been amazing; everybody, both 2- and 4- legged, is healthy; there haven't been any crises of any kind. My classes are always full, and my sales, if still not setting the world on fire, are better than last year at this time. Why is there a persistent voice in my head constantly muttering, Wow, you really suck at this. You should probably give up.
Hello, darkness, my old friend.
In spite of a row of moderate successes - & let's face it, just keeping the lights on, as a single-income studio potter is a kind of success - anything that falls short of my expectations is landing on me like anvil on Wile E. Coyote.
I sleep like crap. My jaw aches from grinding my teeth. It's been a while since I've fought off this particular demon, and I've sort of lost the knack of it.
Anyway, sorry for the dreary post. There are a couple of new less-whiny posts up at Patreon. I don't have the heart right now to link or cross post, but I promise (both readers & myself) that this won't last forever.
Saturday, August 31, 2024
Shop Update!
Finally got my items photographed and, after an hour and a half on the phone with support, listed in the online store. Lots of bowls this time, a couple of mugs, one sweet little lidded jar! Check them out here if you've got a minute.
I did something a little different, with the photo set up: instead of tearing apart my living room, I tried setting up outside on the deck. Not in direct sun - the shadows would be harsh. My deck is in shade all afternoon, so I tried that. It was easier & I think pretty successful.
Monday, August 26, 2024
One Weird Trick, Chapter 2
I've been doing a new thing over on Patreon: trying out the tricks I see potters using in Instagram reels. they are - naturally! - harder than they look. It's one thing to see someone who has done it hundreds of times, & quite another to see someone try it for the first time. It gives you an idea how difficult it would be to learn.
Anyway, I've got a new one! Posting it here for you to check it out. If you enjoy it, please follow me on patreon. Lots of free content, & even more for paid subscribers.
Friday, August 16, 2024
Door Refresh in 3 Acts
Thursday, August 15, 2024
Kiln Maintenance, the Soda/Salt edition
You might remember my kiln was rebuilt in 2021. Tyler Gulden did the brainwork on this! I highly recommend his services if you are planning a kiln of your own - Tyler has forgotten more about kilns than most people will ever know.
One of the features of my new kiln is a door on a pivot hinge. I still get a little joy-zing when I place the last conepack & realize I don't have to brick the door - just swing it shut! That door had to be built of IFB, as hardbrick would be too heavy for the hinge.
As you may know, soda vapor is very destructive to softbrick. We had to brush a coating on the brick to protect it, or else the door would have fallen apart very quickly. It's time to replace that coating, as the softbrick is beginning to spall, which is bad just because I don't want to have to replace it, and also because the resulting debris can ruin ware.
To clean this up, I use a curry brush - originally intended for grooming horses. I'll remove all the loose crumbles until I get down the solid brick, and then brush on an 80/20 mixture of kaolin & silica. That recipe also came from Tyler - I was surprised to see silica in it, because I assumed we wouldn't want to give the soda vapor anything to react with, but apparently once it glasses over, it protects the brick underneath.
Like this:
Friday, August 9, 2024
One Weird Trick
I'm introducing a new semi-regular feature on my Patreon page: One Weird Trick! I'm going to try out some of those clever techniques you see in instagram reels - most of which are harder than they look! I can't promise I'll do them well, but I'm gonna give it a shot!
Today's video: Bubble Glazing!
Sunday, August 4, 2024
Low Pressure
Some firings are a shitshow, from the moment you light the pilots. Then other times, things just feel right. This is one of the latter! Some of that is due to aspects under my control: making the conepacks ahead of time, checking the sprayer, stuff like that. Some of it is weather - this kiln loves low-pressure days with glowering clouds. But some is just alchemy, some combination of factors that adds up to more than the sum of its parts.
This firing is proceed perfectly. (I admit I flinched, to type it out before it's over, while something could still go wrong, but that's superstitious nonsense...right?) The back pressure looks exactly right, the cones are falling in near-perfect unison; it even smells right.
The draw rings again indicated I was done spraying before even half the soda solution was used. This time I trust them, & stopped spraying. Now just waiting the the atmosphere to burn clear and the last cone to fall.
