Crawl and Soda

The morning was spent finally posting a handful of canisters into my Etsy shop.

A little cone 6 crawl...

and a spot of cone 10 soda...

Now I just wish I could find my stride on writing those darn descriptions.

A Quick Look in the Box

I'm still sorting through and cleaning up works from the latest soda firing while I get caught-up with all of the gardening. There's a good amount of sell-able works, a few racers that I'll pull aside for summer exhibitions, and there is a fairly sizable number of losses. It's a fair trade for a first attempt at soda.

I can only hope the kiln gods are appeased for the next few loads. Matt and I are already anxious planning the next.

Wax working

Ok… It’s been nearly 2 weeks since I last had a good opportunity to share what’s been going on around the studio. It’s been busy, busy, busy for us here. The monkeys have all finally been cleared away from the wax bench and I’ve been working on new work and spruing up wax trees for a silver pour. I was hoping to squeeze a pour in before today, but the incessant rain this week hasn’t helped. It did give me a little extra time to mix up some new test glazes and design, cut, and test a new group of paper stencils for my local summer markets. Ferns, gears, and bones… ooooh the anticipation is killing me!

With spring officially here I’ve been spending more and more time in my client’s gardens getting ready for the new season. I love the chance to get out of the studio and get some really good exercise but it tends to create chaos with my schedule… Lots to do and never enough time!

Confessions....

This may come as a shock, but after 50 plus postings about clay and ceramics, I've got to reveal something... My big Love is... Silver.

Yep... I'm a closet metalsmith. I love making Gothic silver. I've been in denial for about 2 years now, I even considered medication, but there it is... I'm a metalsmith. My kids know, they pieced it together after finding daddy in the garage with a blowtorch. My wife has always known and she still loves me. She's just worried about the children... "What if they grow up wanting to be metalsmiths? My god! What if they want to go to Art School! What if the neighbors find out!"

No worries... So now that the cat is out of the bag we are going to start sharing what's happening at the bench.

Ok ok... this is the last posting showing new works with the crawling glaze...
yeah right...

I just had to share these two small gift canisters really quickly. I traditionally offer this size locally as a "small nut jar". These just happen to be amazing! The crawling glaze separates and sinks in and fuses to the underlying glaze and body. They are beautiful in pictures, but they are luscious in your hand.

March Cairn

I've been patiently letting this winters cairns dry over the past 2 months. Three of Decembers cairns were dry enough to begin working their way though the kiln earlier this week. Even with long slow bisque, I was waiting to hear the "PoP!" in the middle of the night. The bisque was Wednesday, and I fired off the second leg of the project last night. This was the first glazing for the 3 works. One was designed as a multi-fired piece, needing at least one more trip through. Another has options... involving decals and a re-fire. The 3rd is what's shown here and might stop at this point, or I might try a low-fired blob of lipstick red crowning it's top. That's the problem with sculptural works... lots of fidget room.

Experessions

After 5 days of Ibuprofen & Hydrocodone to help with a hurt back, I’ve got to celebrate this small victory by saying “Yes!” The 2 vases submitted for the “Expressions” show in Tracy, CA. sold last week! Happy dance! Doh! Ouch…

Secret Studio Sale

Scorpio's LateNight Static Sale priced at $18

I’m starting the Secret Studio Sale project to highlight some of my personal favorite works from my studios inventories. I’m offering to share a few of these selected racers one at a time at a price temporally set to get them in your hands. These pieces really need to be handled to be appreciated. They are top quality examples of my pursuit of excellence and craftsmanship.

Click the photo for the link to my Etsy shop. Check back here over the next few weeks for a link to the current Secret Studio Sale item.

Your purchases goes towards helping fund my community activities that promote the Studio Arts in Northern California's central valley.

Thanks!
-Zygote-

EMT Stamp exchange

I love the Etsy Mud Team! This team has been one of my studios’ best sources for information, inspiration, and friendship. That’s a lot to get out of a group!

I really should save this rave for a different soapbox moment though…

This is a quick posting showing what the studio is throwing on the pile for this season’s group exchange. They’ve decided to make and exchange bisque stamps this time; I love stamps, so naturally I wanted in on this project. I guess mine are should be considered sprigg moulds rather than stamps, but hey… I’ve always been difficult.
If you would like to see how I commonly use a sprigg mould in my work check out this past post. Click Here.

