Portland Pottery on MaineLife

Hot Stuff

Lookin' for some hot stuff, baby this evenin'
I need some hot stuff, baby tonight
I want some hot stuff, baby this evenin'
Gotta have some hot stuff
Gotta have some love tonight...

Thrown & Assembled Birdbath

This one has been on the list in my head for a looooooong time; although to be fair, it is a long list. It finally came to be as part of a class project.

I have many, many repeat students at Portland Pottery. They know how to throw and slab build and attach handles; in many ways, they are grown-up potters! (They are, in fact, grown-ups, all; I am not currently teaching any kids classes.) It's easy for students, having gained enough skill that they are pleased with their results, to coast along at a static skill level. To break that plateau and insure that they continue learning and continue improving, I often create skill challenges to give them a little push.

This one was a challenge to make a pot that would be taller than 18", after firing. In my case I achieved this with three bottomless thrown cylinders stacked together - the bowl was fired separately. I haven't yet epoxied it in place. I intend to, but right now the fit of the foot into the rim of the stand is enough to keep it secure.

The exterior is unglazed, with just a little iron oxide to warm up to color of the clay.

The Glaze Challenge

People often ask if I offer classes. I teach, but not at my studio. I'm not set up for that, and more than that I am far, far too much of an introvert to feel comfortable with other people in my space on the regular. Just in the last year or two introversion has become fashionable, with entire articles written about how to interact with us, as if we were some rare species of  gnu that might shy away or bite if not handled properly. Or maybe an orchid, that would wither if exposed to too much personal interaction.

These articles make me laugh - I promise you, you've been successfully interacting with introverts all your life without an instruction manual! I'm not a fragile flower (although I am a snowflake, I must be, strangers [mostly unpleasant ones] tell me so every single day!) and I don't require delicate handling. I do recharge myself with alone time, and being social is work for me. But as I often say, anything worth doing is a lot of work! Some things which are work are also fun.

ANYWAY. Got off track. As I was saying, I don't offer classes here, but I do teach a few classes at Portland Pottery. I teach adults, at mixed skill levels. Beginners are the easiest - anything I show them advances their knowledge. ANY project will grow their skills. My later intermediate & advanced students are trickier; I want to help them pursue their own projects but I also want to push them a little. It's easy when you are finally making things you like to stop striving for new skills - that's why you need a teacher.

Our latest class project was designed to push people to try new surface treatments. I found and printed out some color/ pattern swatches, snipped them to about 2" x 2" so they wouldn't be recognizable as paintings, fabric, ceramics, or whatever. I put the bits of paper in a bowl and had students reach in & pull one out. That then was their assignment: replicate that as a ceramic surface, using any method available. Here are some of our results:

I am missing a few - I swear I took photos of all of them but somehow the photos are nowhere.

Underglaze was a popular approach, and some people tried underglaze crayons for the first time. There were wax/latex patterns, and brave efforts to try and apply glazes in such a way as to replicate the look.

I often do some version of a class project, and thins was one of my favorites! It was great fun for me to see the different approaches people took. I will find ten more snips online, and we will do this project again.

Clay & Community: Killing Hate Together

A mind is like a glaze recipe: you throw in ideas, give them some time and energy, and they blend to create something new.

I've been cogitating on a handful of stories I encountered around the same time, and in my mind they are fitting together to form thoughts. First was the Roberto Lugo video I shared earlier; it's powerful, and one of the ideas Lugo discusses is the power of ceramics to bring people together. Second is this story out of Nebraska, about a man who hated Muslims until they became his neighbors, and in getting to know them he found his heart changed. And the third, sadly, is about the distressing events this week in which nearly 70 Jewish community centers had to be evacuated because they were the targets of bomb threats.

Yeah. That happened, in our America.

Like so much that has happened lately, I feel powerless to do anything about it, but I don't feel like I can just say, "Oh, yeah, a bunch of Nazis threatened to bomb my friends, neighbors, and compatriots, totally normal, no big, let's talk about my wacky burner situation!"

It's not totally normal, or any other kind of normal, and anyone who has any kind of a platform has an obligation to say so. My Republican friends keep saying "Just because I am conservative doesn't mean I am a bigot" and I believe them - so this is for them, too. All who reject bigotry as an American value should condemn this intimidation campaign. Politics is one thing, but surely all reasonable people can agree on rejecting Nazis. Our grandparents fought and died for this!

(This goes without saying, but if you are a Nazi, or any other kind of bigot, you should boycott this blog! I totally deserve to lose your readership, so buh-bye.)