Unloading either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Saturday, August 3, 2024
How it started/How it's going
I bought some pajama shorts today - 3 pair. With pockets! I didn't really need them but I only had one pair, which I wear often enough that 's annoying when they are in the laundry. The 3 pair cost about $25 altogether.
Lol wut - right? What do my pajama bottoms have to do with clay? Well, nothing, really, except indirectly.
When I started writing this blog in 2007, I was making pots, teaching 3 classes a week, & working part time as a receptionist at an insurance agency (I quit that gig in 2011.) Reader, I was poor. Not broke - that implies a status that might soon change - but outright poor. If I wanted a new pair of shorts I went to Goodwill and chose from whatever they had. I actually still shop at Goodwill, because it's fun, & because re-using is environmentally friendly, but the big change is, then I had to. I couldn't just notice that I could use a thing, then hop online & purchase it. Everything had to be budgeted. But yesterday? Needed some pajama shorts, ordered some pajama shorts, end of story.
This is not a rah-rah, follow-your-dreams post. I can think of a hundred things that would have changed this journey from "difficult" to "impossible:" if I'd had any physical condition limiting the amount of hours I could work. If the unusual circumstances that allowed me to purchase a house in 2005 hadn't occurred. Even if I had had children! There were a lot of rice-&-eggs weeks along the way; it's one thing to choose that for myself, along with the skipped dental care, the shaky vehicles that stranded me more than once, the 55-degree house to save on heating oil. It's a whole 'nother thing to choose that for a child, and frankly, had there been a child, I wouldn't have chosen those things.
But there wasn't, and I did.
I don't even know why I'm writing this post. I guess because it struck me this morning how much easier my life has become, with even a little bit more money. Anyone who tells you money can't buy happiness has never not had enough.
This has always, among other things, been a blog about the business of art, a topic of great interest to me for obvious reasons, and also because...idk, it seems like a puzzle to solve. And as with a jigsaw puzzle, you're gonna try some pieces that don't fit.
I'm still jigsawing an income together. Along the way, I've identified some of those pieces that don't fit:
- Art fairs. I used to love them! In the 90s I was all about the art fairs. But I was younger then, and I lived in St. Paul, which is half a day's drive from at least 25 top-shelf art fairs. Living way up here in Maine, travel & lodging makes those prohibitive. Not to mention, fairs themselves have gotten so saturated that where we might reasonably expect to make 10x the booth fee, we're now thrilled to get half that. The smaller fairs that I could travel to locally are the same amount of hard physical work, for far less money.
- Co-ops. This one is not absolute. (Actually none of them are!) But, in my experience, the 4-6 days a month you'll be expected to work in the store would be better spent making work or listing/promoting online. Your time is worth money! Don't discount that.
Again, not absolute; but at a minimum do the math! They will tell you what their yearly or seasonal intake is; keep in mind that potters tend to be on the low end of average sales, with the jewelers clustered at the top. If they make 36k a season & carry 20 artists, you're going to make lower than 1800 for the whole season. That's <$450 a month for 4-6 8-hour days of work; days that you could be spending making stuff. Doesn't sound so great when you do the math. - Some consignment. I'm very choosy about consignment. Any shop on its first year (first 3 years really), or any shop that takes less than 40% commission, or any shop that expects me to pay upfront for the privilege of doing business with them, dismal experience has taught me to stay away.
- Similarly, those stores where you "rent" a stall. Nope.
Anyway! Time to finish loading the kiln. I didn't get as much done as I hope yesterday, because it was like 90° and 84% humidity. Today's much better! Hoping to fire tomorrow.
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Throwing a Coffee Cone
Wednesday, July 3, 2024
Mixing Up Trailing Slip: A How-To Video
Sunday, June 16, 2024
Shop Update June 2024
Monday, June 10, 2024
The Luck of the Draws
I learned something today: I learned that I have been using way more soda than I needed to. Also, draw rings are fun!
These are the 3 rings I drew from my current firing, which will probably reach temperature while I am typing this post - so if I disappear for a minute, forgive, I've just gone to check the kiln.