If you'd like to see what everyone elce is throwing on the pile, click this.

If you would like to see a really great stamp making tutorial by LaPellaPottery Click Here.

Other wise…

Licks, Love, & Luck…
-Zygote-

Struggles of Love

This series was done in all playfulness mixed with a dash of beaming Love… we live to create.

Oh yeah... they aren't poly wogs.

Expressions -- Tracy Art League's Annual Juried Art Show

The spring shows are getting into gear here in Northern Cali. They are popping up like winter Hyacinths. I know technically its still winter somewhere else… but hey, the trees are budding to bloom in a week so it’s spring for me! I got a little thrown off my step two weeks ago with a surprise call to travel back home for a family funeral and missed the shipping dates for 3 major shows in one swoop. Doh!
Ever onward… Still recovering from last night’s gala fundraiser for the TideWater Gallery, I drove down to Tracy to submit 2 budvases to the Tracey Art League Spring Annual. I’m not hoping to win any prizes, but I did price to sell. I’d be nice to cover the cost of the entry fee and gas to get there. Still, it’s fun to play in someone else’s sandbox.

TideWater Souper Supper Finished Bowls Part 2

So after spending days and days of throwing, slipping, and glazing oodles and oodles of bowls… I’ve finally unloaded the 2nd of 3 glaze kilns that I’m burning for the TideWater’s Souper Supper fundraiser. Here’s 6 bowls from the second kiln load.

This is a quick selection from the second kiln load of 40 bowls for this year’s TideWater’s Souper Supper fund raiser. I’m really happy; there are a lot of very nice pieces this year. I’ve only lost 3 bowls this time through. One more kiln load to open still. This last load is part of a kiln load up at the local community college’s gas kiln. Professor Joe Mariscal volunteered to donate kiln space for a community cone 10 gas firing in support of the project.
Thanks Joe!
It’s been cooling down for a few days; it’ll be ready to be opened first thing tomorrow morning. The anticipation is needling me.

I Love a Great Racer!

“Racers” are my top-shelf items. These are what I consider to be either exceptional gallery quality work or work that I consider pivotal for my studio. The latter usually means making a leap of faith combined with a touch of experience to steer the results to a dramatic finish. This is generally how I make head way. It’s usually rather self indulgent I admit… but it is what I live for.

These are experiments using a new crawl and texture glaze. When this glaze works, it’s amazing! But it doesn't always work.

Here are 3 racers from this week's firings.

TideWater Souper Supper

What do you say if the local gallery asks you to produce 250 bowls in 60 days?They’ll pay for the materials, the firing costs, provide floor space at their gallery to host a spring show, and even feed you at a fantastic gourmet soup feed surrounded by 250 local patrons of the arts.

I say “YES!”

Since 2002 I’ve been part of the stable of ceramicists that have helped contribute to this event. I’ve always looked forward to this event, being very happy to be just part of the background. It’s always been an amazing opportunity to explore and develop new ideas for surface designs and forms. It’s a project that’s never failed to propel me forward into a new year.
This year was something very new though… they asked me to recruit and organize the ceramic artists needed for this year’s event and I’ve found 10 amazing local ceramic artists to stand with me so far. With 27 days left, and over 200 plus pieces still in green ware, we’ll see how this all works out. You’ll be hearing more about this as the due date February 6th approaches.
Stay Tuned…

Smash Pot Day

Swinging the hammer of judgment is one of the most anticipated yearly studio activities for a lot of potters.

Some artists choose to just swing the hammer all year round, but I prefer to save up all of the messed up pots, setting them in the nooks and crannies of the firing room and garden.

I save them for a special day... SMASH POT DAY!

I traditionally save this special day for the end of the year, but I really can hardly wait to swing the hammer on this year’s accumulated ware. A lot of these pieces are gorgeous, but they have one flaw or another... a crack, a stuck lid, a glaze that ran off, kiln wash fired into the surface, the list goes on and on.

This is a ritual of necessity, ensuring the quality of any studio’s line-up. This year I’m happy to say I’m letting go a 140 pounds of fired work. DOH!


“Smash it up and plan for the next year”… that’s my motto.