Which brings me back to my thesis: in clay I see one road to an understanding of our shared humanity.

I taught my first pottery class in 1994. Over the years, I have had thousands of students, of a broad variety of races, ethnicities, sexual orientations, and religious persuasions. I currently have many Christian and Jewish students, and a handful of Muslim students, and of course many whose beliefs are unknown to me.

I have never once observed or overheard bigotry in the clay studio.

It may be that clay just attracts a certain good-hearted kind of person, but I think the causality goes both ways. Like the Nebraska man who found he didn't hate Muslims once he actually knew some Muslims, it's hard to hate a person who seems just like you. In clay class, students all struggle with the same challenges: learning to center; oops, collapsed; how do I get this dang handle to stay on; rats, it cracked in the firing; yikes, massive glaze run! And we celebrate successes together: Look, first handle! Biggest thing I've ever thrown! Kiln unloaded today, show everyone your beautiful pots. Clay studios are tight-knit communities, and communities have the power to transcend differences. We make dear friends based on our shared enthusiasm and experiences.

Now I hope we can take the love we've grown in our clay spaces into the wider world. A Jew, a Muslim, a Christian, and an atheist walk into clay class. They talk, they laugh, they commiserate and they encourage one another. They walk out friends. They take that friendship into the world, and become a shining example of what can be when we recognize that we are all just people.

Keb Mo says it better:

Well I feel just like you
and I cry just like you
But I heal
Just like you
and under my skin
I'm just like you....

Signs of Spring

HAHAHA, j/k. More like, a suggestion that winter might conceivably not last forever: we've already scheduled the first raku workshop of the season. It's happening Saturday, June 3rd.

Participants should bring 5-8 mid sized pieces - please no ginormous items, or beads or buttons, or anything else so tiny I can't get ahold of it with tongs! Ware should be of a claybody with a little grog in it, or else a high grolleg porcelain; ask when you register if you aren't sure your claybody is appropriate for raku. Items should be bisqued between ^08-05. (Too high and they aren't going to get the deep carbon black on the unglazed areas that is characteristic of American raku.) Students should wear long pants, cotton clothing, and closed toed shoes.

My classes will begin rakuing much earlier, of course - possibly as early as April. But if you aren't one of my students, and you'd like to try raku, or you've already tried it & can hardly wait to fire it up again, you can register now at Portland Pottery, 207-772-4334.

Busy Bees

The New Year is in full swing now: classes have begun at Portland Pottery! See all the busy bees in my Monday night beginners' group.

The session that begins in January is usually the slowest of the year, but not this year. My classes are all full, with the exception of a couple of slots on Tuesday afternoon. Looking forward to a full, fun, creative year sharing my passion.

Never Miss a Chance to Wear a Boa

The Portland Pottery Holiday Party was fabulous last night! As I said yesterday, I didn't have any pots, but I did have a top hat & a boa! Couldn't resist sharing the photo

- I may never be this clean again until next year's party.

The show is mostly pottery, but lots of other great items too. I got these marvelous hand puppets for my little nephews They were an amazing bargain at only $20 - look how much work went into them.

The show & sale is still up thru Sunday. If you are in Portland, you should check it out!

Coming up: Raku, Seconds Sale

Saturday, June 25th 1 - 5, Raku Workshop at Portland Pottery. We'll be doing the American version, in which we place the glowing hot pots into combustible materials, then smother the flames to create strong post-firing reduction atmospheres. The results are ranges from oil-spot colors, to metallic copper to bright turquoise, and everything in between. Wear close-toed shoes and cotton clothing: there's gonna be some fire. Call Portland Pottery to register, or for more information. 207-772-4334

Saturday July 16th, Seconds Sale at Old Hallowell Days. I always have lots of pots that are seconds not because there's something wrong with them - although I've always got some of those, also - but because I made them during my class demos, so they are less detailed & finished than my "real" work; or because I try a new technique that requires some practice, so the first few are not impressive. That, or the technique ultimate does not become part of my toolkit, so those pots are sort of outliers from the rest of my work.

Gotta do something with all those perfectly good but not quite good enough pots! I sell some from my front yard, and this summer I will have an additional venue: the Central Maine Clay Artists are holding a Seconds Sale as part of Old Hallowell Day, July 16th, a Saturday. I expect at least three or four of us to participate, so there should be a lot to choose from.

Hope to see you at one of these events!

Notes from the Martha Grover Workshop

Yesterday Portland Pottery hosted Martha Grover, Maine's returning prodigal potter. (We didn't kill any fatted calves - I'm still using mine - but there were some excellent sandwiches on offer in the cafe.)