They are in order of draw, left to right. When I drew the first, I was shocked but how shiny it was, since I had only sprayed once into each port - I expected it to be almost dry. With this new information, I drrew the 2nd before the sprayer was half emptied. I was tempted to stop then, because the ring has a satiny, orange-peel surface; but I couldn't believe - despite evidence! - that I could possibly have applied enough soda. Besides, the front of this kiln always gets a heavier spray, so for goos measure I sprayed twice more into each of the rear ports. I left the kiln burn clear, then pulled the third ring - and saw the first faint evidence of pitting, a sure sign it's time to stop. I still had nearly half the canister of soda solution.
BRB
^10 is soft, not quite half over. I wish I had another ring to draw! I'm definitely doing that every time now. What mainly stopped me in the past - well, besides basic laziness, and anyway, I didn't think I needed to, because I was getting good results - I thought it would be hard to see the top cones. that was no problem at all!
By the Hum of the Burners
The last update was so long ago that the cover image no longer represented my main body of work. It's been so long that I had to relearn how to do it - & I'm not even writing code, I use a (now pretty old) software called Kompozer to update my site. To avoid this in future, I'm implementing a new approach: when the kiln is firing, I'm updating. Updates don't have to be major to intrigue the web-crawling bots that search engines use! I changed the cover photo & added a link to my Patreon page and my Instagram; I added a link to a signup form for my newsletter, The Messy Minute. (I tried to embed a signup form but nope! that is not happening.) I reminded myself where to put meta tags, and typed in words like pottery, ceramics, handmade, stoneware, sodafired, Maine. I think of these like paint primer: you can't see them so you're tempted to skip them, but they make a huge difference in your results.
Next - though maybe not today - I want to add an FAQ page. For the obvious reasons, of course, but also because Frequently Asked Questions are frequently googled questions, and people searching for things like "Is handmade pottery food safe?" are the kinds of people I want visiting. This is a suggestion from my friend Milly's Guide to Marketing Art & Crafts Online. Blogger is being stupid about creating this link, but you can find it here:
https://marketingcrafts.online/product/guide-to-marketing-art-crafts-online/
Anyway! Time to go look at the cones! The kiln is in its climbing reduction, so doesn't require a lot of attention, so after I peer through the spyhole, I think I'll lie in the hammock & read the new Longmire novel. I'm interested in your ideas about keywords or other strategies you use to make your website a better business tool. Comment if you have ideas for me! XO L
Sunday, June 9, 2024
Firing Update
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Rings of Fire
Since I built my first soda kiln in 2010, I kinda got out of the habit of using draw rings. I had the old kiln so dialed-in, so I didn't need them, then it seemed like too much trouble after we built the new kiln.
My last firing, though? was not great. Everything was gray, and there was some pitting & blistering of the soda glass. The pitting is its own problem - Jeff Zamek has some thoughts on that - but the gray coloration is simply too much soda. Though I (obviously!) weigh out the material so I use the same amount each time, last firing I used my new, snazzy sprayer, which unlike the old one was able to spray all the liquid into the kiln, instead of leaving a few inches in the bottom. Also, without thinking I used hot water, which can hold more soda in solution, so I may have inadvertently sprayed more soda into the kiln than usual.
Monday, May 27, 2024
Slab Built Coffee Pour Over Cone!
Sunday, May 26, 2024
Hi, I'm Lori, Your Friendly Neighborhood Potter
I find myself in the art-entrepreneur corner of Threads, where there's an ongoing conversation about making and selling art while maintaining your vision, your sanity, and the roof over your head. The differences in priorities, the different strategies...I find it all fascinating. Since a lot of what I have written about here for the past tumpty-ump years is about the business of art, and my clay & business journey, I wanted to introduce myself to my new friends on Threads.
I've been a potter since before some of you were born - took my first class in 1987. I've worked production & had various non-pottery jobs over the years but since 2011, it's been all clay, all the time. I teach classes Portland Pottery for some of my income, and the rest is selling soda-fired ware.
I want to say that I know that I am lucky, in more ways than I can count. I am able-bodied (so far!) & have never felt any urge to have children. To some people that might sound distinctly unlucky, but if I had wanted children, I'm not sure I could have chosen clay as a profession. Especially in the early years - which would have coincided with my childbearing years - the income stream was too unreliable. When I only had myself - & later my husband - to consider, a rice-&-eggs month was no big deal. Oh, what's that, we're out of oil? The wholesale check should be arriving tomorrow, turn on the space heater & put on a sweater! No big, we could ride out any calamity, at least of the financial kind. If there I'd been responsible for a child, it would have been a different story. & there were a few sticky spots like that!
Another way that I've been lucky is I bought my place before prices went insane. Granted I was willing - 3 times! - to purchase in what were considered less-desirable places to live, but that's been the economic role of artists forever. We move into economically challenged areas, & by our presence make them fun & cool. Those are harder to find now, but not impossible - living someplace that wasn't my first choice was a price I was willing to pay.
I've also been lucky to have pottery teaching gigs basically every step of the way. In Minnesota it was the Northern Clay Center & the Bloomington Art Center; here in Maine, I've been at Portland Pottery for more than 20 years. I teach 5 classes a week. Could I make a living without the teaching bit? Yes, but there's no question it would be a lot harder. Part of why I can do stuff like refuse custom work is because I have that net to catch me. More importantly, though, I don't want to! Everybody needs community, and the PP studio provides me with that.
I hope it doesn't sound too arrogant to say it hasn't all been luck. That's where priorities come in. I've been willing to tolerate some of the discomfort & inconvenience that comes with a spotty income stream. I've driven ugly, unreliable vehicles & worn almost exclusively secondhand clothes. My furniture is all secondhand, too. I cook instead of getting take out. My floors have needed to be refinished since I bought the house. I do almost all the repairs. We take camping vacations.
All this has been worth it to me, to be a potter. I decided early on that, since we spend SO much of our waking lives at work, my job should be something I enjoy doing - and that that was more important than fancy vacations or flawless flooring. That might seem obvious to some folks, but so often I find people who say they want to be a full-time artist but aren't willing to give up any of the nice aspects of conventional employment. So, my friend from the arts-entrepreneur section of Threads, that's a thing to think about: what are you willing to do without, to bring this dream within reach?
Nice to meet you! Looking forward to more conversations about the business of art.
Sunday, May 19, 2024
My YouTube Discovery!
You're gonna laugh, because you've probably known this for years, but it's a revelation to me: hashtags make ALL the difference on YouTube!
Anecdata: I made a throwing video last week, the remnant of a live wheelcam event. I don't know if anyone watched live - there's probably some way to discover that, but I don't know how - but in the days afterward, it gained 2000 views. That's a lot, for me - it's an order of magnitude more than any other video I've posted, and some of those have been up for years. Greatly encouraged, a week later I made another.
It got 24 views. And four of those were me.
At first I threw up my hands: social media, whaddaya gonna do? Sometimes it rains, sometimes it doesn't. But it nagged at me, & I ruminated on it, & remembered: the first one, I chose some hashtags. I didn't really think anything of it, just did it because I was prompted to. I didn't do so for the next one, not for any reason, just clicked by the prompt. I went back yesterday & edited the post to include hashtags, and now it has 1.2k views! The hashtags are not especially clever or amazing, just stuff like #pottery and #potters wheel.
Anyway! Just wanted to share that here. Part of our journey here has always been the business of art, and in this-here 21st century that includes social media. I don't have a great grasp on it - the best I got is "post a lot more than you think you need to" - but when I learn something, I share it with you.
Here's the video! This might not be the audience for it, as it's just me making pitchers, and most of my readers are potters - watching someone throw is not as fascinating for us as it is for other people. But in case you want to check it out:
Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Tending My Brand Garden
I read this phrase today and it made me laugh: "tending your brand garden." Not sure why it was funny to me...maybe because I am far lazier as a gardener than as a small business owner. In fact I barely have time to garden, because I am a small business owner.