If you get a chance to see Martha in action, go. She is informative and engaging, generous with her techniques and recipes, and utterly inspiring. She throws porcelain, then stretches and cuts and alters but somehow preserves the very soft, almost skin-like freshness of the material. She works much stiffer than I am used to, and gently persuades the forms into rolling curves. I came away with that feeling - you know that feeling? The almost achy need to go home and start making stuff coupled with a faint wash of despair: "I will never make anything that amazing ever in my life."

Or maybe that's just me.

Anyway, we had a ton of fun. It was an interactive workshop, so participants had a chance to try some techniques on the spot. I wasn't delighted with my efforts, but of course I wouldn't expect to be; the workshop is more about learning than producing anything great. I tried to get the hang of the double-ended handle...mixed results, but I plan to keep trying.

Martha has a few workshops coming up - check them out here, maybe there's one near you.

A Brief Stroll Down the Road Not Taken

I am sometimes asked what I would have been, if I hadn't been an artist. The answer changes: sometimes I think I would have made a fine dog trainer (behaviorist, please) or bartender or engineer - I like to solve problems. Most often, though, I think if I hadn't been a potter, I would have been a window dresser. It was my favorite job at KRA, back in the day. I love making the little tableaus; it engages both creativity and resourcefulness, and is satisfyingly physical work.

I had a chance to utilize those skills again for the Portland Pottery holiday window. A group of us created this display using pedestals, hula hoops, Christmas lights and ornaments. Pottery, also! And a branch or two for good measure. The occasion is, of course, Portland Pottery's 25th annual Holiday Show, opening December 17th. (The party is from 6-9. You should come!) The show is up until the 20th.

In other news, the Holiday Pottery Shop is having its best year ever; I'm making soap like a soap-making machine that makes a lot of soap; and getting ready for a firing, hopefully in a couple of weeks.

Screamy Feet

Ugh, this GETTING OLD thing! Amirite?

I'm on my feet a lot. Throwing days are mostly sit-down, of course, but decorating, glazing, loading, firing, packing, pricing, teaching classes - basically every work activity other than throwing (or blogging!) - is a standing one. For months now I've been literally hobbling when I wake up in the morning, barely able to put weight on either of my feet. It loosens up after a few excruciating minutes, and then I am able to walk normally, but then starts hurting again in the early afternoon. If I still down for any length of time, I go through the morning limping routine all over again. Turns out that what I had been calling "Screamy Feet" has a more official name: Plantar fasciitis. 

But for every curse, there is a blessing,* and right around the same time I started falling apart, I was able to get health insurance. So I told my doc about this foot problem, and she had a great suggestion:

• fill a two-liter bottle with water

• freeze it

• in the evening, when reading or watching netflix or working online, place your feet on it like a little footstool. 

This ices the injured fascia and reduces the swelling. After one treatment, I was amazed at the improvement: no limping at all this morning. We'll see how it holds up over the course of the day.
In other news:

• Still in the throwing/decorating part of the making cycle; I expect to fire a bisque in about two week, and a glaze about a week after that. 

• It's already time to talk about the Holiday Pottery Shop! Fellow potter Mary Kay Spencer, Barb Loken and I checked out a space in Hallowell this week - the big red building on the north end of downtown, for my local readers. Still a couple of details that need to be nailed down but I am optimistic about this space. If it doesn't work, there are possibilities in Gardiner or Augusta, but we seem to do best in Hallowell, so we look there first. 

• Soda firing workshop at Watershed next week! Still a few spaces - give Portland Pottery a call if you're interested: 207-772-4334. We'll glaze and load on Saturday, fire Sunday. Bring two cubic feet of bisqued work, I'll bring slips, glazes, and wax. $125

• Putting the pottery stairs out front of my house one last time for the season. It's a bright sunny weekend, if a little cold; hoping to catch a few late-season bargain hunters.

 *HAHA as if

Holiday Show! And a dumb story

Last night was Portland Pottery's big holiday party! Every year I tend the bar for this event, and I like to overdress for it, just for fun. This got a lot harder last year when I reached size 12, officially plus-sized. Here's me shopping in Goodwill for this year's dress:

Me, flipping hangers: Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. HEY THERE'S ONE THAT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE IT WAS MADE FROM THE CURTAINS AT MOTEL 6!! Oh, wait, it's a size 6 that someone put away wrong....[Keeps flipping] Ugly. Ugly. Ugly. Ugly.