Nevertheless it's a pretty good metaphor! One I feel I am conquering lately - a pretty rare feeling for me. I'm photographing, I'm writing, I'm making videos, I'm posting, I'm interacting, I'm getting responses! I'm watering my brand flowers or whatever. Now I need to do all that & also make more stuff. And also teach my classes.
Sometimes I think what we do is almost literally impossible - except some people are doing it! Are they just that amazing, are they just lucky, or is it an illusion that looks quite different from the inside? I suspect that last; it's possible they also feel like they are dancing as fast as they can, even while they make it look effortless.
Anyway! Tend your brand garden, even if it's all dandelions.
Oh, speaking of watering! There's a new post on my Patreon, free to all members. Check it out! If I get to 20 paid subscriber I will publicly do a happy dance.
Sunday, May 12, 2024
Chocolate Amaretto Cheesecake
When your 90-year-old mother asks for cheescake for Mother's Day, you make a cheesecake. It's the law. It might even be in the Bible. I know this is not remotely pottery related! I couldn't even bake it in a stoneware pan - you need a springform pan for cheesecake. but I made a cheesecake, it was amazing, and I want to share it with you.
Chocolate Almond Cheesecake
Crust
- 1/2 package of chocolate wafer cookies
- 3 Tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
- 3 packages cream cheese, room temperature
- 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 3 Tablespoons milk
- 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- 1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels, melted in double boiler
Just seeing if you're paying attention. 😄
Friday, May 10, 2024
My First Live Wheelcam Event
Many people love to watch potters throw! With that in mind, I did my first live wheelcam event today, throwing bowls & mugs for about 40 minutes. You can see this video below, but if you'd like to get invites to future wheelcam events, subscribe to my Patreon page at the $5/month level. Bonus: if I get enough subscribers I can buy a quieter wheel!
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
D-Days & Z-Days
I borrowed a term from Appalachian Trail thru-hikers: zero days. On the trail it means you achieve zero miles that day, but it's the day you get everything else done: shower, laundry, food shopping. For me it's more literal: a day I get zero accomplished. Although it never quite works out that way: there're always the everyday chores, like dishes & litterboxes, as well as other errands that can't be avoided, so in a way it's the same: I get zero done in the studio. A Z-day.
The "D" in D-days refers to dopamine, the hormone of motivation and accomplishment. I am a dopamine queen, and I love the satisfaction of getting things done - which is 3 times better when it's studio stuff, since there's immediate gratification, creativity, and longterm accomplishment all generating that brain reward.
Side note: do not get me started on the other happiness brain chemicals! They are each amazing in their own way.
Normally I love D-days & hate Z-days, but I do keep in mind that those zeros happen for a reason. In this case, this is the first day since - well, don't know when! - that I haven't had to be busy, due to the Maine Pottery Tour, or my classes. I thought I was going to be doing all the stuff that gets put off in the runup to the tour: lowkey studio tasks like kiln maintenance and mixing glazes, sketches of new sliptrail designs, a good, long, meditative throwing day...but after doing the basic household cleaning, getting my car registered (there's a fun story there for another day!) and taking it to the garage for an inspection sticker, I turned on Young Sheldon and put up my feet. That was 3 hours ago.
Z-days are still not my faves, but I recognize when my mind is telling me it needs a break. I'll be back at it tomorrow - I can feel those new designs, restless in the back of my mind; those sketches are definitely happening soon. In the meantime, another episode is in order, then smoothies for dinner.
I'll be back on the D train tomorrow.
Oh, yeah: if you feel like it you could subscribe to my Patreon page! Just putting this here so I feel like I got something done today.
Saturday, May 4, 2024
Today is the Day: Maine Pottery Tour 2024
Though I got off to a rocky start this year, and continued to a rocky middle, the end looks to be strong- we are set up & ready for the tour, with SO MANY demo & development bargain pots. While I wish I had gotten my shit together earlier so I could be unloading a kiln today, the fact is most of what I sell at the pottery tour are bargain pots anyway.
Weather looks good (today anyway!) We still need to put out the signs & get the snacks but other than that we are ready to roll.
If you are in Maine this weekend, come see me at Fine Mess Pottery. Plan your pottery road trip at the website.
Thursday, May 2, 2024
How to Make Pour Over Coffee
The first time I encountered a pour over coffee, I was in a painfully hip coffeeshop in the painfully hip Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis, which is absolutely awash in coffeeshops. I picked one at random.
When my order arrived, it was a carafe of hot water, a ramekin of grounds, a stoneware cone with a filter, and a cup. I was like...what? I have to make it myself?
It came without cream, which I asked for, but when I asked for sugar they acted like they'd never heard of sugar in coffee! Nevertheless it was an excellent cup.
A few years later, I learned from a fellow instructor at Portland Pottery the correct dimensions for how to throw coffee cones on the wheel. I make them regularly now.
I also regularly encounter people who don't know how to use them, although it couldn't be simpler, so I put together this little video. Over the next couple of weeks, I'll show you A) how to throw a pour over cone; B) how to handbuild one and C) how to make a form to use in handbuilding a pour over cone.
I expect to have 3 or 4 pour overs in my next firing, happening (hopefully!) the third week in May.
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Full Court Press
This did not clarify things even a little |
First, a confession: I have no idea what phrase "full court press" means. I know it's some sports thing...maybe basketball?...and I know it has come to mean giving something all of your effort, on all fronts. Or at least I think that's what it means. If only I had a device through which I could access the answers to these questions! OH WAIT
OK I googled it, read the definition, and I still don't know what it means, so, moving right along.
After my weeks-long bout of dopamine deficiency, my motivation and energy have returned and it feels like a miracle, and like all good miracles, it came with an epiphany: I know what I need to do, I know what the next steps are for Fine Mess Pottery! Like all good epiphanies, it felt like I had always known it; like the conclusion of a particularly corny fantasy series, the answer has been inside me all along.
This is a long & overblown way of saying, I just need to do more promoting. Like, a lot more. 2-3 Facebook & Instagram posts a day, maybe 10 Threads - those can just be random thoughts, too much promotion turns followers into unfollowers - a blog post or two every week, at least one free & one paid Patreon post a week, 4 newsletters a year.
Like all good epiphanies, this one comes at an inconvenient time. The next four days are totally devoted to the Maine Pottery Tour, & likely any posting I do will be related to that; but I want to create a posting schedule & strategy as soon as I have time.
Speaking of the tour, I hope to see you this weekend!
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Happy Accidents
Well, I decided blue is not the worst color for a seashell - and wadding is soft & easy to grind off, deliberately. I got to grinding & finished by gluing magnets to the back. The epoxy is curing now - these will be available for the Maine Pottery Tour, next weekend.
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Bonus for Pottery Patrons!
I have an exclusive offer for Patrons at the $5/month & up levels: get 10% off your purchases at Fine Mess Pottery during the Maine Pottery Tour!
Check it out at this link to become a patron or learn more. Thanks in advance for your support!
Signs of Spring: Cleaning up the Summer Studio
Before... |
Friday, April 26, 2024
Three Days in the Studio
Yesterday, today, & tomorrow
- Yesterday: was not a big day, work-wise! I addressed & sent out postcards for the Pottery Tour*, answered a few emails, & taught a class. What can I say? I had a new book.
- Today: will be a bigger day! I need to mow the lawn (only a studio activity because I need the yard to look nice for the tour,) finish scraping kiln shelves, start sorting & pricing pots for the tour, create some social media posts about it, & make mugs upcoming orders.
- Tomorrow: finish those mugs, create a post for my Patreon page, mix glazes, more pottery tour posts.
*If you think you might do the pottery tour, visit the site! You can choose which studios you want to visit & the Plan My Tour app will build a map for you. Just click the red "add to trip" button on the right, for the studio you'd like to see.