I did finally find a pretty fabulous dress, that fit...size 14. Even though I'm no heavier than last year at this time! Whatever, looks great, I'll take it.

I get dressed, get in the car, and....rrrrrrrip. Right up the back.

So I went in my dowdy office-party dress.

FML. Going to the gym. 

The show's still up until Sunday. You should go!

Drive-by Soaping

Buttercream soap! Unfortunately it won't be ready to use until December 21.

I am squeezing in a couple of hours of studio work this morning before I have to work my day at the Holiday Pottery Shop, located in Hallowell this year. I am bisquing tomorrow and hoping - most likely in vain - that the ware I finish this morning will be dry in time. Can't put off the bisque, because the glaze firing has to happen December 8 in order to be ready for Portland Pottery's Holiday Show, my last event of the season. After that I'll be restocking the online Pottery Shop - it was just getting too picked over and needed refreshing, but all the ware I have right now is committed elsewhere.

After a day sick in bed yesterday still feeling a little rocky but up and about. Hope you all had a fabulous holiday!

PLATE is Live!

PLATE: A Celebration is live online at MudFire! So excited to be a part of this show. If you scroll to the bottom of the page you see the works that have already sold. None of mine yet, but I'm just pleased as punch that wares are selling from this show. And it only opened yesterday!

So, what else is new? My ongoing flirtation with burnout continues, and it's still working, sort of. I am teaching a raku workshop today, and glazing with the hope of firing the soda kiln on Wednesday. I need to send wares to Belfast, Rockland, Portland, and Rochester, NY.

Plans for this year's Holiday Pottery Shop are chugging along: we have a location! We will be at 184 Water Street in Hallowell. The shop will open early this year; the plan is to have the doors open by November 14th.

Also looking forward to Portland Pottery's First Friday event, which will feature works by faculty and staff. That's November 7th from 5-8.

And in between clay work, I'm still making soap. Because the bars need to cure for a few weeks before they are ready to use, I need to be making now so they will be ready for December. Here's a peek at the curing rack: the green soaps in the center - Mango Sage - and the white & blue ones to the right - Cool Coconut - will be ready by Cyber Monday.

 Keep on keepin' on.

Yellow Copper Lusters, Beading Glazes, and Other Special Treats for Raku

I am more or less of a recreational raku-er. Ceramics can be a solitary pursuit; raku - for me at least - is a team sport. I regularly offer raku workshops for Portland Pottery, and occasionally do a firing with my classes. In a communal studio like Portland Pottery, students have little exposure to the hot side of things. They make the work, put it on a cart and then...well, it goes away for a while, and comes back changed. It's not practical to involve students in the firing of the stoneware kiln, apart from peeking into the spyholes on occasion, but we can load, fire, and unload the raku kiln all in one evening. It gives students a chance to be directly involved and take some of the mystery out of the firing process.
The workshops are a bit different. Often they are folks who already know and love raku, but don't have their own kilns, sprinkled with a few beginners who have heard about it and want to try it. It's been a great season for raku, with the workshops filling up quickly and we've had some gorgeous results. I've got one last workshop to teach, and I want to shake things up a bit, with new glazes and some terra sigs to use with horsehair and feathers.

Our last raku of the season is Saturday November 1. Give Cooper at Portland Pottery a cal if you want in; 207-772-4334. 

PALE LEMON LUSTER

Colemanite  75% (Sub. Gerstley Borate)
F/4 Soda Spar 25%
Copper Carb 3.0%
Manganese Dioxide  1.5%

Lemon Luster

Gerstley Borate 1500
Copper Carbonate 45
Manganese Dioxide  20 

Glass Bead Raku
 50 gerstley borate
 40 borax
 10 flint
 50 magnesium carbonate
 10 zircopax

Raku and Results

I had some newbies, so I did a little blah-blah about what to expect

 

let's see what we've got!

Dousing

Tuckered out and feeling a little non-verbal today, but here are some images from yesterday's raku firing. All the ware is student work.

I've got two more raku firings scheduled this season, one with my Thursday night class in the upcoming session (beginning the 21st) and one Saturday workshop in September. Date to be determined, hopefully today! 'll update as soon as I know, or give Cooper a call at Portland Pottery, 207-772-4334.

Date Night at Portland Pottery

Seriously, you guys need to come to Date Night at Portland Pottery. This was the spread Manda put on.

Oh, and there was a raku firing, too. I was holding the tongs, so not in a good spot to photograph that!

I'll keep you posted when the next one is happening.