Saturday, April 20, 2024
Embedded Contrasting Clay: A Slab Built Serving Dish
Friday, April 19, 2024
Finishing The 6-Pound Pasta Bowls
I've got a new video on my Patreon on page for Pottery Patrons: Trimming & decorating the 6-pound pasta bowls I threw last weekend. Check it out here:
New video for Pottery Patrons: trimming & decorating the 6-pound pasta bowl
Monday, April 15, 2024
New Video: Throwing a 6-Pound Pasta Bowl
There's a new video available for Pottery Patrons on my Patreon page! It's a wheel throwing demo on larger pieces, in this case a 6-pound pasta bowl. There's info on centering, opening, and pulling up larger pieces. Check it out here!
Saturday, April 6, 2024
One Month to the Tour!
The month of April is busier for me than the month of November. It wasn't always like this! About 12 years ago - or 13, depending on how you count - I started an event called the Maine Pottery Tour, intended to showcase the incredible well of talent of Maine's community of ceramic artists.
This year we have 71 participating studios, over 100 artists - the largest tour so far. It's been a long road, getting from there to here. I'm proud & excited about the success of the tour, and also exhausted, if I'm honest. The bigger it gets, the more work it is. I have a lot more help than I did those first few years - Ellen McCarthy of Peeper Pond Studio has been amazing, as has Milly Welsh of Zwellyn Pottery, whose secret identity is a wed developer - Milly built the Maine Pottery Tour website, and this year has made for use an incredible app to help visitor plan their pottery tour weekend. They are donating their time -as am I - so if you feel like showing them some love on their Facebook pages, you'd be doing me a solid.
As often happens in April, I am a little stressed. I've got to complete two firings between now & then - one that I am loading today - and schedule social media posts on all fronts, and do a number of ad buys both online & in print newspapers. As usual - maybe more than usual - I feel like I am falling down on the job. I keep reminding myself: there are ONE HUNDRED artists on the tour. All of them are (or should be!) promoting, too. It's not all down to me.
Actually pretty good message to carry into the rest of my life: it's not all down to me. There are other people pulling their oars, too; if I need to stop & catch my breath, nothing terrible will happen. In fact, that's what I've been doing, as I write this: taking a break from loading the kiln. It's chilly out today, although pretty seasonal, & after our two big spring storms, it's a mudpocalypse out by the kiln. Gotta hope for a dry stretch, coming up to the tour.
Back to it! I expect to unload Tuesday - Patreon subscribers at the Medici level (& up) get first access. Oh & speaking of! Subscribers at the Pottery Patron level get 10% off in-person purchases during the Maine Pottery Tour. Click the link to learn more.
Thursday, April 4, 2024
Another Spring Snow!
Monday, April 1, 2024
Last Things before the Bisque!
You can see a video of this process (free!) at my Patreon page. Check it out!
Friday, March 29, 2024
Let's Talk About Slip!
Sgraffito tile with decals |
The word "slip," in a clay context can be kind of confusing, in that it can be applied to so many different things that are similar in form but vastly different in function. Slip refers to any mixture of clay and water, so, the lumpy slurry that we use to attach handles is slip; the smooth, deflocculated mixture that one would pour into a plaster mold to make ware is slip; the yogurt-thick material used for decorative trailing is slip, and so on. These each require different proportions of clay to water, different clay material ingredients, different additives.
A key thing to know about your slip: what clay condition is it meant to be applied to! key thing to know about your slip: what clay condition is it meant to be applied to! Leather hard (or wetter) is pretty common, but by no means universal, so make sure you know before you mix or use a slip: is it for wet/leatherhard clay? Greenware? There are even slips intended to go on bisqueware....Read more
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Sunday, March 24, 2024
Got My Handles Done!
I mean, at least I got that done.
I also won an epic battle with MS Word to force it to comply with my Mail Merge request, & Doug & I have been plugging away at getting the snow shoveled away. There's a lot! Like 13 inches ,and it's heavy as hell - I broke a shovel on it!
There's more to do, too, so I better get on it.
Saturday, March 23, 2024
Mail Merge & Handles & Snow, Oh My!
That's basically my to-do list for today.
The mail merge is for the Maine Pottery Tour postcards that need to get out to the studio early next week, so they can get them out to their mailing lists. It seems like a long time since I've had an office job - and in fact, it has been a long time! - but I still sometimes use skills gained during that era. Excel is one of them.
I hope I have the right mailing labels in, though, because I am not going out in this snowy mess today. After a mild, dry winter, Maine is gifting us with one big storm now that it's spring. I find I don't mind! (Ask me later, after I've shoveled, or if the power goes out! You might get a different answer.) The whole of next week will be above freezing, so it won't last.
And last but certainly not least, I have to get handles on some mugs I threw on Thursday. I am planning to do a short handle-pulling video to post to my new Patreon. If you are interested in demos, tutorials, glaze recipes, tips, & techniques, follow me there! I have several videos available at the free subscriber level, and a $5 membership tier that will give you access to more videos, first access to shop updates, and the occasional coupon code for discounts on Fine Mess Pottery. If you like what I do & hope I can keep doing it, becoming a patron will help ensure that. You can check out my Patreon at this link. Thanks in advance!!
Thursday, March 21, 2024
New! A Patreon Page
So, I got a wild hair this morning & decided to create a Patreon page. I hope to share videos, tips, & tricks gleaned from my 30+ years as a pottery & ceramic educator. You can join the page for free - eventually I hope to have paid subscribers but I haven't figured that bit out yet. (This is another opportunity to LOL ALL DAY at the folks who think I'm soooo tech-savvy! I am whatever the opposite of that is.)
I've posted an instructional video this morning, on throwing a mug. Check it out!
*Actually I just realized: it would do my page a world of good in terms of visibility if you would join, even at the free level! More popular pages rise in the search. Thanks in advance! 😘
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Monday, March 18, 2024
Maine Pottery Tour, May 4th & 5th
Regular readers know that I annually organize the Maine Pottery Tour. I'm in the thick of it right now, ordering postcards, making ad buys, gathering up longitude & latitude for each studio on the tour. My favorite part is always creating the postcard. I'm especially pleased with this year's version. These postcards have become collectible! Shoot us an email at info@mainepotterytour.org if you'd like to receive one in the mail.
We expect to have more than 70 studios on this year's tour - the largest ever. We have somewhat less funding than in previous years, so we're having to skip the spendy magazine advertising, & will need to double up on free and low-cost social media & small newspaper ads.
As I have for the past few years, I will be doing a kiln opening Saturday morning of the tour. There will also be wheel demos, plates for visitors to paint, a drawing to win a piece, and - new this year! - bonuses for folks who rack up visits to 5 or 10 studio on our new applet, launching next week. I'll announce that here when it's ready to go.
I'm hoping to see you at the 2024 Maine Pottery Tour!
Thursday, March 14, 2024
Sunday, March 3, 2024
So Long, Solenoid!
This winter, man. I don't even dare to ask what more could happen.
We've had car trouble, dental trouble, veterinary trouble - one of my elderly cats passed away in February. A dog I loved like family died last month also. Losing the pets was devastating, of course - the rest is uncomfortable, inconvenient, and sometimes expensive.
Add one more to the list: I was supposed to fire a couple of weeks ago - my annual load of student work - but a solenoid on one of the burners died. I don't actually know why it did - it looked like it melted from the inside out. Burners are not my area of expertise (to say the least! LOL) but I had watched Tyler Gulden - who does know a lot about burners - replace this very solenoid two years ago. That time I knew what had gone wrong - it was, let's say, operator error. I left the power burner out in the rain!
Anyway, I had a pretty clear memory of that process, and I emailed Tyler to refresh that memory, just in case. Replacing the solenoid is a 3-step, 3-step process: remove the plug - held on by one screw; remove the metal clip holding it in place; slide the solenoid off the spindle. That last was the hardest part, as it did not want to come off, maybe because there were melted bits on the inside holding it in place. Then do it all in reverse.
See that weird melty blob? |
Took the plug & the little metal clip off... |
...and pulled the solenoid off the spindle |
If you had any plans to buy a t-shirt, though, or a tank or an apron, now would be a great time to do that - help get some of these car repairs & dental bills paid. ("Buy my product, I need the money!" Some pitch, huh? I suck at marketing.) More colors & styles here.
Here's hoping spring is a luckier season.